2010 IFMAR Worlds

The 2010 Electric IFMAR 12th Scale/ITSC Worlds is officially underway in Germany. The week-long, biannual event has kicked off with the start of the 12th scale class, featuring approximately 120 entries from around the world. Defending 2008 Champ, Naoto Matsukura from Japan, is a heavy favorite. Among the drivers representing the US are Paul Lemieux, Rick Howart and Josh Cyrul, who probably has the best chance at making the Final.

The folks at RedRC.net have been providing fantastic coverage (including on-camera interviews hosted by Scotty Ernst). Be sure to check the site daily for all of the latest updates and photos.

Above photos and videos courtesy of RedRC.net

BMW x KOONS x LeMANS

BMW has apparently 'revived' their tradition of Art Cars. The program, which dates all the way back to the late 70's, has paired the automaker with well-established, blue chip artists to collaborate on unique, one-off promotional machines. Love him or hate him, there's no denying the success of Jeff Koons in the world of contemporary art. Employing his vast laboratory of assistants, and working in conjunction with BMW engineers, Koons created a unique, digital graphic that was applied to a BMW M3 GT2, which will compete in the 2010 24 Hours LeMans.

We were delightfully surprised to see some of the video clips on the BMW site, that detail some of the creative process. Koons, always the self-confident and self-promoting salesman, kept his public relations 'authenic' and went so far as to suit up for some test laps. (We certainly can't fault the man for conducting his own field research!)

Previous participants in the program include Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Raushcenberg, Andy Warhol, and Frank Stella. We're pretty ceretain that Koons is ecstatic to be add his own name to that roster of 20th Century greats...and you can get all the details at the BMW Blog.

photos and video, BMW©2010, bmwblog.com