The new SLK 55 AMG and the Ducati Streetfighter 848 – both finished in “Streetfighter yellow” – are to go on show and underscore the collaboration entered into by their parent companies just over a year ago.

Inspired by the Ducati Streetfighter 848, the “streetfighter yellow” colour could be made available as an individual optional extra from the AMG Performance Studio, for AMG customers who feel the need to stand out.

Complemented by the interior of the SLK 55 AMG: the contrasting yellow stitching creates a striking effect against the black nappa leather, and is found on the door centre panels, beltlines, armrests, leather-covered roll-over bars, dashboard, the shift lever gaiter and also the AMG Performance steering wheel. Yellow illuminated AMG door sill panels featuring LED technology round off the striking, erm.. yellow effect.

Powered by its newly developed AMG 5.5-litre naturally aspirated V8 engine, the SLK55 harnesses 416 bhp and maximum toque of 540 Nm, whilst delivering 33.6 mpg on the combined cycle and 195g/km of CO2 emissions – some 30 percent better that its predecessor. The SLK 55 AMG accelerates from 0-62 mph in just 4.6 seconds, and reaches a top speed of 155 mph (electronically limited).

The new Ducati Streetfighter 848 provides aims to provide biking pleasure in its purest form, while combining the very latest technologies with a dramatically styled appearance. Using a revised 848 Testastretta 11° engine with 130 bhp and 93.5 Nm of torque, the Streetfighter 848 is at home whether on the road or on the race track.

Mercedes-AMG and Ducati – one year on

Since the agreement was signed between Mercedes-AMG and Ducati at the Los Angeles Motor Show in November 2010, both companies have been integrating their brands through a series of joint marketing activities.

AMG has been the “Official Car Partner” of the Ducati MotoGP team since the start of the 2011 MotoGP season, whilst the AMG logo appears not only on the motorcycles and racing overalls of Ducati works drivers Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi, but also on the official team wear and in the Ducati Lounge.

Ducati’s fleet of company vehicles is being gradually switched over to Mercedes-Benz whilst there are more marketing and joint-technology developments on the way.

Gallery

It’s a major coup for BMW, not only because Tomczyk was one of Audi’s quickest drivers, but he brings with him the coveted No. 1.

“Our squad of drivers is gradually firming up,” said BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt. “With Martin Tomczyk we are proud to have gained an absolute top-notch driver for our DTM involvement. Despite being fairly young in the touring car context, he is one of the most experienced DTM drivers around: he’s consistently fast, of impeccable character and an out-and-out winner.

In 2011 he was the first driver ever to win the DTM championship in an older spec car. We will do everything we can to consolidate this success with him in the future. Our target is to become competitive as quickly as possible, and from that point of view we see Martin as an extremely important asset.”

After several years in karting, 1998 and 1999 saw Tomczyk compete in the BMW Formula ADAC junior racing series initiated by the ADAC and BMW. Following a year in Formula 3, he took the step up into the DTM, where he has been driving for Audi since the 2001 season. In 2007 and 2011 Tomczyk was voted ADAC Motor Sportsman of the Year.

The highlight of his career so far came this season, in which he celebrated three out of his total of seven DTM wins, made it onto the podium eight times, and became the first driver in DTM history to take the title in an older spec car.

From 6th to 8th December, Tomczyk will get behind the wheel of the BMW M3 DTM for the first time in Monteblanco, southern Spain.

With three BMW factory teams gearing up for the 2012 season, there are now just 2 seats available.

There is no word (as yet) where Tomczyk will next appear, BMW are evaluating drivers for its 3-car entry in the 2012 DTM season and have so far confirmed just 3 of their 6 drivers (Augusto Farfus, Andy Priaulx and Bruno Spengler).

Tomczyk describes his decision as a difficult one that he made only after careful consideration. “I won the Championship for Audi after eleven years together. The entire Audi Sport team and in particular Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich have always been behind me throughout the many years we spent together,” explains Tomczyk.

“I’m delighted that I could repay the trust by winning the 2011 championship title together with team Phoenix. Despite this joint success, and after careful consideration, I have now decided to accept a new challenge. To conclude, I would once again like to thank everybody with whom I have worked together during my eleven years at Audi Sport and assure every single individual that these years were, in hindsight, something very special.”

Tomczyk started his DTM career in the 2001 season as 19-year-old in Team ABT Sportsline with the Abt-Audi TT-R and was, at that time, the youngest DTM driver in history. In 2003 he became Audi factory driver in the ‘S line Audi Junior Team.’ Since 2004 he has competed with the Audi A4 in the DTM, initially for Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline and for the first time in 2011 for Audi Sport Team Phoenix.

In his sixth DTM season in 2006 he finally recorded the first of his seven DTM race wins to date. By winning the championship title in 2011 at the wheel of a year-old car he achieved the greatest victory of his career up to now.

His country’s motor sport federation Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (ADAC) awarded the DTM champion the title of ‘Motor Sportsman of the Year’ ahead of his compatriot and F1 champion Sebastian Vettel. Tomczyk’s father, Hermann, is Sporting President of the ADAC.

“It goes without saying that we deeply regret that he decided, at this moment in time, to seek a new challenge after his most successful DTM season with Audi,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “I can, however, completely understand that after eleven special years of highs and lows with Audi he would like to try something new – after all by winning the DTM title at the wheel of an Audi A4 DTM he has achieved exactly the goal for which he was worked so hard for many years.

I’m personally delighted that Martin showed his many critics this year because I always believed in him. I can understand that to start he viewed the transfer to team Phoenix and a year-old car as demotion. But it gave, as I hoped, his career new impulses. I always enjoyed working together with Martin. He is a complete professional who I personally hold in high regard. I wish him all the best for the future.”

How Audi will line up in the DTM next year will be decided over the forthcoming weeks. In Mattias Ekström (Sweden) and Timo Scheider (Germany) the Ingolstadt brand has two DTM Champions under contract who have both won the championship twice for Audi. No less than eight of the nine Audi drivers mounted the DTM podium at least once in 2011. Audi currently plans to contest the DTM 2012 with a maximum of seven cars.

The terms of the settlement are confidential but the deal sees the “LOTUS” brand reunited under the sole ownership of Group Lotus. This includes the rights to the “LOTUS” and “TEAM LOTUS” names in Formula 1 motor racing.

1MRT will race in the 2012 Formula 1 season under the name “CATERHAM F1 TEAM” and will use a “CATERHAM” chassis.

The deal also sees a working relationship established between the parties and they will work together on future projects in the automotive field.

Group Lotus Chief Executive Officer Dany Bahar: “On behalf of Group Lotus and Proton I would like to express how pleased we are that this matter is finally closed and we can now focus on looking forward to the future.

“We understand that this has been a very difficult and confusing time for the fans of the sport and the Lotus brand so we are glad to have reached a clear resolution on this important matter – I would like to take this opportunity to thank our fans for their continued support, it means everything to us.”

Riad Asmat, Group CEO: “We are proud of what we have achieved by bringing the Team Lotus name back to Formula One when many tried and although we are sad to say goodbye to Team Lotus we are excited about owning our own future and being in control of our own destiny. Now we have no one to be compared to. We make our own history and we will remain green and yellow.

“Now we look forward to an exciting future racing under our new team name of Caterham F1 Team. Please continue to support our very special spirit of never say die and support us on the track as we move up the field and demonstrate that the good do win.”

BMW will be represented in the DTM by three factory teams, BMW Team Schnitzer, BMW Team RBM and BMW Team RMG. Each team will enter two of BMW’s M3 DTM cars, shown for the first time in its BMW M Performance livery at last weekend’s season finale in Hockenheim.

Spengler made his debut in the DTM in 2005, and has made a solid impression on the series. The 28-year-old has been on the top step of the podium nine times in 74 starts. In addition, the French-Canadian has claimed 11 pole positions and set 12 fastest laps to date. Twice – in 2006 and 2007 – Spengler narrowly missed out on the DTM title, ending up second in the drivers’ classification on each occasion. In 2011 he finished third overall for Mercedes-Benz.

“In recent weeks we have not only been developing the BMW M3 DTM, but have also been working on the driver line-up for our return to the DTM,” says BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt.

“Outside our current line-up, Bruno Spengler was one of our top choices. Despite his youth he has a lot of DTM experience, which will greatly assist us during our development phase and on race weekends. For this reason, we did not hesitate when the opportunity to sign Bruno up arose. We have yet to decide which of our three teams he will drive for. That will be announced at a later stage.”

Spengler initially made his name in Formula Renault and Formula 3 before making his debut in the DTM in 2005. He scored his first points with a sixth place at the Lausitzring (DE) and went on to claim his first win at the Norisring (DE) a year later. He followed up that victory with his first pole position at the Nürburgring (DE). He has since developed into one of the top drivers in this series.

The sequence was filmed by a camera mounted on the bumper of a Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9, then dubbed with the sound of Lelouch’s Ferrari 275GTB. The rest as they say is history.

33 years later, Lamborghini have used the theme of C’était un Rendezvous to promote their latest model, the Gallardo LP570-4 Super Trofeo Stradale unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show last month.

The film, “SUPER TROFEO STRADALE. LIFE IS A RACE.” was produced by creative agency, Philipp & Keuntje GmbH, and Final Touch Filmproduktion GmbH and features a Super Trofeo Stradle driving through the city streets accompanied by the sound of that wonderful 562bhp 5.2-litre V10 engine.

At nearly two and a half minutes long, it’s somewhat shorter than Lelouch’s 9 minute original, but the message is clear – if life is a race, then the best car to experience it in is the Gallardo Super Trofeo Stradale.

It’s not the first time someone has either used C’était un Rendezvous as inspiration for a film or commercial, or made a homage of their own. In the following scene we see a Porsche 911 GT3 and Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera dicing it out through the streets of Paris, inspired by the original film:

This short film is reminiscent of the iconic C’était un Rendezvous and features a Porsche 911 GT3 and Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera.

The agency responsible for this latest film, Philipp & Keuntje GmbH, were also behind my favourite poster ads EVER, Lamborghini: A part of Italy. Take a look at them below and then tell me those aren’t amonsgst the most emotive car ads you’ve ever seen..

Gallardo LP570-4 Super Trofeo Stradale

The Super Trofeo Stradale is based technically on the 562 bhp Gallardo Superleggera, but it’s not just the performance which is impressive, Lamborghini have gone to the trouble of ‘tuning’ the V10’s firing order to deliver the same spine-tingling sound you hear in the Super Trofeo motor racing series.

Generous use of carbon fibre enables the Gallardo LP 570-4 Super Trofeo Stradale to boast a dry weight of 1340 kg – that’s 70 kg less than the already lean Gallardo LP 560-4, and gives the Gallardo LP 570-4 Super Trofeo Stradale a power-to-weight ratio of 419 bhp/tonne. Performance is suitably supercar-quick with a 0 to 62 mph in 3.4 seconds and 125 mph in just 13.8 seconds, with maximum speed a cool 200 mph (320 Km/h).

The Gallardo Super Trofeo Stradale sports a brand new “Rosso Mars” paint finish that underscores the special connection between ultimate race track performance and Lamborghini’s “Italian-ness”. The “Rosso Mars” colour symbolises Italy’s traditional racing red with a modern 21st century touch.

In contrast to the “Rosso Mars” finish Matte Black is used on the large rear spoiler, the engine hood and the front air intakes. The forged wheels are painted in high-gloss black, a colour that is also available on the roof as an option. The rocker panel covers, impressive rear diffuser and outside mirror housings are also made of carbon fibre polished to a high gloss, while the brake callipers are accented in red for the first time on a Lamborghini.

Besides the historically suggestive “Rosso Mars”, the new Gallardo Super Trofeo Stradale is also available upon request in “Grigio Telesto” or “Bianco Monocerus” with the roof available in gloss black as an option.

With such a strong racing connection, Lamborghini are also offering the LP 570-4 Super Trofeo Stradale with a tubular interior roll cage, 4-point safety belts and a fire extinguisher. However if you’ve buying one for ‘show’ more so than ‘go’, you can still equip it with satellite navigation, a Bluetooth connection for mobile phones, an anti-theft system, and a front-axle lifting system for those annoying speed bumps and parking garages.

BMW works driver Dirk Werner completed two laps of the Hockenheim track in the “BMW M Performance Accessories M3 DTM”, with eight-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen joining him in the new 2012 Audi A5 DTM.

Audi’s Hans-Jürgen Abt spoke about his enthusiasm for the 2012 season, “I’m already looking forward to a new era in the DTM. Continuing with the new cars for Audi and meeting with BMW as another competitor is a huge challenge. For the team as well it’s a huge task. It has to sort itself anew with the new technology.

2012 Audi A5 DTM driven by Tom Kristensen

I know that I’ve got a tremendous squad. I look forward to us taking on the competition. That has always been our strength, particularly at the beginning of such a new era. We’ll let ourselves be surprised.”

BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt said: “This event was something very special for us. Since the early morning there have been clusters of people around our car, and it was simply breathtaking to be able to present our car in front of such a crowd.

The reactions to our car were all positive. Today gave us all a lot of extra motivation to present ourselves in top form in half a year’s time at the same venue.”

Fitted with a powerful new V8 engine generating approximately 480 bhp, the M3 DTM accelerates from 0 to 62 mph in a little over three seconds and has a theoretical top speed of nearly 190 mph.

BMW works driver Dirk Werner commented: “It was a great experience to be able to do today’s demonstration laps. Obviously I drove the BMW M3 DTM at the recent tests – but a stage like this really is something special. You could feel the spine tingling atmosphere even in the car.”

2012 BMW M3 DTM which was driven by Dirk Werner at Hockenheim today

The new “BMW M Performance Accessories” livery of the BMW M3 DTM had been presented to a few members of the public at the BMW Autohaus Krauth in Heidelberg (DE) on Friday.

Around three months earlier, on July 15th, the BMW M3 DTM concept car was officially presented at the BMW Welt in Munich (DE). From 2012 on, BMW will compete in the DTM with three strong teams, the BMW Team Schnitzer, the BMW Team RBM and the BMW Team RMG. The BMW works drivers Andy Priaulx (GB) and Augusto Farfus (BR) have already been confirmed as drivers for the 2012 season.

The DTM finale takes place this coming weekend (October 23rd) at the Hockenheimring and with the regulations changing for 2012, Mercedes has chosen to remind us of their rich and illustrious history in the series, by sharing some images below.

Since 2000, when the DTM series was revived, Mercedes-Benz have won 18 out of the 25 races staged at Hockenheim, which is a win rate of over 70 percent. But Audi’s A4 DTM is none too shabby either – 43 pole positions, 31 fastest race laps, 34 victories and five champion’s titles since its debut in April 2004 at Hockenheim.

Spengler said, “The Hockenheimring is one of my favourite tracks, and the season opener in May went really well for us – it was the second win in my career at the circuit. I especially like the combination of fast corners and slow sections such as the hairpin. This course is technically very demanding and you need good brakes and impressive top speed. It’s a lot of fun racing here. As this is the last race for the DTM AMG Mercedes C-Class, we’re aiming to send our fans home happy with a victory and to win the team championship.”

Audi Sport driver Mattias Ekström spoke of his thoughts before the weekend, “It’s always nice to travel to Hockenheim. It will conclude the season. This time I’m arriving there completely relaxed and will try to deliver a solid performance. I want to clinch another good result before we can look forward to the winter break and the tests with the new A5 DTM.”

So, the gloves are off for what should be a stunning season finale, which will be made even more special by the first display of all 2012 championship contenders on track at the same time – the Audi A5 DTM, the BMW M3 DTM and the DTM AMG Mercedes C-Coupé will all take to the racetrack for some demonstration laps, providing fans with their first taste of what to expect in 2012.

Without further ado, I’ll let you absorb the latest images from Mercedes-Benz showcasing the history of the C-Class DTM.

Paul di Resta, 2010 DTM Champion.

Klaus Ludwig, Champion, 1994 DTM Champion.

MERCEDES GP PETRONAS Formula One car next to a THOMAS SABO AMG Mercedes C-Class at the DTM Festival in Munich, 2011.

Bernd Schneider, 2006 DTM Champion.

Bernd Schneider, 1995 DTM Champion.

2004 DTM pre-season test in Barcelona.

Gary Paffett, 2005 DTM Champion at Hockenheim.

Bernd Schneider 1995 & 2000 DTM Champion with the AMG Mercedes CLK and C-Class.

The programme will be owned by a new standalone engineering business, Caterham Technology and Innovation Limited (CTI), which will be responsible for the development of a completely new line of accessible and affordable sportscars. Inspired by the lightweight, minimalist philosophy of the Seven and drawing on the advanced technologies and materials from the Group’s Team Lotus Formula One and Caterham Team AirAsia GP2 motorsport operations, CTI will also undertake advanced projects for external companies operating within the automotive and aerospace sectors.

“The new shareholders are committed to investing in an exciting range of global products over the next 10 years,” says Mark Edwards, CTI’s Chief Executive. “Tony Fernandes has been very clear from the start that Caterham needed a sustainable research and development business model in order to meet the plans the management have for the road car business.

“By establishing unique operating principles for CTI, we have managed to attract a world-class team of niche vehicle engineers eager to build on the ethos of Caterham and the DNA of the Seven.”

Among the first in a series of respected industry figures to join the new operation will be Tony Shute. Joining as Head of Road Cars for the new business and, as an avid motorsport competitor in his own right, Shute is credited with bringing the ground-breaking Series 1 Lotus Elise to market.

“When the opportunity to be involved with creating the next iconic Caterham arose, I couldn’t turn it down,” says Shute. “The core principles and ambitions of CTI have enabled us to attract some of the brightest and most respected talents in their fields.”

Further announcements will be made in due course.

The new business will focus on unique vehicle architectures, high performance engines, advanced materials and manufacturing technologies in association with the Formula One and GP2 race teams.

He adds: “I feel very confident that our customers will be very pleased with the products I have challenged CTI to deliver, in addition to supporting the Seven and I look forward to revealing our plans in more detail soon.”

Caterham has announced that its new CTI operation will be based in Norfolk near the Group’s motorsport operations, and within spitting distance of Lotus Car’s headquarters in Hethel.

Rallying has had a long and close association with road cars, perhaps more so than any other form of motorsport, but the approachability of today’s WRC owes much to the sport’s blackest day 25 years ago.

Group B

In 1986 the great Finnish rally driver Henry Toivonen and his co-driver Sergio Cresto were leading in the World Rally Championship when their Lancia Delta S4 Group B car left the road and plunged down a hillside. The petrol tanks ruptured and it’s assumed that the combination of fuel and a red-hot turbocharger ignited the car and set fire to the surrounding undergrowth.

By the time rescue workers made it to the remote spot (some 30 minutes later) all that remained of the car was a blackened body shell with the remains of Toivonen and co-driver Sergio Cresto still inside.

This tragedy, and the deaths of other drivers in these powerful ‘supercars’ signalled the end of the short but turbulent Group B era.

Group B was established in 1982 to provide manufacturers with the opportunity to chase rally victories and thus promote their brand by building cars for the purpose instead of adapting ‘compromised’ mass production cars. It gave birth to legendary cars such as the Lancia Delta S4, Audi Quattro S1, Peugeot 205 T16, Ford RS200 and the MG Metro 6R4; cars unobtainable to most spectators and probably just as well.

With little in the way of homologation rules, these monsters often produced over 600 bhp and could accelerate from rest to 100 mph in just a few seconds. It was an insanely dangerous time.

The problem for the spectators, and the sport in general, was that rally cars were pretty much unrecognisable from those that ordinary fans could buy. Group A cars which had previously dominated the series, were modified versions of the cars the punters bought, whereas manufacturers were only obliged to build 200 cars to enter Group B and in many cases didn’t even achieve that.

Back in the mid-80s you could pay upwards of £50,000 for a road-going version of these Group B supercars, which to put in perspective compares with the £37,000 Ferrari asked for its V8-engined Mondial 3.2 QV at the time.

Production car rallying

Following the madness that was Group B, the sport settled down until 1997 saw the introduction of the definitive World Rally Car (WRC) that we know today. These vehicles had to be derived from a production car with a minimum production run of 2500 units.

Obviously, some modifications were allowed notably upgrades to the transmission, suspension and engine but the rules were tightly controlled and we were watching cars which ultimately we could buy in the showroom – albeit with considerably more creature comforts.

It was during this period when the rally icons – Subaru’s Impreza and Mitsubishi Lancer EVO – were born. We celebrated the performances of Colin McRae, Richard Burns, Tommi Mäkinen and Carlos Sainz.

However as costs escalated and Super 2000 rules were introduced, both Mitsubishi and Subaru became less competitive and eventually dropped out of the world stage. As the road cars appeared less on our TV screens, so their appeal waned with buyers, sales then dropped and now they’re future looks very much in doubt.

Mitsubishi initially stated that the Evo series would be discontinued, due to it being out of step with the company’s new environmental focus and Subaru remain quiet about future hot Impreza models, especially if their old sparring partner is no longer up for the fight.

But perhaps all is not lost. The face of rallying is different these days, with Ford, Citroen, Skoda and now MINI grabbing our attention. They remain just as closely linked with road cars as ever and the new S2000 rules should see more manufacturers entering the scene.

VW group now run a very successful works team of Skoda Fabia’s in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge and in the next couple of years they’ll be fielding another works team, this time in the WRC, using a version of the ever popular Polo. These cars aren’t so far away from the mainstream Fabia vRS and Polo GTI that we can buy ourselves.

Which brings us back to Lotus and its Exige R-GT.

GT Category

In Lotus’ announcement at the Frankfurt motor show last week they stated that the R-GT will participate in the newly formed FIA GT category of the FIA Rally Championship, on the asphalt events in Monte Carlo, Tour de Corse and San Remo.

Apparently FIA President, Jean Todt, asked Lotus Director of Motorsport, Claudio Berro to work with his counterparts at Aston Martin and Porsche to devise a set of global rules for a GT category of rallying. GT Rallying is already popular in France, Belgium, Germany and Italy, but each championship runs under different rules. Todt would like to unite these into a world championship event and bring some glamour back into the sport.

This all brings back memories of when the Porsche 911, Renault Alpine, Lancia Stratos and Lancia 037 were all competing in international rallies and Todt can envisage cars such as the Alfa Romeo 4C, the rumoured Renault Alpine and even Nissan’s GT-R becoming a common sight on both tarmac and gravel events in the World Rally Championship.

Presently Berro believes the Exige R-GT would be about “..1.5 secs slower per kilometre than a Super2000 car but on some stages, like asphalt, we could, for sure, be quicker.” Lotus are pricing the R-GT at around £100,000 plus local taxes – considerably less than the £500,000 necessary for a top-line WRC contender – so the GT category could become a more accessible route into WRC for privateer teams.

The future

Motor racing is an important avenue of research for manufacturers. Formula 1 might be a fantastic spectator sport but the cars are designed with one purpose in mind – to win – and bear litte similarity to road cars beyond the 4 round black things which make contact with the road.

But more than any other form of motorsport, the link between competition and mainstream road cars is clearest in rallying.

For 2011/2 rally rules have changed yet again, partly to reduce costs and will return to using mechanical sequential gearshifts and mechanical diffs, whilst engines will drop in size to use 1.6-litre turbocharged units.

Just as paddle shift controls and electronic differentials have filtering down into our road cars, so will developments such as hybrid powerplants and energy recuperation (KERS) be accelerated by their use in rally cars.

So let’s welcome Lotus and look forward to seeing Alfa Romeo, Nissan and even Porsche join the World Rally scene – rallying leads to better road cars, it’s in their genes.