2012 Bentley Continental GTC Speed Scooped in the Alps

Back in May, we saw Bentley trying out the drop-top version of its subtly evolved 2011 Continental GT, the GTC, at the Nurburgring racetrack. Now, our spies have spotted Bentley’s people working on the more athletic GTC Speed in the Alps.

Like the standard Continental GTC, the Speed shares the sharper styling cues of the coupe model launched last year adding a more aggressively designed front bumper with new openings, hood air vents and a discreet boot lid spoiler along with larger alloy wheels to the mix.

The GTC Speed will benefit from the revisions we saw on the coupe and which include a redesigned dashboard with an updated instrument panel and a new touch-screen interface plus new seats and trim materials.

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VIDEO: Lexus LF-A Nurburgring Edition Laps the Nordschleife in 7:22.85

A Carscoop reader from Japan tipped us off about this video showing the new Lexus LF-A Nurburgring Edition (or at least that’s what the Youtube poster claims we’re seeing here) lapping the famous Nordschleife circuit in 7 minutes and 22.85 seconds. The poster videotaped the run from a video screen set beside the LF-A Nurburgring Edition.

According to the person who shot the clip, Lexus raced the car just before this past weekend’s 24-hour Nurburgring endurance race kicked off.

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2011 24-hour Nürburgring Race: And the Winner is….

Porsche triumphed in the 2011 24 hours of Nürburgring, with the 911 GT3 RSR of Marc Lieb, Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Lucas Luhr crossing the line after 156 laps and 3,958.968 km (2,462.044 miles), a new record for the legendary endurance race in the demanding Nordschleife.

The Porsche 911 GT3 RSR first led the race at Saturday evening, at 23:25, and then its drivers held on to it for the following 16 hours and 35 minutes, or 108 laps.

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Aston Martin Rapide Auction Proceeds Given to Toyota to Aid Tsunami Victims

Last month we reported that Aston Martin’s CEO, Dr. Ulrich Bez, announced that he would auction off his company car, a fully-loaded 2009 “Concours Blue” Rapide, during this year’s annual Bonhams event at Newport Pagnell on June 21.

The buyer was furniture designer and Aston Martin enthusiast David Linley, who paid £100,000 ($160,000), which was handed over to Toyota which can better direct it to charities providing aid to victims of the recent earthquakes and Tsunami that devastated Japan.

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BMW Faces Problems at 24h Nürburgring Qualifier, M3 GT No7 Crashes

The first qualifying session for the 24 hours of Nürburgring did not go exactly as planned for Team BMW Motorsport, as the number 7 M3 GT driven by Dirk Muller crashed in the Karussell two hours into the session. Prior to that, the car was 8th overall, with Dirk Werner lapping the Nordschleife at 8:32.302. Read more »

BMW Launches Lighter and More Powerful New M3 CRT Special, Limited to 67 Units

This is BMW’s new hardcore M3 sedan, the CRT, which stands for Carbon Racing Technology. To be produced in a limited run, the M3 CRT was unveiled during a pre-race BMW M event ahead of this weekend’s Nürburgring 24-hour race.

The special edition model combines the body style of the M3 sedan with technology from the M3 GTS coupe, topped off with the use of carbon-fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) to further reduce the car’s weight.

BMW said the M3 CRT represents the worldwide debut of a new production process for carbon-fibre reinforced plastic components in the automotive industry, adding that we will see the same materials on the upcoming i3 EV hatchback and i8 hybrid sports coupe, due to enter volume production in 2013.

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2012 Corvette Z06 Smashes Previous Model’s ‘Ring Time by 20 Seconds [with Video]

As promised, GM released the Nürburgring lap time of its modestly tweaked for the 2012 model year, Corvette Z06. The most important change for the 2012 model is the available competition-orientated Michelin Pilot Sport Cup Zero Pressure tires, which helped the Z06 turn around the ‘Ring in just 7:22.68.

The lap time is 20 seconds faster than the previous-best Z06 lap time, recorded in 2005, and just 3 seconds behind the 638-horsepower 2012 ZR1, a video of which you can see in our previous posting here.

However, GM noted that in 2005, the Z06 was timed from a standing start instead of the rolling start technique used on the latest Z06 and ZR1 models.

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New MINI JCW Coupe Racer to Debut at 24h of Nurburgring

Well, that was quick. Just three days after unveiling the MINI Coupe, the firm’s first-ever two-seater coupe model, and even though its flagship version won’t be available to the public before autumn, the company presented the MINI John Cooper Works Coupe Endurance (yes, that’s quite a mouthful, so we’ll just call it JCW) racer.

And, what’s more, its public debut will be in one of the most demanding endurance races of the world, the Nürburgring 24 hours at the legendary Nordschleife, the place which Jackie Stewart has famously christened “the Green Hell”.

The MINI JCW Endurance is powered by a tuned version of the standard 4-cylinder, 1.6-litre engine that features a twin-scroll turbocharger as well as direct injection.

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Porsche Ready for 24h Nürburgring Race with 911 GT3 R Hybrid

One of the most important racing events of the year in Germany is the 24-hour race of Nürburgring, which will take place this weekend (25/26 June). Porsche will enter the endurance race with eight factory cars, most prominent of which is the updated version of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid that led the event for eight hours last year in its first outing.

For this year, the organizers have changed the rules, restricting the flat six’s output to 448 hp which is directed to the rear wheels. But the hybrid system that features two electric motors driving the front wheels adds another 200 hp.

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VW Fields a Trio of 450-hp Golfs for the Nurburgring 24h Race

Volkswagen will participate with three 450-hp Golf24 cars in one of the most grueling endurance races in the world, the famed 24 hours of Nurburgring that will take place this weekend at the renowned German circuit. Read more »

Toyota Presents the Successor to Last Year’s MR2 Study with the New GRMN Sports Hybrid Concept II

At last year’s Tokyo Auto Salon, Toyota showcased a concept study of an all-wheel drive hybrid sports car (see here) loosely based on the now obsolete MR2 roadster, developed in partnership with Japan’s GAZOO Racing.

Now the time has come for Toyota to unwrap its successor in the form of the GRMN SPORTS HYBRID Concept II that will receive both its public and racing debut at this weekend’s highly anticipated 39th Nürburgring 24-hour endurance race in Germany.

The name “GRMN” stands for GAZOO Racing tuned by Meister of Nürburgring, in honor of the late Hiromu Naruse (1944-2010), the Toyota chief test driver and head of the GAZOO Racing team who died in an accident last summer driving a prototype of the Lexus LFA Nurburgring Edition in Germany.

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Aston Martin Prepares Two V12 Zagato Concepts for 24h Nurburgring Battle

The world’s toughest 24-hour race at the Nurburgring circuit this weekend will see Aston Martin entering a bevy of sports cars led by not one but two specially prepared racing examples of the freshly revealed V12 Zagato Concept.

Based on the existing V12 Vantage chassis, the concept model was designed by Italian coachbuilder Zagato to celebrate its partnership with Aston Martin in the 50th anniversary year of the DB4GT Zagato. The prototype received its public debut at the Concorso D’Eleganza at Villa D’Este in May this year, winning the Design award for Concepts and Prototypes.

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