With the BTCC celebrating a diamond jubilee in 2018, something extra has been lined up for the Snetterton race weekend. ESM thinks it could do better, with a little inspiration from the 1990s. How exactly do you celebrate a 60th anniversary of a motorsport series? Seemingly with a double-length 60 mile race, with separate qualifying…
Author: EngageSportMode
BTCC 2017 | Brands Hatch Grand Prix – What did we learn?
With the 2017 BTCC title going down to the wire, Brands Hatch was set for a knockout battle. After another thrilling weekend of action, the British Touring Car Championship has a new name on the coveted trophy – Ashley Sutton. Sunday was certainly another day of twists and turns, but even Saturday’s qualifying session made…
Friday Video | Even closer to the edge – Ken Block’s Climbkhana
What’s the best way to tackle the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb? With a 1,400hp twin-turbocharged Ford Mustang, obviously. ESM doesn’t quite know what to make of Ken Block. Here’s clearly an immensely talented driver, and proficient businessman, yet success in top-level motorsport has eluded him. Maybe it doesn’t matter. He’s built up an empire…
Friday Video | Classic BTCC chaos
We’ve taken a close look at driving standards in the BTCC this week. Here’s a reminder that certain things don’t change. After the controversy from last weekend’s Silverstone BTCC rounds, the question of how big a part contact should be allowed to play in a professional racing series is one which won’t go away. For some historic…
Opinion | The BTCC needs to decide what it wants to be
The fallout from the recent Silverstone rounds of the 2017 British Touring Car Championship isn’t going to go away. ESM’s Editor gets stuck in to the debate. Things should be perfect in the BTCC world right now. The grid is packed, fans are flocking to circuits, and ITV is broadcasting the entire race package live…
Friday Video | Bugatti Chiron sets 0-400-0km/h record
Could Bugatti be trying to distract attention from a certain new hypercar revealed this week? If they are, this is a rather impressive feat to use as a diversion. In terms of words written, the Mercedes-AMG Project One has probably swallowed up most column inches and online articles from the Frankfurt Motor Show. Almost enough to…
New Metal (Carbon) | Mercedes-AMG Project One Concept
We’ve heard all the cliches before, but could this actually be the closest thing ever to a road-going F1 car? Well, it’s got the engine from an F1 car for a start… Yes indeed, powering the Merc-AMG Project One is the very same 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 used by Lewis and Valtteri every other weekend. Not…
BTCC 2017 | Rockingham – What did we learn?
The 2017 BTCC title race is heating up, and the action on track at Rockingham was closer than ever. ESM’s BTCC correspondent gives his views on what we uncovered. Rockingham is like no other track on the BTCC calendar and the sight of 32 cars heading towards the Dean Hairpin on the opening laps of…
Friday Video | Five cylinders of fun from Audi Sport USA
Even if you’ve only got twenty minutes for lunch today, this is probably the best way you can spend it. We promise. It’s now officially September, the holidays are over, the nights are closing in, and the world is still just as big a mess as it was at the start of the year. But…
Friday Video | BMW enters the future
Right now the BMW Concept Z4 is the garnering all the attention, as a thinly disguised version of next year’s production car. Yet something else from BMW caught our eye this week. Yes, yes, BMW have plastered the word concept all over this Z4, but the reality is we would be amazed if the new roadster…
Friday Video | Muted Mustang GT
The world of EngageSportMode is slightly sad this week, and Ford’s latest updates about the new 2018 Mustang GT aren’t really helping. Why the long face? Well, the nice man from Ford came and took our Mustang V8 GT Convertible away on Monday, and things just haven’t been the same since. No longer can we…
Quick Review | Volvo V90 D5 PowerPulse AWD R-Design
Yes, it’s a huge diesel estate on EngageSportMode. It’s also one of the best cars we’ve driven this year, and we’re not ashamed to admit it. When we recently wrote about Volvo’s new electrification strategy, we mentioned how we’d been somewhat seduced by an experience with their product range. This particular V90 is the one…
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