IMSA 2008 LM Porsche 997 GT3 RSR

Lately I'm so into GT2 race car collection. It's no surprise adding a Porsche 997 GT3. The Ferrari VS Porsche phenomenon in GT2 class battle was somewhat a boring topic in recent years. But thing has changed in 2010. With newcomers like Corvette, BMW entering the series, the GT2 battle is getting very exciting. Who will be the first to crossed the conquered flags after 24 HR non-stop racing at Le Mans this year?

Ok! back to the model car. This is another 1/43 by Spark. I'm totally satisfied with the way Spark replicate this car. Every single parts had been fitted in nicely. Paint and decals were nicely done too...

If any of you wish to add a 1/43 Porsche to your collection. I'll recommend you these items:
S1952 SPARK Porsche 997 GT3 Le Mans LMGT2 Class LM 1:43

S1956 SPARK Porsche 997 GT3 Le Mans LMGT2 2009 LM 1:43
* Recommended seller DiecastBase buy with 100% confident.

Civic Type R Euro

Well, I'm not into road car collection. But at times it's hard to resist . Take the Ebbro Honda Civic Type R Euro for exmple. It's just too HOT! I just asked one of my regular supplier, they said more than 200 PCS (of various colors) were SOLD since it released last year. So do you want one? Feel free to contact Raymond/ Ryan via cs@diecastbase.com for more information.

The 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours GT2

The battle in the GT2 class is set to become a classic fight with seventeen entries from seven makes: Aston Martin, BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, Jaguar, Porsche and Spyker.

Starting with the winners from 2009, Risi Competizione. The American Le Mans Series team will again enter two cars in France. GT2 winner Jaime Melo will be back to defend his title, while Tracey Krohn and Nic Jonsson will be in the second Risi car and hope to improve from the third place they took in 2009.

The runner-up from 2009, BMS Scuderia Italia, will also return to Le Mans, although Matteo Malucelli will not be racing a Ferrari this year. The team will race a Porsche 997 GT3 RSR this year, likely to be the car that was raced in the 2009 FIA GT Championship by Brixia Racing, part of BMS Scuderia Italia.

JMW Motorsport, fourth at Le Mans last year with its Ferrari, will also return to La Sarthe with another car. The British squad will be running an Aston Martin Vantage, the only Aston currently in the race.

A strong performance from the Spyker Squadron team last year meant the Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R took a brilliant fifth place finish. As in recent years the Dutch squad has been given one confirmed entry and one car on the reserve list. It was interesting to see that the entry list shows Tim Coronel on the #85 and Tom Coronel on the reserve car, but this ‘mix-up’ should soon be corrected.

Completing the top six in 2009 was the AF Corse Ferrari F430 GT2 driven by Perez Companc and Russo. The two Argentine drivers will be back with AF Corse this year. The second AF Corse car, with Giancarlo Fisichella named on it, is on the reserve list.

The top six of 2009 will be facing a very strong opposition in June though.

Corvette Racing will join the category at Le Mans with its Corvette GT2 and drivers Magnussen, Gavin, Beretta, O’Connell and Garcia. Considering their successful era in GT1 the American manufacturer hopes to repeat this success in GT2.

But the Corvettes aren’t the only new cars that could be serious race win contenders. BMW Motorsport will also return to Le Mans with its BMW E92 M3 and drivers like Jörg and Dirk Müller, Dirk Werner, Andy Priaulx and Augusto Farfus are expected to race for the German manufacturer.
Four other Porsches are entered. Le Mans Series winning team Team Felbermayr-Proton and American Le Mans Series winner Flying Lizard Motorsports will both enter one car. Seth Neiman has been confirmed for the American team, while Horst Felbermayr is named on the Felbermayr car. Felbermayr-Proton has its second car on the reserve list, with Marc Lieb as designated driver. Like at Spyker this could of course change as Lieb has been entered in the same team and might be able to switch to the lead entry.

IMSA Performance Matmut and ProSpeed Competition are the last two Porsches on the 2010 grid. Narac is confirmed on the IMSA Porsche. Dutch Porsche dealer and GT3.nl owner Paul van Splunteren will enter the ProSpeed Competition Porsche, second in FIA GT in 2009.

The two remaining Ferrari F430 GT2s on the list are no small teams either. Modena Group Racing, the renamed Team Modena, will enter one for Roman Rusinov and two other yet to be announced drivers while Hankook Team Farnbacher will enter a car for top drivers Dominik Farnbacher and Allan Simonsen.

A big surprise is the final confirmed entry…the RSR Jaguar XKR GT2. This car did only compete in one race…but the return of the Jaguar name to Le Mans (and of course the team’s plan for 2010) was enough to persuade the Selection Committee to give them an entry.

With seventeen confirmed GT2 cars it seems hard for the reserve cars to get into the race. All of the teams on the list already have one car in. The only exception is the Hong Kong Racing Aston Martin Vantage. This team raced at Okayama, but under normal circumstances we will likely not see this car in France.

Even with so many cars in the race or on the reserve list there were still some teams that missed out. For example CRS Racing and Robertson Racing are not invited, despite full seasons back in 2009 and confirmed plans for 2010. CRS Racing for example has confirmed two-car entries for the entire Le Mans Series as well as International GT Open and the Robertson Racing Ford GT could have given the GT2 race yet another brand. With the Robertsons doing the Asian Le Mans Series as well last year it seems strange that they are not going to race at Le Mans.

All in all the GT2 category at Le Mans is likely to become a classic and not the Ferrari vs Porsche battle it was in recent years. After Spyker went after the Ferrari’s in 2009 BMW and Corvette are now ready to fight for the class victory.

Nissan GT-R GT1

Finally, I got the chance to post the long awaited Nissan GT-R GT1. Just as I thought, it was matter of time for diecast manufacturers to release this hot car... So I quickly grab one before there are all gone. Overall, I would says the quality of the Ebbro's model is up to my expectation. Thus, I give 8.5/10 for this model. I'm only disappointed with the plan version of this car... Just plain white and some black stripes at the back. I'm gunning down a race version if Ebbro happen to release one in coming future.

Nissan R390 GT1

The fastest and most expensive Nissan road car ever developed was created to comply with the 1998 Le Mans GT1 Class regulations which required manufacturers to build at least one street-legal version of the race car. The concept behind the creation of the Nissan R390 GT1 was to push reliability and dynamic performance to the absolute limit without compromising the driveability of a street car.

Unlike many others, Nissan built the road car first and built the racing version from it. The R390 GT1 design was the work of Ian Callum at Tom Walkinshaw Racing, previously acclaimed as the designer of the Aston Martin DB7.

At the front, Mr Callum used headlamps from the 300ZX production sports car and the distinct twin front grilles which gives the R390 GT1 a Nissan family look. The R390 GT1's long-tail carbon fibre shape was honed during extensive scale model wind-tunnel testing in England and full-size testing of the actual vehicle at Nissan Technical Centre in Atsugi, Japan.

Behind the driver sits the heart of this true supercar Nissan's VRH35L twin-turbocharged 3.5-litre double-overhead-camshaft V8 engine with electronic sequential port fuel injection which produces 410kW at 6800 rpm while complying with all European market exhaust gas regulations.

Getting that power to the ground from a standing start, out of corners or in damp conditions is a challenge and the R390 GT1 features a launch control system and traction control which, when encountering wheelspin, reduces power by limiting fuel to individual engine cylinders.

R390 GT1 performance as one would expect is staggering and includes a sub-4.0 second zero to 100 km/h time. Inside are normal road car appliances such as full instrumentation and leather-covered driver and passenger racing seats. The short-throw gear lever for the Xtrac six-speed sequential gearbox and tiny racing steering wheel are reminders of the close alliance between the road car and the vehicle which captured four out of the top-ten spots in the 1998 Le Mans 24-hour race.

Underneath the all-carbon fibre chassis is upper and lower A-arm suspension with coil springs at all four corners, inboard shock absorbers and front and rear anti-roll bars. Braking is handled by huge AP 14-inch vented front and rear disc brakes with six piston calipers and ABS.

Lola B08/60

Got the Aston Martin powered Lola B08/60 LMP1 Le Mans 24 Hours car from Diecastbase recently. Another fine model by Spark, great detailing and excellent finishing. As usual, Spark were putting every effort to make sure their customers always getting the best quality models. So let's the photos do the talking...


The Lola B08/60 is a Le Mans Prototype built by Lola Cars International. Through the vision of Lola Executive Chairman, Martin Birrane, Lola announced the project just before Le Mans in 2007. There was instant attraction between Lola engineers and potential entrants. By February 2008 the Charouz Racing system team were testing the new look package and just 7 weeks later were challenging the Audi and Peugeot LMP’s at the season opening Le Mans Series event at Barcelona.

The sportscar fraternity was duly impressed when the Lola LMP1 Coupe out qualified one of the R10 Audi’s at La Sarthe in 2008. But for an accident in the second hour, a top six finishing position was achievable in the designs first ever 24 Hour race.

2009 saw more success with the Aston Martin Racing team taking two overall wins on its way to taking the Le Mans Series title. The same team also finished an excellent 4th overall at the world famous Le Mans 24 Hours. Speedy Sebah Racing also showed immense pace with their Aston Martin engined Lola. The team finished 2nd at the Silverstone 1000kms after leading convincingly during the final hour.

Coming soon...

My next posts will featuring these models.