NEWS: Road Works!

Road Magazine & blog is having a bloody well-earned rest folks... sorry! We'll be back in action in July, with lots more great news, videos and more here on the daily-updated blog. And, of course, in our ace FREE monthly magazine, read by over 900,000 people in 30 countries. Meantime, there's almost 1000 posts on here to amuse or bemuse you and more than 30 FREE magazines to enjoy here: http://www.issuu.com/roadonlinemagazine (or click on the 'Read Road Magazine FREE Here: Back Issues' link above). And there's plenty to see on our Facebook pages too: http://www.facebook.com/teamroad and http://www.facebook.com/roadmagblog. Thanks for all your kind comments, likes, shares, tweets (@roadmagazine) etc. folks. We really appreciate the loving, positive feedback and support for our efforts producing a free blog and magazine for you, day in day out. Meanwhile, if you are after a decent motoring hit in our absence, see our good pals at http://skiddmark.com/. "Love you, byeeeeeeeeeeeeee....!"

USA BLOG: RallyCross Stars Hit The States

Another top blog post from Road Magazine's first lady, Ashley Van Dyke: "Big weekend ahead at Charlotte Motor Speedway as the longest race of the year for the NASCAR Sprint Cup series takes place – the Coca Cola 600. Oh and there’s a Global RallyCross event…wait... what? If you’ve been to X Games or a Global RallyCross competition, then you'll have seen the sideways show and are most likely to be very interested in watching the ace sport and identifying with various names and brands. If you've never been or even heard of it... you need to. These race cars sound like hardcore sex, screaming with a “turbo sigh” exhale of sensational bliss. It’s got the cool factor all you marketers want to hit with your millennial target jargon. You can’t buy being this cool. Aspirational marketing and appealing to specific markets is not a new concept. This is only one aspect of having a sought after product by today’s youth – just look at Ken and his DC Shoes brand. But, like any other motorsport series that exists out here, it all boils down to car count. In order to sell tickets to a race, attract sponsors and secure steady growth, the core ingredient is a packed grid of talent and amazing cars. There is a big need for manufactures to be involved on various levels, but independent teams need to be able to battle against the factory and give them a run for their money. A good balance between the two is healthy and exciting to watch play out on the race track. Wheel-to-wheel racing is always more exciting in a setting where the fans have good views, and RallyCross certainly has that, not to mention now attracting BIG names: Travis Pastrana, Marcus Gronholm and Tanner Foust are all lining up this weekend... super skilled drivers and motorsport champions, in phenomenally fast, big bhp rally cars, on tarmac and gravel. Perfect! Global RallyCross attracts an impressive entry list of characters and the racing action itself is nail biting to say the least. Passing and door banging happen every lap and these guys drive with a load of steam and aggression, not like they do all composed on the WRC special stages. You can feel the adrenalin and energy behind the drivers. It’s addictive stuff. I love it...! And so should you! Get involved in one of the best forms of modern motorsport, which is usually viral in 60-seconds of a race finishing: Feed the content machine, Global RallyCross!" Thanks to Ashley and to Al Merion for the ace snap... have fun guys!

NEWS: Audi R8 LMS Ultra GT3 Victory @ Nurburgring 24-Hour

Audi have finally nailed their first victory at the awesome Nurburgring 24-Hour – with their epic R8 LMS ultra GT3. And not just a victory, but a 1-2 on the podium and three R8's in the top 10. Congratulations to them! The blue and yellow Bilstein-livery beast of an R8 blitzed to overall victory, lapping the epic GP and Nordschleife circuit some 155 times, driven by Marc Bassend, Christopher Haase, Frank Stippler and Markus Winkelhock, and run by Audi Sport Team Phoenix. The Team Mamerow Racing R8 LMS ultra GT3 came second, driven by Christian Apt, Michael Ammermuller, Armin Hahne and Christian Mamerow. Weather conditions were typically Eifel and challenging and the standard of cars in the GT3 class higher than ever – making for one of the toughest races in recent years. Many cars fell by the wayside, were struck with mechanical issues or, as is the way in this race, crashed... including one of the top Audi R8's, car No.2, running in front at the time (finishing fifth as a result). Previous Porsche winners (five times in six years) of the event and pole position runners, Manthey Racing could not repeat their usual Green Hell form, ending up in the wall of the GP circuit lapping a back marker, dropping them back from a podium place. In fact, the top placed Porsche was our pal Sabine Schmitz and Klaus Abbelen in the Frikadelli Racing Team 911 GT3, finishing sixth and the only 911 in the top 10! The times, they are a-changing...
The 2012 ADAC Nurburgring 24-Hour final results were:
1. Basseng/Haase/Stippler/Winkelhock (Audi R8 LMS ultra), 155 laps
2. Abt/Ammermüller/Hahne/Mamerow (Audi R8 LMS ultra) + 3m 35.303s
3. Frankenhout/Simonsen/Kaffer/Arnold (Mercedes-Benz) + 11m 31.116s
4. Leinders/Palttala/Martin (BMW) – 1 lap
5. Fässler/Mies/Rast/Stippler (Audi R8 LMS ultra) – 4 laps
6. Abbelen/Schmitz/Brück/Huisman (Porsche) – 4 laps
7. Müller/Müller/Alzen/Adorf (BMW) – 5 laps
8. Hürtgen/Schwager/Bastian/Adorf (BMW) – 5 laps
9. Klingmann/Wittmann/Göransson/Lamy (BMW) – 5 laps
10. Zehe/Hartung/Rehfeld/Bullitt (Mercedes-Benz) – 5 laps

NEWS: Manby Motorplex: Ace Motorsport Venue For Sale

One of our favourite shoot locations and motorsport venues, Manby Motorplex near Louth in Lincolnshire (http://www.manbymotorplex.com), is up for sale, for offers over £3.5 million. This is a unique opportunity to purchase a successful motorsport and driver experience venue with prime agricultural land – and save a great motorsport venue, brimming with potential. The stunning, huge, multifaceted and incredibly well-equipped 440 acre site currently operates as a successful motorsport venue and driver experience/training centre offering skid pan, rally and 4x4 school, artic HGV experiences, tank driving days etc. to both private and corporate clients. Offers have been received for the site for agricultural use, but the seller is keen to maintain Manby as a motorsport venue. Manby Motorplex was developed over decades from farmland by MD James Tointon, who has a passion for motorsport and driver training and has taught the likes of WRC and gymkhana star, Ken Block and various top clubman rally drivers over the years at Manby.
James told us: "It’s incredibly sad to be selling Manby Motorplex. It has a high agricultural value, but we have split the site into lots, so the motorsport side could be purchased separately. I’d be very happy to see it run as a motorsport venue, having worked so hard to keep it as a motorsport and motoring venue for all these years. In an ideal world, I’d like to see someone buy the site, develop its massive potential and keep running the popular events, school activities and all we already do here, and keep on the excellent staff. It’s a truly special, unique place and it would be a shame to see a great motorsport venue lost to be developed as housing or turned back to all agriculture, after years of hard work and investment."
The stunning, incredibly versatile site in the valleys just south of the busy market town of Louth in Lincolnshire has been used for motorsport since the 1980s, including: Car rallies, 4x4 trials and challenges, competition safaris, hill rallies, rallycross, supermoto, moto x, motorcycle enduros, grasstrack and quad racing. And this motorsport activity is in addition to the skid pan/rally/4x4/HGV school and fun/corporate driver experience days like double decker buses, tanks, diggers, bulldozers, army vehicles and more for companies like Red Letter Days and Virgin Incentives, as well as to Manby’s own extensive database of clients. Manby has also been used as a test venue for the development of major manufacturer vehicles, rally cars, road cars, 4x4 off-roaders and more over the past three decades. And it’s a very popular venue for film and TV crews including both Top Gear TV and D-Motor and Turbo TV in Germany as well as members of the media as a location, like us at Road Magazine and Mr Ken of the Block.
The site is being sold for personal reasons, to settle a divorce and James Tointon, Manby MD says: "It is with great sadness that we are selling the site and business. I’ve developed the off-road area, rally stages and motorsport and motoring activities from scratch over the years more as a hobby, than a business and people love it here. I’ve lost count of the 1,000’s of incredibly positive comments we’ve had for our unique courses and for the venue – including from World Rally driving star, Ken Block.
"People are amazed how much they learn with us here at Manby. We may not have the shiny cars people like their picture taken with, but people come here to get value for money, to learn and to chuck a car about properly and test it to its limits. That’s a rare and popular formula we’ve found. Our courses are challenging and we love teaching people… and there’s so much we can do with people here at Manby, with its unique, different, challenging venues.
"We are really hoping whoever buys Manby will preserve this venue for motorsport use. There’s a great business here already and so, so much potential left in the site to develop. The five miles of loose rally stages we have require minimal maintenance and are great stages. The limitation is they can’t be used in the wet. But we’ve had interest from the Minicross Drivers Association to develop extra tarmac and gravel stages on site – at their own cost – which would make Manby a leading rally and rallycross venue.
"Manby is already a leading off-road motorsport and hobbyist venue, with acres of some of the most challenging and difficult 4x4 routes in the UK, offering all types of off road challenges, in one compact, diverse area. And the many activities we offer on site for corporate, stag and hen parties and members of the public are a huge success. Manby attracts 1,000’s of clients year on year, many of whom come back, again and again, thanks to its unique charms and the quality of the courses, instructors, staff and facilities on offer here, not to mention the picturesque location."

Manby Motorplex is for sale for offers over £3.5 million via Brown & Co. Brigg office: http://www.brown-co.com
To make an enquiry, contact James Walton at Brown & Co. Agents:
Landline: +44(0)1652-654833
Mobile: +44(0)7920-496350
Email: James.walton@brown-co.com

USA BLOG: Ashley Van Dyke @ Formula D Road Atlanta

The talented Road USA correspondent, Ashley Van Dyke gives us this ace blog from the weekend's second round of the Formula D championship at Road Atlanta: 

"With a different track configuration for the drifters, it was challenging for many in the field to find their marks. Driver of the #79 Hankook/Top 1 Oil Chevrolet Camaro was Conrad Grunewald, and he set the pace for entry speed on the first day of practice, and was looking sharp with his lines and angle.
"It was a little overcast with big dash of humidity when I arrived on Friday. Grunewald was fired up for the event and told me that Road Atlanta is one of his favorite places to drift and definitely one of the most fun to drive. The energy around the Hankook camp was positive and in good spirits, hopeful for a possible win.
"Also at the track when I arrived was Scoggin Dickey Parts Center. They came down from Texas to check out their first FD event. I met these guys down at PRI last year and learned so much about LS parts from them. It was an exciting site to see engines on display at the track. So many drivers prefer the LSX platforms in their competition drift cars, and street cars too.
"There were some “technical” issues with qualifying that had about half the drivers in the field in an absolute uproar. Your definition of technical might be a little bit different than what I am referring to. Never mind the details on that, it’s better to just report the facts. Grunewald would have sat as number one qualifier, had things been left alone, however it didn’t turn out to be that way and his ranking was moved to the fifth qualifying position. Everyone else also experienced a change in their original qualification order, some moving ahead in the order and some falling back.
"That really set the pace for the rest of the weekend for this Chevrolet team. Grunewald had issues with the car and even bigger issues with going up against Tony Angelo in Top 32. Angelo’s Scion tC was not in proper order for battle on track. Officials never should have let him take the line. His car was all over the place, the rear hatch went flying up during his drifts and bits and pieces were flying out from his car everywhere.
"It was a near flawless first run for the Hankook/Top 1 Oil Chevrolet Camaro but Grunewald found trouble when going tandem and having to follow Angelo. It was in the last turn heading back up the hill, when the car carried off line and pulled a hard slide-job into the left outside wall. The day was done for Grunewald just like that.
"The effort from Conrad to pull though these obstacles this weekend was truly a demonstration of a class act racer. Dedicated and always giving his best to taking care of the car is what I enjoy most about him. He loves what he does and it shows on and off the race track. Next round on the schedule is Palm Beach International Raceway coming up in a few weeks. Good luck, Conrad!" Thanks Ashley! And also to Andrew Bohan for the fabulous image above... 

MUST-SEE VIDEO: Colin McRae + "Mad Manx" + MkII Escort = Rally Heaven

Some rare footage of our pal and much missed rally hero, Colin McRae is his favourite rally tool in his fully loaded rally weapon garage – his DJM-Motorsport prepared MkII Escort. Here it is in glorious action on the mental "Mad Manx" tarmac stages of the Isle of Man, with co-driver, PR guru and pal, Campbell Roy and battling with Phil Collins, his rival from Kilarney in Ireland and a Manx expert, also in a seriously sorted classic Escort.
This was the incredibly rally car Road Magazine Editor, Phil Royle co-drove with Colin in on his own McRae Stages Rally a year before he died. It was the most epic experience, tackling the narrow, twisty, mountainous gravel stages of his own event at full chat, on the bump stops and rev limiter, completely sideways... everywhere, mostly in sixth gear over 100mph. No motoring experience has ever come even close to topping it... and words can not describe the pace, excitement and honour I felt to sit alongside his amazing guy, in this phenomenal car, on that ace event. Thanks again to Dave and Julie at DJM and Campbell Roy for giving me the best motoring day of my life... I'll never forget it! Read all about the car's amazing "imagineering" specification and see more footage of the animal in action here: http://www.djm-motorsport.co.uk/mkii_escort_mcrae.html. Rallying does not get any better, I promise...  

VIDEO: The Nissan Juke-R Dubai @ Night

Very short, but very sweet viral video of the badboy Juke-R rocking the night streets of Dubai. Follow the car on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NissanJukeOfficial

NEWS: Road Magazine & Blog On Facebook

If you've not already liked us and shared our cool posts on Facebook, why the heck not?! Join in and have a look at some of the great posts up there at: http://www.facebook.com/roadmagblog

NEWS: Alain Prost Exhibition @ Goodwood FOS 2012

Goodwood's fabulous Festival of Speed, June 28th-July 1st, is drawing ever nearer – and top news this week is official time keepers, TAG Heuer (celebrating 80 years at the FOS also) will be staging "a unique and remarkable photographic exhibition" at the event dedicated to the legendary French racing driver, Alain Prost. Sounds great! Prost, whose outstanding career in Formula 1 resulted in 51 victories, 33 pole positions and 106 podium finishes between 1980 and 1993, became closely associated with TAG Heuer early in his F1 days driving for the TAG-sponsored McLaren team - with which he secured three of his four World Championship victories. Last year he returned to the fold of TAG Heuer ambassadors and one of his first, major roles has been to assist The Earl of March in curating the brand's inaugural Festival of Speed photographic exhibition, which tracks every milestone of Prost's path from schoolboy kart racer to the second most prolific Formula One winner in the sport's history. There will be over 100 great images on display. And speaking of fab images, our snapper pal, Richard Seymour will be covering the event for us with his unique, gifted style. Check out his work at: http://www.richardseymour.co.uk and his last ace FOS album in Road: http://issuu.com/roadonlinemagazine/docs/road_5-shows
The 2012 Festival of Speed – with its theme of 'Young Guns – Born to Win' – will see a vast array of F1 cars and stars, offering its unique up-close-and-personal view on 2012 teams like McLaren, Lotus, Ferrari, Mercedes, Williams, Caterham, plus reigning Constructers World Champions Red Bull Racing, and faces including Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg, Bruno Senna, Sir Jackie Stewart, Martin Brundle, Murray Walker, Sir Frank Williams, Ron Dennis, Patrick Head, Ross Brawn, Christian Horner and Adrian Newey. Mega! 

Tickets and further information for the 2012 Festival of Speed and Goodwood Revival can be found on the Goodwood website (www.goodwood.com/motor sport), or via the Ticket Hotline: +44 (0)1243 755055.
Follow Goodwood on Facebook:
Festival of Speed: http://www.facebook.com/festivalofspeed
Revival: http://www.facebook.com/goodwoodrevival
Or follow Goodwood on Twitter:
Festival of Speed: http://twitter.com/fosgoodwood
Revival: http://twitter.com/goodwoodrevival

Looks like another mega year for the UK's best car event. Look out for our report by Richard Seymour here on the blog, in the magazine (http://www.roadmagazine.co.uk) and our social media...

VIDEO: Ferociously Fast Fiat For Friday!

Revving to over 10,000rpm, weighing in under 600Kg and knocking out over 300bhp, this Fiat X1-9 is one hell of a cool hill climber, eh? Check it out. You can buy the DVD from this epic hill climb at: http://www.dorvyd.it/Homepage.html. Ace! 

VIDEO: Neil Cole's The Grid Episode VI

Here's our Road Mazagine columnist, Neil Cole in action on his Sports Tonight Live TV Show, The Grid, Episode VI. On this weeks show, Tancredi Palmeri talks about what Alonso's win in Malaysia means to Ferrari and Vettel's stroppy rebellion in the Malaysian GP, plus rally news and more ace irreverence from the world of motorsport. Check it out... it's fabulous stuff for petrol heads. We love it!

VIDEO: The Nissan Juke-R: Desert Nemesis Film

So, here is the final version of the Nissan Juke-R 'Nemesis' viral video – a "cinematic film which follows Nissan's inaugural GT Academy winner, Lucas Ordonez, as he takes the innovative Juke-R to Dubai's International Marine Club to face some of the world's most famous supercars in a thrilling street race." The film, which is reminiscent of the ‘Need for Speed’ movies, follows GT Academy winner Lucas Ordóñez as he takes the one-off Juke-R to the streets of Dubai to take part in a street race against some of the world’s most famous and thrilling sports cars. The film has been preceded by several behind the scenes videos that are available on Nissan's YouTube channel at:  http://www.youtube.com/user/nissanineurope/videos
And the Juke-R Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/NissanJukeOfficial

Here are the links to all six previous trailers too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m5_es3LHxk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ob5soigN6s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L3qQbyan3E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lFWsHstDXY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w5aTVxk74g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiE7li015jk

Good bit of fast car fun in Dubai, don't you think...? Great production values... like a movie trailer. Likey?

VIDEO: The Nissan Juke-R vs Supercars

First glimpse of Nissan's Desert Nemesis short film released on Thursday 3rd May 2012. To see it first, subscribe to the NissanInEurope YouTube channel and follow the story at https://www.facebook.com/NissanJukeOfficial, or just see it here on the Road Blog!

VIDEO: Ten Of The Best Sponsorship

Does your automotive company need to reach a target audience of 10,000 at the UK's biggest tuning action car event, featuring the UK's top tuned drag, top speed and handling cars? Then you need sponsorship at TOTB! See their website for full details at: http://www.totb.co.uk.
And check out the fabulous promo video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRRZQuDAyJE&feature=player_embedded
Interested? Then contact Phil @ Royle Media (http://www.facebook.com/roylemedia or http://www.roylemedia.co.uk) to get a great deal and boost your brand today – before all the slots sell out!

NEWS: Amazing New Nürburgring Film: 24 Hours

Car film and Nürburgring film fans, take note... 24 Hours is coming. The feature film by Nick & Tim Hahne, produced by Stereoscreen tells the story of the BMW team facing its big target: winning the 24 Hours on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, one of the biggest racing events in the world, and our favourite race on the planet. The setting of the competition is the longest and most beautiful but nevertheless most dangerous racetrack, aka the "Green Hell." If you have not been, picture more than 200,000 fans putting up their tents/camps/BBQ's/fires deep in the Eifel-woods to celebrate their heroes lapping the hardest circuit in the world, day and night, in more than 200 cars. Lap per lap, hour per hour... it's thrilling, and the movie captures the atmosphere amazingly. It also covers all the preparation and testing, setting-up and nerves in advance of the big race – following a BMW M3 GT. And real Ring race stars also get a good look in – as three-times World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx appears (on his fishing boat in the Channel Islands!), they make some delicious pasta with Dirk Adorf while he chats about the race and you get to jump in the pool of Monaco´s harbour with Jörg Müller. It's an absorbing film with authentic dialogues, great filming and, as it is the nature of a race, an open ending to everyone involved, including Tim & Nick Hahne, the creators of the film.

The film will be screened during the 40th edition of the 24 Hours Nürburgring. May 16th 20:30h and May 18th 22:30h. See more at: http://www.24hours-der-film.de