Formula One 2012: This season's cars

Caterham The platypus has landed. The first F1 team to launch, Caterham – who were Lotus last season – have shown that nose jobs will will be the dominant feature this year, as cars attempt to reclaim downforce lost on the ban on the exhaust blown diffuser.

A side on view of the Caterham CT01

 

The Caterham CT01 seen from above and behind

 

McLaren The best looking of the early launches, they have put together an aerodynamically impressive package and appear to have overcome the problem of an ugly schnozzle by lowering the whole chassis.

 

Front view of the MP4-27

 

Force India Think Ferrari 2011 and you have a rough idea. This is not so much a platypus look as a hammerhead shark. The car also has much revised sidepods as it attempts to break into the top five.

 

An overhead view of the Force India VJM05

 

A front on view of the Force India VJM05

 

Ferrari Even Ferrari admit their new car is “not aesthetically pleasing.” In fact it is ugly, certainly by Italian standards, and you will have seen better looking noses worn by veteran second-rate heavyweights.

 

An aerial view of the Ferrari F2012 

 

A front on view of the Ferrari F2012

 

The engine that will power the Ferrari F2012

 

The steering wheel of the Ferrari F2012 

Lotus launch new era and target fourth with E20

The team formerly known as Renault officially launched its new Lotus era today by unveiling its new car with the relatively low-key target of moving up one place to fourth in the constructors’ championship in 2012.
The Genii Capital-owned outfit revealed the E20 – the ‘E’ in reference to Enstone, the team’s home of 20 years – on the internet but, rather than a live stream, released a novel pre-recorded broadcast from its factory which included the car’s unveil, interviews with drivers and management, along with behind-the-scenes footage.
The black and gold-liveried challenger features the in-vogue stepped nose, but is less dramatic than the one on the new Ferrari that caused a stir on Friday with a more attractive curved slope. The E20 is certainly sleek around the sidepods and rear, with the exhaust exits, as is mandated, considerably higher and further back on the car than last year when Renault pioneered the complex forward-exhaust concept which proved troublesome.
Having been able to finally draw a line under the team’s largely successful decade-long Renault era and rebrand as Lotus for this season, the team is looking to deliver more consistent results in wake of a 2011 campaign that started promisingly but ended up with the team just clinging on to fifth place in the constructors’ championship ahead of Force India.
Team owner Gerard Lopez said: “I think the hopes are to be able to get one season together in the way that we were already expecting last year. That is to have a strong car, strong drivers –of which of them is obviously an ex-world champion – and to bring the car up to the front of the pack, probably trying to aim for fourth as a reasonable goal for this season.”
The world champion Lopez referred to is of course Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 title winner returning to F1 this year after two campaigns spent largely in the World Rally Championship. Although Michael Schumacher famously struggled to get back up to speed after three years away, Raikkonen is characteristically downplaying the challenges presented by his own re-acclimatisation process.
Asked if he was nervous about his return in wake of the difficulties Schumacher faced in 2010, the Finn, who will partner France’s Romain Grosjean, replied: “Not really. It will be something slightly different than it used to be when I was in Formula 1 with a different team, little bit different regulations.
“But everyone’s different. Some people have more difficulties to get used to the new stuff, and it depends a lot on the car also. If you have a good car it makes your life a lot easier than if you have an average car. So I was pretty happy after the first test we did a few weeks ago and it felt pretty normal already. But before the first race it’s pretty difficult to say still. So we wait and see but I’m happy so far with the way things are going.”

Although the team’s plans to run an innovative braking stabilising system on the car were kyboshed by the FIA last month, and on the outside the attractive E20 doesn’t appear overly radical, team boss Eric Boullier has promised the car has some additional secrets. “It’s true that the team’s reputation is good in terms of innovation and we’ve brought through the last years some nice ones. But definitely we have some this year,” he said, before adding: “[My] biggest hope is to make sure this team is back at the front of the grid for many years and a long time.”
Lopez, meanwhile, additionally confirmed the arrival of two new sponsors from the male grooming product world in Rexona and Clear for 2012, while expressing his relief that the team can now clearly move forward as Lotus following the end of the naming row with Tony Fernandes. “We’re also extremely proud that the Lotus name is a clear concept for everyone in Formula 1 now,” he said.
Although the Group Lotus car company is currently the team’s main sponsor, there have been suggestions that Lopez’s Genii investment firm has been looking at raising funds to buy the Proton-owned business.

Paris Rétromobile 2012: Review

Once again, Rétromobile was a mixture of glossy manufacturer stands with seldom-seen, previously hidden-way exhibits, coupled with a quality trade presence and more automobilia than you can shake a starting-handle at.
Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, Citroën, Peugeot and Renault excelled themselves with a selection of immaculate cars from their historic departments. At Mercedes, the theme was ‘Le Mans’, with a pre-War SSK, a wonderfully 1950s early 300SL racing car complete with wing, and the very last Mercedes to win the 24 Hours, the Sauber Mercedes C9.
Over at BMW, a BMW 2002 Turbo shared stand-space with a 1960s F2 car and several enduro motorcycles, while Renault showed a multi-coloured array of rallying Alpine A110s and R5s. The presence of two road versions, one pale blue and one lime green, showed that there is more to life than regulation wide-wheeled, French-blue-with-Elf-stickers faux rally machinery.
They looked stunning – a highlight of the show.


Citroën was celebrating some of the avant-garde models that have wowed and infuriated in equal measure over the years. I liked the psychedelic GS, an example of ‘Citroën et L’Art’.
Porsche, on the other hand, lacking a suitably ‘flower power’ 917 Langheck, chose sober grey (a delightful 356 coupé) and metallic blue (a chrome bumper 911) as balance to an all-new, 991-series 911 that also featured on the Porsche Classic stand.

Elsewhere, the Mullin Collection dominated one end of Pavilion 3, with the metallic blue, ex-Williamson Collection 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic a stunning centrepiece amongst typically ‘Pebble Beach’, extravagantly styled cars from the 30s and 40s.
Greeting visitors on arrival were two original Ferrari 250 GTOs, a foretaste of this summer’s activities when the model’s 50th anniversary will be celebrated in style. Across the aisle on the Peter Auto stand was a Porsche 917 that will be taking to the track at this summer’s Le Mans Classic, joined, one hopes, by a brace of 250 GTOs. In 1962, Noblet/Guichet finished second overall in a GTO, just five laps behind the winning Ferrari prototype.
And then drove the car back to Paris for dinner on Sunday night. Class, sheer class.

And if the Le Mans Classic, or any one of a raft of other classic events takes your fancy, the trade stands at Rétromobile were the place to be. London mews dealer Fiskens employed French GP driver Olivier Panis to help Gregor Fisken unveil three sensational cars, all with French connections. The ex-Ford France GT40 and 1980 Grand Prix-winning Ligier JS11/15 were joined by a titan of the pioneering age of motoring, the 1908 Panhard-Levassor, a veteran of the 1908 French Grand Prix at Dieppe.

Hall & Hall’s stand once again wowed spectators with another display of blue-chip racing cars. For 2012, Bill Harding and the Hall & Hall team had brought along a stellar collection of cars that included the first ‘Ecclestone’ Brabham F1 car from 1972 and the 1970 De Tomaso-backed Williams driven by Piers Courage. With their pre-1973 construction, that’s this year’s Monaco Historics entries sorted out.
And for the Le Mans Classic? Well, Hall & Hall was showing the last-ever factory-built Porsche 962, a Jaguar D-type and a Mirage M3 BRM Coupé.

With other top-level dealers such as Lukas Hüni, Marreyt Classics and Klaus Werner on hand, the standard of cars was astonishing.
And of course there were books, models, piles of headlamps, horns and headlining. Plus auction action on-site (Artcurial) and a little way away (Bonhams).
In other words, a typical Rétromobile scene. And long may it continue

2012 Bajaj Pulsar 200 NS

The new 2012 Bajaj Pulsar 200 NS is been revealed and the company claims that the bike is facter, meaner and naked as a jaybird.

With release of the official image of the Pulsar 200 NS, the bike looks it has took the graphics base from the previous versions of the Pulsar. What does NS stands for ? The NS stands for Naked Sports and the company also claims that the bike is a sports utility bike.

Speaking about the instrument cluster, it looks good in design. The main special thing to be noted about the Pulsar 200 NS is the mono suspension. The specifications of the new Bajaj Pulsar 200 NS will be updated ASAP

2012 Acura NSX Concept

This time we feature information from acura car companies, through their official site acura has released pictures 2012 acura nsx concept.

Here’s a description of the acura: “Now the NSX concept based on the energy efficiency of hybrid and all whell drive, acura once again demonstrated that ultra-high performance is at the core of our DNA

2012 acura nsx tuning concept is a theoretical exercise into phenomenal. the goal is clear: to create a perfect synergy between man and machine. where the response is immediate, the gap between desire and satisfaction, and again there is left is pure driving pleasure “.