Tag Archives: alltime

Motorsport

Alpine Sold Over 4,000 Sports Cars In 2023

Alpine had all-time excessive gross sales in 2023 when Renault and Dacia manufacturers a part of the identical group posted sturdy gross sales.

This is AM Drive, Motor1’s each day take a look at the information you want earlier than you get in your automotive.

Alpine Sold 4,328 Cars Last Year

The Renault Group’s efficiency arm, Alpine, loved double-digit development in 2023 as demand elevated for the third consecutive 12 months. Deliveries surged by 22.1 % in comparison with 2022, reaching 4,328 models. The A110, the corporate’s sole mannequin, emerged as the preferred two-seater sports activities coupe in Europe, particularly in Germany the place gross sales elevated by 34 %, in addition to in Belgium (+32 %) and at house in France (+26 %).


Motorsport

Lotus Elise Documentary Depicts The Human Struggle Behind The World’s Best Sports Car

The Lotus Elise S1 is without doubt one of the all-time nice light-weight sports activities vehicles. One of the primary bonded aluminum vehicles, it modified the sport for Lotus and breathed new life into the phase. Such an unimaginable machine deserves an equally spectacular documentary, and by chance, such a movie exists. It’s referred to as Lotus Elise – The Inside Story, and it is at present streaming at no cost on YouTube. 

This is not a documentary made after the automotive was an enormous success. The over two-hour movie was recorded all through the event course of, earlier than anybody knew that the Elise would spawn three celebrated generations. As such, it information the real-time decision-making concerned in growing an vehicle; all the things from design and engineering to extra underrated elements like manufacturing and buying.

At occasions it is fairly annoying. No one had made a mass-produced bonded aluminum automotive earlier than the Elise. Although the Lotus workforce had religion within the course of, they have been positively taking an enormous danger. It’s attention-grabbing to see that, on the time, the pinnacle of the now defunct Rover’s powertrain group seemingly thought little of the workforce making an attempt to be on the reducing fringe of the sports activities automotive world, noting at level that “Lotus is much more on the edge. On the edge of technology, on the edge of failure.” And then Rover took far fewer dangers and went beneath anyway.

The movie has many colourful characters, a few of whom we work together with frequently, just like the automotive’s chassis designer Richard Rackham—who remains to be with the corporate—in addition to Julian Thompson, the automotive’s designer who’s at present the design director at General Motors Advanced Design Europe, positioned within the U.Ok.. Others, like senior purchaser Dave Smith, solely seem briefly, however nonetheless go away a powerful impression.

Watching all the documentary not solely provides you a way of simply how specialised the automotive trade is, but additionally how enjoyable it may be; at the least at an organization like Lotus. Most of the senior employees within the movie appeared to genuinely love vehicles. To get the primary prototype out the door the workforce labored relentlessly on Christmas Eve. The ugly prototype was pushed out of the manufacturing facility to the corporate’s ice-covered check observe earlier than Christmas day arrived, and if not for the documentary movie crew’s presence, the one report would’ve been manufacturing facility safety footage. 

Perhaps it is a coincidence that I stumbled throughout this admittedly well-viewed movie on-line simply across the time of the vacations when the Lotus workforce first examined the automotive, but it surely’s a becoming time to see the film. Sometimes its straightforward to neglect at any job why you are doing one thing, and to see how troublesome, thrilling, irritating, and gratifying growing the Elise was presents numerous perspective. 

BMW

WorldSBK in Magny-Cours: Celebrating Pole Position with Mixed Feelings at BMW Motorrad Motorsport

The ninth round of the FIM Superbike World Championship 2023 (WorldSBK) took place at Magny-Cours, where BMW Motorrad Motorsport had a combination of pole position celebrations and mixed feelings. Garrett Gerloff, a BMW Motorrad factory rider, showcased impressive performance throughout the weekend, finishing fourth in the first race and fifth in the second main race. Scott Redding achieved his best race result with a seventh-place finish, and Loris Baz followed suit with a seventh-place finish in the Superpole race. Michael van der Mark struggled to find his rhythm, finishing 13th in both qualifying and the Superpole race.

In the Superpole on Saturday, Gerloff set a new all-time lap record and claimed his first WorldSBK pole position, marking a significant achievement for both himself and the Bonovo action BMW Racing Team. However, Redding unfortunately slid and fell, finishing in tenth place but moving up to ninth on the grid due to a penalty issued to another rider. Van der Mark concluded the Superpole in 13th position.

Despite losing a few positions at the start, Gerloff maintained a position in the top five throughout the first race, finishing in fourth place as the best rider from an Independent team. Redding finished the first race in seventh place, while Baz encountered various problems and ended up in 13th position. Van der Mark crossed the finish line in 16th place.

The Superpole race on Sunday saw a collision between Redding and Gerloff, leading to both riders going down. Gerloff retired after heading to the pits, while Redding was able to rejoin the race and finish in 20th place. Baz secured seventh place in the Superpole race, setting a good start position for the second main race. Van der Mark finished in 13th position.

In the second main race, Gerloff finished fifth, once again achieving the best result for an Independent team. The race was briefly interrupted due to an accident involving Redding and Dominique Aegerter, but after restarting, Baz crossed the finish line in twelfth place. Unfortunately, Redding retired from the race due to a technical issue, and Van der Mark also failed to finish after a crash.

The next round of the 2023 WorldSBK season will take place at MotorLand Aragón, Spain, in two weeks’ time. BMW Motorrad Motorsport, along with the four riders and both teams, had successful testing sessions at Aragón at the end of August.

BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director, Marc Bongers, expressed his delight with Gerloff’s performance and the achievements of the Bonovo action BMW Racing Team. Bongers also acknowledged the unfortunate racing incident involving Redding and Gerloff, which had a negative impact on the team’s start position for the second main race. He emphasized the potential of the BMW M 1000 RR and the need to build on it in the remaining three rounds.

Gerloff himself expressed his satisfaction with the weekend, especially achieving his first pole position and achieving two top-five finishes. He expressed optimism in using this weekend as a foundation for future races.

Redding, on the other hand, acknowledged his string of bad luck throughout the weekend, with three crashes and a series of unfortunate events. Despite the setbacks, he remained positive and focused on improving at the upcoming races in Aragón.

Baz described the weekend as tough and not meeting his expectations. He acknowledged the technical issues and set up challenges but expressed determination to improve in the remaining races.

Van der Mark admitted to struggling with finding the right feeling for the bike during the weekend. However, he remained confident in the potential of the BMW M 1000 RR and looked forward to the next round at Aragón.