1985 Ferrari Modial Cabriolet on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Giancarlo Fisichella joins fellow former F1 drivers in United SportsCar Championship

In business or in politics, those driven by their careers typically aim for the highest position they can get to, and after they're done there, they typically retire. But not in motor racing. With an expiration date hovering in their mid-30s at best, Formula One drivers typically seek out other racing series to compete in once they've outlived their career on the grand prix circuit. And there is no lack of racing disciplines that are glad to welcome them in with open arms as motor racing royalty. With the calendar announced and the teams lined up, the roster of drivers is taking shape for the inaugural United SportsCar Championship. And while there hasn't been a large number of former F1 drivers – much less grand prix winners – lining up for the series, there have been some. Risi Competizione, the team that typically fields Ferrari entrants in American GT racing, has just announced that Giancarlo Fisichella will be driving for them in the United SportsCar Championship this season. The veteran of 231 grands prix has driven for Minardi, Jordan, Benetton, Sauber, Renault, Force India and Ferrari. In the case of the latter, he filled in for an injured Felipe Massa, and remains a Ferrari factory driver. Over the course of his fourteen years on the grid, he won three grands prix and landed on the podium 19 times. That makes Fisichella, who just turned 41 on Tuesday, the most accomplished former F1 driver to sign on for the American series, but he's not the only one. Other drivers already lined up include David Brabham, Max Papis and Christian Fittipaldi – each of whom contested a handful of grands prix in the 1990s – as well as Sebastian Bourdais, who drove for Scuderia Toro Rosso after dominating in Champ Cars for four years and left F1 in 2009 along with Fisichella, who currently looks to be the only driver lined up for this year's Rolex 24 at Daytona who's won a grand prix or even scored a podium finish. While Brabham, Papis, Fittipaldi and Bourdais will all be driving in the top-tier Prototype class, Fisichella will be trying to make his mark in the GTLM class. We'll be watching to see whether he can add that trophy to the class titles he's already accrued in the Le Mans Series, the World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans itself in the five years since leaving F1.

Weekly Recap: Ferrari, Ford and Porsche power up for Geneva

Monday was Groundhog Day. Tuesday, apparently, was Sports Car Day. The Ferrari 488 GTB, the Ford Focus RS and the Porsche Cayman GT4 all debuted within hours of each other ahead of their rollouts at the Geneva Motor Show. Three sporty machines, three vastly different approaches – and a lot of implications for enthusiasts. That's a day worth repeating. It also illustrates the opportunities automakers see in the performance market, which is expected to grow in the coming years. Ford estimates the segment has expanded 14 percent in Europe and surged 70 percent in North America since 2009. The Detroit Auto Show was evidence of this, and performance cars of every stripe debuted, including the Acura NSX, Ford GT, Alfa Romeo 4C Spider and several others. This isn't a fad. Performance cars aren't going away. The question is why? Stricter CAFE standards are looming in the United States, as are tighter emissions regulations in Europe. And no one expects gas prices to remain low in America. None of this matters for sports cars, and automakers are increasingly using them to elevate their images. That's why Dodge rolled out two 707-horsepower Hellcats last year. It's why Ford has decided to resurrect the GT for road and track. It's why in the depths of bankruptcy, General Motors continued work on the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, not to mention the Z06. "Great brands are made one car at a time," Ford of Europe president Jim Farley said at the reveal of the Focus RS. Still, companies make those cars for different reasons. View 5 Photos Mainstream brands like Ford and Dodge want to build cars that get people talking, excite their bases and drive more potential customers into the showroom. They probably don't buy a Focus RS or a Hellcat, but suddenly the regular Focus hatch looks a bit hotter, and that V6 Charger seems to be just a touch more muscular. The halo of performance is alive and well in the eyes of automakers and their customers. "It's one of the most effective catalysts for ingenuity and innovation," said Joe Bakaj, vice president of product development for Ford of Europe. That also leads to a trickle-down effect. Some of the technologies inevitably make their way to other products. It's hard to think the new all-wheel-drive system in the Focus RS that distributes torque front to rear and side to side won't be used in other vehicles. It's different for Ferrari and Porsche.

Ferrari 488 GTB rocks throwback '80s livery in Paris

We have a soft spot for retro racing liveries – especially when they're applied to road-legal supercars. Like a Porsche 918 Spyder with Martini racing stripes, a Ford GT in Gulf blue and orange, or this latest Ferrari 488 GTB unveiled in Paris. The Tailor Made department in Maranello prepared this one-of-a-kind 488 in tribute to the 308 GTB that Jean Claude Andruet drove to victory twice in the Tour de France Automobile – in 1981 and '82 – only a few years before the event was discontinued. It was one of the most iconic of Ferrari racing liveries (aside from the classic rosso corsa of course) and is beautifully reinterpreted for that car's modern successor. The unique treatment includes a French racing blue and white exterior with Pioneer sponsorship, matte gold wheels, and matte black brake calipers. The interior looks as stripped-out as the 458 Speciale's and features red fabric seats with matte-finish aluminum and carbon-fiber trim. Commissioned by Charles Pozzi, the same Paris dealer that campaigned the original decades ago, the turbocharged retro smurf was unveiled yesterday at the Grand Palais. It marked the start of the Tour Auto Optic 2000, a French rally. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The GTC4Lusso makes its French premiere at the Grand Palais The 488 GTB Tailor Made Pioneer also unveiled for the first time Paris, 18th April 2016 – What better setting than the Grand Palais in Paris for the GTC4Lusso, Ferrari's latest creation, to make its debut on French soil? The new Prancing horse V12 four-seater, four wheel drive with rear-wheel steering, was a magnet for the over 200 journalists who attended the premiere this afternoon on the opening day of the Tour Auto Optic 2000 rally. The GTC4Lusso will be also the star attraction at a gala cocktail in the evening for over four hundred guests who will have the opportunity to see this superb example of a unique mix of benchmark sports car performance, all-weather versatility and sublime elegance. This very important "rendez-vous" is also the occasion for Ferrari to present a unique version of its 488 GTB. In association with its Parisian dealer Charles Pozzi, the very exclusive Tailor Made program imagined a car which pays homage to the 308 Gr4 Pioneer driven by Jean Claude Andruet and two times winner of the Tour de France Auto in 1981 and 1982.