Motorsports

Late last month Mark Webber announced his intention to retire from Formula One at the end of the current season and enter the 2014 World Endurance Championship together with Porsche.This came as no major surprise given Webber’s relationship of late with his current employer Red Bull Racing, but the question on everybody’s lips is who will replace him.Red Bull Racing has now given the biggest indication yet as to who may end up being Sebastian Vettel’s team-mate next season. Vettel has already signed a contract for two more years with the Milton Keynes-based squad.  The team has posted a poll on its Facebook page listing three potential drivers: Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo from Red Bull’s feeder team Scuderia Torro Rosso, as well as Kimi Räikkönen of Lotus.While Räikkönen is by far the favorite judging by the poll’s results, the final decision will likely come down to who most strategically fits with the team. As World Car Fans points out, Vettel has revealed to media that he will also have a say on who is ultimately picked. Stay tuned for an update.www.motorauthority.com 

Mark Skaife has declared incoming manufacturer Volvo is not a replacement for Ford in the , with the V8 Supercars commissioner set to do everything he can to make sure the famous brand remains in the

Porsche gives some racing drivers a steer of its upcoming 918 Spyder hybrid supercar, around the Yas Marina F1 circuit in Abu Dhabi.  

The car was snapped testing at Germany’s Nürburgring recently, where engineers are using a makeshift body of the latest 911 GT3 but several elements reveal the true identity of the test car.Look closely and you’ll see widened wheel arches, extra-wide rubber at the rear, and new side intakes for the turbocharged engine (the 911 GT3 is naturally aspirated). The wheels and brakes are also larger than those fitted to the 911 GT3 and the rear wing much taller. Additional aero pieces have been tacked onto the rear, presumably to boost downforce.Like the previous 911 GT2, the new model will feature a similar spec to the contemporary 911 Turbo, the new 2014 911 Turbo, but to separate the two the 911 GT2 will stick to rear-wheel drive and have a higher output. This means it will feature a twin-turbocharged 3.8-litre flat-six engine, four-wheel steering and engine stop-start technology.Peak output is expected to register at 412 kilowatts, which is on par with the output of the latest 911 Turbo S and 22 kilowatts more than the output of the previous 911 GT2. As for the transmission, Porsche’s seven-speed PDK dual-clutch unit is likely to replace the previous 911 GT2’s six-speed manual. If that last tidbit doesn’t sit well with you, we suggest reading this article.Initial performance specs are a top speed in excess of 322km/h and an approximate 0-100km/h time of 3.0 seconds or less. Look out for a debut at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show next March, with sales to commence shortly after.By 2015, a new generation of the ultimate 911, the infamous 911 GT2 RS, is expected to land. This model is expected to match the 456 kilowatts of the outgoing model but benefit from a lighter curb weight, the quick-shifting PDK and the new four-wheel-steering setup.www.motorauthority.com 

Australian Formula One ace Mark Webber will quit F1 racing at the end of this year and drive for Porsche in the LeMans 24 Hour race and sports car series from next year. A statement from Porsche issued tonight said Webber has signed “a multi-year contract” with the German car maker.Webber, 36, has already raced at Le Mans twice but his campaign was overshadowed by a dramatic crash that saw his car do a backflip at 270km/h.Since he began his Formula One career in 2002, Webber has achieved 36 podium places, nine race victories and has started from pole position 11 times.He finished third in the 2010 and 2011 F1 championships and is current ranked fifth in this year’s F1 championship. His teammate Sebastian Vettel of Germany has won the F1 championship for the past three years and is leading this year’s series.“It’s an honour for me to join Porsche at its return to the top category in Le Mans and in the sports car World Endurance Championship and be part of the team,” Mark Webber said in a Porsche statement.“Porsche has written racing history as a manufacturer and stands for outstanding technology and performance at the highest level. I’m very much looking forward to this new challenge after my time in Formula 1. Porsche will undoubtedly set itself very high goals. I can hardly wait to pilot one of the fastest sports cars in the world.”  Webber is yet to talk in detail about ending his F1 career. Originally from Queanbeyan near Canberra, Webber started racing karts at the age of 14. He won the New South Wales state championship in 1993, and moved into the Australian Formula Ford Championship after his father bought him an ex-Craig Lowndes car. Webber finished 14th in his debut season. In 1995, Webber scored several victories, including a win in the support race for the Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide and finished the season in fourth place. He moved to England at the end of that year to race in Formula Fords there. During the 1996 British Formula Ford Championship, Webber took four victories on his way to second place overall.In 1997 he was approached by Mercedes-Benz to race sports car for the German car maker, and drove for them in the 1998 and 1999 LeMans races and sports car series. He got his break into F1 in a two-day test in December 1999 driving for the small Arrows test team. His chance in the F1 championship came via Minardi in 2002 before switching to Jaguar in 2003 and 2004. He raced for Williams F1 in 2005 and 2006 before switching to Red Bull Racing in 2007, where he has been ever since.This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling 

The SLS will get a new look to the grille and lamps, but Carparazzi predicts nothing major on the mechanical front.

Do not go looking in a showroom for anything you see on the track in V8 Supercars racing. There is no such thing as an Erebus. The Nissan Altima does not have a V8 engine. Even the Falcon and Commodore that race today are barely related to the road going cars with the same name.And the Volvo S60 that hits the grid in 2014? Well, it's just a high-speed parody of a Swedish family car. Volvo is going to roll out a car with a retired V8 engine that was once used in the XC90 people mover, switching drive from the front wheels to the back, not bothering about airbags or ABS brakes, and definitely not fitting its brilliant City Safety system. So it's a Volvo, Sven, but not as we know it.V8 Supercars racing might be great entertainment, but more people are now following drivers than car brands - as Craig Lowndes proved by swapping from Holden to Ford, then back-flipping to the red lion, while continuing as the biggest drawcard in Australian motorsport.As for the old saying “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday”, it's so old that it's past its sell-by date. Literally. If you want proof you only have to look at Falcon sales results. The family Ford - or something badged that way - still wins on the track, but it's a long-term loser in showrooms and heading for the knackery in 2016. Or, quite likely, earlier.So why are car companies still joining V8 Supercars?  The simple answer is what the Gruen crew call marketing and brand building. Volvo wants to look a bit speedy, not just safe and sensible, so it's going racing.Nissan wants to create some anticipation for the upcoming mid-sized Altima, so it's going racing. Ford and Holden need to continue their appeal in the rust belt - as Toyota unkindly calls it - where the Commodore and Falcon are the top choices for secondhand shopping, so they continue racing. Track action also helps Holden shift some SS and HSV hero cars.As for Erebus, it's a life-sized racing game for mega-rich Betty Klimenko, who happens to be a huge Mercedes-Benz fan. So Benz is not backing the program, and was actively against it for a while but she is spending more than enough millions to compensate with cars that are dead ringers for Mercedes E63s.The Carsguide crew are long-time fans of touring car racing, enjoy a bit of on-track biff, and know that nothing in Australian sport is more special than Bathurst in October. But the days when Bathurst was a high-speed showroom are so far in the past that we might as well be talking about the Jurassic age.This reporter is on Twitter: @paulwardgover 

... and this M4 proves it. It is being tested at the Nurburgring just as official pictures of the regular 4 Series coupe go public, and Carparazzi sources say it will continue with a six-cylinder engine, but wearing up to three turbochargers for maximum go. Here later this year.

Mark Skaife yesterday revealed there are another three car manufacturers lining up to join the newest player on the V8 grid after the Holden chairman and Supercars' commissioner announced Volvo would to take the fight to Holden, Ford, Nissan and Mercedes next year.On another landmark day for the sport that will ensure the category's long term viability, Volvo yesterday committed to becoming V8 Supercars' fifth manufacturer, with the Swedish giant joining Garry Rogers Motorsport for a two-car assault on the championship.But Skaife said there could be more than two V8 Volvo S60s on the grid from 2015, with the former champion revealing he is still in talks with another three manufacturers about joining the series.News Limited understands BMW and Chrysler are two of the interested parties."I can say that I am in discussion with three,'' Skaife said, "We have held talks and we will continue to, going forward. They have all said they are interested but whether or not they come and play I don't know.""Either way, we have to make sensible decisions to gain factory-backed support for race teams currently not receiving that support. This is about the viability of our sport.''With five manufacturers now committed to the series next year, Skaife said the sport could only sustain a couple more entries, with the new teams chasing success in an already competitive field."I think the clever way to go about it is to say will have five manufacturers for 2014,'' Skaife said.

Volvo will once again try to change its staid image and bring an end to Volvo jokes by joining the V8 Supercar racing series in 2014 -- even though it does not sell a V8 car locally.The Swedish brand’s arrival brings the number of car makers competing in the Australian V8 championship to five, joining Holden, Ford, Nissan and Mercedes-Benz.Unlike the Mercedes deal which is privately funded, the Volvo race program is being backed by the factory, albeit paid for by Volvo Australia. Volvo will develop a V8 in Sweden especially for the race series even though it no longer offers a V8 in its passenger car range.Melbourne-based Garry Rogers Motorsport, formerly a Holden-backed operation, will run the two-car Volvo team. There are no plans to change the current driver line-up Scott McLaughlin and Alex Premat, the team says. Volvo Australia said it is a “multi-year” deal but would not disclose how exactly how many years.When asked if this would finally put an end to Volvo jokes -- after earlier racing campaigns, which included the late racing legend Peter Brock, failed to break perceptions -- the boss of Volvo Australia Matt Braid said: “I think we’re already there. That heritage has disappeared. I think there is some residual in older age groups … but times have changed and I’m sure the V8 series will enhance it.”Volvo said the racing campaign shows the company is “competing on the track and in the marketplace”, although its sales are down 10 per cent in a market that  is up by 4.5 per cent so far this year. Not having a V8 to sell to the public will not backfire on the brand, says Volvo, “because there isn’t a racing series in the world that’s tied to production cars these days”.The rule-changes to V8 Supercars this year mean the race cars no longer need to technically resemble their road-car cousins. The formula appears to be working. Last season four drivers from two teams shared 30 race wins. So far this year eight drivers from five teams have shared 19 race victories.Volvo's announcement coincides with Volvo’s unveiling of a high-performance sedan powered by a turbocharged six-cylinder engine, called the S60 Polestar and valued at $109,950.This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling