COPO Camaros start delivery, hear them roar

Back in March, we told you that Chevrolet was actually going to build the Whitesnake-level-awesome COPO Camaro after the drag-ready Camaro was showed off at SEMA as a concept.

The first four COPO Camaros have filed out of the COPO Assembly Facility. COPO numbers 3, 5, 7 and 9 were rolled onto the transport truck, and car number seven was caught on video, highlighted by the roar of its monstrous engine. Throw in a massive cowl induction hood and Hoosier slicks, and the mullet-inducing awesomeness of the COPO is hard to beat.

At the drag strip, the COPO will go against the supercharged Ford Mustang Cobra Jet and the Mopar Challenger Drag Pak, complete with a 512-cubic-inch V10. The COPO will take them on with a choice of engines that include a naturally aspirated 427 and two supercharged 327 options (one with a 2.9-liter supercharger, the other offering a 4.0-liter screw).

Click play on the video below to listen to the glorious engine note and try to figure out which mill is powerplant is under the hood.

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2012 Pikes Peak Hill Climb, Practice Day 1 is the beginning of a new era

2012 marks a special year for the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. For the first time in the event's 96-year history, the entire course is paved, beginning a new era in the Race to the Clouds. While many are bemoaning the loss of the gravel and dirt (us included the dirt was great for photography), the fresh pavement is bringing plenty of new faces and cars to the event. Interest in this year's hill climb was so great that organizers are contemplating expanding the event to two days for 2013.

Much of the new vehicles for this year are in the Electric division. Normally filled with one or two entrants, this class features some of the most interesting cars this year, including two Mitsubishi iMiEVs, a prototype from Toyota Motorsports GmbH and a BMW E36 M3 converted by EV West. The biggest news, however, is that reigning Unlimited Class champion Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima has swapped out his Suzuki SX4 Hill Climb Special for an all-new machine called the Monster Sport E-Runner. Our curiosity about this incredible looking vehicle was so great that we skipped out on our usual subjects from the Unlimited and Time Attack divisions to see the new electric racer in action along with the Pikes Peak Open, Stock Car, Exhibition and Vintage classes.



The Japanese driver didn't disappoint, setting blistering times of 4:14.8 and 4:13.3 in the two practice sessions. To compare, Tajima set times of 4:45.9 and 4:33.8 last year, albeit those were partially on dirt.

Unfortunately, another driver in the Electric division didn't fare so well. Hiroshi Masuoka, driving the Mitsubishi i-MiEV Evolution, overshot a corner and crashed in the second practice session.

Also of note is the Porsche 911 GT3R being driven by Frenchman Romain Dumas in the Pikes Peak Open division, the Lexus IS F CCS-R being driven by Ken Gushi and a mean looking Lister Knoop/Mann Special being driven by Rick Knoop in the Exhibition class.

You can see our photos from the first practice day of the 2012 Pikes Peak Hill Climb in the gallery above. Check back tomorrow to see our coverage of what's new in the Unlimited and Time Attack classes.

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F1 2012 video game to get Champions Mode [w/video]

Codemasters, the company behind the racing simulator F1, has announced a new Championship Mode for the 2012 edition of the game. Champions Mode allows platers to take on Kimi Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, and Michael Schumacker in specific challenges.

The challenges are in the form of quick races and each champion has a unique scenario under which you compete with him. You must beat the driver to unlock the next challenge against the champions.

For example: If you choose to race Kimi Raikkonen, you are situated at Spa Francorchamps. You, the driver, have just pitted with a fresh set of tires. The rest of the pack is out on the track with worn rubber. You must get back out on the track, overtake the field, and beat Kimi in just three laps. Sounds easy right? They don't call it Campions Mode for nuthin'.

F1 2012 will debut at Gamescom, being held August 15 to 19 in Cologne, Germany. The game will launch over here on September 18, 2012 for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and the PC.

The game will also feature the Hockenheim Circuit, which returns to the F1 schedule, as well as the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. Click below to see the video of the game in action.

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2012 Pikes Peak Hill Climb, Practice Day 2 brings out the big guns [w/video]

During the first practice day of the 2012 Pikes Peak Hill Climb we checked out Monster Tajima's new electric-powered E-runner and watched the Vintage and Exhibition divisions roar up the mountain. Our second day, however, was reserved for the fastest of the groups Unlimited, Time Attack and Open Wheel which were running in the bottom portion of the course that determines qualifying times.

While one might think that the Unlimited class would be less interesting without Monster Tajima and Rhys Millen in the mix, this year's grouping is perhaps more intriguing than ever. Two Ford RS200s are entered this year, Lovefab Motorsports has brought its radical 850-horsepower Acura NSX and the open-cockpit Palatov Motorsport D4 Pikes Peak Special is making its debut.

Some of the usual names have come back as well. Paul Dallenbach is aiming to take down the overall record once again with an updated version of his turbocharged 1,400-horsepower winged monster, and Jean-Philippe Dayraut has returned for a second year with his Nissan GT-R-powered Dacia Duster. The Frenchman looked quick enough to easily improve on his overall time of 10:17.707 set last year, setting the fastest time of the day with segment time of 3:54.96. Dallenbach was second fastest with a time of 3:59.70, followed by David Donner in the Palatov Motorsport entry with a 4:10.31.



Returning to Time Attack (2WD and AWD have been combined for 2012) after competing in the Unlimited division for the last two years, Rhys Millen is looking to take back the class record set by his father, Rod Millen, last year. To do so he's brought an updated version of his Hyundai Genesis Coupe race car fitted with a new engine and wider body that can fit larger tires. The changes seem to have made a positive effect, as Millen blew away the Time Attack competition with a segment time of 4:06.24 the fourth fastest of any class. Four-time SCCA World Challenge GT champion Randy Pobst was second fastest, putting in a run of 4:22.75 in his 2001 Audi A4, followed by David Kern's 2005 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution with a 4:25.23.

We'll have more coverage of the Unlimited and Time Attack classes when they take on the middle section of the course tomorrow morning for the third and final practice day. Until then, browse through our photos from today in the gallery above and check out the video of Millen's qualifying run below.

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Watch Audi's R8 E-Tron quickly and quietly round the 'Ring in 8:09

Silent but deadly fast.

The Audi R8 E-Tron may set the record for a production EV on the Nurbrgring in June, but the video of Marcus Winkelhock won't win any awards for its sound track. During the eight minutes, nine seconds of driving, the car offers hardly any sound.

Gone is the thunder of Audi's V8 or V10 revving through every corner. Instead, it's tire squeals and wind noise. The 375-horsepower electric engines hardly make a sound. But that time is certainly not slow, falling just five seconds short of the R8 with a V8.

Audi promises that this car, which arrives later this year, will be identical to the one that raced on the famed German course. Though, as we pointed out before, it will have its speed limited to 125 mph. It should also have a range of 135 miles.

Scroll down to see the entire lap.

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New Stratos lines up at the 2012 Rally Isla Mallorca

Just because Ferrari nixed the New Stratos doesn't mean the existing high-performance wedge can't have a little fun on its own. This past March, the F430-based tribute to the rallying great led a littany of classics as the pace car for the Rally Isla Mallorca. The 2012 race marked the one-year anniversary of its debut at the event.

The vintage race consisted of 14 stages, totaling 280 miles, and the New Stratos led the way every time. The number zero affixed to the side marked the New Stratos as the pace vehicle, and signaled the impending classics fast approaching behind it.

The modern interpretation of the classic Italian racer was piloted by the Brose team, which consisted of Michael Stoschek and Dieter Hawkranke. Each evening, when racing ceased, the Stratos, as well as the vintage racing entrants, would take go on display in the yachting community of Portals Nous. However, those who ventured into the mountainous terrain on which the rally was held benefitted from seeing the New Stratos in action. You can see it in action, as well as the classic racers, by watching on the video below.

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Suspended Allmendinger says he failed drug test because he popped acquaintance's pill

Suspended NASCAR driver AJ Allmendinger claims he was given the pill that led to his suspension by a friend of a friend, in a Fox Sports report. Allmendinger says he was out with a "buddy" following several sponsor commitments, and revealed to his friend that he was not sleeping well. Allmendinger says he was struggling to stay awake when "One of his friends said, 'Oh I have an energy pill that I take for working out'."

That evening occurred three days prior to testing positive for amphetamine during a random drug test at Kentucky Speedway on 6/29. NASCAR officials determined what they found on him were the same chemical compound as found in Adderall.

Allmendinger was quiet regarding that evening up until this point. "I had to do some soul searching before I came out publicly" he told Fox Sports.

Per NASCAR's no-tolerance policy, Allmendinger was suspended from the following weekend's Daytona race. According to the suspended driver, it had not even occurred to him that the pill he took three days before the race was a banned substance.

Following the suspension, Allmandinger, who was in his sixth year in NASCAR, lost his ride. He was released from Penske racing and is now taking the steps to get back into racing. He has made plans to enter NASCAR's Road to Recovery program, hoping it will lead to his reinstatement.

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