Rally Pron Feature: We Drove Sebastien Loeb's 2008 Citroen C4 WRC Championship Winning Rally Car (Carfection)

Henry gets a crack at Sebatian Loeb's 2008 championship winning Citroen C4 WRC car (chassis #14). First, he walks through this cars' history with RM Sotheby's auctioneer extraordinaire Max, Girardo.

Video courtesy of Carfection.

What to watch this Weekend (Aug 14th - Aug 18th)

• Bitchin Rides. Mon/Tue/Wed @ 6pm - 7pm (MotorTrend) replays
• Garage Squad. Mon/Wed @ 7pm - 8pm (MotorTrend) replay
• Auto Mundial. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (MotorTrend) replays
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (MotorTrend) replays
• Wheeler Dealers. Tuesday @11pm - 12am (MotorTrend) replay
• Wheeler Dealers: Dream Car. Mini-marathon. Wednesday 11am - 3pm (MotorTrend) replays
• Chasing Classic Cars. Wednesday @ 10pm - 11pm (MotorTrend) new

Enjoy your weekends.

Video courtesy of carwow.

What to watch this F1 Weekend (July 30th - Aug 4th)

• Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Hungary; from the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary. Practice 1. Friday @ 5:25am - 6:30am (ESPN2) live
• Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Hungary; from the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary. Practice 2. Friday @ 8:55am - 10am (ESPNU) live
• Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Hungary; from the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary. Practice 3. Friday @ 5:55am - 7am (ESPN2) live
• Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Hungary; from the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary. Qualifying. Saturday @ 8:55am - 10am (ESPN2) live
• Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Hungary; from the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary. Race. Sunday @ 9:05am - 11am (ESPN) live
• Bitchin Rides. Mon/Tue/Wed @ 6pm - 7pm (MotorTrend) replays
• Garage Squad. Mon/Wed @ 7pm - 8pm (MotorTrend) replay
• Auto Mundial. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (MotorTrend) replays
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (MotorTrend) replays
• Wheeler Dealers. Tuesday @11pm - 12am (MotorTrend) replay
• Chasing Classic Cars. Wednesday @ 10pm - 11pm (MotorTrend) new

Silverstone's race weekend (and first lap for that matter) was an eye opener to say the least; we had our first sprint quali session which determined the GP starting order after an exciting traditional quali session on Friday afternoon. Hamilton took pole on Friday and Max converted his second place finish into pole in the sprint quali on Saturday afternoon. Then the lessons learned from sprint quali lead to potentially one of a few more race incidents between Max and Hamilton. I won't get into fault and all of that, there have been plenty of talking heads with that analysis, including the chainbear vid below, but as well all know when two racing drivers want to win and don't back down, shit happens. In this case Max just so happened to get the worse end of the contact and Hamilton ended up with minor damage (broken wheel rim that got swapped during the ensuing red flag) and parlayed some good race pace on hards into a race victory. What made this situation even more unfortunate for Red Bull Racing, the sprint race turned out as bad as it could've for Checo. He spun out late in the sprint race which resulted in him having to start the GP from the pit lane; he drove himself back into the points, but instead of taking 8th (with a possibility of taking 7th), RBR pit him late to steal the fastest lap point away from Merc/Hamilton. Not sure this was the most logical decision on the face, but it's in the books. The primary thing to pay attention to here is how Max and Hamilton will choose to go forward, in races; will they be more apt to contact one another again while imposing their will? Will things get more chippy as races pass? There is a lot at stake here, specifically for Red Bull Racing as they're trying to snag a Constructors' (and Drivers') chip heading into the new regulations of 2022, with by all accounts is a better overall package this year. Meanwhile Merc is trying to lockout the first stretch of the turbo-hybrid era with an 8th Constructors title. Lewis is trying to take his 8th Driver's title and break the Schumacher's historic record. In the meantime, Ferrari has been looking better, Charles taking second after almost taking the win. McLaren had a decent day as well, which definitely suggests the Constructors' fight for 3rd will drag out until very late in the year. With the checkered flag dropped Max now has an 8pt lead over Hamilton, cut down from 33. RBRs lead over Mercedes AMG is now just 4pts. Ferrari is now within 15pts of McLaren. Hungary should tell us plenty about what will happen through the second half of this Championship, post-summer break.

Enjoy your motorsport weekends.

Video courtesy of ChainBear.

Check here for the Formula1 race recap.

What to watch this F1 Weekend (June 25th - June 30th)

• Formula 1 - Steiermark Grand Prix; from the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. Practice 1. Friday @ 5:25am - 6:30am (ESPN2) live
• Formula 1 - Steiermark Grand Prix; from the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. Practice 2. Friday @ 8:55am - 10am (ESPNU) live
• Formula 1 - Steiermark Grand Prix; from the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. Practice 3. Friday @ 5:55am - 7am (ESPN2) live
• Formula 1 - Steiermark Grand Prix; from the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. Qualifying. Saturday @ 8:55am - 10am (ESPN2) live
• Formula 1 - Steiermark Grand Prix; from the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. Race. Sunday @ 9:05am - 11:30am (ESPN) live
• WeatherTech Sports Car Championship. Six hours of the Glen. From Watkins Glen International Raceway in New York. Sunday @ 7pm - 10pm (NBCSN) same-day delay
• Garage Squad. Mon/Tue/Wed @ 4pm - 5pm (MotorTrend) replays
• Bitchin Rides. Mon/Tue/Wed @ 6pm - 7pm (MotorTrend) replays
• Auto Mundial. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (MotorTrend) replays
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (MotorTrend) replays
• Wheeler Dealers. Wednesday @11pm - 12am (MotorTrend) replays

Short week so watch the vid below to get caught up if you didn't watch the race. Red Bull did the old undercut double stop is better than your in the lead single stop race and have put Max and RBR further into their respective Championship leads. Bottas gets screwed out of a better result. Checo had a great race, so did Alonso and McLaren. Ferrari was no where to be found outside of street circuits. There are a lot of questions the Mercedes AMG strategists have to answer going into Red Bulls home race this weekend.

Enjoy your motorsport weekends.

Video courtesy of peterwindsor.

Official race recap courtesy of Formula1.

What to watch this F1 Weekend (Oct 23rd - Oct 27th)

• Formula 1 - Portugal Grand Prix; from Autodromo Internacional do Algarve. Practice 1. Friday @ 5:55am - 7:30am (ESPN2) live
• Formula 1 - Portugal Grand Prix; from Autodromo Internacional do Algarve. Practice 2. Friday @ 9:55am - 11:30am (ESPN2) live
• Formula 1 - Portugal Grand Prix; from Autodromo Internacional do Algarve. Practice 3. Saturday @ 5:55am - 7am (ESPN) live
• Formula 1 - Portugal Grand Prix; from Autodromo Internacional do Algarve. Qualifying. Saturday @ 8:55am - 10am @ (ESPN2) live
• Formula 1 - Portugal Grand Prix; from Autodromo Internacional do Algarve. Race. Sunday @ 9am - 11am (ESPN2) live
• Bitchin Rides. Mon/Tues/Wed @ 4pm - 5pm (MotorTrend) replays
• Garage Squad. Mon/Tues/Wed @ 6pm - 7pm (MotorTrend) replays
• Auto Mundial. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (MotorTrend) 
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (MotorTrend) new
• Garage Squad. Tuesday @ 9pm - 10pm (MotorTrend) new
• Chasing Classic Cars. Tuesday @ 10pm - 11pm (MotorTrend) new
• Bitchin Rides. Wednesday @ 9pm - 10pm (MotorTrend) new

The Eifel Grand Prix had some drama, but not in the way that you'd think before Sunday. Bottas took pole and was riding high after a race win, however, the stars didn't align for him -- while chasing Hams down after swapping tires had a powertrain failure and DNF'd. Max had a great race and finished second, pipping the fastest lap on his final lap by thousandths; he had just about no help from Albon who had another rough weekend and a DNF, leading to talk about his replacement from Helmut Marco. Gasley had another solid performance, taking 6th, but the current talk is that he won't get promoted to race along side Max. Meanwhile Perez is looking sharp and is looking for a seat so the rumors are swirling. The DNF bug was pretty widespread at the 'Ring, with 5 cars getting claimed, including Norris (who did his best Alonso impression afterwards) and Ocon. The best storyline of the day was definitely Ricciardo, taking his first podium for Renault and ensuring at least one tattoo on Cyril's body as result and an ecstatic Renault Team afterwards. Daniel is in an odd place now leaving for McLaren when Renault is coming together. The next best story was Hulkenberg doing another pinch hitting job for the pink Merc's after Stroll fell ill (non-covid apparently). He got the call, made it in time for Qualy, had no time in the car and got the boot in Q1, but then raced well Sunday and finished 8th for 4 championship points. Absolutely fantastic drive, the German media were all over him and it was well deserved. He's also looking for a seat next year. Perez took 4th, Sainz took 5th and Leclerc did well to take Ferrari to 7th. Vettel had another rough weekend and Giovinazzi got his first championship point to the delight of Alfa Romeo. With the checkered flag dropped, Hamilton took his 91st win to match Schumi, Mick gifted Lewis a used helmet on behalf of the family and Merc is on the way to locking up both championships. Lastly Kimi broke the record for the most F1 race starts, with 323; what a career he's had. The 2020 F1 Driver's Championship standings are as follows: Hamilton, Bottas (-69), Verstappen (-83), Ricciardo (-152), Perez (-162), Norris (-165). Algarve will bring a new challenge to the paddock this weekend so it'll be interesting to see how Renault continues to progress, how the mid-field shakes out with updates from Ferrari and McLaren along with how Bottas bounces back, including future engine part penalties. Should be another exciting weekend.

Enjoy your motorsport weekends. 

Video courtesy of Formula1.

Video courtesy of FormulaWorld.

Dope Vid. #302

Video courtesy of LukeHuxham.

What to watch this Weekend (Oct 5th - Oct 9th)

• Garage Squad. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (MotorTrend) replay
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (MotorTrend) replay
• Wheeler Dealers. Tuesday @ 10pm - 11pm (MotorTrend) new
• Speed Is The New Black. Wednesday @ 8pm - 9pm (MotorTrend) new
• Garage Squad. Season 6 Ep 7. Wednesday @ 9pm - 10pm (MotorTrend) new

Enjoy your weekends.

Video courtesy of Drivetribe.

What to watch this Weekend (June 6th - June 12th)

• Isle of Man TT. 2019 insane action from the infamous Isle. Thursday @ 11pm - 12am (VelocityHD) new
• The Grand Tour. Season 3. Episodes on demand. Friday (Amazon Prime) 
• Formula 1 - Canadian Grand Prix; from Gilles Villeneuve Circuit in Montreal, Canada. Practice 1. Friday @ 9:55am - 11:30am (ESPNU(HD)) live
• Formula 1 - Canadian Grand Prix; from Gilles Villeneuve Circuit in Montreal, Canada. Practice 2. Friday @ 1:55pm - 3:30pm (ESPNU(HD)) live
• Isle of Man TT. 2019 insane action from the infamous Isle. Friday @ 11pm - 12am (VelocityHD) new
• Formula 1 - Canadian Grand Prix; from Gilles Villeneuve Circuit in Montreal, Canada. Practice 3. Saturday @ 10:55am - 12pm (ESPN2(HD)) live
• Formula 1 - Canadian Grand Prix; from Gilles Villeneuve Circuit in Montreal, Canada. Qualifying. Saturday @ 1:55pm - 3pm (ESPNNews(HD)) live
• Isle of Man TT. 2019 insane action from the infamous Isle. Saturday @ 11pm - 12am (VelocityHD) new
• Formula 1 - Canadian Grand Prix; from Gilles Villeneuve Circuit in Montreal, Canada. Race. Sunday @ 1:30pm - 4pm (ABC(HD)) live
• Chasing Classic Cars. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (MotorTrendHD) replay
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (MotorTrendHD) replay
• Wheeler Dealers. Wednesday @ 8pm - 9pm (MotorTrendHD)

Monaco was quite the weekend. Merc finally failed to get a 1-2 finish, but they still got a 1-3 finish. Ferrari got on the podium, but only because Red Bull released Max into Bottas and there was contact; this lead to a 5 second penalty, which put Max in 4th even though he hounded Hams until the very end -- Hamilton taking a set of mediums into uncharted territory, 60+ laps on a tire only supposed to do 50. However Monaco is a track position dominant track, so once you get your stop in you can typically run to the end if you have the separation needed at right sections of the circuit, which Merc had in spades; Hams rears were perfect even though his left front was graining so he could hook up out of corners without issue. Verstappen was in a pickle once he realized there would be a time penalty for the unsafe release, so he could either run to the end to get as far ahead of 3rd and 4th place as possible to maintain a podium finish, which would require he get past Hamilton, or pit, take the penalty then and try to overtake his way back onto the podium, which didn't look likely unless there was another safety car. No additional safety car came, it didn't rain, so he tried to take on Hamilton for his position. Hams drove a strong race through some old tires and defended like the grizzled vet that his is. Vettel got a surprisingly good finish despite not qualifying to well, on behalf of Ferrari, but Ferrari is still trying to figure out why they can't turn tires on. Honda missed out on making the podium in Monaco, but has been superior to Renault in every way in 2019. Bottas looked strong again this weekend, but was unable to take pole despite a great lap; Hamilton pushed his Merc to the limit and just managed to edge him out in his final lap while Bottas couldn't warm his tires up well enough for the end of Q3. Ferrari's strategy is still suspicious, Leclerc fell victim to that in Q1 -- he should've been told to go back out since the track was getting faster while he sat in the pit (after a salvaged weigh-bridge snaffu, Leclerc missing his call in and his pit pushing him back to avoid penalty). Gasley had another strong race, finishing 5th behind Max and taking the fastest lap point late in the race on softs. McLaren did well enough to get Sainz into 6th, but Norris missed the points in 11th. Torro Rosso finished 7-8, getting all four Honda powertrains well into the top ten. Ricciardo had a scrappy race and got a point for Renault in 9th, but they still have plenty to sort out. Alfa Romeo was MIA and Williams didn't finish in the last two places (15th (Russell) and 18th (Kubica)). The Driver's Championship standings are as follows: Hamilton, Bottas (-17), Vettel (-55), Verstappen (-59), Leclerc (-80), Gasely (-105).  Canada should be a chance for all the teams to reassert themselves; unfortunately Merc is getting an engine upgrade. Red Bull is slowly putting themselves into position to overtake Ferrari; let's see how that effort shakes out.

Enjoy your weekends.

Video courtesy of Autosport.

What to watch this Memorial Day Weekend (May 23rd - May 29th)

• Formula 1 - Monaco Grand Prix. From Circuit de Monaco. Practice 1. Thursday @ 4:55am - 7am (ESPN2(HD)) live
• Formula 1 - Monaco Grand Prix. From Circuit de Monaco. Practice 2. Thursday @ 8:55am - 11am (ESPN2(HD)) live
• The Grand Tour. Season 3. Episodes on demand. Friday (Amazon Prime)
• Formula 1 - Monaco Grand Prix. From Circuit de Monaco. Practice 3. Saturday @ 5:55am - 7:30am (ESPN2(HD)) live 
• Formula E - Berlin. Race. Saturday @ 6:30am - 8am (FS1(HD)) 
• Formula 1 - Monaco Grand Prix. From Circuit de Monaco. Qualifying. Saturday @ 8:55am - 10:30am (ESPN2(HD)) live; replay @ 2:30p on ABC(HD)
• Formula 1 - Monaco Grand Prix. From Circuit de Monaco. Race. Sunday @ 9:05am - 11:30am (ESPN(HD)) live; same-day replay @ 3:30pm (ABC(HD))
• IndyCar Series - The Indianapolis 500. From Indianapolis Motor Speedway, from Speedway, Indiana. Sunday @ 12am - 3:30pm (NBC(HD)) live
• Chasing Classic Cars. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (MotorTrendHD) replay
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (MotorTrendHD) replay
• Bitchin Rides. Tuesday @ 8pm - 9pm (MotorTrendHD) replay
• Wheeler Dealers. Wednesday @ 8pm - 9pm (MotorTrendHD) replay

What can we say about Spain? Bottas was faster than Hams in qualy, which is more of the new page in this team dynamic, but Hamilton got the jump in the race and never gave it back, taking the win and the fastest lap (making a point to counter Bottas' race domination of Australia) -- which is something we've seen before. Red Bull out paced the Ferrari with Verstappen at the wheel on a track where Ferrari looked the strongest in pre-season running; Maranello is still looking for answers to why they can't take their power to the front, still working to figure out how to turn on their tires at will aaaand how to best work team race strategy. Haas looks like they figured out their tire warm-up problems (Ferrari engineers were looking at their car at various points of the weekend) and are competitive with their latest package; bur was it the upgrades or the track or both? Merc's new package has proven another step on, which is making things interesting all around. Mclaren still looks strong and are chipping away at the results every week, but Norris got pulled a short straw with contact and a DNF leaving only Sainz bringing in points. Renault is making it to the end of races, but are still no better than some of the teams they're supplying engines to. It's going to be a long season for them. Kvyat put together another decent race, taking a couple points, Albon in the partner Toro Rosso finishing in 11th behind Grosjean. Mercedes 1-2, for a fifth race in a row, with Spain being a send off present to retiring Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche. It looks like the Manufacturers Championship is a wrap at this point, but there are a ton of races left. With the checkered flag dropped the Driver's Championship standings are as follows: Hamilton, Bottas (-7), Verstappen (-46), Vettel (-48), Leclerc (-55), Gasley (-91). If Red Bull keeps progressing they'll be fighting for second in the constructors -- hopefully some appearance of parity will show up by summer to make this more interesting.

This weekend in picturesque Monaco, the low speed corner heavy street circuit awaits. Merc looks strong on every different type of track thus far. Let's see if they can perhaps be knocked off one of the top two podium steps this weekend. Oh and don't forget the Indy 500 later in the day (although Alonso didn't qualify due to a myriad of struggles with McLaren's IndyCar entry).

In sadder news, in case you missed the news on Tuesday, F1 legend Niki Lauda passed away on Monday. I was just thinking how it was odd that I hadn't seen him in the Merc pits for some time now, but I didn't realize he was dealing with an number of ailments going back to a lung transplant last Summer. He was involved with a number of incredible events in the history of the sport, he was a three time F1 world champion, a successful entrepreneur and team Chairman and more importantly he was a respected man and racing driver with a rcers resolve that is second to none. He'll be missed.

Enjoy your motorsports weekends.

Videos courtesy of Autosport.

Hillclimb Pron: On Board : S. LOEB Pikes Peak FULL RECORD [HD] (OptionAuto)

If you don't know who Sebastian Loeb is, you don't follow motorsport. Seb has been racking up consecutive WRC championships behind the wheel of a Citroën for the past 9 years and has, in recent years, been branching out into other motorsport events that fit his 'particular set of skills'. Backed by Peugeot and partner Red Bull, he's won world Rallycross events (2012 X-Games Gold Medalist) and Hillclimb events like the famous Pikes Peak challenge, this year. Peugeot's new 208 T16 was piloted by the flying Frechman to a new Pikes Peak record of 8m13.878s. Put this one in HD and turn up the volume.

Video hosting courtesy of OptionAuto.

Current Events: F1 Making Of: Red Bull RB7 Flat Out in New Jersey (Shakedown)

Leo Parente of Drive and Shakedown fame, brings us behind the scenes of the F1 promotional video showcasing a flat out lap of the 2013 Weehawken New Jersey Grand Prix street track, with David Coulthard and Sebastian Vettel. Enjoy.

Video courtesy of Drive.