It's a fact that Nürburgring lap times have become something of a standard when it comes to comparing sports cars’ performance. Car & Driver magazine decided that it was impractical to conduct its annual Lightning Lap event in Germany as they had 20 cars to test, so its editors chose the Virginia International Raceway (VIR) as the U.S. equivalent of the ‘Ring.

While the 4.1-mile long track is one-third of the Nordschleife, it features more than 30 turns and elevation changes and, according to C&D, it makes for a demanding venue in which to test each car to its limits.

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For quite some time, Lamborghini has not officially engaged in motorsport except for the one-make Super Trofeo series. Now, the Sant’ Agata-based supercar maker has announced a new racer and a five-year long motorsport program.

The Gallardo GT3 FL2 is based on the recently revamped MY2013 Gallardo and has been created in cooperation with Reiter Engineering, the German outfit that has developed its own racing versions of Lamborghini models since 2000 netting 199 victories and 350 podium finishes.

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As part of a large-scale promotion for the launch of the new Mazda6 in Australia, the Japanese carmaker is organizing the star-packed Mazda6 Celebrity Challenge, which will take place during the 2013 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix in the middle of March.

Mazda said it plans to have 20 "big name celebrities" behind the wheels of an equal number of cars, each of which will come in different body and racing livery colors.

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After 8,570 km (5,437 miles) of grueling roads, Stephane Peterhansel and his co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret crossed the finish line of the 2013 Dakar rally at Santiago de Chile first. It was the second consecutive win for the MINI ALL4 Racing and the record 11th Dakar victory for Peterhansel (his fifth with a car, the other six being with motorcycles), who took the lead after the second stage and remained there until the end.

A second MINI, with Leonid Novitskiy and Konstandin Zhiltsov, finished the race third behind the Toyota HiLux of Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz, while a third MINI, driven by Nanni Roma and Michel Perin, followed in fourth place just 8 minutes behind them.

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Multiple world champion Sebastian Loeb of Citroen may have grabbed another win at the opening round of the 2013 FIA World Rally Championship at Monte Carlo, but it was Sébastien Ogier and the all-new VW Polo WRC that made the biggest impression.

The 29-year-old French rally driver managed to lead the Polo R WRC in its first competitive outing to second place. The third place on the podium went to Dani Sordo, who returned to Citroen after two seasons with MINI, which pulled out of the championship at the end of last year.

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The spanking new Audi RS7 Sportback is one of our favorite cars from the ongoing Detroit Auto Show.

With a sleek-looking body and a masculine 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 pumping out more than 550-horses to all four wheels, what's not to like? Well, you could say its price tag, which will certainly be more than the $78,800 Audi commands for the 420hp S7 Sportback, but that's another story.

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Racing cars that don’t win races are quickly forgotten even by their own creators. Winners make history, second is the first loser: that’s the way it’s always been. Surely, nobody remembers a Le Mans contender that didn’t even make it to the finish line, right?

That may be true for most cars but not for Porsche’s 917. The brainchild of current VW Group supremo Ferdinand Piech, it is deeply etched in racing history not only for giving Porsche its first-ever victory at La Sarthe in 1970, followed by another one the next year but also because it starred in Steve McQueen’s 1971 Le Mans film.

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Non-motorsport fans may overlook racing versions of sports cars but the fact is, they make for a very lucrative business for automakers that, naturally, are very happy to put some effort into them.

Like Ferrari, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz, McLaren has developed a GT3-spec variant of its MP4-12C supercar that was supplied to 13 customer teams last year. In its inaugural season, the 12C GT3 took part in 98 separate events, mostly in Europe, and claimed 19 victories and a further 19 podium finishes.

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When Audi wanted to showcase its TDI diesel technology, it chose to compete in the 2006 Le Mans 24-hour race with a diesel-powered prototype. It was a risky move, as the R10 TDI replaced the all-conquering gasoline-powered R8 that had five straight wins under its belt. The success of the R10, and later the R15, proved that Audi was right. Read more »

British parents looking to introduce their youngsters to the marvelous world of motorsports have a new option in the guise of Caterman's low-cost karting championship at the heart of which is the CK-01 kart, a prototype of which is on display at the AutoSport International at Birmingham’s NEC from January 10 to 13. Read more »

Last November, the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, hosted its inaugural Formula 1 race, which was also the penultimate event of the 2012 season. Austin was the 10th track to host the U.S. GP and it marked F1’s return in the country after a five-year absence.

According to the Texas comptroller’s office, the newly constructed circuit was also the state’s top seller of alcohol, i.e. beer, wine and mixed drinks, with US$2.8 million. Total alcohol sales in the city in November reached US$48.4 million, a 23 percent increase compared to November 2011.

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The world is full of remarkable people who, despite facing very difficult situations, not only come to grips with their hardship but also try to make the best of their lives.

Staff sergeant Mark Zambon was a U.S. Marines bomb technician deployed in Afghanistan. In January 2011, he lost both legs when a homemade bomb that he was trying to diffuse exploded.

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Static presentations aside, visitors at this year's SEMA aftermarket show also enjoyed, how should we say, a few extracurricular special events, which took place just across the street of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

One of those events was the Global Rally Cross held at a makeshift racetrack that you can watch in the second video after the break, but that's not the real reason why we're telling you this.

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Sure Formula 1 and NASCAR drivers reach much higher average speeds than their motorsport counterparts in the World Rally Championship and other rally challenges, but it's one thing racing on a professional circuit with all the safety precautions that come with it, and another to do so on unpaved paths in the wild.

If you are willing to let your ears take some abuse (or just lower down the volume if you don't feel up to the task), you can enjoy a crazy ride in a Mitsubishi EVO IX R4 racer driven by Beppo Harrach at the Waldviertel Rallye in Austria.

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Nissan's all-new 2013 entry into the league of extraordinary Australian V8 Supercars was only just revealed to the press last Thursday, but the Kelly Racing team that will field four Altima sedans in the championship has already gone to work trying out the car on the tarmac.

On Friday, the AU$1.5 million racing model was rolled-out at Calder Park Raceway for the first part of aerodynamic testing with Todd Kelly being the inaugural driver to get some time behind the wheel.

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This is one Chevrolet Matiz you surely won't be making any fun of; and how could you after you learn that engineers somehow squeezed a massive Corvette Z06-sourced 7.0-liter V8 that develops anywhere from 505 to 550-horses (depending on who you ask) into its miniscule body.

We remember showing you a V8-powered Matiz racecar concept back in early 2009 (see the videos after the break) , and unless someone else had the same crazy idea, we believe that this car found for sale on eBay Germany by CarScoop reader "CobraV8" is the same one with the addition of a racing livery.

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After recording a top speed of 216.133 mph (347.756 km/h) during the Land Speed World Finals for the Grand Touring Sports C (C/GT) class at the Bonneville Salt Flats this past August, ACAT Global's Ferrari 575 racer has now been parked at the company's SEMA Show booth at the Las Vegas Convention Center for all to see. Read more »

Nissan has whipped the covers off its brand-new contender for next year's Australian V8 Supercars Championship, the 2013 Altima Supercar V8 Supercar, during a special event on Tuesday morning in Melbourne.

The Nissan Altima will be the first new entry in the series that has been restricted to Ford Falcons and Holden Commodores for the past two decades.

The Japanese carmaker has partnered with Kelly Racing and will field four entries under the Nissan Motorsport banner for the 2013 championship.

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You lose some, you win some. Even McLaren with its Honda-powered MP4/4 driven by Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, who completely dominated the 1988 season, failed to win all 16 races.

After 11 straight wins, it lost to Ferrari. It then continued its streak, claiming a startling 15 wins out of 16 starts but by a strange twist of fate, the one it lost was on Scuderia’s home ground and, at the same time, the first Italian GP after Enzo Ferrari’s death…

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Can a Volvo model ever beat the German automakers in their own game? Well, the answer to that question really depends on which game you are referring to since die Deutsche brands have spread their wings in just about every niche there is.

So let's be more specific: can a performance orientated Volvo family car threaten two of Germany's finest and fastest mid-size sports models, the BMW M3 and the Audi RS4?

If we're talking about the Volvo S60 Polestar Performance sedan, it certainly has the brute force to do so. The only problem is that, for now, the S60 Polestar Performance is a one-off model that has yet to receive the green light for even a limited series production run.

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