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champagneandslicks

Guess who’s back at Le Mans? Mercedes will ret

Guess who’s back at Le Mans?

Mercedes will return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans next year, linking up with Iron Lynx to race the Spa and Nurburgring 24 Hour winning Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the LMGT3 class.

The return of the two-time Le Mans wining manufacturer will be the marque’s first entry at the Circuit de la Sarthe since the ill-fated 1999 campaign ended with monster shunts for Peter Dumbreck and Mark Webber.

📸 Unattributed, Motorsport Images

Ligier in CART? Yes, really! A link-up between G

Ligier in CART? Yes, really!

A link-up between Guy Ligier and American country music magnate Mike Curb resulted in the development of a Ligier CART chassis ahead of the 1984 season.

Under the direction of Jean-Claude Guénard, Ligier’s JS21 Formula 1 car was used as the basis for what would become the Ligier-Curb LC02.

Given that it had failed to score a single point in Formula 1, Ligier’s belief that they could beat March and Penske with a modified JS21 was misguided.

Perhaps there was a touch of French arrogance at play, or a simple underestimation of the level of competition in CART—but the LC02 would prove every bit as poor as its Grand Prix cousin.

Powered by a 2.6-litre Cosworth DFX and adorned with Dubbonet sponsorship, the LC02 made its debut at the 1984 Long Beach Grand Prix in the hands of Kevin Cogan who qualified it 21st. Reliability was a problem from the get go, with reports of pieces falling from the car before it retired on Lap 3 with driveshaft failure.

At the next race, held on the one-mile Phoenix tri-oval, Cogan turned a few laps before swapped into teammate Mike Chandler’s Eagle. Chandler inherited an LC02 beset by frightening oversteer, and failed to qualify.

After Cogan was unable to get the Ligier lapping above 184mph during Indy 500 practice—significantly slower than the front runners who were eclipsing 200mph—the slow, dangerous and unreliable LC02 was parked for good, and quietly forgotten.

📸 Cor van Veen / Unattributed

Matt Mingay’s mega shunt during Stadium Super Tr

Matt Mingay’s mega shunt during Stadium Super Trucks practice ahead of last weekend’s Adelaide 500. The impact tore the fuel cell out and sent it flying across the track ablaze. Incredibly Mingay walked away.

📺 via @letstalk.motorsport

Miracle at Jarama: a photographer lies under the w

Miracle at Jarama: a photographer lies under the wreckage of Arturo Merzario’s Iso Marlboro after the Italian vaulted over the Armco at the 1974 Spanish GP. Remarkably, neither were seriously injured.

The 90s 😳 Johnny Herbert and ‘Friends’ danc

The 90s 😳 Johnny Herbert and ‘Friends’ dance troupes segment filmed for Swiss tv in 1998.

📺 via racedayreplay on X

Organisers of the Adelaide 500 have built a pop-up

Organisers of the Adelaide 500 have built a pop-up speedway. NAPA Speedway will host sprint car aces including @jamesmcfaddenracing during this weekend’s Adelaide 500 Supercars finale.

📺 via @napamotorsportasiapacific

What is the most underrated racing category today?

What is the most underrated racing category today? 🧡

In a sport full of ‘good ol’ boys’ from the

In a sport full of ‘good ol’ boys’ from the south, Tim Richmond was from another planet.

Born into a wealthy Ohio family, he attended a Miami military academy and didn’t sit in a race car until he was 21. By 24 he was Indy 500 rookie of the year before switching to NASCAR—an unusual move at the time.
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After winning his first Winston Cup race in 1982, Richmond’s breakthrough season came with Hendrick Motorsport in 1986, where he won seven races and finished third in the championship.
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He was fast, but he could also be erratic—on and off the track.

“Tim Richmond enjoyed life”, remembered Rick Hendrick. “He wanted to have fun in everything he did.”
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With his shoulder-length hair and flamboyant clothes, Richmond stood out in the country music obsessed NASCAR world. He partied hard, mixing with rock stars, celebrities and models.
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Former teammate Benny Parsons described Richmond as playboy. “He belonged in Hollywood, in the movies” (incidentally, Richmond even took acting lessons).

Eventually the hard-living caught up. Sometime in ‘86 he became ill, checked into a clinic under a false name and was diagnosed with AIDS, apparently contracted from one of his many liaisons.
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Richmond missed the start of the ‘87 season, citing pneumonia, but returned for an emotional win at Pocono, in his words crying “all through the final lap”.
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By 1988, speculation about Richmond’s health intensified as NASCAR introduced a substance-abuse policy, under which he was banned for a positive drug test. When it emerged he had only tested positive to over the counter medication, Richmond sued NASCAR for defamation, settling out of court.
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He never raced again as the illness took hold, but during the 1988 Daytona 500 he had a plane fly over the track hoisting a banner that read “Fans, I Miss You – Tim Richmond”.
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Sadly, In August 1989 Richmond succumbed to AIDS, his legacy shamefully forgotten by a deeply conservative NASCAR.
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📸 via @espn / Unattributed / via @nascaronnbc

Vale Bobby Allison 1937-2024 Is there a NASCAR ph

Vale Bobby Allison 1937-2024

Is there a NASCAR photo that goes harder than this one? It shows the great Bobby Allison running to his son Davey’s burning wreck at the 1987 Transouth 500 at Darlington.

📸 Unattributed

Champcars jumping over the railway tracks at the 2

Champcars jumping over the railway tracks at the 2005 San Jose Grand Prix

Them: what’s with all the orange?

Us: 🔥🔥🔥

Our mission is simple. Bringing you high octane ra

Our mission is simple. Bringing you high octane racing stories.

The stories of the cars, the tracks, the drivers. The winners, the losers, the triumphs, the tragedies. The forgotten and the unforgettable.

Our inspiration? Colin McRae flat out. Senna and Prost wheel to wheel. The Intimidator muscling around Dega.

Because sometimes you’ve just gotta lick the stamp and send it 🧡

A new era of Champagne + Slicks starts today. Rac

A new era of Champagne + Slicks starts today.

Racing stories. Fuelled by enthusiasm, powered by V10s 🧡

Now that is a racing car 😍

Now that is a racing car 😍

From Gonfaron to Paul Ricard—AGS and the legend

From Gonfaron to Paul Ricard—AGS and the legend of the flying donkey 🫏🇫🇷

Contributor feature article on the story of Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives now live on C+S website 👉 see link in bio

Disgraceful 😡 Vandals have cut and stolen the

Disgraceful 😡

Vandals have cut and stolen the bronze Gilles Villeneuve statue which had stood outside the Quebec museum dedicated to the Ferrari legend.

I’m going for first days Frentzen!

I’m going for first days Frentzen!

Talk about water cooled… “Shot I took at Mor

Talk about water cooled…

“Shot I took at Moroso Motorsports Park in WPB, FL, back in the 1980s. Bayside 935 in the drink at turn 4. They got it out and running that day, but didn’t do laps. It was cold, and the owner, I believe, was showing the person who was to be driving the course. The track was freshly paved and he got a wheel off on the outside, corrected, tire grabbed and shot them across the track into the pond. Nobody was hurt, thankfully. Track was not live, and I was one of the first workers to arrive when we noticed the track had gone quiet.”

📸 John Gossett

Brad Pitt will play a 60-year old driver in ‘F1’ - the equivalent of Johnny Herbert making a comeback.

@johnnyherbertf1

F1 drivers flipping the bird… a time-honoured tr

F1 drivers flipping the bird… a time-honoured tradition

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