Cars

If you are the slightest bit like the crew here at GTPlanet, you have already dreamt of teaming up with a few cronies for a no-holds-barred cruise around the globe, driving whatever and wherever your fancy desires. And, if like us, those dreams are no closer to reality, then it’s time to live vicariously through the white-knuckle antics of three petrolheads playing out that very fantasy.

The penultimate round of the Pirelli World Challenge took place a few weeks ago at the sunny, rolling hills of Sonoma Raceway. Continuing a trend set by GT Academy grad Bryan Heitkotter at the previous race weekend in Utah, veteran GM racer Johnny O’Connell swept both races in California in his bright red Cadillac ATS-V.R.

The grand finale of the 2016 All-Japan Formula 3 open-wheel series wrapped up this past weekend, but not in a way many of us may have expected. Despite heading into the final weekend at Sportland Sugo with a points lead, GT Academy graduate Jann Mardenborough lost the title by only three points to Kenta Yamashita after a hard-fought final three rounds.

Nissan GT Academy Team RJN has successfully scored a podium placement at the final race of the 2016 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, held at Nurburgring GP circuit last weekend. This is the first podium position for the team in the series, brought by athletes Lucas Ordonez, Alex Buncombe and Mitsunori Takaboshi in the Pro Cup class.

Fasten your seatbelts — the former hosts of BBC’s renowned motoring show “Top Gear” are back in the driver’s seat for an all-new Amazon Original series “The Grand Tour.”

The #AcrossTheHorizon tour has landed in Northern Ontario. Xbox Canada invited GTPlanet to join in the festivities to celebrate the upcoming release of Forza Horizon 3, and this is the third leg of the cross-country tour. Just as we have on the earlier stops, we need your votes to determine what activity we do next.

We’re coming at you from the largest city in Saskatchewan on the second leg of the #AcrossTheHorizon tour with Xbox Canada. GTPlanet is tagging along on a portion of the trip, which started in Vancouver on Monday.

Okayama International Speedway brought an interesting turn of events for the 2016 All-Japan Formula 3 season. An unfortunate off-course excursion combined with mechanical difficulty during the second qualification session forced Jann to start from behind. Not being able to reach for the points, Jann would face a drastic reduction in the championship lead he had worked so hard to build.

Highly sophisticated racing simulators are increasingly common these days. What racing drivers can’t learn prior the race itself can be experienced and absorbed on these high-tech platforms. This allows drivers to be highly competitive regardless of the track they are going to face next.

Earlier this month, GT Academy winner Nicolas Hammann made his NASCAR debut in the Xfinity series. Competing at the Zippo 200 Watkins Glen International, the American managed a 28th place finish after an oil leak plagued his race. Although not ideal, his placing did put him ahead of a good few NASCAR veterans including NASCAR sprint cup champion Kyle Busch, although Busch did have an accident himself. Hammann’s Xfinity journey isn’t over yet however — he’ll race this weekend in the Road America 180.

With only two race weekends left on the calendar, the 2016 season of the All-Japan Formula 3 open-wheel series is slowly coming to a close. Normally, this puts enormous pressure on drivers whose  overall standing depends on a point or two. Jann Mardenborough has managed to avoid this unpleasant position by winning the last two races at Motegi. This perfect weekend brought Jann a comfortable advantage over his rivals, and brings him one step closer to claiming the championship title.

In case you’ve been living under a particularly large rock, a little thing known as the Olympics just wrapped up in Rio on Sunday. A testament to the capabilities of the human body, the best technology available, and the relentlessness of VISA advertising, it offers a global stage for the absolute best to compete against one another.

Former GT Academy graduate Lucas Ordoñez is auctioning one of his racing suits for a great cause. Lucia Gil Alvaro is an 11-year-old girl who suffers from the rare disease ‘Leber congenital amaurosis’, which causes the person affected to become blind. However, this illness can be treated but must be done so in the USA. For the past 8 years, Lucia has been treated in Philadelphia as explained below in the video introducing the auction:

Every year at the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, Polyphony Digital award the Gran Turismo Trophy; a token of intent to bring the chosen winner into the Gran Turismo series. The official description of the trophy states the following:

Last weekend saw a landmark achievement for one of the most promising graduates from the GT Academy programme, as the 2011 U.S. winner Bryan Heitkotter was able to to take his first overall win in professional motorsport — which was then swiftly backed up by a second win the day after.

Earlier this week we reported Saudi Prince Badr bin Saud got the jump on other private bidders, purchasing both the one-off Bugatti Vision GT seen above, and pre-production Chiron. Before the prince can take delivery, both cars are currently scheduled to appear side-by-side at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance later this month.

The 2016 Spa 24 Hours endurance event recently finished with the #99 BMW M6 GT3 from ROWE Racing team claiming the victory after 531 laps. Variable weather conditions and several unforeseen pace interruptions caused enough anxiety to make the race entirely unpredictable.

Nicolas Hamman, who won the 2014 US GT Academy, will participate in NASCAR for the first time this weekend after securing a seat for the XFINITY series race at Watkins Glen. Driving the #74 Mike Harmon Racing Xfinity Car, Hamman will make his debut at the famous circuit in a Dodge branded stock-car.

This is certainly interesting. For those so inclined, snagging a shiny and new Bugatti is hardly a newsworthy event. It’s a different story altogether when the one-off Vision Gran Turismo that was shown off at last year’s Frankfurt motor show is claimed, and seemingly right under everyone’s nose.

After a month-long break, the Pirelli World Challenge got underway again last weekend, with Rounds 14 & 15 taking place at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Heading in, Alvaro Parente (K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S GT3) enjoyed a 52-point lead over Patrick Long (Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R), with Michael Cooper (Cadillac Racing ATS-V.R) a further 66 points back.