Finally, race promoter Tavo Hellmund has revealed what the F1 track in Austin, Texas will look like.  Slated to have its first race in 2012, we can only hope that construction gets started in the next few months.  The 3.4 mile long track itself has 20 turns, 133 feet of elevation change and a 3/4 mile long straight where the F1 cars should be able to reach about 200 mph.  Many of the turns resemble other tracks from around the world such as Silverstone, Hockenheim, and even the multi apex turn at Istanbul’s track.  The track is shaping up to be a great track and we can only hope that it lives up to its name.  I am sure that I will be there to see the inaugural race, will you be?

Source: Formula1

A Porsche is meant for the track. Period. This Porsche 911 RSR on the other hand is meant for the Gods. Check out how it handled the Nürburgring.

Source: Youtube

What you are probably thinking is, how incredibly cool it is or how wrong it is.  Whichever it might be, I am sure you are intrigued by this Bio Powered 2-liter TSI Scirocco.  This particular Cup racing version of the Scirocco runs on natural gas and therefore cuts carbon emissions and even boosts the bhp to 271.  The real bummer is that the car was fitted for everything to compete in the WRC but was only being used for a demonstration run.  With the complete car passing WRC regulation and having VW’s Touareg Off-Road driver Nasser Al-Attiyahbehind the wheel, the Scirocco will not be entered in any WRC Rallies due to the simple fact that it is to big.  Regardless it gives us an idea that VW might be interested in joining the WRC with another car here in the near future.

Source: Evo

Lotus, with absolutely no help from their F1 Racing Team, has developed an F1 type race car for the sole purpose of track day events.  For those with some deep pockets, £650,000 to be exact, they can pick up one of the 25 Exos Type 125’s.  The car will surely move and sound like an F1 car with a 650bhp Cosworth V8 that revs up to 10,300 rpm.  Unlike a typical F1 car that needs to have maintenance and a full motor overhaul after each race, the Exos Type 125 will only need maintenance every 4500km.  Looking forward to see a review of how similar these are to the actual F1 racing cars.

Photo Credit: Auto Express

Skip Barber is now offering Lifetime Memberships for their racing school and any driving events that they host on any of their 10 tracks.  You can even register for the whole season in advance, but there is a catch; a $285,000 catch.  Most people can’t afford this but for those die hard automotive enthusiasts that have a few Porsches, Audis and other high performance cars, this is a great opportunity.  I wish someone would front me that cash, so that I could race all year and make good use of that membership.  More details can be found about their other memberships at Skip Barber’s website.

Saab has reportedly been in talks with the World Rally Championship officials for some time now in hopes to jump start their Rally Racing.  If you remember, Mini will also be joining the hunt in 2011 for a few races and a full season for 2012. Saab will be running a similar schedule.  If Saab joins, they will be racing with either their 9-1 or 9-2 but nothing is solidified.  Rumors are that the WRC rally car will be heavily based off the 9-X Air BioHybrid concept . Hopefully sooner than later, we will be seeing some real photos or renditions of what the car will look like.

Photo Credit: Autoblog

The fact that F1 is coming to the United States, Clear Channel is taking the opportunity to promote to the 520 million people that follow F1. Clear Channel is the largest radio and outside advertiser in the U.S. It will be interesting to see how Clear Channel promotes it over the radio but one thing, I want to see a billboard on I-95 promoting F1. F1 will hopefully blow up all over in the U.S. but we can only wait and see.

Photo Credit: Auto Blog

Ferrari for three days did testing at the Nurburgring in Germany. They only brought out 15 599XX and 4 FXX for testing, but there were also many rare F1 and other motorsports cars on hand to beat up the track. This is how Ferrari’s should be, driven to their fullest and not under some tarp in a garage to never see the light of day again.