GTR News

The Vitaphone Maserati No.1 of Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini took victory in a hard-fought Qualifying Race at Paul Ricard. Christopher Haase and Peter Kox in the Reiter Engineering Lamborghini No.24 were second.

Jamie Campbell-Walter and Warren Hughes are celebrating tonight after a podium finish in today's FIA GT1 World Championship qualifying race at Paul Ricard in France.

Vitaphone Maserati duo Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini cruised to victory in the qualifying race for this weekend's FIA GT1 World Championship event at Paul Ricard

The Vitaphone Maserati No.1 of Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini claimed pole position in a hot Qualifying session at Paul Ricard. The Maserati pair set a time of 2:03.511 to finish ahead of the No.24 Reiter Lamborghini of Peter Kox and Christopher Haase which posted a time of 2:04.028.

he silence of the surrounding areas of the Paul Ricard racing circuit was broken this morning as round four of the FIA GT1 World Championship began with Free Practice brilliant sunshine.

There is a car out there that I have not driven yet the GT-R or the Nissan GT-R, to be precise. It is not a normal car it was conceptualised, designed and developed with the rather humble ambition of rocking the foundation bolts of super-expensive exotica from around the world.

The FIA GT1 World Championship rolls into France this weekend, to the western tip of the glorious French Riviera for the midsummer event of 2010. The Paul Ricard circuit at Le Castellet plays host to the six manufacturers, 12 teams and 24 drivers who are fighting for glory in this inaugural season of 'GT1 World'.

FRANKLIN, Tenn., July 1 -- Nissan North America, Inc. (NNA) today reported June 2010 sales of 64,570 units versus 58,298 units a year earlier, an increase of 10.8 percent, compared with June 2009. Nissan Division sales rose 8.2 percent for the month, while sales of Infiniti vehicles were 31.7 percent higher than a year before.

More photos of the updates to the 2012 Nissan GT-R are being captured at the Nurburgring.

In this picture, there is just two small bits of tape over the upper canard. The new front bumper design shows bigger openings, allowing more airflow to the intercoolers and radiators. A new wheel design is also evident from these pictures.

It is still going to be about 2 months before we see any official unveiling.  What do you think the new Nurburgring time will be?

Source: Inside Line

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Japanese carmakers benefited from improving demand in Asia and the US with a surge in global car production.

Japanese firms benefit from improving demand in Asia and the US. 29 Jun 2010 3:30 AM

Toyota's global car production zoomed 27 percent in May as Japanese automakers benefit from improving demand in Asia and the U.S. Toyota Motor Corp., the world's No. 1 automaker, which makes the Prius hybrid and Lexus luxury model, said Monday it produced... Toyota - Asia - Lexus - Japan - Toyota Prius

Japanese automakers report vehicle production rise on global recovery Japan - Asia - Automotive industry - Toyota - Business and Economy

Toyota's global car production zoomed 27 percent in May as Japanese automakers benefit from improving demand in Asia and the U.S.

Japan automakers report surge in global production

It may be summertime for us in the northern hemisphere, but in the southern hemisphere, its winter time. Don’t let that stop you from picking up this new piece of GT-R merchandise. GT-R Blog and HARDTUNED.net have developed a hoodie that features R32 Skyline GT-R, R33 Skyline GT-R, R34 Skyline GT-R, and the R35 GT-R.

They are priced at $69(AUD).

Source : GT-R Blog

In Japan, some Nissan GT-R owners received an invite to the revealing of the 2011 JDM (2012 US) Nissan GT-R. The car in the invite is a shade of blue, which of course leads people to believe that there will be a new color offered for 2012.


The car shown in the pictures is a 2009-2011 car, as they don’t want to reveal the exterior changes for 2012, but I think it shows the actual new color.  It looks like we will find out in August.  Maybe then we will learn the new Nurburgring time, for the new ~520 hp 2012 model.

Motortrend has posted pictures of the face lifted 2012 Nissan GT-R at Nurburgring. A few days ago, pictures of camouflaged examples started showing up on the internet, and now we see some of the minor changes for the 2012 year in the US.  The car shown here is a SpecV, however rumors have been that the SpecV has seen its last years.  Perhaps the Mspec ?


At the front we can see the dual front canards, and the reshaped upper front grill opening.
Ian over at NAGTROC posted up a great comparison shot of the 2009-2011 R35 GT-R front  bumper vs the 2012 front bumper. If you have seen a few of the Nissan GT-R race cars, even the STILLEN Nissan GT-R, you will see additional vents in the area blocked by the standard bumper/grill.  For 2012 this area is opened up. In addition, the airflow to the intercoolers has been expanded with a larger opening.

Photo courtesy Warwick Patterson / Formulaphoto.com

Behind the rear tires are some small openings, and the rear diffuser has been revised. This car, being a SpecV or some equivalent has the lightweight titanium exhaust that was first seen on the Nismo Sports Club Package.
Source : Motortrend and NAGTROC

June 25, 2010

Looks like cell phone coverage is decent out in Virginia City where STILLEN and Steve Millen are running the GT-R at the Spectre 341 Challenge. We’ll use this blog post as a place to post updates and photos we get back from the team.  We’ll have a full recap after the event ends.

Friday 6/25 – 11:20am (Kyle via text)

Phone works okay.. no real updates.. did drivers meeting this morning and the drivers got a tour of the race course with tips from Amir from Spectre

The HRE Porsche is pretty nice and looks well prepared and the LG Vette is nice.. light weight good tires.. all good

There’s a hearse here too!  I don’t know about it though.. I think they are just here

Friday 6/25 – 11:43am (Kyle via text)

The hearse now has numbers.. looks like it’s running!

Friday 6/25 – 12:33pm (Kyle via text)

Just started sprinkling and apparently they’re delaying the start (we’d really like to run!)

(Questioned Kyle on whether it was a get in line type of deal, or if everyone is running it a set number of times?)

Just get in line..

We haven’t even left the hotel.. were trying to convince them to let us run

There is 700-1100 horsepower Porsche.. there are some huge horsepower cars up here

Friday 6/25 – 12:33pm (Kyle via text)

We did find out though that they aren’t posting any times until tomorrow night.  We have a stop watch that we’ll keep track of our time, but we don’t know how everyone else is doing

Steve and Jodi Millen

That’s not a typo on Jodi’s race suit!

Friday 6/25 – 2:27pm (Kyle via text)

We were two minutes from starting but the safety crew had to leave for a local accident… no go on the restart.  The accident was not on the course.. the same crew is on call for the other highways as well.  Unfortunately this is cutting down on the number of possible runs.

Friday 6/25 – 2:52pm (Kyle via text)

Cars are away!!!  The GT-R was second in line!

Friday 6/25 – 3:20pm (Kyle via text)

First run was good.. they’re just going to increase boost.. tires are still a bit greasy but starting to come in

Friday 6/25 – 3:46pm (Kyle via text)

GT-R just took off for its second run.. looks like he’s chasing it harder this run

Friday 6/25 – 4:15pm (Kyle via text)

Here’s a quick video from a corner I’m standing on of the GT-R

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

Here’s a video of the Viper coming around the same corner

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

Friday 6/25 – 4:59pm (Kyle via text)

Done for the day.. Steve is pretty happy with the car and is still trying to scrub in the tires.  Only made three runs but I think they’re happy with what theyre seeing.

The high elevation has caused a big drop in boost but the TurboSmart boost controller is allowing them to adjust that and increase pressure.

Look for more updates tomorrow..

Saturday 6/26 – 9:08am (Kyle via text)

First run of the day they shaved 3.5 seconds off from their fast time from yesterday.

Saturday 6/26 – 9:34am (Kyle via text)

They just shaved another three seconds.

There is a really fast EVO up here with really sticky nittos and the driver has a lot of experience.

Saturday 6/26 – 9:59am (Kyle via text)

If we had some better tires like the Dunlops we’d be much faster.  Unfortunately the Dunlops are on national back order otherwise we’d have them on the car.. according to Nissan they’re good for around a second a mile faster.

Saturday 6/26 – 10:16am (Kyle via text)

Saturday 6/26 – 10:25am (Kyle via text)

We softened the STILLEN front sway bar last night, and Steve is saying its helped a lot and he can start turning the back of the car today.. I’m sure that’s where some of the time is coming from.

Saturday 6/26 – 10:40am (Kyle via text)

Quick video of the ZR1

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

Quick video of Steve and the STILLEN GT-R

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

Saturday 6/26 – 10:50am (Kyle via text)

Steve and Team STILLEN are done for the day.. the road is extremely slick, and the tires don’t have any grip any more.

With having to ship the car to New Zealand for the Targa Rally in a couple of days, and not having good tires, Steve’s just taking it kinda easy.

This is a fun event and we will be back for sure next year.

 

Source: STILLEN Blog