Despite The Global Economic Downturn

Porsche AG, the venerable automaker from Zufffenhausen, Germany, has big plans! Despite the global economic downturn, the little car company that could continues to churn out new models and new engineering. Panamera - Hitting showrooms now is the Panamera sedan with optional V8 and turbocharged V8 engines as well as 2 and 4-wheel drive. In 2010 the Panamera will receive gas and diesel V6 engine choices as the entry-level offering. In 2011, look for the Panamera Hybrid to debut. Cayenne - Porsche’s SUV will appear in all-new from the ground up form in 2010. Expect better performance than the current model and power from V6, V8 and turbocharged V8 engines. Beyond the new 911 release, I look for both a smaller SUV model below the Cayenne which will be based on the Audi Q5 but with more of a sporting character per the Porsche heritage. I also expect a coupe and convertible version of the Panamera sedan, possible reviving the 928 moniker and using the Panamera’s underpinnings.

With their MGP W01 cars running with a revised aerodynamic package for this race, Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg concentrated on developing the set-up and balance, with a particular focus on race preparation. Michael completed 57 laps and finished the day in 10th position with Nico covering 53 laps in 13th place. “Today we saw two sessions where neither the long runs nor the single laps were looking particularly good. We are not up to the speed that we normally are on Fridays and unfortunately our car does not look very good here at the moment. We have to look deeply into the data now to see if there are any specific reasons or if it is due to the character of the circuit. I think our specification is better than we had at Silverstone but we have to make it suit this track. “It was an interesting day and even though we have taken a small step back with our upgrades, the car seems to work as it should.

The track was unexpectedly fast so we had to do some different things with the set-up just to get a feel for it. My lap time wasn’t particularly representative as I didn’t set a time because of the traffic so I think we look to be in our general position behind the frontrunners at the moment. “We had a busy day working with our revised aero package to find the right direction for qualifying and particularly the race. Both drivers completed some good set-up work but Nico and particularly Michael are not completely happy with our position at the end of today. “Not a perfect first day of practice for us and there is certainly still work to be done tonight in order to improve the set-up of our cars. If the forecast is correct for tomorrow, there is a chance of thunderstorms around lunchtime which could possibly create an exiting qualifying session.

The Ferrari 488 Pista is powered by the most powerful V8 engine in the Maranello marque's history and is the company's special series sports car with the highest level yet of technological transfer from racing. Technically, the Ferrari 488 Pista encompasses all of the experience built up on the world's circuits by the 488 Challenge and the 488 GTE. The new car's engine adopts numerous solutions from that of the 488 Challenge and its power output has been increased to 720 cv. The aim of the Ferrari 488 Pista's dynamic development was to produce a car that offers blistering mechanical performance in terms of lap times and standing starts, driving pleasure and accessibility of performance to drivers of all types. The Ferrari 488 Pista is 90 kg lighter than the 488 GTB, which brings huge advantages in terms of its agility and responsiveness. The evolution of the Ferrari 488 Pista's dynamic vehicle control systems saw the introduction of a new actuation system that flanks those featured on the 488 GTB and is integrated into the new version 6.0 of the SSC concept.