Dope. #71

Image courtesy of Lennart Dijkstra

What to watch this weekend (Oct 13th - Oct 19th)

• Formula 1 - Korean Grand Prix; from the Korea International Circuit in Yeongam, Korea. Practice. Friday @ 1am - 2:30am (SPEED/SPEEDHD)
• Formula 1 - Korean Grand Prix; from the Korea International Circuit in Yeongam, Korea. Qualifying. Saturday @ 1am - 2:30am (SPEED/SPEEDHD)
• Formula 1 - Korean Grand Prix; from the Korea International Circuit in Yeongam, Korea. Race. Sunday @ 1:30am - 4am (SPEED/SPEEDHD) replay at 11:30am
• WRC - Rally France. Days 1 - 3. Sunday @ 11:30pm - 1pm (Discovery's HD Theater) not a live telecast - preview starts at 10:30am
• Top Gear (UK). Replay marathon. Monday @ 6pm - 12am (BBC America/BBC America HD)
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 8pm - 8:30pm (Velocity/Discovery's HD Theater)
• Chasing Classic Cars. Tuesday @ 10pm - 10:30pm (Velocity/Discovery's HD Theater)
• The Car Show with Adam Carolla. More Speed! Wednesday @ 10p - 10:30pm (SPEED/SPEEDHD)

WRC and F1 this weekend, so the main ingredients are there for a great showing. This is one of the few times a year where F1 races are held on back to back weeks, extending this Asian tour for the series. With the championship decided last weekend, its now its a matter of drivers and teams building towards the development of the 2012 cars and championship. There are five previous champions scattered around the field and they all have pride in how they will show throughout the rest of the year, even though one has nothing to prove. The Korea International Circuit is no longer a rushed-together racetrack that barely made the deadline last year; this should be another great race to see, with an live airing time of 1:30am EST on SPEED.

Image courtesy of Speedlux.com

Video Series: Top Gear - Budget Supercars

Hump day special; a great segment from seasons past with our favorite trio from Top Gear.


Parts 2, 3 and 4.

For the love of A: Audi A1 Clubsport Concept

Project W11. For those of you keeping up on the appearances of Audi's A1 Clubsport Concept over this past spring, including it's pit stop at Wörthersee, you might have wondered what went into the build. Audi engineers took a standard A1, which I'd love to be offered in this country, and transplanted the 6-speed manual transmission operated 2.5 Liter 5-cylinder TFSI motor and Quattro drivetrain from the RS3/TTRS. The engine was then further tweaked to the tune of 503bhp and 487lb/ft. The stat sheet reads as follows: 0-62mph in 3.7 seconds, 0-124mph in 10.9 and 50-75mph takes just 2.4 seconds in 4th gear. Due to the more robust drivetrain the A1's f/r track was widened from stock. Accordingly, the W11 concepts' body sculpting was completed with subtle rallye-style flares added to both front an rear quarter panels. The result is a real stunner that I wish there was real world rolling footage of.


Video Courtesy of Audi.

Current Events: 2011 Bathurst 1000 race finish

What a great weekend in motorsport. If you were unable to get your hands on a TV remote this past weekend you seriously missed out. There have been some great races this year; Jenson Button racing from last place in the Grand Prix of Canada, overtaking Vettel on the last lap to top the podium. Or that crazy 24hr of Le Mans finish with the one remaining Audi R18 winning the race with a 14 second differential from Peugeot. This weekend didn't disappoint in providing stand up in your living room, mouth open, yell at the TV screen, close racing action.

Spoiler alert, Button snagged the win at the Grand Prix of Japan. Alonzo came in second with Vettel, abiding by team orders and maintaining his position in third, landed on the final podium spot. This was an almost perfect ending (depending on who you root for) as Button already planned on auctioning, selling and donating proceeds from his competition helmet to the recovery effort in Japan. And Vettel, even though he finished third on Sundays race, secured the 2011 F1 Driver's Championship with his newly awarded points.

Not too far away in Australia, 'The Great Race' otherwise known as the Bathurst 1000, was wrapping up with one of the most thrilling endings of 2011. This was a great year to start broadcasting this race live in the US. There will be a follow-up live V8 Supercars race broadcast, showcasing the Gold Coast 600, October 22nd on SPEED.


Special thanks go out to MT89MotorsportMedia, coming through as usual with great race rips.

Quick Vid: 2011 Audi Q7 V12

Autoblogger reviews the Audi Q7 V12.