There have been many successful British F1 drivers – Nigel Mansell, David Coulthard, Damon Hill, Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, Jackie Stewart, Sir Stirling Moss… the list goes on.  However, very few drivers have has many great stories attached to them as 1976 Formula 1 World Champion James Hunt. Known for his party life style off the track and his aggressive no-holds-barred style on the circuit, earning the nickname ‘Hunt The Shunt’, Hunt became a firm fan favourite. Originally entering the world of Formula 1 driving for the Hesketh team, funded by a rich aristocrate and driving without any sponsorship on the side of the car,  Hunt showed immediate talent. Unfortunately, with no money coming in to the team, Hesketh was unable to sustain the high costs of competing at the highest level and was forced to withdraw from the following season leaving Hunt without a drive. At the last minute he managed to secure a seat at McLaren setting the stage for an incredible season long duel with his arch rival, Ferrari driver Niki Lauda. After a series of amazing events, which are now portrayed in the Ron Howard film Rush, Hunt managed to secure victory at the final round of the championship by a single point and in the process managed to overturn a points gap which in todays points would be the equivalent of 96.

If you want to colour in Niki Lauda’s Ferrari, you can find that Racing Colour page here

Learn more about McLaren at their official webpage

Learn more about James Hunt and the James Hunt Foundation here

First built in 1964, the Ford GT40 was originally produced as an endurance sports car designed to beat Ferrari, who were dominating the scene at the time. Powered by a big American V8 engine, the GT40 went on to win Le Mans in 1966, and then three more times after that all the way through to 1969. And the name? Well GT is short for Grand Touring, and the 40 is it’s height from the top of the roof to the road – just 40 inches tall.

This particular GT40 might be most famous in it’s blue and orange paint, but why don’t you download the blank template and see if you can come up with something that will stand the test of time.

When it was decided to take the Metro rallying however, everything changed. Created to take part in the infamous Group B rally class, where hugely powerful 4WD turbo cars battled it out, the 6R4 bore only the slightest resemblance to the Metro. Huge bulging bodywork was fitted to the small road car body, housing a 4Wd system and a powerful 3 litre V6, located not under the bonnet but in centre of the car where the passenger seats had previous been. The body was almost entirely made out of plastic to keep the weight down, and giant wings on the front and rear kept the car on the road.

Unfortunately, despite it’s dramatic looks, the Metro 6R4 was not a successful rally car. On the it’s first rally, Tony Pond managed to bring the car home in third, but for the rest of the season the car failed to finish any of the rallies it was entered in. However, when the team withdrew from rallying, the parts were sold to Tom Walkinshaw Racing who developed the mighty XJ220 supercar using the same engine. Group B cars are firm favorites among rally fans, and the Metro 6R4 is still a popular site at classic race and rally events

Rivalry between manufactures can be found in all motorsports, but non more fiercely than the rivalry between Holden and Ford in the ultra competitive world of V8 Supercars. These high powered touring cars are based on the road going cars of each manufacturer, although all cars use the same chassis and certain body panels to ensure that competition is close. Packing a huge 5 litre V8 engine and weighing in at over 1,400kg the cars are able to battle it out bumper to bumper on track, with a little bit of light contact being acceptable. Supercar races are either short sprint races where the cars race for 60km, have a 15 minute brake for repairs before restarting on the grid in the finishing order and racing for another 60km, or they are long endurance races such as the Gold Coast 600, Sandown 500 and the legendary Bathhurst 1000.

Triple Eight racing and Jamie Whincup are one of the most successful pairings in V8 Supercars, with Jamie winning all 4 of his drivers championships for the team. This week’s colouring page, the 2011 team Vodaphone livery features both red and reflective chrome paintwork and was more of the most distinctive cars in an already very colorful grid. If you’ve got another favorite driver, why not download the blank template and create your own?

This week’s Racing Colour page is a little different. You can still download a free colouring in page of the high tech Toyota TS030 World Endurance Championship race car, but thanks to Toyota GB, you also stand the chance of winning a small prize for your skills. Head over to the Toyota blog here and download the car http://blog.toyota.co.uk/get-creative-with-our-toyota-summer-colouring-competition. You can also leave a comment on the site requesting which Toyota will be in their next competition, so vote away!

The team planned to compete for 3 years at Le Mans, and in it’s first year one of their cars managed to finish on the bottom step of the podium. Unfortunately, the sister car was forced to retire after a fire which forced the driver to abandoned the cockpit. In 2002 just one car was brought to the circuit, this time running a large engine as a test for next years car – a car they planned to win with. That year, the car finish fourth, beaten by a trio of Audi R8s (a car the Speed 8 shared a lot of parts with).

2003 would be the year all went according to plan. The car’s engine had been proven reliably, and the body work was tweaked to make it even more slippery through the air. Running two cars again, both of the Bentley’s started at the front for the race and stay their for the duration, covering 377 laps before the chequered flag was shown 24 hours later. Following the victory, the two cars were withdrawn from racing and have not competed since. However, at the 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed, both of the 2003 Bentley Speed 8 were driven up the famous hill in formation, and it was clear that fans still love them as much today as they did then

Muscle Cars. Just two words the conjure up images of rumbling V8s, drag strips and big performance for affordable money. America has been building Muscle Cars since the 60′s, taking a standard family road car, bolting a massive engine in it and giving it Ferrari like performance that the average worker could afford. Okay, they couldn’t go round corners as well as a light weight Italian roadster, but when they looked and sounded that good in a straight line, did it really matter. Mustang, Charger, Challenger, GTO – all names that have gone down in American car building legend.

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It’s a legacy that is still very popular today, and one name that is synonymous with the new generation of Muscle Car is the Dodge Viper. Launched in 1990 to an excited public, the Viper quickly captured the imagination of petrol heads everywhere, with it’s low slung, aggressive looks – huge bonnet stretching out in to the distance and fat tires giving it a wide stance. However, it wasn’t until 1996 that the Viper went racing seriously.

Built by the successful Oreca team, who had previously won Le Mans with their screaming Mazda 787B race car, the Viper GTS-R has gone on to be an incredibly successful race car, and some versions of the chassis can still be seen competing now, some 18 years later. The car has taken overall victory in the gruelling 24 Hours of the Nurburgring 3 times, as well as the Rolex and Spa 24 hours. In addition, it has won the FIA GT Championship 5 times and the American Le Mans series twice. And if you ever get the chance to hear one at full speed pounding round a race track, jump at that chance – they sound incredible!

“Win on Sunday, sell on Monday” – it’s an idea that has been the key driving force behind motor sport ever since it began. What better way to get people talking about, and hopefully buying you car, than to show what it can do pushed to it’s limit on a race track. However, whilst they might show the future of car technology, modern Formula 1 cars have little in common with the shiny machines parked in car dealers around the world. If you want to see cars that are a little more familiar going toe to toe, then a good place to start would be the world of Touring Cars.

Based heavily on the road going versions, and running modest 2 litre engines, touring cars are non-the less high speed racers capable of top speeds of 150 mph and powerful acceleration. They are also less fragile than the delicate open wheeled single seater cars, and although touring car racing is supposed to be a non contact sport, the racing can often get quite physical with cars being pushed out of the way and tapped in to spins in the pursuit of victory. Many countries have their own national touring car championships, the most popular being the British Touring Car Championship and the Australian V8 Supercars. There is even a World Touring Car Championship, attracting some of the best ‘tin top’ drivers in the world. The racing is always close and exciting, taking place over 15-20 flat out laps. No pit stops, no driver changes, no complicated strategies. Just try and get to the front as fast as you can and stay there whilst 30 other drivers all have the same idea.

The Chevrolet Cruze is one of the most successful modern touring cars, and examples of it can be seen competing in the British and World Touring Car Championships, where British drivers Jason Plato and Rob Huff have both driven them to championship victory in the respective series. With Tom Chilton and Yvan Muller currently running near the front of the WTCC Championship in their 2013 Cruzes, this looks set to continue.

You can download the blank template and create your own design, or choose from a large selection of BTCC and WTCC templates.

Blank Template

Jason Plato

Daryll O’Young

Yvan Muller

Tom Chilton

Alain Menu

Rob Huff

Michel Nykjaer

James Nash

Alex MacDowell

Normally if you see a car on a race track, it might look like a normal road car, but under the bodywork there are major differences. Take a race car on to the road, and not only would it be illegal, but it would be virtually impossible to drive. Most racing cars arrive at the track on a trailer, and their wheels only ever touch the tarmac of the various circuits around the world. The Radical RS3 is a little different

Track days are events put on at race tracks where drivers can bring their normal road cars down to a professional circuit and push them to their limits away from the public. These have become increasingly popular, and several manufacturers have started to produce specialist track day cars – stripped down race machines but with enough safety equipment to be legal to drive on the road. The Radical RS3 is one such car, and anybody brave enough can drive it to the track, spend the day pounding round the circuit and then drive it home again in the evening. And if you are really brave, you can drive it to work every day.

It might not be the most comfortable drive though. The Radical RS3 has a seat, headlights, indicators and even a radio, but that’s about it. The suspension, clutch and brakes are all set up for track use, meaning the ride can be very bumpy and stiff. And there’s no roof. Or windscreen. So if it’s raining, you’re going to get wet. But get it to a track, and the ultra lightweight car can hit 60 mph in 3.1 and will be over 100mph before the stop watch is reading 6. And with power like that, who needs a windscreen?

The GTA was a very successful race car, especially in the world of touring cars, where the Alfa won the European Touring Car Championship ’66,’67 and ’68. When the car was replaced with the more powerful GTaM, this picked up the GTA’s mantel and went on to win the championship in ’70 and ’71. Over in America, the GTA also won the first Grand-Am Championship in 1966, and would go on to win it again in 1970. The car also enjoyed some success as a privately entered rally car. Today the car is a regular feature at the various historic GT and touring car races held around the world, where it’s light weight, small size and perky engine make it a competitive vintage racer.

Alfa Romeos are typically red like their Italian brothers Ferrari, but would look good in any colour you fancy trying out. If you try colouring in the livery version, check out the strange logo on the bonnet – a snake eating a man – a main feature of the Alfa Romeo logo.

Homologation has lead to some of the most interesting cars ever produced. Certain race series require the cars fighting it out on track to be based on a road going machine, and FIA GT1 is one such championship. As a result, when Maserati wanted to produce a new racing GT car, the first time they had hit the track in 37 years, they had to produce 50 road going versions as well before they were allowed to score points in the championship.

The Maserati MC12 shared a chassis with the incredible Ferrari Enzo, but the car is larger and built to be even more aerodynamic than it’s prancing horse wearing brother. Although the car was not a critical hit, described as being overpriced, too large and not as powerful as the Enzo, the car was an immediate success on track. Although initially not eligible to score points in the GT1 championship, the cars finished 2nd and 3rd in their debut races and went on to win the next round. When the FIA finally allowed them to score points in the final round of the championship, they managed to score enough to finish 7th overall. The second year Maserati competed in GT1, it won the championship by a massive margin – almost double the points of the second place Ferrari team. By this stage there were two teams running a total of four MC12s, and all four of the drivers were in the running for the drivers championship. However, in the last race they were beaten by a Ferrari driver, Gabriele Gardel, who took the drivers title.

2006 and 2007 saw just two Maserati’s on track in the distinctive green/blue and grey livery of team Vitaphone. They once again won the team championship, and would continue to do so until 2009. 2010 saw a rule and structure change in GT racing, and Maserati lost their run of 5 consecutive team championships to Aston Martin racing. The MC12 was also successful in other racing series, including Italian GT, and Maserati produced several customer racing cars, MC12 Corsas, which were sold for $1million each to 12 lucky drivers.

You can download this incredible race car in either the Vitaphone colours or in a blank livery so you can create your own paint work for this sleek machine.

Want to get into the exciting world of Formula 1? It’s a dream that few manage to achieve, and those first steps take place here, in Formula 3. These cars are basically scaled down F1 cars – wings, open wheels and cockpits and light weight bodywork. Using 2 litre engines from production road cars (such as Hondas, Volkswagens and Alfa Romeos) an F3 car can hit 60 mph in under 4 seconds and accelerate on to 155 mph, and this leads to plenty of fast exciting racing.

Formula 3 cars are raced around the world in national series. British Formula 3 has been running since 1954 and has seen such legendary drivers as Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna, Derek Warrick, Takuma Sato, Mika Häkkinen and F1 newcomer Daniel Ricciardo. Ricciardo now drives for Red Bull in their sister team, Scuderia Toro Rosso, and his F3 car carried the same blue, red and yellow colour scheme. You can download Ricciardo’s car here, a livery of my own design or the blank template to create your own.

If you want the fastest racing in the world, you need to look to the world of NASCAR, Formula 1, ALMS and of course the super fast drag racing machines. If you want the most exciting racing in the world, then Touring Cars are the first place you should head. They might be slower, but the competition is closer and there is always plenty of door to door, wheel banging excitement. Almost every country where there is competitive motorsport has it’s own national series, and in Japan that series is known as Super GT.

Started as JGTC in 1993 with the main goal being to create tight close racing without huge costs, the initial grids were made up of cars equivalent to GT 1 and GT 2 cars. However, as the price of the cars began to rise it was decided to switch to 2 door coupes balanced on power and weight to ensure close competition.The cars were split in to two classes, GT500 and GT300 (the top limits in terms of horse power for each group) and both compete on track at the same time, although points are awards separately.

Super GT500 is dominated by the big three Japanese car manufacturers – Honda, Nissan and Toyota – and the cars are allowed to be altered with other parts from the manufacturers range, such as engines from different models. The Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R is one of the most iconic of all Japanese GT cars, and several variants of the car have won the prestigious GT500 championship through the years. Seen here it’s in famous Calsonic livery, you’ll need a lot of blue to colour this one, or you could grab the blank template and see if you can recreate some of the other bright, eye catching Super GT liveries.

When it comes to race car liveries, there have been some brilliant eye catching designs throughout racing history – the blue and orange of the Gulf Porsches, Lotus’ black and gold stripes and the yellow, white and blue of Williams F1. But every year since 1975, BMW have brought something special to Le Mans – a custom painted ‘art car’. Originating in 1975 when Hervé Poulain asked his friend Alexander Calder to paint the BMW that he would be using in the famous 24 hour race, it has continued every year until 2010, with the star of this colouring page. Created by American modern artist Jeff Koons, this bold and bright car took inspiration from pop artists and comic book graphics. Driven by Dirk Müller, Andy Priaulx and Dirk Werner, the car finished 6th in class and captured the imagination of spectators around the world.

You’re going to require a lot of skill and bright colours to finish this car, but if you don’t feel like finishing Jeff Koons for him, why not create you own eye catching art car using the template, or have a go at Dirk Müller and Tommy Milners ALMS car. And if you do create your own art car, please tweet it to me @racingcolour – I’d love to see it!

When it comes to motor racing, there are very few guarantees. There will always be favourites to win races, but often circumstances can cause an upset before the checkered flag has dropped. When Mazda arrived at the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans with a three car team, they were far from the favourites to take home the trophy.

The 787Bs, two painted in the standard Mazda racing colours of blue and silver and one painted in the eye watering bright green and orange colours that have gone on to become part of the history of the famous endurance race, started their race from the middle of the grid. As they had proved to be so reliable during testing, the drivers were instructed to attack the course as if they were taking part in a 30 minute sprint race rather than a drive that would last twice around the clock face. The green and orange number 55 car, driven by Formula 1 drivers Johnny Herbet and Bertrand Gachot, accompanied by sports prototype hot-shot Volker Weidler quickly battled it’s way up to 3rd place. Thanks to the excellent fuel economy of Mazda’s innovative rotary engine, the 787B began to close in on the Mercedes running in second place, driven by fellow F1 pilot Michael Schumacher. During the night section, the silver Merc span and the Mazda moved up to second and began to reel the leader in. It quickly became apparent with 6 hours to go that the leader was slowing to save fuel and it was time to strike. After 22 hours, the brightly coloured Japanese prototype car made it’s way to the front of the field, and remained there until the chequered flag. Even more incredibly, after driving nearly 5000km over the course of 392 laps, the only part that had to be replaced on the Mazda was a blown headlamp bulb.

The bold colour scheme of the 787B has made it one of the most instantly recognisable cars in Le Mans history, but why not experiment with some different colours to see if you can come up with another bright, eye catching design.

A famous Italian race car? You’re probably thinking of a Ferrari F40, or maybe a Lamborghini Diablo. Not in the world of rallying though, where the name Lancia has gone down as one of the most iconic in the sport. The Delta originally competed in the 1980s, in a class known as Group B, home to the fastest cars ever to tackle a muddy stage. The cars were incredibly powerful, and heavily modified from the road going version, often stripped down to just two seats and a giant roll cage. Unfortunately, these cars proved to be incredibly dangerous, and in 1987 the Group B cars were banned from competing.

Fortunately, Lancia had just introduced the newest version of it’s Lancia Delta – the HF. Boasting a two litre engine and four wheel drive, it met the requirements to compete in the World Rally Championship. From the first time it’s wheels turned through the mud and gravel of the demanding rally stages, the Delta proved itself to be a top level machine, and all three team drivers ( Massimo Biasion, Juha Kankkunen and Markku Alén) battled it out for the championship, the prize eventually going to Kankkunen. The car was upgraded for next year, becoming the Intergrale HF and going on to win 10 of the 11 stage of the 1980 World Rally Championship. Infact, the car continued to dominate until 1993, when the new Toyota Celica (now driven my Juha Kankkunen) proved to be the new king of the rally track. There were a new breed of competitive cars coming through, and the Lancia was unable to compete, leading to it being withdrawn from competition at the end of the season. Not before it had won 46 world championship rally events and set a record for the most consecutive constructors championship titles, which at 6, still stands today. And incredible car with a great history

*Parent’s note* I have created a version of this without the words Martini anywhere if you don’t wish your child to colour in anything with their branding on. It is the 3rd file available here

When it comes to going looking good whilst going sideways and covered in mud, you could do a lot worse than the Toyota Celica GT-Four rally car. Originally launched in 1985, the Celica featured an advanced all wheel drive system and a turbo charged engine, as well as a pioneering anti-lag system to combat the traditional delay in a turbo charged system. Driven by some of the greatest rally wheel men of all time, including Carlos Sainz, Didier Auriol and Juha Kankkunen, the Celica was a hugely successful rally weapon, scoring 30 WRC overall wins in the 16 years it competed.

Today’s colouring page is the ST205 model, which was the last of the rallying Celicas, battling on before it was finally replaced with the Corolla WRC car. The rules for competing at the time stated that Toyota had to build a sufficient number of cars to sell to the public before they were allowed to get them dirty, leading to a few hundred of these thoroughbred rally machines being sold to the general public (although they had little luxuries like a radio and rear seats. The Celica GT-Four remains a highly sought after car by enthusiastic drivers, and you can either colour in a plain one, give it your own design, or see if you can tackle the iconic green and red WRC Castrol livery. As ever, I’d love to see you finished page, so tweet it at @racingcolour or take an Instagram photo with the tag #racingcolour, and I will add it to the gallery

Think of high performance super cars and the first name that comes to mind is Ferrari. Loud, red and dramatic, they have made some of the most iconic vehicles ever to burn rubber. And when you think about Ferrari, it’s likely that the car you are picturing is the legendary Ferrari F40

Launched in 1987, the F40 was the fastest, most expensive and most powerful car Ferrari had ever made available to buy. The car is incredibly light weight for it’s size and was able to hit 60mph in 3.8 seconds, before powering on to a top speed of over 201.4 mph, the fastest any production car had been at that point. It held this record until the Lamborghini Diablo was launched in 1990

The F40 did not see much competitive track action, but in 1995, Pilot-Aldrix racing took their privately developed car to Le Mans and brought it home in a respectable 12th. It had a striking bright blue livery, which is available here to download, but if you like your Ferrari’s in classic red (or any other colour for that matter) you can download the blank version to get creative with

Formula 1 – probably the most famous motorsport in the world, with a history dating back over 60 years. The worlds fastest drivers battle it out, wheel to wheel, in ultra light weight, super fast race cars, watched by hundreds of millions of people around the world. Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Niki Lauda, James Hunt, Jaun Manuel Fangio, Sebastian Vettel and Jacky Stewart – legendary names how risked life and limb on a Sunday afternoon to prove who was the best.

The 2013 season of Formula 1 is already underway, and the first two races have been won by two different drivers. The only similarities between these modern F1 cars have to the ones pounding around the circuits in the 50′s is that they have 4 wheels – computer controlled systems, massively powerful engines and ultra light weight materials are standard on even the slowest car on the grid, and show where the future of car technology is heading.

Formula 1 cars are always brightly coloured and carry loads of sponsorship logos to pay for the incredibly expensive cars and racing. So why not pick your favourite team on the grid and colour your car to look like that, or come up with your own original creation. And when they’re done, why not tweet them at @racingcolour so I can put them on the gallery

At 10:30 am this morning, the green flag will wave for the 61st time to signal the start of the 12 Hours of Sebring, one of the great endurance races. Five classes of cars, from the ultra fast prototype cars to the high performance GT machines will battle it out for one complete run ’round the clock’ at the famous race course, one of the oldest operating tracks in America. 3.74 miles in length, the track is made up of 17 corners, and the surface is rough and undulating requiring a lot of driver skill to keep the car pointing in the right direction as it bounces across the tarmac.

The race will be full of excitement, but you might need something to keep you occupied during any safety car laps, so why not download you favourite class of car and get colouring. And if you do take finish one, why not take a picture on Instagram and tag it with #racingcolour and it will be displayed it the gallery here.

Audi R18 E-Tron Quattro

Aston Martin Vantage GTE

Corvette C6.R ALMS

HPD ARX LMP2

Porsche 997 GTC