Dope. #63

Photo courtesy of Mats Alfredsson

What to watch this weekend (Aug 18th - Aug 24th)

• Inside West Coast Customs. Marathon. Saturday @ 6am - 7pm (Discovery's HD Theater) replays
• Isle of Man 2011. Supersport TT Race 1. Saturday @ 11am - 12pm (Discovery's HD Theater)
• American Le Mans Series. Time Warner Cable Road Race Showcase. From Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Saturday @ 3:15pm - 7:00pm (ESPN3.com) replay Sunday @ 4:30p on ABC/ABCHD
• Rolex Sports Car Series. Montreal 200. From Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal Canada. Saturday @ 7pm - 9:30pm (SPEED/SPEEDHD) live
• Top Gear (UK). 90minute special mini-marathon. See the Vietnam, Middle East, America and Bolivian Rainforest specials. Sunday @ 1pm - 7pm (BBC America/BBC America HD) great replays
• Motorweek. 2012 Chrysler 300. Tuesday @ 8pm - 8:30pm (Discovery's HD Theater)
• The Car Show with Adam Carolla. Seattle Rally. Wednesday @ 10p - 11pm (SPEED/SPEEDHD)

ALMS and Grand-AM action for all to see this weekend, which brings up thoughts of the upcoming Baltimore Grand Prix here in Maryland. I'm proud to say that ROTL will be present as official media providing coverage for the event, over Labor Day weekend, and I'm pretty siked. No worries if you can't make the trek for this inaugural Baltimore Festival of Speed event, the coverage will be posted here soon afterwards. In the meantime, enjoy the weekend and look forward to the return of F1 next week.

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Quick Vid: Martini Racing Porsche 936

I left the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart last month with a lot of visuals (still knee deep in editing), but also a lot of unanswered questions. There's nothing quite like seeing a legendary race car in the flesh, but better than seeing alone would be hearing it breathe fire too. So many great machines and engines, but nothing but digitally spoken history and specs. This vid gives you a feel for what a 936 sounded like on race day.



Video courtesy of CarChannelClassic.

Quick Vid: BMW M3 GTS vs Porsche 911 GT3 (Autocar)

Autocar runs a very interesting test. They pit the all new, $100k+, BMW M3 GTS versus the category benchmark Porsche 911 GTS. Guess what'll happen, then press play.

Car Pron: Audi at Wörthersee 2011

Audi wraps up action at this years Wörthersee Treffen. One of these days I'll make one. The important takeaway here is Audi regularly establishing a presence for the enthusiast contingent of it's owners, and future owners. Audi even brought it's bespoke pocket rocket to Worthersee, the W11 aka the A1 Clubsport; its name has a great ring to it.

Dope. #62

Image courtesy of Kris Clewell

What to watch this weekend (Aug 11th - Aug 17th)

• Wheeler Dealers. 1985 BMW 635csi. Thursday @ 4pm - 5pm (Discovery's High Def Theater) replay
• GT Racer - Le Mans. Historic automobile race at Le Mans. Saturday @ 10am - 11am (Discovery's HD Theater) replay
• Isle of Man 2011. Side car racing action from this years series. Saturday @ 11am - 12pm (Discovery's HD Theater)
• Rolex Sports Car Series. Canadian Tire 200. From Watkins Glen International Raceway in New York. Saturday @ 6pm - 8:30pm (SPEED/SPEEDHD) live - replay Monday @ 12pm
• WRC - Rally Finland. Days 1 & 2 and behind the scenes specials. Sunday @ 12pm - 3pm (Discovery's HD Theater) not a live telecast - preview starts at 11am
• Top Gear (UK). Season 13 (Ep.2) "Jeremy, Richard and James compete to find the perfect car for a seventeen year old. Plus, they stage the first-ever race between a McLaren F1 and a 1000 horsepower Bugatti Veyron." Monday @ 11pm - 12am (BBC America/BBC America HD) great replay
• Motorweek. 2012 Fiat 500. Tuesday @ 8pm - 8:30pm (Discovery's HD Theater) replay
• The Car Show with Adam Carolla. Supercar showdown. Wednesday @ 10p - 11pm (SPEED/SPEEDHD)

WRC and Grand-Am action this weekend. The Rolex Sports Car Series has the luxury of sharing Watkins Glen with NASCAR all weekend, resulting in a unusual time slot on Saturday evening. Isle of Man is back with action from this year, showcasing an even hairier form of racing on the streets of this small island; side car racing. You need to watch this at least once, incredible pairs on all those that compete. As a gift, a sample from last years' action is the jewel for this post. In addition to those mentioned previously, you'll see we sprinkled a few other shows that have entertainment value. Enjoy the shows, but make sure to come to VAG Fair on Saturday.