Wallpaper of the Week. #1

Image courtesy of AP from USGP 12'.

Mario Andretti's 1978 Championship winning F1 car took on a beautiful lot of F1 classics during last Saturday's Historic F1 Race at the Circuit of the Americas. While Mario was in attendance, and even interviewed the winners of the USGP on Sunday, I don't believe he piloted it during the event.

What to watch this Thanksgiving Weekend (Nov 23rd - Nov 28th)

• Formula 1 - Brazilian Grand Prix; from Cicuito Carlos Pace-Interlagos, San Paolo, Brazil. Practice #1. Friday @ 11am - 12:30am (SPEED/SPEEDHD) live; replay at 12am
• Chasing Classic Cars. Marathon of past and current seasons. Saturday @ 4pm - 12am (VelocityHD) replays
• Formula 1 - Brazilian Grand Prix; from Cicuito Carlos Pace-Interlagos, San Paolo, Brazil. Qualifying. Saturday @ 11am - 12:30pm (SPEED/SPEEDHD) live; replay at 2:30am
• Formula 1 - Brazilian Grand Prix; from Cicuito Carlos Pace-Interlagos, San Paolo, Brazil.  Race. Sunday @ 10:30am - 1pm (SPEED/SPEEDHD) live; replays @ 4:30pm & 11pm
• Top Gear (UK). Top Gear Uncovered. Monday @ 8:30pm - 10pm (BBC America/BBC America HD) new
• Motorweek. Porsche Cayenne Diesel. Tuesday @ 8pm - 8:30pm (VelocityHD)
• Legendary Motorcar. A Boss 302 comes full circle. Tuesday @ 8:30pm - 9pm (VelocityHD) new
• Chasing Classic Cars. Still Racey. Tuesday @ 10pm - 10:30pm (VelocityHD) new
• Wheeler Dealers. Cobra. Wednesday @ 9pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) replay
• Fifth Gear (UK). Season 21 Ep.10. The sounds of Jaguar, Audi and Bentley. Wednesday @10pm - 11pm (VelocityHD) new

There's only one thing to be thinking about during your Thanksgiving dinner this evening, and no it's not your extended family getting along or your plans for purchases during Black Friday. The only thing that matters is if Alonzo can keep Vettel from winning a third championship. For those of you who saw the majesty of McLaren Mercedes last weekend, you know that while RedBull Racing Renault wrapped up the Manufacturers championship already, Lewis Hamilton claiming P1 means that Alonzo has one more chance to get the better of RedBull and Sebastian Vettel. Fernando was awful proud of that third place podium spot, but it all makes sense leading us into Brazil for the final showdown. F1 seasons decided on the final race in Brazil are always worth the price of admission (just think about Kimi in 2007) and this should be no different. Make sure to get a nice slice of pie, put gravy on both your turkey and mashed potatoes, and enjoy your holiday weekends.

Video courtesy of WatanukiF1.

Quick Vid: How Shelby beat Ferrari (Drive)

Our friends at Drive/The Road Testament discuss Carroll Shelby's legacy and how he went about beating Ferrari in the 60's. Enjoy.

Video courtesy of Drive.

Quick Vid: Porsche 2012 (991) 911 Carrera vs 2013 Boxter S (CarAndDriver)

Now that the all-new Boxter S is polished and grown up, can it take out the base 911 Carrera on the track? The gang from Car and Driver (Abroad) aims to find out.

Video courtesy of CarAndDriver.

Quick Vid: Audi S8 vs BMW Alpina B7 (Motortrend)

Motortrend compares two big-body sporting saloons; the Audi S8 and the BMW originated Alpina B7.

Video courtesy of Motortrend.

Dope. #130

Image courtesy of AP from Deutsche Classic 12'.

What to watch this weekend (Nov 15th - Nov 21st)

• Mecum Auto Auctions. Muscle Cars and More 2012. From Anaheim, CA (Part 1 & 2). Thursday @ 6pm - 12am (VelocityHD) new; replay at 12am
• Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Practice #1 & #2. Friday @ 10am- 11:30am & 2pm - 3:30pm (SPEED/SPEEDHD) live
• Mecum Auto Auctions. Muscle Cars and More 2012. From Anaheim, CA (Part 3 & 4). Friday @ 6pm - 12am (VelocityHD) new; replay at 12am
• Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Practice #3. Saturday @ 10am - 11am (SPEED/SPEEDHD) live
• Mazda Motorsports Hour. MX-5 Cup: Road Atlanta, Braselton, GA - Race #2 (Episode #17). Saturday @ 12pm - 1pm (VelocityHD) new
• Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Qualifying. Saturday @ 1pm - 2:30pm (SPEED/SPEEDHD) live; replay at 12am
• Mecum Auto Auctions. Muscle Cars and More 2012. From Anaheim, CA (Part 5 & 6). Friday @ 4pm - 10am (VelocityHD) new; replay at 11am
• Porsche Supercup. Rounds 5 - 7. Saturday @ 4pm - 4:30pm (SPEED/SPEEDHD)
• Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Race. Sunday @ 1:30pm - 4pm (SPEED/SPEEDHD) live; replay @ 11pm
• Top Gear (UK). Top Gear Apocolypse. Monday @ 8:30pm - 10pm (BBC America/BBC America HD) new
• Motorweek. Ford Fusion. Tuesday @ 8pm - 8:30pm (VelocityHD)
• Legendary Motorcar. Shelby convention at Watkins Glen. Tuesday @ 8:30pm - 9pm (VelocityHD)
• Chasing Classic Cars. The curve ball. Tuesday @ 10pm - 10:30pm (VelocityHD) new
• Wheeler Dealers. Porsche 914. Wednesday @ 9pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) replay
• Fifth Gear (UK). Season 21 Ep.9. Ferrari Aluminum. Wednesday @10pm - 11pm (VelocityHD) new

As you can see above we've got a loaded weekend and probably one of the last big ones before the winter. I haven't done a F1 wrap up in some time, so I'll use this opportunity to recap the last two races: 

India Grand Prix -
Whoa. Vettel lead from pole to flag again, but some other interesting things took place. McLaren Finally had both cars finish the race in the top ten, Hams grabbing 4th and Button snagging 6th(?). Alonzo faught his way into 2nd place; Ferrari seemed to do the best job setting up their car for Budh's long straights, having the top-end game in a headlock. Shuey DNF'd for the eighth time, Senna grabbed a championship point and the current top five is as follows: Vettel, Alonzo (-13), Raikkonen (-67), Webber (-73), Hamilton (-75).

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix -
Hams takes pole like a big dawg and redbull has nothing but problems. After the smoke cleared, Vettel had to start from the back of the field and an opening was given for those fighting for third currently and more importantly for Alonzo who was now trying to take the championship lead back before the US Grand Prix. Rosberg and Karthikeyan came together in an amazing crash that left both drivers discussing the incident afterwards; thankfully it wasn't worse given the speed of the incident. Meanwhile in McLaren-land, they still can't put two reliable cars out there. Unfortunately for Hamilton, it was his turn to have a car failure and lose out on his ability to get into the driver championship chase discussion. Not surprisingly as he's leaving next year, he handled it like a professional. Alonzo and Ferrari's reliability seemed to have put them on top...then Vettel just about pulls a Button in Canada (circa 2011) and ends up on the podium. Unbelievable. The bright spot? The Iceman, Kimi Raikkonen, picks up his first win since coming back to Forumla One, which the Lotus Renault team has been fighting for all season. Alonzo and Vettel are siamese twins once again, finding themselves next to one another. Alonzo was only able to gain three points on Vettel and he'll only have two more chances to wrestle the championship away from the young phenom. The failed attempts at censoring Kimi and Seb during the Coulthard podium interviews were also entertaining. Current top five: Vettel, Alonzo (-10), Raikkonen (-57), Webber (-88), Hamilton (-90).

This brings us to Austin, Texas. The brand new Circuit of the Americas facility, with paint still wet, is now open to host the second to last race of the 2012 F1 season. Enjoy your weekends; we'll do our best to get some good material for you fine folks while we're down there. Don't expect BGP coverage ha, we're just going as race fans.

Video courtesy of NARLtv.