Toyota has announced it is withdrawing from Formula 1 with immediate effect, becoming the third carmaker to quit the sport in less than 12 months.

Following months of rumours about the Japanese manufacturer’s future, the F1 team’s parent company the Toyota Motor Corporation revealed following a board meeting on Wednesday that it had taken the decision to pull out of the sport following eight seasons without a win.

In its statement announcing the move, Toyota said that while it had remained determined to compete in F1 in the face of the worldwide recession that started towards the end of last year, it had now revised its position with the F1 spend not fitting into its mid-term business plans.

“Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) announces it plans to withdraw from the FIA Formula One World Championship (F1) at the end of the 2009 season,” the Toyota statement said.

Source: ITV

The Bob Lutz/Cadillac CTS-V smackdown/stunt planned for this Thursday at the Monticello Motor Club in upstate New York, will follow a simple five-lap format.

Each competitor, chosen by General Motors to take on Bob Lutz and the Cadillac CTS-V, will receive five consecutive laps of the course. So subtracting an out-lap and a cool-down lap, each competitor, of which there will be about 10 total, will receive three flying laps. The quickest single lap at the end of the day will decide the winner. There will apparently be no second-chance round.

The schedule of events looks like this (all times are Eastern):
8:30 am-11:30 am -- Track opens for practice
11:30 am-11:45 am -- Introductions, driver meeting, etc.
11:45 am-1:00 pm -- lunch
1:00 pm-2:30 pm -- timed laps

Source: InsideLine

When M. Kawabata launched his Nissan S13 (a 240 SX to us Yanks) into the corner, he threw the car around so quickly the rear end enters the turn first -- and then he kept it under control. It's being called "drifting history" and "the perfect drift" and "the best drift ever." Make the jump to see the vid and judge for yourself.



Source: AutoBlog

Bob thinks that GM has a lineup of vehicles that can stack up with the best the rest of the automotive manufacturing world has to offer. One of the examples he cited was the Cadillac CTS-V, and went so far as to challenge the journalists to find a stock production sedan on the planet that could outperform the CTS-V on the track. The guys at Jalopnik.com were the first ones to respond to the challenge, quickly and most enthusiastically, but they suspect there will be more. GM will be having a full racetrack challenge October 29 at the Monticello Motor Club in Monticello, N.Y., not far from the New York City area.

Source: CTSV Challenge

In July, Ford Racing announced that the Mustang will race in the Nationwide series when Ford begins a limited rollout of its new car in 2010. The Ford Mustang NASCAR Nationwide Car was revealed today and in collaboration with Roush Fenway Racing and Con-way Freight.

The No.16 Con-way Freight Mustang will be driven by 21-year old Colin Braun, who was the 2008 Raybestos Rookie of the Year. He will move to a full-time Nationwide program next season. Press release at the source!

Source: eGMCarTech

With just a few opportunities to throw it down the track, Larry over at Speed Inc managed a 11.26 @ 120.58 MPH off a 1.59 60'. Race weight clocked in at 4030lbs. Definitely shaping up to be a very badass ride.

Source: ModernCamaro

Everyone wants Danica Patrick. Or so it would seem, as Internet and media rumors have swirled for months that the IndyCar star would jump to a new American-based Formula 1 team or sign on with NASCAR. Now it appears she has signed a three-year contract extension with Andretti Green Racing and will continue beyond her fifth year in the IndyCar series, which concludes next month.

Patrick had already stated publicly in recent weeks that she intended to stay with IndyCar. The official announcement has not yet been made, but the Indianapolis Star reported that Patrick signed the contract for three more years in the Motorola-sponsored No. 7 car last weekend, during the Twin Ring Motegi event in Japan.

The IndyCar season finale takes place at Homestead-Miami Speedway on October 10.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway CEO Jeff Belskus was quoted by Sports Illustrated today as saying, "She is great for our series.... My hope is she will be an IndyCar driver first and foremost, even when she tries to run in other series." Patrick has made no secret of the fact that she wants to be the first woman to win the Indianapolis 500.

Reportedly her contract will let her compete in NASCAR in a limited way, such as in the Camping World Truck Series, Nationwide Series and ARCA events.

Source: Edmunds

Sharp's LMP1 Acura was heading into turn 3 at Road Atlanta when it apparently made contact with another racer exiting the pit lane. This caused the Acura's front end to lift, and that's never a good thing in one of these high-powered prototypes. Into the air the car went. After makng 3.5 revolutions, Sharp managed to crawl out of the car's remains with just a clump of mud stuck to the top of his helmet.

"I really don't know what happened," Sharp said. "I was heading up the hill in sixth gear and felt a hit in the right rear. The wheel arches are very high with the wide front tires on the Acura - I didn't see a thing – only felt the contact. I knew it was a big one and I am just really grateful to Acura and all the boys at Patrón Highcroft Racing for building such a strong car. I'm shattered for Duncan, all the guys, Brabs and Dario (Franchitti). We went through this last year and I can't believe it's happened again. I was just thinking to myself how much I like this place when next thing I'm headed upside down with a mouth full of Georgia clay."

Heading into Atlanta, Sharp and co-driver David Brabham were tied at 142 points and leading the LMP1 drivers championship race, a position they maintained by finishing sixth in yesterday's rain-shortened Petit Le Mans.



Source: AutoBlog

BR Racing is building a 2010 Camaro drift machine (above) for Conrad Grunewald to race. As many of you know, the SS comes to the dance packing 426 hp and 420 lb-ft of torque. But for Formula D, that's not nearly enough. BR Racing is therefor stuffing in a tuned LSA mill (same as a Cadillac CTS-V) but turning the pressure (meaning boost) up. How up? More than 600 horsepower at the wheels, which probably means right around 700 crank hp. Sounds like an adequate amount that should have no trouble turning the Hankook Ventus R-S3 tires into molten clouds of stinky smoke.

Source: Motormavens

It's only been a year, but it's been a long one for Formula One fans in North America. Last year Bernie Ecclestone and the FIA canceled the Canadian Grand Prix – a regular fixture of the F1 calendar and the only stop the circus makes in North America – when race organizers and local governments rejected demands for increased fees. Negotiations failed to bring the race back, but following purported pressure from the remaining manufacturers in the series and renewed contact with officials on the ground, the race has been confirmed to return for next season.

According to previous reports, Ecclestone's demand of $175 million to secure the race for several years was reduced to just $75 million, a price which supporting parties are apparently willing and able to pay in order to bring the grand prix back to the Gilles Villeneuve circuit.

Source: AutoBlog

Manhart Racing has unveiled their latest creation called the BMW M3 E92 5.0 V10 SMG – otherwise known as “Porsche Chaser.” Manhart swapped the 420-hp V8 from the M3 and tossed in BMW’s V10 from the M5 and M6.

However, Manhart did not stop there. After a bunch of modifications by Manhart’s engineering team, the tuner pumped out a total of 550-hp from the 5.0L V10, which is now mated to a 7-speed SMG gearbox. With all the modifications complete, the Manhart BMW M3 E92 5.0 V10 SMG goes from 0 to 62 mph in a whopping 3.9 seconds with an eye-popping top speed of 208 mph.

The best part? Manhart didn’t go wild with visual modifications. The most noticeable change are the 20-inch BBS challenge-R-wheels. More photos and press release at the source!

Source: eGMCarTech

The launch event for the new Dirt2 videogame was more than kiosks allowing fans to play the new game. No no, that's boring. How about going with Ken Block in his rally Subaru for some quick laps and some high speeds? Hit the jump for the video!

The 276-hp road-going Lotus Evora has become a well respected sports car in the auto industry. Lotus is now introducing the next step in the Evora lineup – the Lotus Evora Type 124 Endurance Racecar. The car will make its debut at the ADAC Nürburgring 24 Hour race.

Based on the road-going Evora, the Evora Type 124 Endurance Racecar gets a race-tuned version of the mid-mounted Toyota V6 engine making a total of 400-hp. The weight of the car is expected to be reduced by 440 lbs, bringing the weight to less than 2,645 lbs. Other changes include a 6-speed sequential paddle shift racing gearbox, an FIA specification roll-cage, FIA-compliant 120L ATL fuel system, an FIA fire extinguisher system and a carbon fiber rear-wing, diffuser and front splitter. Stopping power comes from AP Racing’s 6 piston calipers front and rear, with a race-tuned Bosch ABS system, 4-way adjustable dampers and adjustable anti-roll bars.

The Lotus Evora Type 124 Endurance Racecar is expected to compete in a number of races in 2010/2011 including the Merdeka Millennium 12 Hours, BritCar 24 Hours and the Dubai 24 Hours.

Source: eGMCarTech

Danica Patrick, the fiery female IndyCar driver, will not bolt to NASCAR or even to another IRL team next year, according to comments she made here Saturday.

Patrick, who started her IndyCar career with Rahal-Letterman Racing and leapt to stardom in the 2004 Indianapolis 500, told Racer magazine she's close to coming to terms to remain with Andretti Green Racing.

Patrick has been the subject of much speculation placing her in everything from a NASCAR stock car to the new US F1 team in Formula One.

She debunked the F1 rumors last month, saying she had not been contacted by US F1 and telling the Los Angeles Times, "I might race IndyCar and never go to NASCAR at all. I'm not really sure right now. We'll see."

A change in management of the team co-owned by Michael Andretti, Kim Green and Kevin Savoree will result in Andretti taking over sole responsibility for the racing team while Green and Savoree focus their efforts on other projects of Andretti Green Promotions.

Source: Edmunds

Meet the world's fastest fire fighting vehicle: Nissan's specially modified GT-R that takes up role as an emergency response vehicle at the Nurburgring circuit in Germany The fire-fighting GT-R is a gift from Nissan to the Nurburgring operator and it was created in collaboration with M&M Automotive, a Bonn-based specialist for car development and motor sports. While the mechanical hardware remain intact, the GT-R's rear seats were removed and replaced with a 50-liter water tank secured with a roll cage.

The 485-horsepower sports car also gets a medium-pressure extinguisher system (20 bars) as well as a winding device for the hose while an additional radio communication system and a new set of Recaro sports seats complete the upgrades. The manufacturer claims that with a foam reach of around 18 meters and a 20-metre hose, the unit will be able to fight fire for around two minutes on a single tank.

Even though the extra equipment added 200 kg or approx 440 pounds to the coupe's weight, Nissan supports that the GT-R can still lap the Nurburgring circuit in less than 8 minutes. The standard model has recorded a lap time of the Nordschleife circuit of 7 minutes and 26.70 seconds.

Source: CarScoop