The 2022 FIA World Touring Car Cup kicked off in the streets of Pau, France, for the season opener, the Race of France.
Screengrab from WTCR
In the first race of the season, the ALL-INKL.COM Munnich Motorsport team delivered a 1-2 finish with Nestor Girolami the winner, and Esteban Guerrieri the 2nd place finisher. The chaotic second race, meanwhile, saw Mikel Azcona the winner following the first lap crash between Norbert Michelisz and Attila Tassi.
The next race of the FIA WTCR 2022 season will be in the Nurburgring for the Race of Germany this May 26-28.
The streets of Miami, Florida, roar to life as the F1 2022 season continues with the first-ever Miami Grand Prix. The drivers are doubling down on who will master this new racetrack based on the vivid backdrops of Miami.
As the lights went off, the first-ever Miami Grand Prix is underway with Charles Leclerc getting away cleanly and leading while Max Verstappen slips through Carlos Sainz for second place. Things are going pretty well until Zhou Guanyu is out of the race due to mechanical failures. As the trio did their pit stops, the clash in Miami resumes until Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly got involved in a collision in Lap 41, triggering a Virtual Safety Car. As the race nears its climax, Verstappen continues to defend his lead against the Ferrari duos until the very end.
Screengrab from Formula 1
In the end, Max Verstappen wins the first-ever Miami Grand Prix, defeating the two Ferrari drivers, Leclerc and Sainz, in the race toward victory lane. Other finishers include Sergio Perez, George Russell, Lewis Hamilton, Valterri Bottas, Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon, and Alex Albon.
After Miami, Leclerc maintains his lead with 104 points, 19 points ahead of Verstappen, while Perez is in 3rd with 66 points.
The next race of the F1 22 season will be the Pirelli Gran Premio de Espana in Catalunya this May 22nd.
The 80s is the decade of a fashion disaster, where big, bright, and loud looks rule from shoulder pads, brightly colored spandex, acid-washed jeans, leg warmers, and polka dot dresses, not to mention the wicked and sick hairstyles. It's an era where supply-side economics gave capitalism a whole new meaning, a decade where democracy has been reborn, and sci-fi movies are about as hard-hitting as superhero movies of today.
It's also the decade where cool Italian sports cars reign supreme and became bedroom wall posters. Cars like the Lamborghini Countach and the Ferrari Testarossa are prime examples of what life in the 80s looked like.
Getting my South Beach Diet on, it's time to have a word with the cars that became bedroom wall posters 80s kids only understand.
Let's begin with the Lamborghini Countach. Launched in the 70s as the replacement for the Miura, the Countach is widely regarded as the supercar that popularized the wedge-shaped design as well as its signature scissor doors, a Lamborghini trademark. Seen here is the final version of the Countach bloodline; the Countach 25th Anniversary. Made in honor of Lamborghini's 25th anniversary as a carmaker, the final version runs on the same specs as the LP5000 QV, meaning it runs on a 5.2L V12 engine mounted in the middle, but with a heavily revised exterior design to comply with safety regulations. Production of the Countach ended in 1990 at 657 units built and it was replaced later by the Diablo.
Launched in 1984, the Ferrari Testarossa is the replacement for the 512BB. Styled by Pininfarina, the Testarossa's unique exterior design is aerodynamic and radical at the same time. Under the hood, the Testarossa is powered by a 5.0L 180-degree V12 engine producing 385HP of power and 362ft-lb of torque, making it capable of going from 0-60mph in less than six seconds and has a top speed of 180mph. The Testarossa became the car of choice for actor Don Johnson in the Miami Vice TV show. Believe it or not, Enzo Ferrari gifted Don Johnson his very own Testarossa because Enzo's a huge fan of the series.
These two are definitely the ultimate 80s supercars because of their radical styling that fits the decade's big, bright, and loud fashion theme. They're big on size, bright on looks, and loud on performance. They really are the poster cars of the 80s kids.
Anyway, while having a blast with the best supercars of the 80s, the question now is which one is the ultimate 80s supercar? Since I'm in the middle of the South Beach Diet, the sandbox for the day will be Daytona International Speedway, the legendary venue of NASCAR's Daytona 500 and IMSA's Rolex 24-Hour endurance race.
Ah, Florida. The perfect place to give the best 80s supercars a chance to flex their muscles, although the Testarossa blended perfectly with the Florida backdrop because of its Miami Vice appearance. Anyway, no time to get starstruck because it's time to find out which one is the ultimate 80s supercar. Roll the tape.
After a quick lap in Daytona, here are the results;
Countach 25th - 2m08.970s
Testarossa - 2m11.707s
So, the ultimate Countach really is the ultimate 80s supercar but in the end, like that special someone said, they're both expensive and horrible to drive because they're dangerously fast on the straights and tricky to get through corners because they live in the era where anti-lock brakes didn't exist on vehicles yet. Gosh, I've spent almost a lifetime trying to survive driving these dangerously fast Italian marvels. Anyway...
While the Testarossa has the performance and celebrity fan base because of its appearance in Miami Vice, the Countach, in its final form, is by no means the ultimate 80s supercar. It seems the bull has kicked the horse's butt, a fitting example that Lamborghini and Ferrari are still in the supercar world war where both sides trade punches after another.
That's rivalry the Italian way and whichever side you're on, this is how they roll. The more you know.
The 2022 Formula DRIFT Pro Championship continues in the Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta for the AutoZone Road to the Championship presented by TYPE S.
Screengrab from Formula DRIFT
Chris Forsberg and Fredric Aasbo became the final two competitors who drifted their way from the qualifiers to the finals over the course of this weekend. As the final two faced each other, both drivers showcased their drifting talents until cone-hittings cost them dearly. As the match became too close to call, the majority of the audience has spoken. They're demanding "one more time" and the two are going for the restart.
After their encore performance, Frederic Aasbo, driving the Rockstar Energy GR Supra wins the AutoZone Road to the Championship presented by TYPE S. Forsberg, who now drives the new Nissan Z drift car, is named 1st runner-up, and Matt Field's the 2nd runner-up.
The next event will be the TYPE S Scorched presented by Auto Zone, to be held in Orlando Speed World this May 19-21.
The FIA World Endurance Championship's 10th-anniversary celebration continues in the legendary Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps for the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps endurance race.
The second round of the tenth season is jam-packed as the world witnessed six dramatic hours of chaos due to inclement weather that caused misery for the drivers. So chaotic, the race triggered three red flags and one full-course yellow caution.
Screengrab from WEC
After a chaotic Spa day, the #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing of Mike Conway, Jose Maria Lopez, and Kamui Kobayashi emerged the winner in the Hypercar class while the #83 AF CORSE wins the LMP2 Pro-Am class, #77 Dempsey - Proton Racing for the LMGTE AM class, #51 AF CORSE for the LMGTE PRO class, and the #31 WRT for the LMP2 class.
The next race is the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans this June 11-12.
The all-new Astra may be more of a Germanized version of the new Peugeot 308 with a squarish front face that looks abstract and pixelated but it's shaping up to be a proper European hatchback for the masses. With the arrival of the Sports Tourer variant, you can get the same treatment as expected in the hatchback equivalent but with the bigger boot for your everyday needs.
2022 Opel Astra Sports Tourer
2022 Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer
With prices starting at 27,750 Euros or 25,515 Pounds plus additional costs, the Sports Tourer variant of the all-new Opel/Vauxhall Astra L delivers the same stuff from its hatchback equivalent but with the added boot space for your bare necessities.
Like its hatchback equivalent, the Astra L Sports Tourer dons the Vizor front face first seen in the second-generation Mokka crossover, giving the new model some cyberpunk looks, which is rather impressive but its squarish looks made the new Astra feel as abstract as a fancy abstract painting you saw in the art gallery. Inside, the all-new Astra comes with a footlong-sized monitor with two screens on it, one for the speedo and the other one for the touch-screen sat-nav with smartphone connectivity on it.
Although roomier than the previous model, the Sports Tourer has 608 liters of boot space with the rear seats present and up to 1634 liters with the rear seats folded down, similar to its Peugeot 308 SW equivalent.
The Sports Tourer carries the same powertrain choices as its hatchback equivalent ranging from a 1.2L turbo petrol, 1.5 diesel, and the range-topping 1.6L turbo-hybrid powerplant similar to the one used on the new Peugeot 308 SW. The latter produces a high-performance 180PS of power output, 360Nm of torque output, and because it's mated to an 8-speed automatic, it does 0-100kph in 7.7 seconds and flat-out in 225kph.
The all-new Astra Sports Tourer is armed with numerous advanced driver assistance systems courtesy of its Intelli-Drive 2.0, adaptive cruise control, Intelli-Vision, and many others.
As expected, the all-new Astra Sports Tourer offers the same stuff as its hatchback equivalent but with the added boot space for your everyday needs.
