Tis the season

It's time to once again show the world your giving spirit. The annual Championship Auto Racing Auxiliary (CARA) auction of racing items—cool stuff gathered during the 2012 racing season—is underway. The CARA auction is run in association with Autoweek and can be found here, at autoweek.com.

Mini takes to the field for London 2012

Although there’s no motorsport in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Mini will be making an appearance during the track and field events in the Olympic stadium. A fleet of three remote-controlled, quarter-scale Mini Cooper JCWs are charged with retrieving javelins, discus, shot and hammer, and will cover around 6000 metres per day while on duty. Each ‘mini Mini’ has a potential payload of 8kg, and will be operated by specially-trained ‘Games Makers’.

One lap of the web: A Lotus superbike, a track-only Z06 and a pair of M cars

Motorcycle News Lotus has licensed its name for this 200 HP superbike. Motorcycle News is reporting that Lotus, the beloved sportscar manufacturer that launched a thousand acronymic reliability jokes--"L.O.T.U.S, Lots Of Trouble, Usually Serious"--has lent its name to a 200 HP, V-twin-powered superbike that is to be manufactured by a new company. While it does wear a lovely JPS-style livery, it's not clear where the lightness has been added or if it's been simplified.