Red Bull Motor Sports Racing

It's slowly warming up, the annual "Dakar Rally" feeling with 3 month to go for the #Dakar2014 edition! Several teams been out testing and evaluating their new vehicles. While the Qatar Red Bull Dakar team is keeping a low profile - the images courtesy Lucas Cruz, Nasser Al-Attiyah's copilot.
A "new kid on the block" is the Ford South Africa team, however, Lucio Alvarez and Ronnie Graue - last year in a Overland Toyota - have been confirmed as the first driver crew, 10th at the 2013 Dakar Rally. All on that team at #Ford4Dakar.



Also out testing was the Toyota Motorsport South Africa team. Giniel de Villiers, 2009 winner with VW and top contender during the last few years Dakar's testing in the Namib Desert near Walvis Bay in Namibia has taken Toyota Motorsport South Africa a big step forward in their preparations for the 2014 Dakar Rally in South America from January 5-18. 2014.

After becoming a double world champion at the Japanese Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel insisted there is no secret to Red Bull's success, just a very good team. Vettel finished third at Suzuka to ensure he took his second title with four races remaining. After a dominant year for Red Bull, in which Vettel took 12 pole positions and nine victories, he gave full credit to his team. "There is no secret, it's step-by-step," Vettel said. "I think in a way the hardest thing, after winning the title last year when it was so close and so exciting, was to go out and do it again, and even though you know how to do, it doesn't allow you to make all these little steps. I could not have got close to this alone, so I needed all the support I could get, from the team, from Mark [Webber] and from everyone outside the team working for me.



It's as confusing as the first one I have to say. So it's hard to find the right words." He said taking the title at Suzuka, the scene of several championship deciders down the years, was also very special. "It's phenomenal, especially next to the strong result again today," he added. "To win the championship here is just fantastic. There are lots of things that you want to say but you can't remember all of them. I'm just so, so thankful to everyone in the team. We've got so many people here at the track, but also in Milton Keynes working day-in-day out every day, pushing hard to build those to cars to fight for the points and also fight for the championship. We find ourselves in a very, very strong position and it's great to achieve the results we set for ourselves going into this year already."


More Formula 1 here and here.

Sebastian Vettel took his fourth win of the season as he held off Lewis Hamilton to win an enthralling Spanish Grand Prix.

Vettel pipped Hamilton by just 0.6s as the McLaren proved to be a match for Red Bull in race trim. Jenson Button recovered from a bad start to take third place, this time making a three-stop strategy work, while pole-sitter Mark Webber lost out badly behind Fernando Alonso and finished fourth ahead of the Ferrari. The race result took a little while to be confirmed, however, as Hamilton, Button, Webber and Jaime Alguersuari were all under investigation for their pace under yellow flags, eventually being reprimanded but not penalized.

Vettel was the first of the leaders to pit and was released right behind Button and Massa, but dispatched both on his out lap. Alonso responded by pitting immediately, as did Webber, and Alonso maintained the lead. Webber was stuck behind Massa - who had been passed by Button - and when Hamilton pitted he got the jump on the Red Bull.




The front three ran very close together during the second stint, but as both Vettel and Hamilton could use their DRS, neither could make much of an impression. Button pitted later and managed to exit ahead of Petrov and Rosberg. He closed up on Schumacher within a lap and passed him as Schumacher ran wide through turn three.


Vettel pitted early for a second time, and even though Alonso pitted immediately afterwards, Vettel managed to use his fresh tyres to undercut the Ferrari and in clear air was able to show the true Red Bull pace. Lewis Hamilton stayed out for an extra three laps to try and jump ahead of Alonso, and managed to do so by a second. Hamilton then pulled away and started to use his fresher tyres to close the gap at the front.

Alonso and Webber both pitted together on lap 30 for the third time, and matched each other by putting on the hard tyre. As they exited the pits Alonso just got out ahead, and the pair started to battle over position. Webber made a move down the inside in to turn ten but Alonso came back up the inside in to the next corner. As they fought, the three-stopping Button cruised up behind them and took them both on the same lap; first bravely round the outside of Webber in to turn one and then up the inside of Alonso through turn 11.


Content credits: ESPN F1 / Chris Medland. Read the full acticle at ESPN F1 here...

A "must see" is the new new TV commercial from Mercedes Benz with the 2 Mercedes GP drivers Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher as well former Formula 1 world-champion Mika Hakkinen (McLaren Mercedes). The Tv commercial was created by the Jung von Matt Werbeagentur GmbH and Redbull within the clip is a hint who Mercedes GP is aiming at - the current title holder Redbull! It's a funny clip worth watching.

One has not to look for to see a RedBull logo them days at the Dakar, No matter if with the "major" RedBull Teams like the KTM of Frenchman Cyril Despres, the 4 Volkswagen Motorsport Touaregs flying the RedBull colors or "the King of Dakar" in the truck class with his Kamaz - Red Bull is shown big time. Additional thee are many athletes in all classes sponsored on a individual level like Nani Roma, Marc Coma and, and, and.... The main competitor in that case Monster Energy is far behind and considering Speed Energy at all - we doubt the ever will play a role in the energy drink market past a hard-core fan-base level.

Spearheading the KTM attack are two riders that are recognized as the world’s finest exponents of the sport - French-born Cyril Despres and Spaniard Marc Coma, who have won three and two Dakar trophies respectively for KTM. In 2011 they lead two separate teams and their co-riders are Ruben Faria of Portugal and Juan Pedrero Garcia of Spain. All four riders will be onboard the brand new KTM 450 Rally bike, which has been designed by KTM’s R&D Department in close cooperation with the KTM Racing Department with valuable input from the two key factory riders. The KTM 450 Rally has been specifically developed for the Dakar in response to a rule change by the organizers in 2009, which limited the engine size down to 450 cc. The new bike, unveiled to the general public at Milan’s EICMA Motorcycle Show in November, first saw action in the Rally of Morocco in October 2010 when Cyril Despres won the title.


Cyril Despres has chosen Portugal’s Ruben Faria as his team co-rider for Team Red Bull KTM. Born in 1974, Ruben first raced in 1982 in the Portuguese Championship after which he won a number of national MX and Enduro titles as well as, among others, being twice Portuguese Baja champion. He has won three stages in the Dakar, which he says is his favorite race. He wants to finish in the top five in 2011.
Read the whole report here.... Daily pre-Dakar reports and race updates at Puro Dakar


Image credits: KTM Racing - Video credits: RedBull

Red Bull Brings Menzies Motorsports, Ricky Johnson and Ronnie Renner to Glamis for Thanksgiving Weekend!

Red Bull and Las Vegas’ own Menzies Motorsports teamed up over Thanksgiving weekend to celebrate the holiday off-road style in Glamis! Thanksgiving weekend in Glamis is known to off-roaders as the biggest weekend of the season. Over 200,000 off road enthusiasts were in Glamis for the holiday celebrating with their toys! Menzies Motorsports unleashed 6 rhinos, 2 sand rails, their newly Red Bull branded Pre-runner & Trophy Truck along with their crew of 15. With a weekend off from racing the team was ready to let loose and play, and that’s just what they did.

The Red Bull crew, Menzies team and Red Bull athletes Ronnie Renner and Ricky Johnson rolled out of camp and quickly realized they were not going to go unnoticed, which is what they wanted. Word got around rapidly they were there with the 850 horse power Trophy Truck and drew a large crowd as they raced up Olds Mobile Hill, putting on a show for fellow off roaders. The Red Bull Wings Team girls helped in getting the fans worked up by sampling Red Bull 16oz cans and riding around in the rhinos to make sure that everyone got a cold can.

As the sun rose over the dunes on Thanksgiving day, the guys were ready to hit the sand and represent the newly Red Bull/Menzies Motorsports branded trucks and rails. With all the excitement going on outside of camp, Menzies own Mark Whittington prepared a full Thanksgiving dinner for the now 60-member family. Between the deep fried turkeys, glazed hams and sweet pumpkin pie, Mark didn’t leave out one thing and everyone felt like they were right at home! “Our team works day and night to prep the Menzies race vehicles and to walk out and see them relaxing, laughing and eating well, makes all the time and effort put into cooking such a large feast, well worth it.” Said Mark as he overlooked everyone enjoying their Thanksgiving dinner in the dunes.

The laughs continued on into the night as DJ Johnny K filled the air with music from the Red Bull MXT and the team gathered around the campfire. With all the excitement in the air, Red Bull host Dan Kelsay and James “Cliffy” Clifford decided it was time to make an announcement. It was time to introduce the newest Red Bull Athlete and make sure he was properly branded. With everyone’s attention they called out Ronnie Renner who promptly came from back of camp in his Polaris RZR, fully pinned like he was in a race. With his new oversized race suit and helmet on Ronnie was race ready. That is until he thought he was on fire and was rolling in the sand and screaming for Tom Cruise to help him put the fire out. Cliffy rapidly ran to help the athlete and let him know he was not on fire. Ronnie jumped up with a smile from cheek to cheek to see the team deep in laughter from his amazing acting skills.

When the commotion settled Ronnie presented Bryce Menzies with his new Red Bull Helmet, suit and official Red Bull branded hat. The speechless Bryce was in shock, as everyone around him knew about the surprise. After his podium speech his first hug went to his father, Steve Menzies, who was glowing with excitement for his son. Steve smiled afterwards and said “Bryce is entering a new chapter in his life and his mother and I couldn’t be more proud of him. We are all looking forward to what the future is going to bring as Menzies Motorsports becomes the official off-road team for Red Bull.” The excitement continued late into the night as temperatures dipped into the 30’s, the two teams gathered close to the fire to stay warm and share stories of the past and idea’s for the future.

With the Red Bull/Menzies compound opened to the public Friday and Saturday night, DJ Johnny K and Ronnie Renner hosted and enticed the fans with stylish tunes. Wings Team members sampled Red Bull, Menzies displayed their popular off-road toys and Red Bull athletes Ronnie Renner and Bryce Menzies mingled and signed autographs for the fans. After the sun hid behind the mountains of sand, the inflatable movie screen went up and the crowd pulled up chairs and got a private screening of the new Nitro Circus movie.

Son and father desert racers Gustavo Vildosola, Jr. and Sr. made history early Friday morning along with Kendall Norman/Quinn Cody and the Appleton brothers who are all unofficial early winners of the 1061.69-mile 43rd edition of the legendary Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race down Mexico’s mysteriously magical Baja Peninsula from Ensenada from La Paz.

Gustavo Jr., 28, and Gustavo Sr., 57, of Mexicali, Mexico have become the first Mexican national team to capture the overall title in the Granddaddy of all Desert Racing in their #21 Redbull Ford F-150 SCORE Trophy-Truck in the 43-year history of the world’s most famous desert race.

Norman and Cody, the JCR/Honda Racing team stars, dominated the motorcycle portion of the race on their Honda CRF450X and brothers Steve and Chris Appleton withstood the challenge and conquered the Baja in the unlimited class 1 in a Chevy-powered Jimco open-wheel desert race car.

The Vildosola's came close to the overall victory in 2007 when they placed second to winners Mark Post and Rob MacCachren in the 40th anniversary event that finished in Cabo San Lucas.

In this year’s race, Gus Vildosola, Jr. started and finished and Gus, Sr. drove a section in the middle the grueling route. They finished with an unofficial overall time of 19 hours and four seconds, averaging 55.67 miles per hour, marking the first time a four-wheel vehicle has recorded a faster time than the motorcycles since 1973 in a peninsula run to La Paz.

The Vildosola victory also have BFGoodrich Tires, celebrating its 35th year of SCORE Baja racing in 2010, its 24th overall four-wheel victory in the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, including the last four straight.

Norman and Cody gave Honda its 21 overall motorcycle victory including its 14th consecutive triumph, after Norman drove the first and final sections and Cody the middle to a winning time of 19:22:22 with an average speed of 54.87mph. It was the fifth overall career win for Norman and fourth straight in this race while Cody picked up his third career Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 overall motorcycle victory.

Defending SCORE Trophy-Truck season point champion and NASCAR Sprint Cup regular Robby Gordon was second overall 4-wheel vehicles and in SCORE Trophy-Truck, finishing unofficially 22:18 behind the Vildosolas in his No. 1 Chevy CK1500 SCORE Trophy-Truck.

Awaiting the finalization of the review of the ‘black boxes’ by SCORE officials, third and fourth overall in four-wheel vehicles and among SCORE Trophy-Trucks was a battle between a pair of Nevada racers — Roger Norman and B.J. Baldwin. Norman appears to have finished 53 seconds ahead of Las Vegas’ Baldwin on elapsed time. Norman drives the No. 8 Ford F-150 SCORE Trophy-Truck while Baldwin teamed with Chad Ragland, Vista, Calif. in this race in the No. 97 Chevy Silverado SCORE Trophy-Truck.

“This race means a lot to me and my family,” Vildisola, Jr. said. “Every time we go out and race, I say we have the privilege of representing Mexico because we’re the only Mexican SCORE Trophy-Truck team. It’s obviously an honor to finally be able to win a race for them and for all of our fans who have been supporting us for all these years. And it is especially great for my dad, as well. He bought this SCORE Trophy-Truck eight years with the dream to win a Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 overall and today we were able to fulfill that dream.”

With 292 starters leaving the Ensenada starting line Thursday morning, competitors from 37 states and 19 countries are battling in the rugged terrain in cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs in 33 Pro and 7 Sportsman classes.

Massive crowds reaching nearly 250,000 have lined the historic Baja peninsula to gain a glimpse of the competitors. Vehicles left the start line in 30-second intervals and all vehicles will have 45 vehicles to become official finishers of the race.

This year’s Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 is the 36th time in the first 43 years of the storied race that it started in Ensenada and it is the 18th time it is finishing in La Paz. The 292 starters represents the third highest number in the 18 years it has finished in La Paz and it is the 11th highest total in the 43-year history of the race.

Sebastian Vettel led home team-mate Mark Webber for a Red Bull 1-2 as their team wrapped up the constructers' championship at the Brazilian Grand Prix.More importantly for the drivers, it keeps both of their title hopes very much alive heading to the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with Fernando Alonso finishing third ahead of Lewis Hamilton. The result means that Alonso leads Webber by only eight points with Vettel a further seven behind his team-mate. Lewis Hamilton, who finished fourth, is now very much an outsider for the title as he is now 24 points behind Alonso. But Jenson Button's championship challenge is now over after he could manage to finish no higher than fifth.
Both Vettel and Webber made short work of pole-sitter Nico Hulkenberg at the start, Alonso also finding a way past the Williams car within a few laps of the start. But Lewis Hamilton was unable to do likewise and found himself stuck behind the young German, losing valuable ground on his title rivals before eventually passing for fourth.
The race then followed something of a procession until a late crash by Tonio Liuzzi into turn 2 brought out a late safety car to bunch up the field. But the Red Bulls were again able to stretch away from their rivals to set up a grandstand finish in Abu Dhabi.

Credits: ESPN F1

Mark Webber put his disappointment of yesterday behind him with a barnstorming performance to win the British Grand Prix, dominating from the moment he beat team-mate Sebastian Vettel into the first corner. The gap between him and second-place Lewis Hamilton was five seconds, but had it not been for a safety-car period it would have been far bigger.

In trying to ensure Hamilton did not pass him, Vettel touched wheels with the McLaren in the first corner and headed off with damage to his rear wheel. He battled back through the field to finish seventh.

Behind Webber, who reeled off a succession of fastest laps, Lewis Hamilton exceeded his expectations by taking second, while Jenson Button produced if anything a better drive in taking fourth after starting in 14th and yesterday describing his car as "undriveable".

Nico Rosberg separated the McLarens in taking the third podium spot, keeping out of trouble from start to finish after a good getaway from the grid. Rubens Barrichello impressed to finish fifth for Williams at its home race, ahead of an equally heartening performance by Kamui Kobayashi in the Sauber.

Vettel's drive through the field to seventh was impressive and required bold overtaking manoeuvres on Adrian Sutil, Michael Schumacher and Nico Hulkenberg among others. He was undoubtedly helped by the safety car bunching up the pack, but did very well to manage a set of hard tyres for the entire race. Sutil finished eighth ahead of Schumacher, who again struggled and fell back down the field after a good start.



Not for the first time Fernando Alonso was left fuming after stewards hit him with a controversial drive-through penalty for cutting a corner when passing Robert Kubica. The Ferrari team were then told that Alonso had to let the Renault back through but by that time Kubica had retired with a seized differential. As a result the stewards decided the best course of action was to issue Alonso with a penalty, but the situation was made several times worse for the Spaniard when the safety car came out and bunched up the pack behind him. As a result, when he came into the pits to serve his punishment he dropped down to 15th and out of contention for points.

He then started a spirited drive back through the field, but even that was cut short when Tonio Liuzzi tagged his left-rear tyre as he passed him and punctured it. Felipe Massa in the other Ferrari also had a terrible race, after contact with Alonso at the start shredded his right-rear tyre. He made some progress back through the field but a spin 12 laps from the end forced him to pit again for tyres and meant he finished the race 15th. As if to prove a point, Alonso set the fastest lap of the race on his last lap.

Behind Massa, the two Lotuses finished a lap down but ahead of Timo Glock in the Virgin and the two HRTs of Karun Chandhok and Sakon Yamamoto. Among the DNFs, Pedro de la Rosa retired with disintegrating rear bodywork (which caused the safety car), Jaime Alguersuari beached his Toro Rosso in the gravel at Luffield and Lucas di Grassi retired with a mechanical problem.

Credits: ESPN F1

Vettel takes pole for dominant Red Bull at Silverstone. Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber locked out the front row of the grid for the British Grand Prix, after a dominant display in qualifying by Red Bull.

The RB6 was in league of its own around the high-speed Silvertsone circuit, with Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton the only other two drivers capable of getting within a second of Vettel. The Red Bull duo scrapped for pole position in Q3, but Webber wasn't able to match his team-mate in the new middle sector and will have to challenge him off the start line tomorrow if he wants to stand a chance of taking victory under normal conditions.

Behind Hamilton in fourth, Nico Rosberg restored some pride for the struggling Mercedes team, ahead of Robert Kubica's Renault and Felipe Massa's Ferrari. Rubens Barrichello and Pedro de la Rosa impressed for their respective teams in eighth and ninth and Michael Schumacher rounded out the top ten in the second Mercedes.

It was a disastrous session for Jenson Button, who qualified 14th and complained of a lack of rear-end grip. He said "something felt very wrong" and admitted that he had to take downforce away from the front wing ahead of the session just to balance the car in the corners.

Button is joined outside the top ten by the two Force Indias of Adrian Sutil and Tonio Liuzzi. Sutil had shown promise in Q1 but couldn't hook up a lap when it mattered, while Liuzzi came perilously close to dropping out in the first session. Sutil will start 11th ahead of Kamui Kobayashi and Nico Hulkenberg, with Liuzzi back in 15th ahead of Vitaly Petrov and Sebastien Buemi.

Jaime Alguersuari joined the bottom six cars at the back of the grid after failing to make the grade for Q2. Lotus' Heikki Kovalainen leads the battle of the new teams, ahead of Timo Glock in the Virgin. Sakon Yamamoto stepped up his game slightly for qualifying to set a lap within half a second of Karun Chandhok, after being a full second adrift in the practice sessions.

Credits: ESPN F1