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17 Sep 2009, 12:24 (Ref:2542768) | #26 | |
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I thought they'd cancelled the LF-A?
Although I might be getting confused with Honda's new NSX. |
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17 Sep 2009, 12:29 (Ref:2542770) | #27 | ||
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Nice looking car but it didn't do too well at the 24 hours. Would be interesting to see it again.
[offtopic] So I guess Lola Aston Martin is up in the air again with Richards' renewed re-surgence in the F1 picture [/offtopic] |
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*jingle* The New York Mets have a new left fielder... Duda, Duda “It's fine that F1 goes all over the world, but we must not exaggerate by going to race in deserts or where there is no culture for racing," di Montezemolo continued |
17 Sep 2009, 15:10 (Ref:2542848) | #28 | ||
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Probae esti in segetem sunt deteriorem datae fruges, tamen ipsae suaptae enitent |
4 Nov 2009, 04:42 (Ref:2575348) | #29 | ||
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With Toyota's imminent announcement of withdrawal from F1, surely we will see the hybrid sportscar project get green lighted. Apparently they were sniffing around already at Okayama. A full assault on all the LMS series plus Le Mans would cost a fraction of F1, plus they already have a viable hybrid road product to tie in to the marketing...
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4 Nov 2009, 05:14 (Ref:2575361) | #30 | ||
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Hopefully it is a plan for a prototype program and not simply the Lexus GT1 rumors. I'd at least hope for them to do both.
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Nulla Tenaci Invia Est Via |
4 Nov 2009, 05:29 (Ref:2575367) | #31 | |
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4 Nov 2009, 08:16 (Ref:2575404) | #32 | ||
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Some people will tell you that slow is good - and it may be, on some days - but I am here to tell you that fast is better. H S Thompson 1937 - 2005 |
4 Nov 2009, 11:37 (Ref:2575541) | #33 | |
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Toyota don't sell their F1 factories.
Toyota makes TMG(Toyota motorsport GmbH) the base of the motor sports activity in Europe. We might be able to see the new sports-car of Toyota. |
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4 Nov 2009, 11:54 (Ref:2575555) | #34 | ||
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And on the 4th of September Toyota were flatly denying they would quit F1.
So why do we want this sort of operation at Le Mans? I'd rather have something a lot smaller, with less hurt pride, and less to prove. |
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Tim Yorath Ecurie Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch Fan of "the sacred monster Christophe Bouchut"... |
4 Nov 2009, 12:01 (Ref:2575557) | #35 | |
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According to AUTOSPORT(of Japan), Toyota keeps holding their F1 factory.
Then, the employee of Köln needs their job! |
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4 Nov 2009, 12:05 (Ref:2575558) | #36 | ||
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Can they enter World Rally now?
FIA Gt with that LF-A thingy. That gives them a Le Mans entry... |
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Tim Yorath Ecurie Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch Fan of "the sacred monster Christophe Bouchut"... |
4 Nov 2009, 12:35 (Ref:2575579) | #37 | |
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The key is a hybrid.
They want to boast of their hybrid system. And, they have already had 2011 engine(S-GT and FN engine). |
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4 Nov 2009, 13:10 (Ref:2575598) | #38 | ||
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I cant see anything coming from Toyota next year. The TTe operation will become an R & D facility bringing on hybrids, doing evalaution programs for WTC and domestic rally dealer efforts.
This could lead to something in a few years, but it would be great if the Dome team got some unofficial help with their car in the meantime, maybe as a platform for a TTe program in the future. all imho..... |
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Some people will tell you that slow is good - and it may be, on some days - but I am here to tell you that fast is better. H S Thompson 1937 - 2005 |
4 Nov 2009, 14:07 (Ref:2575631) | #39 | ||
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They should bring the LFA out to play in LMS racing. Heck, they have a couple hundred million to spare now
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4 Nov 2009, 15:39 (Ref:2575674) | #40 | |
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I hope that Toyota will supply Dome with an engine in 2010 and in the meantime develop their own car for 2011.
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4 Nov 2009, 16:03 (Ref:2575692) | #41 | ||
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They are looking to run in GT1, around the world with Hybrid technology.
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4 Nov 2009, 17:50 (Ref:2575751) | #42 | ||
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4 Nov 2009, 18:59 (Ref:2575791) | #43 | |
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No one takes the half arsed Nissan GT1 project seriously (no offence to those involved), the same would happen with a Toyota GT1.
Like their joke of an F1 program, they may go around the houses with a Toyota GT1, but ultimately they'll only be taken seriously again when they re-enter the top prototype class at Le Mans and the WRC. Sorry to be so blunt to state the blindindly obvious, but it seems manufacturer's are making a habit of cocking things up. While we're at it get Porsche and Jaguar (no use having new models if your sporting image has drained away) into P1, and Audi and Fiat into the WRC. |
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4 Nov 2009, 19:49 (Ref:2575823) | #44 | ||
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4 Nov 2009, 20:43 (Ref:2575860) | #45 | ||
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Quote:
As for LM, the company is hemmoraghing money, they just killed their F1 program. F1 is high profile, sports cars are not. |
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4 Nov 2009, 20:51 (Ref:2575865) | #46 | |
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They already came back once in WRC after the 95 Catalunya.
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"Without racing there is no Honda". Soichiro Honda |
4 Nov 2009, 21:24 (Ref:2575896) | #47 | ||
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With so many manufacturers pulling out of F1 and re-distributing themselves around the motorsport world, Le Mans is bound to end up with one of them.
I'm not bothered which one it is, and us sportscar fands will always clutch at straws because many of us (I say us, I wasn't around in the 80s) want the Group C days back, where we had 76347607276897 manufacturers. But it would be good to get see a proper Japanese effort at Le Mans, and it would be even better to see them win it out right. |
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4 Nov 2009, 21:50 (Ref:2575916) | #48 | ||
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4 Nov 2009, 21:59 (Ref:2575923) | #49 | |||
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Quote:
Toyota would be wise to focus in a new direction, and LM could fit in quite nicely. They would be welcome, I'm sure, since they did produce one of the most celebrated cars of the 1990s! |
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4 Nov 2009, 22:49 (Ref:2575962) | #50 | |
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My own opinion is evidence enough.
Sportscar racing isn't splashed across the mainstream press, the sport relies on enthusiasts to spread the word, if a program ticks the right boxes it will reach a wider audience through Youtube, videogames etc. There's too many forms of entertainment out there to settle for second best. Nissan are trying to pass off a second rate, cut and shut, 'GTR' that bears no resemblance to the real deal, while bypassing the GT competition in GT2. Nissan have a simple choice, take on the GT2 manufacturers, or spend the big bucks in P1/GT500 (if they wished to bring that over here). Don't insult a tech savy Gran Turismo/Forza audience, and potential future customers, with second rate machines that suit the marketing execs rather than the engineers and enthusiasts. FIA GT1, Grand Am, IRL, A1GP etc., there's a reason why no one gives a ****, the potential audience are more clued up than those shovelling this crap. Not that I'm a big fan personally, but the reason Drifting and tuning is gaining an audience at the expense of traditional motorsport is because of the technical freedom and 'cars the star' philosophy, in other words what motorsport used to be about. |
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