Overdrive at Autosport International 2011 - A Special Edition

Our first ever Special edition - so big we had to present it in two parts! We had a great time at the Autosport International Show and met some really great people from the UK's club and national motorsport scene - and even some International racing stars as well. Our thanks to everyone who was interviewed for Overdrive, we'll see you more as the year progresses!

Overdrive Special : It's coming... Honest!

Do not adjust your sets.

If you're wondering where our special edition from Autosport International is... don't panic, you are not looking in the wrong place. We've been having a lot of troubles with uploading it to You Tube (Mostly because it is over 30 minutes long!) Hopefully later on today it'll be up in two parts. Keep an eye on Twitter and Facebook for updates in the meantime!

If anyone can suggest a better video hosting service, please let me know!

24 Hours with an Aston Martin.

One of the great things about motorsport in the UK is the vast variety of events from the small to the huge. They don't get much bigger than one of the country's biggest challenges - The Silverstone 24 Hour race. One of only two 24 hour races in the UK (The other being at Snetterton for Citroën 2CVs, which just goes to neatly illustrate the rich variety of racing!) The event run by James Tucker's Britcar organisation has fast become established as a "Must Do" event for sports and saloon racers around the country. Next year it will become one of the events in the newly established British Endurance Championship (see the November 2010 edition of Overdrive) and certainly become the new championship's blue ribbon event.

One of the many teams competing in last year's event were Nicholas Mee Racing and Overdrive has been sent a video of their trials and tribulations by Sarah Bennett-Baggs, one of the team's drivers competing in their Aston Martin Vantage GT4. NMR eventually finished the weather disrupted race 22nd out of 52 finishers with a respectable score of 500 laps, despite an excursion into the gravel trap and a lengthy pit stop for repairs afterwards on Sunday Morning. This beautifully shot film gives a great insight into what goes on trackside at a major endurance race.


Silverstone Britcar 24 Hour Race - 1st-3rd October 2010 from Sorted Media Productions on Vimeo.

Video courtesy of Sarah Bennett-Baggs, Nicholas Mee Racing, and Sorted Media Productions

Autosport International 2011 - We'll be there!

Around this time of year, the Motorsport world goes into hibernation with very few events taking place - although as we've already seen there are still many ways to take part in the sports during this period too with your local Motorclub. However, every January the world renowned motorsport magazine Autosport hosts a huge extravaganza in Birmingham's N.E.C. where race series get the chance to show off their credentials to potential competitors and the specialist car makers are equally keen to unveil their latest creations. Many of these cars will turn up in competitions around the UK very soon, so it's a great time to take a look at what's new this year.

Overdrive will be there as well, and we'll be bringing a special edition of the programme out with the highlights for UK Club and National Motorsport.

TRIPLE LAUNCH FOR RADICAL

Will Radical's latest offering match their previous success?
Photo - Radical Sportscars

Radical Sportscars will launch an astounding three cars at Autosport International, headlined by its new trackday and road-focussed roadster, the SR3 SL.

The show is your first opportunity to see the 300bhp SR3 SL, which is powered by a 2,000cc Ford-RPE EcoBoost engine. The turbocharged unit has Twin-Independent Variable Cam Timing, while high-pressure direct injection transmits its power to the road via a six-speed sequential gearbox. Radical is also offering a ‘race pack’ for the SR3 SL, with options including an engine calibration map selection, FIA-approved fuel cell, racing bi-plane rear wing and racing tyre options.

Not only this but Radical will also be revealing the 2011 SR3 RS and the new SR8 RX, which features RPE’s new 2.7 RPX V8 engine. Visit hall 20, Stand 2600 to see these cars for yourself.

ALL-NEW MODEL FROM CATERHAM

Caterham's best known product, the Seven
Photo - Caterham Cars

Want to see the car that racers and trackday drivers will be salivating over in 2011? Caterham Cars will be unveiling a brand new model at the show. Aimed at the racing and trackday communities both home and abroad, the new Caterham is equipped with the next generation Caterham Motorsport engine, while continuing the lightweight and minimalist styling of the iconic Caterham Seven.

Head over to Hall 20, Stand 2641 to get your first glimpse of this very special car.

NEW CAR FOR 2011 GINETTA GT SUPERCUP

Ginetta's latest Model - the G55
Photo - Ginetta Cars

Be one of the first to see the new Ginetta G55 that will compete in the new Michelin sponsored Ginetta GT Supercup in 2011, which will support the British Touring Car Championship.

The 370 bhp Ginetta G55 boasts a 3.7 litre Ford engine, Hewland gearbox, cool air induction kit, up-rated front and rear brakes, new exhaust system and new bodywork, complete with improved aerodynamics. The new car has been developed to expand Ginetta’s racing career ladder further and highlight an affordable route into GT3.

To see the new car and find out more about Ginetta’s new series, visit Hall 20, Stand 2450.

NEW RACER FROM TURKEY

Turkish Delight?
Picture : Avitas Racing Cars

Turkish composite specialists, Avitas, will be taking the covers off its first complete car, the Control-1, in Hall 6, Stand 6645 on Thursday 13 January 2010.

The Control-1 has been designed and built in-house, and is the result of two years of development by the Istanbul-based company. Based around a tubular chassis with carbon fibre panels and all-round double-wishbone suspension, the car is fitted with a 150hp motor, mated to a five-speed sequential gearbox and weighs just 660kg.

The Control-1 is intended to be inexpensive to buy and run, providing both competitors and championship organisers with an efficient way to go racing, or start a new series.

PORSCHE REVEALS 911 GT3 R HYBRID

Unmistakably a Porsche, Will the hybrid version appear
in British GT and British Endurance soon?
Photo - Porsche

Porsche’s ground-breaking 911 GT3 R Hybrid race car will be unveiled in front of the crowds in Hall 20, Stand 2540 at Autosport International. The new model made its race debut at the Nurburgring in Germany as part of the VLN Championship in 2010, and has since raced in America and China as part of data capture on the durability of its alternative energy resources.

The car has an electrical front axle drive with two electric motors, each supplementing the 4.0-litre flat-six ‘boxer’ petrol engine. It feature an electric flywheel power generator that is charged-up whenever the driver applies the brakes, supplementing the energy for a competitive advantage when accelerating out of a bend or overtaking, as well as saving fuel.

More site updates.

You can now find the trailer and first episode of Overdrive on a brand new page, cunningly called "Series 1" over on the pages menu to the right hand side. Eventually all the videos will be posted there, as well as here on the home page. It's going to be much easier to find them to catch up on what we've done so far!

Don't forget you can also find us on Facebook and Twitter which are both kept updated with interesting tweets from the UK motorsport community.

In the meantime, we're planning a special edition coming out soon with a new presenter. Watch this space!

Going Ten Tenths

The more observant amongst you will have noticed a new logo on the right hand side of the page. It's a link to our friends at www.Ten-Tenths.com and their fantastic motorsport forums. Tenths is one of the most established forums dedicated to our sport and covers just about anything on wheels and beyond! We'd very much recommend a visit, and feel free to discus Overdrive in the forums on Ten Tenths where Kev the producer often posts (As "The STIG"! No, Not THAT one)

Big Thanks to Grant and his team at Ten Tenths for helping us out with a link to Overdrive!

New Year's Resolution? Join your local Motor Club!

So you've finished off the turkey, the tinsel is back in it's box and you're looking for something to do with your car over the new year. If you've seen our first edition of Overdrive, you'll know a bit about getting started in Autotesting, but what does an actual event look like?

Land Rover Discoveries are a rare sight in most motorsports!

The Ystrad Mynach motor club likes to celebrate the new year with an annual autotest held at a local farm. It's a fine example of the many varied events that take place every week around the UK, The venue can be almost anywhere and the vehicles competing can be almost anything! With the entry costs being very inexpensive, it's no wonder that the club had a strong turn out of competitors and spectators for this year's event, even on a very cold January Morning. A fantastic way to blow away the winter blues and get you and your car ready for the oncoming season.

Are you from a Motor Club? Do you have a report for us? Send it in to us at info@overdrive-uk.com

With well over 200 spectators Ystrad Mynach Motor Club’s New Year’s Autotest proved to be a great success. Set on Gelliargwellt Uchaf Farm near Gelligaer the competitors were in for a really tough afternoon from the start. With persistent rain from the weekend, conditions were muddy and extremely slippery.

This Austin A35 is more than it appears...

There was a large selection of vehicles on show. We had everything from Ford Escorts and Peugeot 205s right through to off road quads. With a strong entry of 40 competitors there was a plentiful array of vehicles for everyone to see.

Stand out vehicles on the day were Roger Holder’s “Mint” Ford Escort RS2000 (Coming in as a last minute replacement for his Honda Civic), the A35 of Toby Down, the Renault Clio (with suspect racing stripes) and the poor Citroen Saxo that has every inch of its gearbox taken away from it! A special mention has to go to Matthew Maidment after parking his Peugoet 205 Rally car into one of the many skips located on the site. In his words “I only crash on straights!”.

Congratulations to overall event winner Stephen Giles. Taking the overall win on his quad. Winner of the Car Class Carl Davies had to swap cars half way through after damaging the steering arm on his BMW mid way through the event.

The full results book can be found by clicking here.

This quad seems to be hell bent on becoming a motorcycle!

A big thank you to the venue owners, TSL Sports Timing, the competitors, helpers, marshals and spectators. Without you none of this would have been possible. With your help we were able to make a generous donation to the Childrens Cancer and Leaukemia Charity LATCH.

Many of you have been asking when the next event will be. At the moment we don’t have a firm date but we are sticking with Gelliargwellt Uchaf Farm and are looking a firming up a date for the summer. Please keep checking www.ystradmynachmotorclub.co.uk for regular updates.

UPDATE : If you've arrived here from the Austin A30/A35 owners club forum ( http://forum.austina30a35ownersclub.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2312&start=615#p41946 ), I'm afraid we don't have much information about that little blue car other than it has a Cosworth engine and is apparently a very potent machine on this sort of event!

Video, Report and Photos courtesy of Ystrad Mynach Motor Club

Let it snow!

Well if you have been living under a large rock for the last month, you'll be about the only person that doesn't know about the heavy snowfall we've had lately. Still, that's no reason not to get some action in - and two brave souls up at Anglesey decided they'd do just that . There's quite a lot of Drifting involved, and I'm sure Anglesey's seen some faster laps, but it's a totally different perspective on the already beautiful circuit. At least the racing line is nice and clear!


Andros Trophy round in Anglesey 2011 Maybe?




Do you have an interesting motorsport video that you can share with us? Drop us a line!