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Toyota wins at Le Mans for the fifth year in a row

Toyota won the 24 Hours Le Mans again, the fifth year in a row that the Japanese carmaker has won the classic endurance race. Toyota is the only other Japanese carmaker to win the 24-hour race, the other being Mazda in 1991 with its 787B.

This year, Toyota is using a new racing car, the GR010 HYBRID developed to the LMH (Le Mans Hypercar) technical regulations. It’s a completely new machine, sharing virtually nothing with the LMP1 (Le Mans Prototype) class TS050 HYBRID car that was used successfully in previous years.

The TOYOTA GAZOO Racing team’s fourth 1-2 finish at the 90^th edition of the race was led by the crew of Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa who drove in the #8 GR010 HYBRID for 380 laps. They were followed across the finish line by 2021 winners, Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María Lopez, in the #7 car, 2mins 1.222 seconds behind.

The two Toyota hypercars were in a class of their own and engaged in close battles at the front. The lead changed several times as the race went through the night, with traffic, slow zones and track evolution all coming into play. Most of the time over a period of 16 hours, the two cars ran just a few seconds apart.

As the morning started, there was a rare moment of trouble when the #8 car had a puncture with Buemi at the wheel. But the complexion of the race changed decisively on lap 256 when Jose had to move the race-leading #7 car to the side of the track following an issue relating to the front motor. He had to perform a system reset and was then able to return to the pits. Further resets solved the issue and allowed the car to rejoin the race but nearly a lap behind the new leader in the #8 GR010 HYBRID.

With closely-matched performance, that deficit proved too great for the #7 crew to overcome, despite Jose setting the fastest lap of the race within the remaining 30 minutes of the race. It was therefore left to Brendon to take the #7 car across the finish line, completing 5,177 kms in 24 hours.

Third and fourth places were taken by the cars of Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus, also racing in the hypercar class, which has covered 370 and 375 laps. Fifth place in the category (but 23^rd overall) was the Alpine A480 – Gibson which was off-pace due to a number of technical problems that plagued the car and team.

Aston Martin claimed another victory with its Vantage GTE as partner team TF Sport won the GTE-Am class. The victory, in a year featuring a record-equalling 23-car GTE-Am entry, marks a second in three years at Le Mans for TF Sport following its class success in 2020.

As the third round of the 2022 World Endurance Championship (WEC), Le Mans offered double points and a chance for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing to jump upwards in the Manufacturers’ and Drivers’ standings. The new season had seen a close start in the Hypercar class against strong competition from Alpine and Glickenhaus.

However, after the Le Mans race, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing has moved to the top, 22 points ahead of Alpine. The Drivers’ championship remains wide open, though, with the #8 crew just 3 points ahead of the leading Alpine trio, and #7 20 points behind.

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing wins first-ever hypercar championship of World Endurance Championship

F1/Round 8: Provisional Results and Highlights of 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

After the frustration at Monaco, Charles Leclerc would have been eager to make sure that he took full advantage of his pole position on the Baku startline to get ahead. But as the lights turned green, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was alert enough to shoot ahead when the Ferrari driver locked up at the first corner, and then began to pull away. As for Perez’ team mate, Max Verstappen, trying to also pass Leclerc was not the immediate objective as he has another Ferrari in his mirrors.

Further back, Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, starting in ninth, managed to sneak past Scuderia AkphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda. The rest of the pack generally stayed in order of grid positions initially.

By lap 4, Perez was already 2 seconds ahead of Leclerc while Verstappen had closed in from behind. He could not afford to allow the Dutchman to get past because, when they hit the straight, the Red Bulls would use their superior speed to widen the gap. Sainz was already falling back to about 4 seconds from Verstappen and would soon have Mercedes-AMG’s George Russell coming up.

On lap 9, yellow flags appeared as Sainz departed from the track into the run-off area at Turn 4. He remained there and it was heard over the radio that there was a brake failure. The Virtual Safety Car was activated since the Ferrari was not obstructing and the marshalls got to work recovering the racing car.

With his team mate out, Leclerc quickly headed to the pits to get on hard tyres. Others who came in during the period were Russell, Pierre Gasly and Lewis Hamilton as well. Leclerc’s pit stop put him one place down behind Verstappen and about 14 seconds behind the race leader when he rejoined. The pit stops gave Alpine’s Fernando Alonso a chance to get up to fifth, while McLaren’s Lando Norris was in sixth with his team mate Daniel Ricciardo in seventh.

Hamilton’s pit stop also allowed Vettel to jump ahead and engage Alpine’s Esteban Ocon. However, on lap 13, the Aston Martin driver misjudged the corner at Turn 3 and had to go straight, losing his place to a few others. In his haste to rejoin, he nearly hit Tsunoda.

By lap 15, Verstappen was right up behind Perez and ready to overtake, which he did without drama as his team mate let him go by. Now Perez would have to watch for Leclerc who was still some 10 seconds behind. With that safe gap, Perez came in to get fresh and hard tyres. But the stop was a slow one and when he rejoined, Leclerc had gone past and he just managed to get in ahead of Russell.

Verstappen finally came in on lap 19 to change his tyres for the first time, also to hards. He had a 9-second gap when he came in but it was not enough to allow him to return and still be in the lead, which was taken by Leclerc. Meanwhile, further back, Hamilton’s patience paid off as he pushed past Ocon and got up to ninth.

And then disaster struck for Leclerc on lap 20 as smoke appeared from his car and he lost power. He managed to return to the pits – but his race was over. Another race to forget for Ferrari which had started the season looking good. So it was Red Bull in 1-2, with Russell 14 seconds behind the leader in third. But the race isn’t over till the chequered flag comes out and with the high temperatures, things could still happen to change the expected outcome.

Along with Leclerc, Alfa Romeo’s Zhou GuanYu also had to retire. On lap 24, he was asked to pit as there was ‘a technical issue’, preventing him from finishing another race.

As the 51-lap race crossed the halfway point, the three front cars were well ahead of the others. Behind Russell, the gap was around 20 seconds to Scuderia Alphatauri’s Pierre Gasly. Pursuing him were Hamilton and Ricciardo, with Tsunoda trying hard to stay with them.

While Leclerc was saying how ‘hurt’ he felt with the engine failure, Hamilton was really feeling hurt physically. He was heard to tell his team over the radio that his back was hurting badly due to the porpoising. This condition is occurring in the new 2022 cars as the ground effect aero causes them to ‘bounce’ at high speed. The alternating downforce and lack of it keeps pulling the car body up and down. While some constructors have found solutions, it seems that the Mercedes-AMG engineers still can’t overcome it and the drivers are getting suffering.

Another Ferrari-powered car also ended its race on lap 33. It was the Haas F1 of Kevin Magnussen who had been struggling to endure the porpoising and was about to get past Ocon. But then he dropped back and pulled to the side of the track. The Virtual Safety Car was again activated, giving the three front-runners an opportunity to get fresh tyres for the remainder of the race.

When racing resume on lap 36, Hamilton had gotten new tyres and was ready to push hard. He quickly got past Tsunoda who was on old tyres, nut would have to work hard to close the 10-second gap to Gasly. His team mate, Russell, was in a comfortable position in third and did not try too hard to go after Perez.

On lap 40, balck and orange flags were waved at Tsunoda as his car was spotted with a damaged rear wing. He was required to go back to the pits where the crew was waiting to fix the problem with tape. But the fix meant he would have no DRS although he did get new tyres.

Hamilton got past Gasly on lap 42 and was up to fourth, but still over 30 seconds behind Russell. It was a good position for a change but he still had to be alert for Gasly trying to take back the position from him. However, the Scuderia Alphatauri driver was also told not to try too hard as getting the points was important – no point engaging Hamilton and then making a mistake and have to retire.

With less than 10 laps remaining, both McLarens were in the top 10 and looking forward to taking home points from Baku. Ahead of them was Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, who was within reach but Alonso was not close enough to try to take on Vettel. Both McLarens were watching Alonso closely, waiting for just one mistake.

Verstappen must have been praying not to have any surprise like last year as he headed towards the finish. But for Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, there would be no crossing the finish line as he was pulled out of the race on lap 48. Verstappen did have a moment of concern when he reported that he felt ‘something’ with his brakes but he took the chequered flag without incident and strengthened his lead, along with that of Red Bull Racing with Perez also picking up a big chunk of points.

Lamborghini Owners Malaysia club sets new record for largest gathering

Lamborghinis are not a common sight (well, perhaps in some Middle Eastern countries) and it is a rare sight to see many gathered at one spot. But the Lamborghini Owners Malaysia (LOM) club managed to assemble up to 112 of the supercars at a carpark near the KLCC to set a national record. It beat the record of 77 units that had been set in May 2013 at the same location.

For their effort, LOM received a certificate confirming the new record which will now be listed in the Malaysia Book of Records.

“This milestone in our club’s history also marks our ode to the legendary Lamborghini brand, which celebrates beauty and performance, infused by an indomitable spirit,” said Roslan Rosdi, President of LOM.

The record-breaking gathering was not only joined by existing members of LOM but also Lamborghini owners who are keen to be part of the expanding club. The biggest challenge for the attempt was getting all owners, many of whom are busy businessmen, to take time to join the event. “Our members however are more than happy to gather for a good cause,” said Dato’ Rakesh Sachdev, LOM Organising Committee Chairperson.

The models assembled ranged from vintage and rare Lamborghinis such as the Gallardo Malaysia Limited Edition (of which only 20 were ever produced) and Murcielago, along with more modern ones like the Huracan Spyder, Aventador SVJ and Urus SUV.

Following the celebration at the carpark adjacent to the Mandarin Oriental hotel, a convoy of over 100 Lamborghinis left at about 1 pm to head for Bukit Tinggi. It was, unofficially, the longest single line of Lamborghinis in a convoy. On the hilltop resort, the owners and other guests enjoyed the Bulls Ball and a one-night stay at the La Chateau Spa & Wellness Resort.

SunAgata Supercars opens Lamborghini Kuala Lumpur sales and service facility in Glenmarie, Selangor

F1/Round 8: Preview & Provisional Starting Grid of 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Race starts at 3 pm in Azerbaijan/7 pm in Malaysia

After the tight and twisty streets of Monaco in the previous round of the 2022 Formula 1 World Championship, the teams again face the challenge of any urban circuit. It’s the Baku City Circuit for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Round 8 of the championship, which has been a venue every year since 2016 except in 2020 when the event was cancelled due to the pandemic.

Like Monaco, Baku is also along a coast, in this case by the Caspian Sea. Its Old Town has twists and turns and the close barriers of a regular street circuit, which is one type of challenge for the drivers. Then there are also long and wide open boulevards which feed into a number of 90˚ corners, offering many overtaking opportunities.

*The cornering speeds and gears used by the drivers of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS racing car at the Baku City Circuit.*

The length of the high-speed straight, however, pushes teams towards a low-downforce set-up, potentially making the streets of the Old Town section even more treacherous. Setting up a racing car for Baku is therefore a tricky task. Teams will look for a compromise in the setup, similar to Spa-Francorchamps, where reducing drag without losing too much downforce is a key consideration.

The tarmac on the Baku City Circuit is very smooth, and some sections of it are re-laid annually to completely cover the old town’s cobblestones. Furthermore, the tight confines of the buildings around the circuit mean that there are alternate areas of light and shade, varying the track temperature quite a bit around the lap.

Getting tyres up to temperature can be tough due to the very low average steer angle, which results in very little energy being put into the tyres. Teams have to rely more on the heat from braking to keep tyres warm since not as much energy is generated in the corners as at other circuits.

For this round, Pirelli has brought the three softest tyres in its range. This is the same selection as was made for the same event last year, but the compounds and constructions are completely new for 2022.

“Until Jeddah came along, Baku was the fastest street circuit of the year. But the demands of this city track are still relatively low, as none of the corners take a huge amount of energy out of the tyres due to the low levels of abrasion and contained lateral loads – which means that we can have the same nomination as Monaco,” said Mario Isola, Pirelli’s Motorsport Director.

Since the track is 6 kms long with 10 braking sections, the brakes are used for 20.5 seconds per lap: this may sound a lot but is only 20% of the entire race compared with 21% of the Monaco GP and 22% of the Singapore GP.

In the Drivers’ Championship, third place in Monaco means Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has a 9-point lead over Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who finished fourth in the last round. Victory in Monaco has put Sergio Perez, Verstappen’s team mate, just 6 points behind Leclerc. In the Constructors’ Championship, Red Bull, with 235 points, now lead Ferrari by 36 points.

Since the first race (as the European GP) in 2016, Mercedes-AMG has won 3 times, making it the most successful team in Baku. Red Bull is next with two wins. No driver has managed a repeat win in Baku and last year’s winner, Sergio Perez, will certainly be aiming to go to the top of the podium again.

Hyundai Motor Group starts pilot autonomous car-hailing service with IONIQ 5 in Seoul

There are 6 levels (include level 0) of autonomous driving technology established by the US Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), and currently, many vehicles are able to offer up to Level 2 but the driver must still give attention. Beyond Level 2, the requirement for the driver to be ready to take over control when necessary becomes less. By level 5, the vehicle can operate entirely on its own and the driver can even read a book or watch TV while moving.

For the higher levels to be introduced requires that other elements of the environment around the vehicle must also be ready. For instance, signage must be clear so that the cameras can capture important information and road markings must also be well defined for the vehicle to travel in a precise position.

For this reason, even though there are some vehicles already able to operate at level 4 where driver control is not needed, they can only do so within a limited area of a city or highway. As such, they are currently being used for vehicle-sharing purposes where the public can use them as autonomous transport around the city.

The Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) is one of the companies that has a vehicle ready to operate with level 4 technology and it will be running a pilot service in the Gangnam area of Seoul, South Korea’s capital city. Called the RoboRide car-hailing service, IONIQ 5 battery electric vehicles (BEV) fitted with the necessary equipment will be used. The pilot RoboRide will be the first car-hailing service with autonomous driving vehicles to operate in Gangnam, one of the most congested areas in metropolitan Seoul.

For the pilot service, the Group has obtained a temporary autonomous driving operation permit from the authorities. It will collaborate with Jin Mobility, a Korean startup operating the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered car-hailing mobility platform ‘i.M.’. Jin Mobility will be in charge of operating the two IONIQ 5 RoboRide units on its i.M application.

HMG also plans to expand the pilot service, while further developing autonomous driving technology with consideration for various conditions, such as driving stability.

“At Hyundai Motor Group, we are developing level 4 autonomous driving technology based on the internally developed Advanced Driving Support System, whose functionally and safety are verified through mass production and successful commercial launch,” said Woongjun Jang, Senior Vice-President and Head of the Autonomous Driving Centre of HMG. “We expect this RoboRide pilot service will be an important inflection point that will enable us to internalize autonomous driving technology.”

Through this pilot PROGRAM, HMG expects to collect valuable autonomous driving data and plans to further develop the level 4 autonomous driving technology to navigate safely and flexibly in complicated urban environments. To prepare for such a complicated driving environment, HMG has also worked with Seoul Metropolitan Government to establish a system that can connect traffic signals with autonomous vehicles.

In addition, an in-house developed remote vehicle assist system will be provided to ensure safety. The system monitors autonomous driving status, vehicle and route, and supports the trip with remote assist functions, such as changing the lane under circumstances where autonomous driving is not feasible. Based on the level 4 autonomous driving technology, a RoboRide vehicle will perceive, make decisions, and control its own driving status, while its safety driver will only intervene under limited conditions.

The RoboRide pilot service will operate from 10 am to 4 pm, Mondays to Fridays, to minimize any possible inconveniences on the road. Up to 3 passengers can be on a ride, and there will be a ‘safety driver’ present in the vehicle as well to respond to any emergencies.

Besides RoboRide, the company has also been conducting a test operation of its RoboShuttle service since August last year. The demand-responsive, high-occupancy vehicle service, powered by autonomous driving and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, operates along a 6.1-km route in Korea’s Sejong Smart City.

*RoboShuttle service which has been operating since August 2021.*

The pilot operation is conducted using a H350 van equipped with autonomous driving technology. This technology has a range of Level 4-comparable core technologies and is developed in-house by the Autonomous Driving Centre. Based on its self-driving capabilities, the vehicle is designed to perceive its surroundings, make decisions, and control itself while driving on the road, requiring minimal intervention from a safety driver.

Hyundai IONIQ 5 EV to be used for fully autonomous robotaxi by Motional

Nardone Automotive brings back the Porsche 928 as a ‘restomod’

While the 911 is today a successful model in Porsche’s range, there was a time in the 1970s when it seemed that it should be retired. Sales began to show decline when the decade started and there was a need for the company to launch an all-new model more oriented towards a grand tourer concept.

A project team came up with a proposal that was truly a clean sheet design, unlike the 911 which could trace its roots all the way back to the Volkswagen Beetle. The new design, which would become the 928, would be Porsche’s first production model with a V8 engine (also its first 8-cylinder engine) and it would also be its only coupe having a V8 engine installed ahead of the driver.

The model went on sale in 1977 and would remain in product for the next 18 years. It evolved during the period to become more powerful, with engine displacements that reached 5.4 litres. Just over 61,000 units were sold worldwide between 1977 and 1995 and then Porsche decided to discontinue the model. Economic reasons were given for this move which could well have been partly due to the fact that the 928 did not share parts with other models. Instead, the 911 got a new lease of life and more attention, propelling it to greater prominence in Porsche’s identity.

It is still a sought-after model today and well-kept examples can fetch good prices. Now there is also a way to own a brand new 928 as French company Nardone Automotive is building its own interpretation of the sportscar.

The company’s founder, Thierry Nardone, has long had a passion for the Porsches with a transaxle – which was a feature of the 928. He admired the car for its elegance and timeless style and decided that he would bring it back.

Over the past 3 years, Nardone and his team along with various specialists, has been developing the 928 as a ‘restomod’. The platform is that of a 928 S4 and onto it is placed new bodywork composed entirely of composite materials. The original 928 was one of the early cars to use aluminium on a number of body panels for weight reduction.

2024 Porsche 928 restomod by Nardone Automotive — *The headlights of the Nardone 928 have been modernised but still pop up when needed, just like the original ones (shown in the inset).*

While it is recognisable as a 928, there are also certain elements that Nardone has altered. One of these is the headlights which, on the original car, were teardrop-shaped units that flipped up about 45 degrees when in use. The Nardone car also has pop-up headlights but they are LED units with better illuminating power. The rear lights have also been restyled with a full-width light bar.

There were various wheel options for the 928 though the common one was 16 inches with a ‘manhole’ sort of design. Nardone fits newly designed forged 18-inch wheels with Michelin Pilot Sport 5 tyres that are surely a lot better than whatever the original car came with.

The engine is the same V8 with a modern ECU and tuned to deliver up to 400 bhp. That’s about 50 bhp more than the most powerful production 928 sold. The engine is mated to an original 5-speed manual gearbox which has been modified to a 6-speeder. A limited-slip differential is also added.

The chassis setup has a redesigned front and rear axle and spindle, active controlled electronic suspension, increased brakes and adaptive electric power steering.

The interior has been completely revised and raises the level of luxury with Foglizzo leather and Alcantara. The infotainment area incorporates the Porsche Classic Management system (PCCM) combined with a high-end audio system and Apple CarPlay.

While Nardone has not indicated how much the car will cost, it is known that the production number will be small. It will be taking orders during the next year and a half and then start building cars for delivery in 2024.