X-Games is fast, furious and dangerous. It is completely unlike European rallying except in one particular respect. Eight times World Rally Champion Sebastian Loeb entered this completely unknown racing formula and beat everybody. Apart from Seb showing that he is in a class of his own, the main news of the weekend were two serious crashes, of a type unthinkable in European motorsport.
Daily Archives: July 4, 2012
X-Games Final Los Angeles
X-Games is fast, furious and dangerous. It is completely unlike European rallying except in one particular respect. Eight times World Rally Champion Sebastian Loeb entered this completely unknown racing formula and beat everybody. Apart from Seb showing that he is in a class of his own, the main news of the weekend were two serious crashes, of a type unthinkable in European motorsport.
Tyre labelling arrives this year
From this November, all tyres sold will have to show independent ratings for fuel efficiency, safety and noise. They will be categorised using a seven grade ranking scale, similar to the new car CO2 or fridge efficiency labels. From 1 November it will become a legal requirement for tyre retailers to display the new label on all replacement tyres, but labels will start appearing in shops and dealerships from this week. Fuel efficiency (rolling resistance) and safety (wet grip) will be categorised using a seven grade ranking scale.
Nationwide tries to cut accident repair times and insurance costs
We have all heard about the way insurance companies and accident claims bandits rip us off when it comes to the costs of accidents. Now the largest accident repair specialist has teamed up with an insurance company to try and work together to reduce the time, and therefore cost of accidents. We spoke exclusively to Nationwide and its Chief Executive pointed out that his company makes a smaller profit from spending days working on each damaged car than a claims management company makes from a couple of phone calls.
Goodwood Auctions – great for classics, ominous for Lotus
Bonhams’ Goodwood auction showed that the great classic cars are achieving great prices – but apparently no-one is interested in Lotus’s recent history. A Ferrari Daytona Spider made £225,000 (13% above top estimate) and an Aston Martin DB6 Convertible made £404,700 (also 13% above top estimate). However, most modern Lotus models either failed to sell or sold below the bottom estimate.
Goodwood Highlights
With a record sell-out attendance of 185,000, the 2012 Festival of Speed was the biggest ever. The attendance of so many classic cars and top-level racing drivers has come to be expected. If you love anything to do with racing and sports cars, the Festival of Speed is one of the highlights of the year. However, the big surprise is that car manufacturers are now using it as the British Motor Show. By our reckoning there were a dozen new cars or concept cars launched at the show.
