Month: March 2012

Last weekend’s 12 Hours of Sebring proved once again that anything can happen as the deciding moments came down to the final laps. Now that everyone has had a chance to post their race recaps as well as upload their photos and videos, we bring to you our final Sebring news roundup.

In those final laps, the battle was essentially being fought between BMW and Ferrari. But after the Ferrari’s sister car got in the act and sent the class leading BWM and 2nd place Ferrari off-course, Corvette Racing was there to finish 2nd and 3rd in the American Le Mans Series standings.

Here you will find links to the driver’s recaps, race summaries, photo and videos.

• Tommy Milner: Twelve Hours of Awesome
• IN THE COCKPIT: Jan Magnussen, Sebring ALMS
• Olly Gavin on the Sebring 12 Hours
• Jordan Taylor’s Passenger on the way home from Sebring
• Corvette Racing at the 2012 12 Hours of Sebring
• Pratt & Miller’s Photo Gallery of Sebring 2012 – Corvette Racing
• Corvettes at the Sebring Corvette Corral (photos)
• Charley Robertson’s Sebring Photos
• [VIDEO] 12 Hours of Sebring – TRACKSIDE
• The Only Five Minutes Of The Sebring 12-Hour You Need To Watch
• Official Recap – Corvette Racing Finishes Second and Third in ALMS GT in Sebring

Corvette Racing’s next event is the American Le Mans Series at Long Beach on Saturday, April 14.

Related:
Corvette Racing Finishes Second and Third in ALMS GT in Sebring
Corvette Racing Qualifies One-Two in ALMS GT for Sebring 12-Hour Race
Corvette Racing: Links for the 60th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring
Sebring to Celebrate Corvette’s Racing Heritage in Hall of Fame Ceremony
Corvette Racing to Debut New Wide-Body Race Cars in Sebring Season-Opener
How Virtual Racing Helped Jordan Taylor Secure a Driver Seat With Corvette Racing
Corvette Racing to Debut New Wide-Body Race Cars in Sebring Season-Opener

 

The National Corvette Museum’s plans for a motorsports park remain on track for a proposed 2014 opening after the Warren County Fiscal Court on March 21 unanimously approved the first reading of a rezoning ordinance.

The museum must have the 405 acres of land changed from agriculture to planned unit development zoning for the facility to be built.

That hurdle could be cleared soon if the Fiscal Court approves the second reading of the rezoning of the property, located at Porter Pike and Grimes and McGinnis roads, at an upcoming meeting, the Bowling Green Daily News reports.

Earlier this year, in the first stage of the rezoning process, the City-County Planning Commission already approved the rezoning by an 8-3 vote, but at that meeting, several residents of the area turned out to express concern about the motorsports park because they fear it will increase noise and traffic in their neighborhoods.

Museum Executive Director Wendell Strode tried to allay those concerns by saying the museum will bring in an acoustical engineer to determine what steps need to be taken to prevent increased noise and has already completed a traffic study.

“We want to be a good neighbor,” he said.

At least one Warren County official seems to be a supporter of the park, noting that the museum draws about 150,000 visitors a year into the county, with many staying more than one day.

“This kind of facility will increase their stay,” Warren County Judge-Executive Mike Buchanon said.

The first phase of the park will be built on 184 acres at a cost of $20 million and will feature a 2.94-mile road course, an autocross area, and a skid pad training area.

Depending on the success of the first phase, the museum may pursue a second phase on another neighboring 200-plus acres, Strode said.

The motorsports park would serve as a location for the museum’s two driving instructors to teach high-performance driving education classes, which are taught in locations such as Virginia International Raceway and Putnam Park Road Course in Indiana, he said.

If you’d like to make a donation to the National Corvette Museum’s Motorsports Park, visit www.motorsportspark.org.

Source:
Bowling Green Daily News

Related:
Corvette Museum Gets Zoning for Motorsport Park
Corvette Museum’s Motorsports Park Project Kicked into High Gear
[VIDEO] Corvette Racing’s Doug Fehan Q & A with Corvette Owners at Petit Le Mans

 

Two of America’s coolest cars ever recently battled in a race set up by Super Power Beat Down.

The website decided to see what would happen when the 1966 Batmobile took on the 1989 Batmobile. You’d think that 23 years worth of technology would be worth something, but you’ll have to watch the video to find out for sure.

By the way, these aren’t the original cars used in the movie and TV show, but instead are replicas built by Mark Towle.

He says the 1966 replica is built on a C4 Corvette platform with an L98 fuel-injected engine capable of about 300 or 325-hp and a top speed of 150 to 160mph.

The 1989, meanwhile, features a Camaro front clip on a custom frame with a 350 Chevy crate motor rated at 285-hp and a top speed of about 180mph.

Asked which one he would pick in a race, Towle said he and a crew member would race to find out and he invited two passengers, Damian Beurer of acomicbooknerd.com in the ’66 and Andy Liegl of publicattack.net in the ’89.

Before the race, Andy pointed out that the ’89 has features like grenades coming out of the tires, a side-mounted disc launcher, machine guns on the hood, aircraft-like controls with a self-diagnostic system, voice activation, voice recognition, and even a CD burner!

The ’66, Damian noted, is atomic powered, voice activated, and has a direct link back to the Batcave.

Which one do you think will win? Seventy-seven percent of SPBD voters answered a poll and believe the ’89 will be the champ. Watch the video to find out!

There is a longer version of the video that includes a lot more setup as well as the bikini-wearing hostess washing down the Batmobiles at the end.

And finally, if that didn’t fill your batcup to brim with superhero goodness, check out Jalopnik which brings us the tale of Batman in a Lamborghini getting pulled over by the police.

Source:
CarBuzz.com

Related:
SEMA 2011: The George Barris Bat Ray Corvette
Corvettes on eBay: 1978 Batmobile Replica
Custom Batmobile Made From 1958 Corvette
Holy Cow Batman! The Batmobile is a Corvette!