RS Academy Takes Delivery of First BAC Mono Sports Cars

If you took an interest in the BAC Mono single seater sports car, then you may want to check out RS Academy’s programme as the as the UK-based track-driving car club announced that it has just taken delivery of the very first production Mono sports cars for its members.

“As soon we saw the Mono concept, we knew we wanted to have them on our fleet and we’ve been involved in the project for many months,” said RS Academy managing director, Rob Stanbury. “These are seriously quick and superbly engineered cars and they will prove to be hugely entertaining and capable track cars for RS Academy members to enjoy on some of the world’s greatest motor racing circuits.”

As a refresher, the Mono is a high-performance but road legal sports car, powered by a mid-mounted naturally aspirated 2.3-liter Cosworth engine with 280 bhp, linked to a six-speed sequential Hewland transmission. With 528 bhp per ton, the lightweight single-seater is capable of a top speed is in excess of 170 mph (274 km/h) and 0-60 mph (96km/h) sprint time of just 2.8 seconds.

The two new Monos join a variety of sports cars on the RS Academy fleet, which includes a Ferrari 430 Challenge, a Porsche 911 GT3 RS, an Ariel Atom, a Caterham Superlight and a Noble M600.

However, before you get your hopes up high, those that want to join the RS Academy should be aware that all memberships are subject to a £7,500 (about US$12,300) joining fee that includes one track day with a ‘pay and play' system coming into force thereafter. Not surprisingly, the ‘pay and play' system can get very expensive with the company charging from £2,500 (about US$4,100)for a 1 day event with a track car to £7,500 (about US$12,300) for a 2 day event with a GT Racer and a Mono car.

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Infiniti G37 Coupe S gets into Rally Guise for the Needs of the Spanish Rally Championship

To answer your first question, no, Infiniti is not going to compete in a European rally. What the company is doing is to supply a G37 Coupe S as a safety car for the Rallies Championship of Spain. The so-called ‘Infiniti Work Car Zero’ began its duties in the Rally of Villajoyosa on April 1. It is based on the G37 Coupe with power coming from an all-aluminum 3.7-liter V-6 engine that produces 320HP and 360 Nm (265.5 lb-ft) of torque at 7,000 rpm, and is linked to a six-speed manual transmission.

The Infiniti Car Zero is very close to standard specification with only a few modifications necessary for rally duty, such as the Vimesa roll bar, Bilstein dampers, Galfer brake pads, additional lights , siren, communications equipment and a GPS.

Sparco supplied the racing seats and seatbelts, the fire extinguishing system and equipment for the drivers. Finally, the car rides on high performance Michelin Pilot SuperSport tires.

"Infiniti is a brand that offers high performance products and impressive technology, values that lend itself to motorsport support”, said Polo Satrústegui, general director of Infiniti Spain and Portugal.

“The agreement with the Spanish Federation allows us to collaborate with the important task of providing event safety. And to extend Infiniti brand awareness,” added the official. Nissan's luxury brand Infiniti also supplies a safety car for the GT Championship of Spain.

The G37 Coupe S safety car will be driven at all Spanish rally events by Marc Blazques, World TT champion for Nissan, with Salvador Belzunces as co-pilot.

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Meet the Mefistofele, Fiat's 21.7-liter Record-Breaking Car from Hell

The story of the Mefistofele started in 1908, when Fiat introduced the SB4 chain-driven Grand Prix racer. After seeing it race, Sir Ernest Eldridge from Britain bought the car with the aim of turning it into speed record breaker. However, there was one problem: the original car's 18.0-liter engine was considered rather small by Eldridge, who decided to replace it with a massive airplane powerplant. He opted for a liquid-cooled Fiat-built 21.7-liter inline six-cylinder unit (type A-12 Bis) that developed 320 horsepower at 1,800 rpm after various upgrades such as the fitting of four valves and four spark plugs on each cylinder.
The story goes that in order to accommodate the long and heavy engine, Eldridge lengthened the SB4's chassis using parts from a London bus. The car was chain-driven and had brakes only at the rear, which made it a handful for even the most experienced of drivers. Interestingly, experts fail to understand even today the mechanism that allowed the car to reverse, since there is no trace of it left.
On July 12 1924 the Mefistofele, which obtained its name by the press because of the smoke and explosions produced by its massive engine, had its finest moment when it set the world land speed record in Arpajon, France. The 5.1-meter long, 2-tonne car driven by Eldridge recorded an official top speed of 234,980 km/h (146 mph) in what is said to be the last land speed record event organised on public roads. And even though its record stood for only 32 days, the fame of the Fiat Mefistofele survived more than a century after its birth.
In 1969 Fiat's boss Giovanni Agnelli bought the Mefistofele from Sir Eldridge's heirs and shipped it to Italy, where the car underwent a major restoration and was added to the company's historical collection.
The car is perfectly functional and can be admired at the Centro Storico Fiat in Turin. Unfortunately, there aren't any videos of the car in action, but you can check out the footage below from the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, where the 21.7-liter Mefistofele was displayed next to the 0.9-liter […] Fiat 500 TwinAir.

By Dan Mihalascu

Sources: Fiat, Bigscalemodels

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VIDEO

VIDEO: The Stig Goes Donuts in a Lancer EVO 9-Based London Taxi Cab at the Top Gear Festival

We don’t know the identity of the man hiding behind the white racing helmet at the ‘Top Gear Festival 2011’, but The Stig sure knows how to work the steering wheel. Of course, being that the black London Taxi Cab you see in the video after the jump is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, does help a bit. You see, what looks on the outside like a normal black London taxi cab, is in fact a re-skinned Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9 crafted by the folks over at SHP Engineering. The company started with a Lancer EVO 9 with just 1,500 miles on the odo and stripped it down to the bare bones. The body shell of a London Taxi Cab was then dropped on top creating the most innocent EVO we have ever seen to date. Follow the jump to watch it in some awe-inspiring donut action.

VIDEOS

Sebastian Vettel Takes Dominant Australian Grand Prix Win

Sebastian Vettel won the inagural race of the 2011 F1 season after a dominating performance in Melbourne. The German driver made full use of his pole-position and lead the race from start to finish, taking his 11th Formula 1 win. Vettel adopted a two-stop pit strategy and finished with a 22.2-second advantage over second ranked Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), who had to race with a detached floor after running wide on lap 33.

Third place went to Russian Vitaly Petrov, the big surprise of the Australian GP, who got off to an excellent start. The Renault driver went from sixth to fourth immediately after the green light, taking advantage of Button and Alonso both running wide in the first corner. Petrov gained another position after the first round of pitstops and kept it until the end of the race, scoring his first ever Formula 1 podium finish.

Fourth-placed Fernando Alonso had a tougher time on the track, with the Spaniard having to deal with a three-stop strategy and a poor start that sent him from fifth to ninth before the first corner of the race. The Ferrari driver then quickly started recovering lost positions, managing to finish fourth. Mark Webber and Jenson Button finished the race fifth and sixth respectively, while Ferrari's Massa had to settle for ninth, behind the Ferrari-powered Saubers of Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi.

However, the two Sauber drivers were disqualified after the race for rear-wing infringements, so Massa got seventh place eventually.

Mercedes GP had a poor race, as both Schumacher and Rosberg failing to finish the Australian GP. The former quit on lap 19 for technical reasons, after suffering a puncture on lap 1, while the latter had to stop after being hit by Barrichello on lap 22. Overall, it was an enjoyable race to watch, although significant rule changes like the Drag Reduction System (DRS) and the reintroduction of the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) didn't seem to have a decisive effect on overtaking.

By Dan Miahalascu

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