Who Do You Think is the Hottest Woman In Racing?

Racing has always been a male dominated sport. And, even now…how often do we really hear about women in racing?  Let’s take a moment to acknowledge some of the hottest women in racing. Who do you think is the hottest?

Miss Danica Patrick

Danica started racing at the early age of 10. She competes in IndyCar and has even made her NASCAR debut. She is also the current face of GoDaddy.com and has graced the pages of FHM and Sport Illustrated.

The lovely Ashley Force

Ashley was the first female to win the NHRA Funny Car. She even won against her own dad, 14-time winner John Force. Her other claims to fame are 2007 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series’ Rookie of the Year and 2007 AOL Sports Hottest Athlete. Does she get your vote?

British Katherine Legge

Currently racing in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. First woman to test and A1 Grand Prix car in 2005. And, she was the first woman to test a Formula 1 car back in 2002.

Drag Racing Erica Enders

Pursued her passion at the early age of 8and has become the most successful female Pro Stock driver in NHRA history. In only 8 years of competition she has racked up 37 Jr. Dragster wins.  Her story was picked up by Disney Channel and turned into the TV movie, Right On Track.

Switzerland’s Cyndia Allemann

Cyndie began her career in racing very early at age 7. From karting she moved on over to cars in 2004 and finsihed sixth her first year in the Formule Renault 2.0 Suisse.

Patrick Revving Into NASCAR

A source says Danica Patrick has closed a deal with JR Motorsports to begin racing for NASCAR. Accordingly, Patrick will soon announce a partial Nationwide Series schedule.

Concurrently, last week Patrick signed a three-year extension with Andretti Autosport, but her schedule will also allow her to race in NASCAR. And, there is no speculation to how many races Patrick will participate in.

As an extra tidbit of information, Danica Patrick’s sponsor will be GoDaddy.com

Source: Indystar.com

Video of USF1 Official Announcement

It’s official. In 2010, there will be a United States based team competing in Formula 1. Team principals Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor announced that the team’s headquarters will be in North Carolina and will feature engines, chassis and drivers all from America.

Toyota Team May Leave F1 If Season Unsuccessful

The Toyota F1 team may follow fellow Japanese car company Honda and drop out of Formula One if their 2009 campaign is unsuccessful. Toyota is the big team with little results and the incoming Toyota president, Akio Toyoda, is expected to cut costs at the company when he takes control. A Formula One team is huge expense for any company. While a successful team reflects positively upon the brand, a poor-performing team is costly and doesn’t provide enough positive exposure to justify the expense. It looks like Toyota will need to win their first race this season to ensure they continue to race in Formula One.

Source: autoblog.com

Williams-Toyota Releases New FW31 F1 Car Photos

There have been a lot of new F1 cars released lately. The style is starting to grow on me. I’ve gone from, “That is ridiculously ugly” to, “That’s not horrible”. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Other F1 Releases: Scuderia Ferrari F60, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-24, Toyota TF109

Check out the gallery below for the Williams-Toyota FW31.

Source: autoblog.com

New F1 Toyota TF109 Car Photos

The Toyota Formula 1 team has released their new car for the 2009 season with high expectations. Its called the TF109 and Toyota and its fans are hoping this is the car that will finally bring them a Formula 1 victory. The car looks very similar to Ferrari’s new F1 Car, the F60, which was recently unveiled. The teams are forced to conform to the new regulations mandated by the FIA this year. Many of the new regulations are intended to make passing easier and create a more level playing field for the smaller F1 teams. New regulations also have also been created in order to cut costs in this very expensive sport.

Source: autoblog.com

Fernando Alonso Unhurt in Plane Accident

Two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso was unhurt in a minor plane accident Sunday after his private jet hit a wall at the Malindi Airport in Kenya. No one was hurt in the incident. Alonso was vacationing with his family in Africa. Alonso stayed at the Lion in the Sun hotel, which is owned by Renault team boss, Flavio Briatore.

Source: eastandard.net, iht.com

Oil Pump and Wet / Dry Sump Systems – Racing Auto Parts

The majority of production cars use a wet sump oil system. In this system, the oil that lubricates the engine is stored underneath the crankshaft in the oil pan. The pan must be large enough to hold four to six quarts of oil. The oil pump sucks up oil from the bottom of the oil pan and then pumps it to the rest of the engine.

In a dry sump system, extra oil is stored in a tank outside the engine and a large oil pan isn’t necessary. A dry sump system uses at least two oil pumps. One pulls oil from the sump and sends it to the tank. The other pump takes oil from the tank and pushes it to lubricate the engine. The dry sump system allows for the minimum amount of oil possible to be in the engine.

Major racing series such as Formula One and Indy Car utilize the dry sump system. A dry sump system is designed to provide lubrication for the engine’s internal parts and also increase performance. A wet sump system is not practical for racing as lateral G-forces would pull the oil to one side, which would momentarily leave the engine without oil. Because the oil is stored in a separate tank, a large oil pan is not necessary. This allows for the engine to sit lower to the ground, which lowers the center of gravity.

Source: f1technical.net, auto.howstuffworks.com

Flywheel and KERS – Racing Auto Parts

In a traditional vehicle, the flywheel is the large wheel connected to the crankshaft that provides the momentum to keep the crankshaft turning while power is not being applied. The momentum is created by the energy generated during the power stroke. This energy is also used to drive the crankshaft, connecting rods and pistons during the three idle strokes of the 4-stroke cycle. This makes for a smooth engine speed. The flywheel forms one surface of the clutch and is the base for the ring gear.

Flywheel and KERS

The upcoming season of Formula 1 will allow teams to incorporate the new Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) system into their cars. This addition will essentially turn the cars into hybrids. KERS is not a battery electric hybrid technology that most people are familiar with. The recovered energy is stored in a rotating flywheel instead of being converted into electricity and then applied through an electric motor. The flywheel is approximately 5 kilograms and contained inside the car’s transmission. This stored energy in the flywheel can be used by pressing a boost button during certain times of the race.

Source: auto.indiamart.com, gas2.org

Camshaft – Racing Auto Parts

The camshaft is an engine component used in piston engines to open and close valves. It is a cylindrical rod that runs the length of the cylinder bank. The rod contains many cams or lobes, each which operate a valve. The lobes open the valves by pressing down on the valve as they spin.

The relationship between the rotation of the camshaft and the rotation of the crankshaft is extremely important. The valves control the flow of the air/fuel mixture intake and exhaust.  The valves must be opened and closed at the exact time during the stroke of the piston in order to operate properly. The camshaft is either connected to the crankshaft directly. It can also be connected by a gear mechanism or with a timing belt (also called a timing chain).

In Formula 1, FIA regulations mandate that camshafts must be manufactured from an iron based alloy and that each camshaft and lobe must be machined from one single piece. No welding between the front and rear bearing journals is permitted.

Source: wikipedia.org, formula1.com