2008 GT500 Petronas Tom's SC430

PETRONAS TOYOTA TEAM TOM’S SC430 - 2008 GT500 class team champion.

The XANAVI NISMO GT-R and PETRONAS TOYOTA TEAM TOM’S SC430 won the driver and team title for the 2008 GT500 Class respectively.

No.23 Xanavi Nismo GT-R - 2008 GT500 Class Driver Champion.

The 2008 SuperGT seasons may have ended sometime ago. But my collections for the 2008 cars continue... Ebbro just released the SC430 models in between December 2008 and January 2009.
I quickly ordered one early this month. After a long wait finally the parcel arrived yesterday. Well, I have to admit I'm a great fan of toyota of late cause it make up of 15 percent of my overall collection. Toyota Team Tom's won the GT500 Class Driver & Team with Lexus SC430 in 2006 - the debut season of SC430. In between 2006 and 2008 they raced in different colors due to different sponsors.

2006 season primary sponsor- OPEN INTERFACE INC.

2007 season primary sponsor- HOUZAN NISHI SAKE BREWING Co.,Ltd.

For the 2008 seasons Petronas became their primary sponsor. TEAM TOM'S (TOM'S CO.,LTD) gave a press conference at their new factory in Gotemba to announce the outline of their plans for the 2008 SUPER GT series. Driver's lineup of Juichi Wakisaka and Andre Lotterer goes without a change for the third season in succession. Under the supervision of the team manager Masanori Sekiya, they shared the wheels of Lexus SC430 on Bridgestone tires. The SC430 was in white with a blue line, which is a corporate color of the team's main sponsor Petronas', therefore making entry in the series as PETRONAS TOYOTA TEAM TOM'S.

From the both tables it is clear that the Lexus SC430 was competitive in the 2008 seasons with both PETRONAS TOYOTA TEAM TOM'S and ZENT TOYOTA TEAM CERUMO occupying the top two spots in the Team ranking with 94 and 93 points respectively. On the other hand in Driver standing the ZENT TOYOTA TEAM CERUMO is better than the PETRONAS TOYOTA TEAM TOM'S with 72 points, 4 point short of Champion Xanavi Nismo.

Zent Cerumo SC430 was driven by former GT500 champion Yuji Tachikawa and Richard Lyons in 2008 season. Very competitive in the early stages - won round 3 at FUJI. But lost ground to the Xanavi Nismo in between round 4 and 8 - few unfortunate occasions e.g. facing components failure. Done well in the last round at SUZUKA which they nearly pip the Petronas Tom's for the team title.

Subaru pull out from WRC

Japan’s Fuji Heavy Industries, the maker of Subaru cars, said today it would withdraw from the world rally championship at the end of the 2008 season because of the global financial crisis.

"Our business environment has rapidly deteriorated. In order to protect the Subaru brand we were forced to make this decision," Fuji Heavy President Ikuo Mori told a press conference.

Mori fought back tears as he announced the decision at a press conference here, thanking Subaru fans.

He cited the global economic slump and falling car sales as major reasons.

The company had already decided to pull out of the rally at the end of 2009 but brought forward the timing due to the severity of the business environment, he said.

The announcement came a day after Suzuki said it would not compete in the 2009 world rally championship largely because of the present financial crisis.

Their exit follows the shock withdrawal of Honda from Formula One earlier this month.

Various version of Subaru Impreza that had raced in the World Rally Championship in the last 15 years...






Petter Solberg won the WRC championship with Subaru in 2003...


While the Norway’s former world rally champion Petter Solberg has confirmed he will drive a privately-owned Citroen Xsara for his comeback in the 2009 World Rally Championships.

The 2003 world champion was left without a drive this year after his previous team, Subaru, pulled out of the series at the end of last year.

The Norwegian was left kicking his heels as there were no vacancies at the Ford or Citroen factory teams.

But Solberg said he would now run his own team for up to 11 rounds this year in a bid to buy more time to negotiate a paid drive for 2010.

"I’ll be in the Xsara for Rally Norway and the plan is to do the whole championship from then - although not necessarily with the same car," said Solberg.

"Everything I’m doing is being done with 2010 in mind. We’ll start with Norway, with my own team, but I haven’t got the entire 2009 season together yet.

"I’ve put this deal together in 20 days, and I expect things will change through the season. Nobody knows what the future will bring but I’m happy with what we’ve got for the short term."

2010 Audi R15 TDI LM

You may remember the name Kim Stapleton as the designer behind Audi F1 renderings that this website featured earlier in the year. An architect by day, the Australian also has a passion for Audis as expemplified with works like his imagined Audi F1 design and now an illustration of Ingolstadt’s potential Le Mans future according to rules being adopted by the ACO that will mandate a closed cockpit car by 2010.

After almost two months of design and construction, Stapleton is now ready to share his Audi R15 TDI Coupe Concept projected for the ALMS, Le Mans Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

With the newly adopted rules change requiring a closed-top design, the current R10 design will be obsolete. The regulations also encourage a specified front-end design that features both the manufacturers’ street car brand design and badge. For the design, Stapleton drew inspiration from many existing vehicles including the R10, along with the R8, R8C, R8 production car, Bentley Speed 8, Mercedes-Benz CLR GT and the Audi RS4. Much of the design language was pulled directly from the R10, which is evident in the side elevations and the rear spoiler details.

From there, Stapleton took the approach of merging a contemporary Audi street vehicles with this base R10 form, which in the end seems to harken back to the era of GT1 class designs in the late 90’s. He made a conscious effort to stay away from excessive aero packages (i.e. modern F1 designs) as he felt this compromised the clean lines of both the current R10 and the Audi street range.

Some of the other key features of the design include the use of Bio-Diesel, energy saving lights and the inclusion of a kinetic energy recovery system (K.E.R.S.) - a regenerating brake device that recovers and stores wasted heat energy from the brakes in a supercapacitor to be used as additional power by the drivers.

The design was box-modeled in 3ds max and rendered using Vray. The poly count is around 300,000 for those who care. Stapleton admits he had been thinking of attempting such a design for almost a year now, though only now managed to force himself to complete the project in the past few months. Even guessing the sheer number of hours spent on the project scares him a bit.

The Audi R10 that won so many races since it introduction.

The new Audi weapon for endurance racing. Will the new R15 able to get off on the right foot as what R10 had achieved? I'm sure Peugoet and Aston Martin will give them a close contest...

Petter Solberg to test Le Mans Series car

While one Le Mans Series Courage-Oreca Team car will be running a new V10 AIM engine during its upcoming test run, a second car appearing on track is sure to attract attention as well since former Subaru World Rally Team driver Petter Solberg will be at the wheel!

The 2003 WRC champion will be switching from the rally car environment to the endurance racing scene during this test at the controls of the Courage-Oreca LC70E. Team principal Hugues de Chaunac offered the opportunity, to which the Norwegian responded very favourably.

"The idea of a test came following a discussion with Petter," explained de Chaunac. "He still had a 2009 rally programme at the time, but Petter revealed that he wished to try out a prototype. We talked about it at length and there was a good feeling from both sides."

"As for what comes next, we will see Petter's and the team's impressions. First comes the test," added the Courage-Oreca Team boss. "We're impatient to have a World Champion in the seat of the LC70E!"

With such power at his disposal, Solberg will surely be impressed when he takes to the track. Two team drivers will be there to assist and guide him, including Nicolas Lapierre and F1 veteran Olivier Panis. The date of the test was not disclosed.
In regards to Petter Solberg's rally programme this year, he indicated that "there are still some issues to sort out regarding which car I will be driving this season, but a decision will be made during next weekend.

Mark Skaife - HRT

Well, it has been a busy week for me since my bro returned from Australia last sunday to celebrate CNY with us. Guess what, he managed to pick up my long awaited 1:43 2008 HRT car - The last car that raced by Australia V8 Supercar legend - Mark Skaife.

I'm sure you guys may wonder how do I come to know this driver since the Australia V8Supercar is not as famous comparing to DTM, FIA WTCC, even the BTCC... The truth is between 2001 and 2003, when I was doing my degree in Melbourne, you know during the weekend I was kidda bored (for a race car fan like me) unable to follow F1 live broadcast at my home stay - cause no cable TV.... fortunately there was live V8 supercar broadcating over the local tv channel... Then I bumped into one of the Australia great race car driver - Mark Skaife.... watching him set many fastest time in both qualification as well as in race day.... he won three consecutive V8 SuperCar titles in 2000, 2001 and 2002....

Sadly, in 2008 Skaife announced that he would be retiring from full-time driving in the V8 Supercar Championship Series due to the increasing pressures of Supercar team ownage and mounting debt. I wish him well in his new ventures....










Mark Stephen Skaife OAM (born 3 April 1967 in Gosford, New South Wales) is an Australian race-car driver and five times winner of the V8 Supercars/Australian Touring Car Championship. In 2007 he achieved a record 38 round wins in the championship, surpassing the late Peter Brock. He set a Guinness World Record with the fastest speed of 277.16 km/h for a production ute (pick-up truck), driving an HSV Maloo at the Woomera Prohibited Area in 2006. On October 29 2008 he announced his fulltime retirement.

Skaife began racing karts in the late 1970s. His first car race was at Amaroo Park in 1984, at the wheel of a Holden Torana XU-1 sports sedan, which was partly built by his father, Russell. The following year, Skaife joined the Ford Laser Series, and in 1986 finished 2nd in the series. Skaife was due to race at Bathurst that year, however his co-driver, Peter Williamson, crashed the car during practice and the entry was withdrawn.

Skaife was recruited by Fred Gibson for 1987, however his early days at Gibson Motor Sport were spent as a mechanic for the team. During this time he learnt his way through all aspects of motorsport while also winning the 1987 Australian 2.0 Litre Touring Car Championship with a Gibson Motorsport prepared Nissan Gazelle. Skaife made his Bathurst debut in 1987, finishing 19th. In 1988, Glenn Seton left Gibson Motorsport, and Skaife was called upon to drive a third car at the Oran Park that year. He partnered George Fury at Bathurst, however the duo retired early in the race.

With Fury retiring at the end of 1988, Skaife was elevated into a full-time driving role alongside Jim Richards. Skaife won his first Bathurst in 1991 with Richards, and the following year became the only driver to win the Australian Touring Car Championship, the Bathurst 1000 and the CAMS Gold Star in the same year. Skaife won the Australian Drivers' Championship each year from 1991-1993.

Skaife won his second ATCC title in 1994, which silenced the critics that said it was the car, the Nissan GT-R, which was responsible for his success. In the following years, Gibson Motorsport struggled with sponsorship, and by 1997 Skaife was looking at the next stage in his career. He joined the Holden Racing Team for the 1997 Bathurst 1000, partnering the late Peter Brock. The pair failed to finish the race.

Skaife joined HRT full time for 1998, alongside Craig Lowndes. Skaife won his third title in 2000, and also won the Queensland 500 with Lowndes. Also in 2000, Skaife pulled off a last-to-first performance in the second race of the Clipsal 500. Skaife successfully defended his crown in 2001, taking a third Bathurst win with Tony Longhurst. In 2002, Skaife had a fantastic season, and he himself has said that the 2002 season was the best he has ever driven. Skaife won 7 of the 13 rounds, and took his fourth Bathurst title driving with Jim Richards.

2003 saw Skaife finish third in the series, winning the Sandown 500 with Todd Kelly along the way.

2004 didn't hold much for Skaife, and he finished 12th in the standings, with his best result 2nd overall at Oran Park.

In 2005, he collected his fifth Bathurst win, on the way to 5th in the title.

At Pukekohe in 2006, Skaife equalled Peter Brock's long-standing record of 37 ATCC round wins, and moved ahead when he won at Eastern Creek in 2007. That same year (2006) his Bathurst effort lasted less than one lap when he was involved in an accident as a result of him attempting to start off the line in third gear, ending in clutch slippage and abnormally slow speeds up Mountain Straight. He also made his 200th championship start at Phillip Island that year, and marked the celebration by running car number 200. Skaife collected his last round win at the 2008 L&H 500, when he paired with Garth Tander.

On October 29, 2008, Skaife announced that he would be retiring from full-time driving in the V8 Supercar Championship Series. Skaife was given a farewell and tribute at the final round of the series, which ironically was also the last V8 Supercar round at Oran Park Raceway. There has been conjecture that his retirement was premature due to the increasing pressures of Supercar team ownage and mounting debt. Ironically, his interest in the team he owned was sold to the person he bought it from, who had sold it to Skaife after becoming insolvent.

It was been reported in a number of places that Skaife has recorded 40 series wins, although Skaife has only recorded one victory since surpassing Brock's record of 37 at Eastern Creek in 2007. Since that win, Skaife has been credited with an extra round win from the Clipsal 500 in 2000.

The Clipsal 500 runs a unique set of rules where the winner of the Clipsal 500 is the winner of the second leg regardless of the pointscore for the round. However, up until the start of the 2008 season, the round winner was credited as the driver with the most points. V8 Supercars Australia decided to change the method by which the round winner was recognised to match the system for awarding the podium and Skaife's victory tally was altered.

Skaife's 40th win was from a simlilar result, with a shared victory (ironically with Garth Tander who lost the 2000 Clipsal 500 round win) in the final race of the 2008 L&H 500 at Phillip Island being credited as a round win despite having fewer points for the weekend than Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup.

This is one of his dedicated fan site:
http://www.markskaife.net/

MC12

The Maserati MC12 is a grand tourer produced by Maserati to allow a racing variant to compete in the FIA GT Championship.
The car entered production in 2004 with 30 cars produced (five of which were not for sale).
A further 25 were produced in 2005 making a total of 50 cars available for customers, each of which were pre-sold for €600 000.

Maserati designed and built the car on the chassis of the Enzo Ferrari but the final car is much larger.
The MC12 is longer, wider and taller than the Enzo Ferrari, which has faster acceleration and a higher top speed.
The top speed of the Maserati MC12 is 330 kilometres per hour (205 mph) whereas the top speed of the Enzo Ferrari is 350 kilometres per hour (217.5 mph).

The MC12 was developed to signal Maserati's return to racing after 37 years.
The road version was produced to homologate the race version. One requirement for participation in the FIA GT is the production of at least 25 road cars.
Three GT1 race cars were entered into the FIA GT with great success. Maserati began racing the MC12 in the FIA GT toward the end of the 2004 season,
winning the race held at the Zhuhai International Circuit. The racing MC12s were entered into the American Le Mans Series races in 2005 but exceeded the
size restrictions and consequently paid weight penalties.

Development of the Maserati MC12 began while Maserati was owned by Ferrari in order to create a race car for Maserati that would be eligible to compete
in the FIA GT. Its initial name was the MCC, meaning Maserati Corse Competizione, and development under the direction of Giorgio Ascanelli was planned
to be simultaneous with that of the MCS, the road going version. The body shape was developed from an idea by Giorgetto Giugiaro during wind tunnel
testing, though the majority of styling was by Frank Stephenson. The MCC had a very similar body shape to the MC12 but there were several key
differences, most notably the rear spoiler. Andrea Bertolini was the chief test driver throughout the development (although some testing was done by
Michael Schumacher), frequently testing the MCC at the Fiorano Circuit. As the MCC was developed further, word of the MCS ceased and eventually the
final name, MC12, was announced.

The car is based heavily on the Enzo Ferrari, sharing the same Ferrari Dino V12 engine with slight modifications, the same gearbox
(but renaming it Maserati Cambiocorsa) and the same chassis and track (length of axle between the wheels).

The Maserati MC12 has its own bodywork which is wider, longer and slightly taller leaving the windshield as the only externally visible
component shared with the Enzo.[1] This extra size allows for greater downforce across the whole body, adding to that of the two metre spoiler.

FIA GT
In 2004 Maserati completed three MC12 GT1 race cars intended for the FIA GT GT1 class. The AF Corse factory-backed squad debuted the race at Imola,
yet the FIA did not allow the MC12 to score points due to its debated homologation. Even with this setback, the team managed to take second and third places.
At the next round at Oschersleben, the MC12 of Andrea Bertolini and Mika Salo won for the first time. At the final round of the year at Zhuhai, the FIA
finally agreed to homologate the MC12s and allow them to score points towards the championship. With this, the MC12 again took victory, allowing it to score
enough points to finish 7th in the teams championship.

In 2005 Maserati won the FIA GT Manufacturers Cup with 239 points: almost double the score of next team (Ferrari with 125 points). The two teams that entered
MC12s into the FIA GT, Vitaphone Racing and JMB Racing, finished first and second respectively in the Team Cup, with Vitaphone winning by a considerable
margin. Four of the MC12 drivers were in the running to win the FIA GT Drivers' Title at the Bahrain International Circuit at the start of the final race
of 2005: Karl Wendlinger and Andrea Bertolini each on 71 points and Timo Scheider and Michael Bartels on 70. Gabriele Gardel of Ferrari was also on 70 points,
however, and in the crucial race he placed ahead of the all of the Maseratis, driving an older Ferrari 550 Maranello. Gardel took the title leaving all of
the Maserati drivers within four points of first place (Scheider and Wendlinger receiving four points for the race).

In 2006 the only team representing Maserati was Vitaphone Racing. On September 30, 2006 Vitaphone secured the Teams' Championship for the 2006 season despite their
drivers placing 5th and 7th in the Budapest 500km race with weight penalties of 85 kilograms and 105 kilograms respectively.[28] Bertolini and Bartels also
shared first place in the Drivers' Championship on 71 points but the manufacturers cup went to Aston Martin.

Vitaphone Racing again won the GT1 Teams' Championship in the 2007 season on 115 points, followed by fellow MC12 team Scuderia Playteam Sarafree on 63 points.
JMB Racing also entered two MC12s, but they were used by amateur drivers competing in the Citation Cup, which was won by JMB's driver Ben Aucott.
Maserati also won the Manufacturers' Cup by a significant margin while Thomas Biagi won the Drivers' Championship. Fellow Vitaphone drivers Miguel Ramos and
Christian Montanari tied for sixth, while Playteam's Andrea Bertolini and Andrea Piccini were just behind.

For 2008, Vitaphone Racing returns with a pair of MC12s for drivers Andrea Bertolini, Michael Bartels, and Miguel Ramos, as well as newcomer Alexandre Negrão.
JMB Racing will retain a single MC12 for 2007 Citation Cup winner Ben Aucott and drivers Peter Kutemann and Maurice Basso, although they will not be competing
in the Citation Cup again.


Well, I picked this model in September last year. It's by IXO with fairly descent finishing. The MC12 was run by team "BARTELS BIAGI Maserati MC12 team Vitaphone racing" as raced in 2007 FIA GT round 2 Silverstone - where emerged as winner.

The real MC12 in action...

First Addition in 2009 ...

Finally, received my first item in the brand new year... guess what? it's a pair of Ferraris...

There you go...

Got the Ferrari pair from oversea.... it's a Hotwheels 1/43 2007 Ferrari F1 constructor champion 2 car set. A fairly cheap option you can get for Ferrari F1 in 1/43 scaled - as compare to other premium brands e.g. BBR and Red Line which cost as much as triple the price...

Well, I personally like to watch Ferrari F1 in action, Kimi Raikonnen in particular. In my opinion, Kimi is the most exciting F1 driver ... the ICEMAN seldom talk much during post race conference, but he can do great things on track! 2007 had been his best year in F1 - winning the Driver Championship in his debut season with Ferrari...

2007 in review:

Räikkönen started the season in Australia by taking pole position, setting the fastest lap and becoming the first driver since Nigel Mansell in 1989 to win his first Grand Prix with Ferrari. This was the first time in his career that he had managed the hat-trick of pole position, fastest lap and race victory.

At the 2007 Malaysian Grand Prix Räikkönen was passed by Lewis Hamilton at the start and remained behind him for the rest of the race, finishing third.

In the Bahrain Grand Prix, Räikkönen started from third but was passed by McLaren driver Fernando Alonso. He eventually regained 3rd position from Alonso and finished the race 3rd.

At the Spanish Grand Prix Räikkönen retired after only 10 laps with an electrical problem. This took him down to fourth position in the Championship, behind team-mate Felipe Massa. In qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix Räikkönen struck a barrier and broke his right front suspension. He started 16th and finished 8th.

In Canada Räikkönen qualified fourth and finished fifth, Räikkönen's team-mate Massa was disqualified. At the United States Grand Prix, Räikkönen qualified fourth, finished fourth and recorded fastest lap of the race. After this race Räikkönen was 26 points behind leader Lewis Hamilton in the Drivers' Championship.

In France Räikkönen qualified third, but overtook Hamilton at the first corner of the race. He subsequently ran second, behind team-mate Massa, for much of the Grand Prix, but overtook the Brazilian during the pit-stops and took his second victory of the season. This was the 11th victory of his Formula One career, as well as Ferrari's first 1-2 win of the 2007 season.

At the British Grand Prix Räikkönen qualified in second place, just missing the pole by running wide in the last corner. In the race, again took the lead through pit stops, first overtaking Lewis Hamilton midway through the race and then putting in fast laps as Fernando Alonso pitted for the second time in the closing stages to pass him. Räikkönen led to the end of the race.

At the European Grand Prix Räikkönen captured his second pole position of the season, but retired from the race, run in heavy rain, with a problem with the hydraulics of the car.

At the Hungarian Grand Prix Räikkönen qualified his car in fourth place, but started from third after Alonso was penalised. In the race he overtook Nick Heidfeld at the start and pressured Hamilton until the end, but had to settle for second. He set the fastest lap time on the last lap of the race, commenting after the race: "I was so bored behind Hamilton, I wanted to see how quick I could have been."

In Turkey Räikkönen missed pole position after making a mistake in the final sector of his fast lap, which left him third on the grid. On race day he overtook Hamilton in the first corner and took second place, which he kept to the end of the race.

At Monza's third practice session, Räikkönen crashed into the tyre wall before entering the Ascari chicane. He qualified in fifth place, and raced in the Ferrari reserve car while suffering from a neck problem. The Ferrari team employed an unusual one-stop strategy, which left him third after Hamilton passed him late in the race on fresh tyres.

At Spa-Francorchamps, Räikkönen's favourite circuit. he secured pole position again and took his fourth victory of the season. Massa finished second, Alonso third and Hamilton fourth. This was also Räikkönen's third consecutive Spa win, which placed him among six other drivers with three or more Spa wins.

At the Fuji Speedway, the only new track on the 2007 calendar, Räikkönen qualified in third position, while Hamilton took pole and Alonso second. In an extremely wet race, which saw the first 19 laps run behind the safety car, both Räikkönen and team-mate Massa were badly affected by having to change to extreme wet tyres during the early stages, because the FIA's tyre-rule notification arrived late at Ferrari. Towards the end of the race, Räikkönen moved through the field to third place, but could not pass his countryman Heikki Kovalainen for second.

At the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, Räikkönen dominated the whole weekend with fastest laps in the free-practice sessions. In qualifying, Hamilton took pole position with a lighter fuel load, while Räikkönen qualified second and Massa third. There was light rainfall at the beginning of the race which prompted the cars to start on intermediate tyres. After the first round of pit stops Hamilton lost grip as his tyres suffered graining, and Räikkönen overtook him. Hamilton retired after sliding into a gravel trap in the pit lane. Räikkönen took his fifth win of the season, that revived his title hopes before the last race of the season. This was also the 200th race win and 600th podium in Ferrari's Formula One history. Räikkönen moved to seven and three points behind Hamilton and Alonso in the Drivers' Championship, respectively, going into the last race in Brazil, the first three-way title battle in the final race of the season since 1986
Räikkönen took the 2007 Formula One Drivers' title with victory in the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos, in an incident-packed race. Massa had taken pole, followed by Hamilton, Räikkönen, and Alonso. At the start of the race Räikkönen passed Hamilton on the outside and lined up behind Massa. Alonso shortly afterwards passed Hamilton, who fell progressively down the order. Massa, who was already eliminated from contention for the Driver's Championship in the Japanese Grand Prix, yielded the lead to Räikkönen at the second round of pit stops. Räikkönen went on to take the chequered flag, which handed him the crown by a single point from Hamilton and Alonso. Championship leader Hamilton eventually finished the race in seventh place, while defending champion Alonso managed third.

While Räikkönen had only one point more than Alonso and Hamilton at the end of the season, he had the most victories (six compared to four by each McLaren driver).[Räikkönen's Drivers' championship was put into doubt when race stewards began an investigation after identifying possible fuel irregularities in the cars of Nico Rosberg, Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld following post-race inspection. Their disqualification and a race reclassification would have seen Hamilton lifted from seventh to fourth in the race result. However the race stewards decided that no sanctions would be given, meaning the results would stand. McLaren appealed against the decision, however the FIA Court of Appeal rejected their appeal on 16 November 2007 thus confirming Räikkönen as the champion.