etherealtemptat: August 2011

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Rossi's crashes - Indianapolis by numbers

Rossi is pictured crashing the factory Yamaha at the circuit in 2009

1. Jorge Lorenzo

Lorenzo has finished on the podium in each of the three years that a MotoGP race has been held at the Indianapolis circuit

His 3rd place finish in 2008 was his first wet weather podium in any class of Grand Prix racing

In 2009 he won by over nine seconds after taking the lead on lap nine

Finished 3rd last year at Indianapolis after getting a bad start from second on the grid and finishing the first lap in 5th

The Indianapolis GP last year was the only event of 2010 that Lorenzo was both out-qualified by this year?s team-mate Spies and finished behind him in the race

4. Andrea Dovizioso

Dovizioso was fifth and the first non-factory rider across the line at Indianapolis in 2008, having led a MotoGP race for the first time at the end of the first lap

In 2009 he finished fourth, just half a second off the podium after qualifying down in eighth place on the grid

Finished 5th last year at Indianapolis after getting a great start and ending the first lap 2nd before slowly dropping back through the field

Has only twice failed to finish in the top four so far in 2011 ? 12th at Jerez and 5th at Laguna Seca

5. Colin Edwards

Edwards was the last point-scoring finisher at Indianapolis in 2008 struggling with machine set-up

In 2009 he finished 5th at Indianapolis after being as high as third early in the race

Last year he pitted at the end of the 11th lap to change to a softer tyre. He rejoined the race only to retire at the end of lap 16

7. Hiroshi Aoyama

Did not compete at Indianapolis in 2008 due to the 250cc race being cancelled

Finished 2nd at Indianapolis on his way to winning the 250cc world title in 2009

Last year was 12th in the MotoGP race at Indianapolis; his first race back following his Silverstone crash

8. Hector Barbera

Did not compete at Indianapolis in 2008 due to the 250cc race being cancelled

Finished 6th in the 250cc race at Indianapolis in 2009 after getting a bad start from 4th on the grid and ending the first lap down in 13th

Last year qualified down in 16th for the MotoGP race at Indianapolis, but improved in the race to finish tenth

11. Ben Spies

Raced as a wild-card at Indianapolis in 2008, making the last of his three Grand Prix starts of the season on a factory Suzuki

In 2008 he qualified as the top Suzuki rider in 5th place on the grid and finished the race in 6th - the best performance by a wild-card rider in the 800cc era of MotoGP

Last year at Indianapolis he qualified on pole for the first time in MotoGP and finished 2nd ? his best result of 2010

14. Randy de Puniet

Has never been fully fit in his three previous visits to Indianapolis

He finished 13th in 2008 suffering with a wrist injury picked up in a crash at the previous race at Misano

In 2009 he was 12th while still recovering from the ankle that he had broken a month previously when riding a motocross bike

Last year he finished 13th while still not fully recovered from the broken leg sustained at the German GP six weeks earlier

17. Karel Abraham

His only previous race start at Indianapolis is in the 250cc race in 2009 when he finished 10th

Last year he went out in FP1 but realised that he had not fully recovered from concussion suffered in a crash two weeks earlier at Brno and withdrew from the race

19. Alvaro Bautista

Did not compete at Indianapolis in 2008 due to the 250cc race being cancelled

Finished 3rd in the 250cc race at Indianapolis in 2009 behind current MotoGP rivals Simoncelli and Aoyama

Last year at Indianapolis he was 8th, after finishing the first lap down in 13th place

24. Toni Elias

Finished 12th in the MotoGP race at Indianapolis in 2008 from 9th place on the grid

In 2009 he finished 9th after being pushed off the track at the first corner and dropping to the back of the field

Won the Moto2 race last year at Indianapolis despite suffering from a severe fever

26. Dani Pedrosa

Finished 8th at Indianapolis in 2008 in his first ride using Bridgestone tyres, after having used Michelin tyres during the early part of the year

In 2009 Pedrosa qualified on pole and led the race until crashing on the 4th lap; he re-started at the back of the pack and eventually finished 10th

Last year he qualified in 5th place on the grid but won the race after taking the lead on lap seven

27. Casey Stoner

Stoner was 4th at Indianapolis in 2008, after starting from 2nd place on the grid

In 2009 the Indianapolis Grand Prix was one of the three races that he missed suffering from illness

Last year he was 6th on the grid, equalling his worst qualifying result of the year

Made a bad start at Indianapolis last year and ended lap one down in 9th and then crashed on lap seven after moving up to 6th position

Has finished on the podium at the last nine successive races

35. Cal Crutchlow

Will be racing at the Indianapolis circuit for the first time

46. Valentino Rossi

Rossi?s win at Indianapolis in 2008 gave him the record for most premier-class GP victories with 69, one more than Giacomo Agostini who had held the record for 32 years

In 2009 Rossi crashed at turn two on lap ten, having lost the lead to Lorenzo on the previous lap

Crashed three times last year at Indianapolis ? in FP2, in qualifying and Sunday morning warm-up

Finished 4th last year at Indianapolis from seventh place on the grid

58. Marco Simoncelli

Did not compete at Indianapolis in 2008 due to the 250cc race being cancelled, having qualified on pole position

In 2009 he won the 250cc race at the Indianapolis Grand Prix

Last year he qualified in 8th for the MotoGP race at Indianapolis and finished in 7th place

Finished 3rd at the Czech GP ? his first podium in the premier-class in his 29th MotoGP start

65. Loris Capirossi

Capirossi finished 16th at Indianapolis in 2008 after being pushed wide at the first corner and dropping to the back of the field

In 2009 he got a bad start and finished the first lap down in 14th but battled back through the pack to eventually finish seventh

Last year at Indianapolis he qualified 10th on the grid and finished 11th

69. Nicky Hayden

Hayden has twice finished on the podium at the Indianapolis Grand Prix

At Indianapolis in 2008 he finished second after leading the race from the second lap through to lap thirteen

In 2009 his third place finish at Indianapolis was his first podium riding a Ducati

Last year he qualified on the front row for the first time on a Ducati, but was slowed after tearing his left kneeslider off on the 3rd lap and finished sixth
Martin Raines, MotoGP / Eurosport

Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/P37Hs-2ShF-/Rossi+crashes+Indianapolis+numbers

Wilfred Herron Manfred Herweh Sanadori Hikita Ernst Hiller Eric Hinton Harry Hinton

MotoGP 2011 ? Round 12 ? Indianapolis ? Mcnews.com.au

BBC Sport

MotoGP 2011 - Round 12 - Indianapolis
Mcnews.com.au
Podium finished from Brno, Alberto Moncayo (Team Andaluc�a Banca C�vica), did not participate in the qualifying practice after being declared unfit to race due to collarbone fracture sustained in the morning practice session. ...
MotoGP riders return to Indianapolisgirlracer

Stoner leads day one at IndianapolisBikeland

all 343 news articles »

Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/W_fvEmEoSXd/MotoGP+2011+Round+12+Indianapolis+Mcnews+com

Ken Kavanagh John Kocinski Pentti Korhonen Tomoyoshi Koyama Ewald Kluge Bruno Kneub¸hler

Casey Stoner winner in Czech Republic MotoGP

Casey Stoner came out as the winner of the Czech Republic MotoGP race. Honda's success more complete after they managed to put two other racers to the podium.

In the race at Brno Circuit on Sunday (08/14/2011), Stoner completed the race in 43 minutes 16.796 seconds. He won over his colleagues in the Repsol Honda, Andrea Dovizioso, and Honda Gresini rider, Marco Simoncelli, who each had to settle for second and third positions.

Jorge Lorenzo could only finish in fourth position. Behind him there's Yamaha teammate, Ben Spies.

Valentino Rossi completed the race in the same position at start. Start from sixth position, he also finished sixth.

Another rider who entered the top ten is Nicky Hayden, Colin Edwards, Hiroshi Aoyama, and Hector Barbera.

Czech Republic MotoGP race results:

1. Casey Stoner AUS Honda Repsol 43m 16.796s
2. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda 43m 23.328s
3. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 43m 24.588s
4. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP Factory Racing 43m 25.309s
5. Ben Spies USA Yamaha Factory Racing 43m 26.982s
6. Valentino Rossi ITA Ducati Marlboro 43m 29.428s
7. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro 43m 39.833s
8. Colin Edwards USA Tech 3 Yamaha Monster 43m 40.985s
9. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini 43m 41.998s
10. Hector Barbera ESP Mapfre Aspar 43m 53.362s
11. Toni Elias Honda ESP LCR 43m 53.475s
12. Randy de Puniet FRA Pramac Racing 43m 53.905s
13. Loris Capirossi ITA Pramac Racing 44m 5.707s

Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/YZKuwmH7E_i/Casey+Stoner+winner+Czech+Republic+MotoGP

Jeff Emig Harry Everts Stefan Everts Jaroslav Falta Claudio Federici Tim Ferry

Pro Circuit Racing Celebrating 200 Wins and Counting

No other team in history has lived up to the success of Supercross/Motocross as Mitch Payton and Pro Circuit, who celebrated their milestone 200th win this year. Monster Energy Kawasaki recently commemorated with Pro Circuit this long and successful streak, one that has been dominated by the current Supercross Lites West Champion; the Kawasaki KX250F.

Check out the video courtesy of Kawasaki:

Source: http://www.supercross.com/features/pro-circuit-racing-celebrating-200-wins-and-counting

Broc Glover Rui Goncalves Josh Grant Billy Grossi Werner Haas Silvio Habat

MINI CEO confirms Paceman production

MINI CEO Kay Segler has confirms plans to build a production version of the Paceman concept. It will be like be launched in late 2012 or early 2013.

Source: http://feeds.worldcarfans.com/~r/worldcarfans/Jxfz/~3/t66TyDJmafk/mini-ceo-confirms-paceman-production

Jaromir Cizek Guy Cooper Paul Cooper Josh Coppins Cody Copper Gordon Crockard

Endurocross Redux

There has been a lot of comment, talk, buzz, texting, and Tweeting about Endurocrosss (EnduroX) at ESPN?s recent X Games 17 in Los Angeles. EnduroX was new to X Games. And not only was there a ?normal? Endurocross, there was a Women?s race added as well.

And as far as we can tell, it was a huge success. We were there! (You can see Supercross.com?s coverage of X Games Day 4, which highlighted both Men?s and Women?s EnduroX, here.)

Since there has been so much buzz regarding Endurocross, we decided to ?redux? it.

First, let?s go back a bit. Remember the feature we did on Eric Peronnard? (It?s here for you to read.) Eric is the primary force behind Endurocross. Eric, among other things, invented the US Open of Supercross in Las Vegas. Mini Moto SX (Supercross), and Endurocross.

We asked Eric about Endurocross and specifically EnduroX at ESPN?s X Games 2011.

How did EnduroX happen come about?

Source: http://www.supercross.com/features/endurocross-redux

Chris Amon Bob Anderson Conny Andersson Mario Andretti Michael Andretti Keith Andrews

Cornering with JDR/J-Star/KTM's PJ Larsen

Learn some cornering tips from JDR/J-Star/KTM supercross rider PJ Larsen.

Source: http://www.supercross.com/features/cornering-with-jdrj-starktm-s-pj-larsen

Tim Ferry Ashley Fiolek Ernesto Fonseca Lauris Freibergs Paul Friedrichs Steven Frossard

Kevin Harvick warns Kyle Busch

Source: http://www.skirtsandscuffs.com/2011/08/kevin-harvick-warns-kyle-busch.html

Tim Ferry Ashley Fiolek Ernesto Fonseca Lauris Freibergs Paul Friedrichs Steven Frossard

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Felipe Massa - classic F1

Ferrari's Felipe Massa is the latest driver to choose his five all-time favourite grands prix for BBC Sport's classic Formula 1 series. The idea of this series is to whet your appetites for the race coming up. And, for better or worse, the Brazilian will always be linked with the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Massa produced one of his best performances at the Hungaroring in 2008. An intense battle with Lewis Hamilton ended when the Englishman's McLaren suffered a puncture, seemingly handing victory to Massa. But, with only three laps to go, the engine in his Ferrari failed. The points from that win would have made the Brazilian world champion that year, rather than Hamilton.

The following year, Massa suffered a terrible freak accident in qualifying for the same race. He was hit on the head by an errant spring from the car of his friend, Brawn driver Rubens Barrichello, and taken to hospital in, what doctors called, a "life-threatening but stable condition". Amazingly, he made a full recovery, returning to Ferrari for the start of the 2010 season.

Massa, like many Brazilians of his generation, grew up idolising the late Ayrton Senna, so it comes as no surprise that three of his five choices feature the former world champion. The other two reflect key moments in Massa's own career.

Massa's choices are as follows, in chronological order:

The 1991 Brazilian Grand Prix.

It was a quite brilliant drive from Senna, who was recording his first victory in his home race. He held off the faster Williams of Riccardo Patrese despite spending a significant portion of the grand prix struggling with no fourth gear. He also lost the third and fifth gears in the final two laps.

After taking the chequered flag, Senna had to be lifted from his car, exhausted and in agony. When he finally did make it on to the rostrum, his face contorted by a mixture of pain and unadulterated joy, he sent fans - and the country that loved him - wild.

The 1992 Monaco Grand Prix

This was the race in which Senna brought to an end Nigel Mansell's dominant start to the season, although the Briton would go on to claim the championship.

At Monaco, like the five races before it, Mansell and the ground-breaking Williams-Renault FW14B were controlling the race before a late pit stop caused by a loose wheel nut put him behind Senna. Mansell tried everything to pass in the closing laps but was beaten by Senna's guile and experience in the tight confines of the track.

The 1993 European Grand Prix

The one race that has come to epitomise Senna - and therefore the inevitable choice by any driver who is a Senna fan.

The race at a wet Donington Park has passed into F1 folklore. A quite brilliant first lap lifted Senna from fifth at the first corner to first by the last - and he proceeded to drive at a higher level to the rest of the field on his way to one of the greatest of his 41 wins.

The 2006 Turkish Grand Prix

This was Massa's first F1 victory, an impressive and dominant performance from the front after taking pole position ahead of Ferrari team-mate Michael Schumacher.

Dig below the surface, though, and it was not quite as impressive or dominant as it looked. This race is often held up as evidence that Massa was occasionally fast enough to get on terms with Schumacher, who was in the final year of his first F1 career.

That's what it looked like from the outside. But Schumacher would have beaten Massa to pole, despite a higher fuel load, had he not made a mistake on his qualifying lap.

In the race, too, Schumacher was on target to win until the advent of the safety car meant Ferrari had to 'stack' their drivers in the pits. The German rejoined behind Renault's Fernando Alonso and failed to get past the Spaniard for the rest of the race.

The 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix

Massa has chosen this because it was his first win at home - and it was a victory that was as dominant as it looked. He took a comfortable pole and never looked like losing the race, winning by 18 seconds from Alonso, who claimed his second consecutive title.

The action was all behind them - and it centred on Schumacher, for whom this was the last race before retirement. The German, whose faint hopes of winning the title ended when he suffered an early puncture, fought back from 18th to fourth to end what turned out to be his first F1 career in style.

Highlights of the race, not broadcast since the day itself, are embedded below. Beneath them are links to short highlights of last year's Hungarian Grand Prix.

In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content.

CLICK HERE FOR SHORT HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2010 HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX

CLICK HERE FOR LONG HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2010 HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX

The classic grands prix will be available on the BBC red button in the UK as follows:

Satellite and cable viewers will be able to watch them from 1500 on Wednesday 27 July until 0850 on Friday 29 July.

On Freeview, they will be shown from 2200 on Wednesday 27 July until 0600 on Thursday 28 July, from 2110 on Thursday until 0245 on Friday 29 July and again from 0435 until 0600 on Friday.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/07/felipe_massa_-_classic_f1.html

Silvio Habat Larbi Habbiche Ron Hackett Gerhard Haeberle Bernard Haenggeli Philipp Hafeneger

JR Motorsports is Fired Up for night racing in Bristol!

Source: http://www.skirtsandscuffs.com/2011/08/jr-motorsports-is-fired-up-for-night.html

Roger De Coster Ken De Dycker Yves Demaria Gilbert De Roover Clement Desalle John DeSoto

Video Highlights: Round 9 AMA Motocross 2011 Unadilla NY MX

Round 9 AMA Professional Motocross - Unadilla MX in New York! Supercross Champion Ryan Villopoto sweeps both motos on his birthday in the Motocross class. Ryan Dungey second, Justin Barcia in his first 450 outdoor pro MX ride third. In 250 MX Lites, series points leader Dean Wilson comes out on top with his Pro Circuit Kawasaki.

Watch the Video Highlights courtesy of MXSports. And you can see photos, results and points from the Unadilla race here!

Source: http://www.supercross.com/features/video-highlights-round-9-ama-motocross-2011-unadilla-ny-mx

Gerry Ashmore Bill Aston Richard Attwood Manny Ayulo Luca Badoer Giancarlo Baghetti

Robby Gordon?s No. 7 not for sale

Source: http://www.skirtsandscuffs.com/2011/08/robby-gordons-no-7-not-for-sale.html

Richard Haidegger Mike Hailwood Mike Hale Ross Hannan Osmo Hansen Gregg Hansford

Report: Porsche CEO confirms Ferrari-fighter above 911

Filed under: Etc., Porsche

Recently, we received word that Porsche was prepping a Ferrari-fighting model that would slot above the 911 and below the upcoming 918 within the Porsche lineup, and now, we have confirmation that this new sports car is, in fact, on its way.

The German automaker was tired of seeing Ferrari face little competition in its class. Matthias Mueller, Porsche CEO, is pushing the automaker to produce a sports car that will cost between 250,000 and 400,000 Euros (about $363,000 to $580,000), and has its sights set squarely on taking sales away from Italy's prancing horse.

For now, that's about all we have in the way of details. Still, we expect good things - we certainly won't turn away at the idea of one more Porsche sports car out on the road.

Porsche CEO confirms Ferrari-fighter above 911 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 30 Aug 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2011/08/30/porsche-ceo-confirms-ferrari-fighter-above-911/

Osmo Hansen Gregg Hansford Tetsuya Harada John Hartle Wil Hartog Gary Haslam

Video: Forest road racing Subaru owner gets painful recovery lesson

Filed under: Sedan, Etc., Videos, Subaru, Humor

Be warned, Subaru fans: this video isn't for the faint of heart. According to the YouTube description, an Impreza owner decided to see just how much his car had in common with the screaming machines of the World Rally Championship by submitting it to a torturous, rocky section of fire road. After somehow enduring 12 miles of abuse, the car struck a rock, gouged its oil pan and came to a stop. The vehicle was subsequently abandoned there for some time, whereupon it was graffitti'd as well as stripped of its stereo and seats.

Fortunately, a few helpful off-road enthusiasts offered to pull the car out of the forest and back to civilization. There was only one real problem: making it to the fire road's exit meant bashing the hapless Subaru across even larger stones, while taking the trail in reverse meant covering 12 times the distance. The recovery team decided to pursue going forward, and mechanical carnage ensued. Call it proof positive that bad things happen to good cars whose owners make poor choices. Hit the jump to see the damage.

Continue reading Forest road racing Subaru owner gets painful recovery lesson

Forest road racing Subaru owner gets painful recovery lesson originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 30 Aug 2011 14:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2011/08/30/forest-road-racing-subaru-owner-gets-painful-recovery-lesson/

Bernard Haenggeli Philipp Hafeneger Kensuke Haga Noriyuki Haga Josef Hage Andreas Hahn

Peugeot has released a few images of its HX1 Concept car ahead of the vehicle's debut at this year's Frankfurt Motor Show. The low-slung MPV can seat up to six adults while retaining a remarkably low drag coefficient of just 0.28. That's thanks to a few clever design tricks like wheel blades that open up to form a flat surface, as well as some clever side skirt and spoiler work.

As you might expect, that's not the only show-circuit wizardry that the HX1 has to offer. Occupants enter and exit via five rear-hinged half-scissor doors. Additionally, a center row of seating can be created by a set of pull-out buckets integrated into the front seats.

Not surprisingly, the HX1 gets its power from a plug-in hybrid drivetrain. A 204-horsepower 2.4-liter turbo-diesel engine provides power to the front wheels while an electric motor takes care of spinning the rear tires. All told, the vehicle produces 299 horsepower while returning 88.2 miles per gallon. Hit the jump for the press release.

Continue reading Peugeot HX1 concept revealed ahead of Frankfurt

Peugeot HX1 concept revealed ahead of Frankfurt originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2011/08/29/peugeot-hx1-concept-revealed-ahead-of-frankfurt/

Tony DiStefano Jamie Dobb Gert van Doorn John Dowd John Draper Doug Dubach

Monday, August 29, 2011

News ? Yamaha Paint the Front Row Red and White at Indianapolis

#Yamaha Paint the Front Row Red and White at #Indianapolis

Yamaha Factory Racing riders Ben Spies and Jorge Lorenzo scored the first double Yamaha front row of the year today in qualifying for tomorrow?s Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Local hero Spies continued to impress with the strong form in evidence from the beginning of the weekend. The qualifying session saw him quickly up to impressive speed. Despite repeatedly breaking under the pole time for the first two splits Spies was unable to topple Casey Stoner from the top spot so will start from second place for the race.

Reigning World Champion Lorenzo finally made a breakthrough mid-qualifying after struggling for the first three sessions to find a competitive set up on the newly surfaced Indianapolis track. A big set up change to his YZR-M1 with less than half the session to go changed his fortunes, allowing him to climb quickly up to third behind his team mate with two quick laps in succession. Lorenzo will now use the valuable warm up time tomorrow morning to test the consistency of the set up before the race.

Ben Spies

Position 2nd - Time 1.39.373 - Laps 25

?It was good today, we didn?t have a fast lap in the end but we got on the front row. We did over 30 laps on a set of tyres and went quite quick at the end, still able to do 39s which is good. The last couple of laps we tried our hardest to catch Casey but with five minutes to go I think I ripped my tank spacer off that holds me back on the bike which didn?t help. I wasn?t disappointed as I knew we had a gap to fourth so we?d be on the front row. It wasn?t the perfect session and Casey was just too fast. I think the race will be different; the tyres will be pretty greasy after ten laps but my bike?s working really well on used tyres so we?ll see what happens.?

Jorge Lorenzo

Position 3rd - Time 1.39.629 - Laps 26

?Qualifying was much better than the other three practices so far this weekend. I improved a lot and had a lot more confidence with the front, we changed one bike completely which worked. We are much more confident for tomorrow now. I would like to be closer to Casey, but seven tenths is better than one second and a half. It?s going to be a very tough race for everybody. The front tyre, especially on the left side is graining from the fourth lap so it?s going to be a complicated ride. Let?s see what happens.?

Wilco Zeelenberg - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager

?Well I can say one thing, we finally found the right direction to go in which is where we struggled until half way through qualifying. With the bike adjustment we improved a lot, we fitted a qualifying tyre and Jorge pushed for two laps. The bike was stable and we were quite pleased with the result. Ben has been spot on the whole weekend and I think he will be a big contender for the victory for tomorrow. We need to find consistency now and see if we can improve a little bit more for the race.?
Massimo Meregalli - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director

?The overall result is pretty good today, both riders are on the front row and there is no better way to start the race. Ben?s rhythm is very good so I am positive; we have done a really good job so far. Jorge improved every session and is now up there so I am expecting a really good battle tomorrow.?

Statistics: Posted by totalmotorcycle ? Sun Aug 28, 2011 10:40 am

Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/NaBsUqWjkFV/News+Yamaha+Paint+Front+Row+Red+White+Indianapolis

Leon Haslam Ron Haslam Bjorn Hasli Yasumasa Hatakeyama Mike Hawthorne Nicky Hayden

Official: Brabus teases Frankfurt show car

Filed under: Etc., Mercedes-Benz

The 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show is nearly upon us, which means automakers will be trotting out more new or updated models in the coming weeks. Brabus, while not a major automaker, will also be there, and it's bringing something an all-new creation to further its stable of insanely fast machines. We don't have any details to spill regarding this latest Brabus bullet, but the tuning house has just released this photo to tease our emotions.

Judging by that headlight and side mirror, we're going to assume that Brabus has applied its wrenches to the 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG. Brabus has built ludicrious-speed-capable CLS sedans in the past, and it appears the German tuner will add a new version to its fleet.

Stay tuned for more information, as we'll be certain to find this car when we touch ground in Germany.

Brabus teases Frankfurt show car originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2011/08/29/brabus-teases-frankfurt-show-car/

Manuel Hern·ndez Santiago Herrero Tom Herron Wilfred Herron Manfred Herweh Sanadori Hikita

Evgeny Bobryshev forced to miss Grand Prix of Great Britain

Honda World Motocross rider Evgeny Bobryshev did not race the Grand Prix of Great Britain due to an injury sustained in the Belgian National Championship round at Balen.

After complaining of discomfort in his back in the days following his collision with Clement Desalle at Monday?s Belgian Championship race, Bobryshev was taken to Stoke Mandeville Spinal Injury Unit in Ayelsbury, to undergo further tests and for an X-ray.

Source: http://www.supercross.com/news/evgeny-bobryshev-forced-to-miss-grand-prix-of-great-britain

Andreas Hofmann Neil Hodgson Hernan Holder Francis Hollebecq Toshihiko Honma John Hopkins

Vettel underlines title credentials with sublime drive

At Spa-Francorchamps

Sebastian Vettel and his Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber finished one-two in the Belgian Grand Prix after drives that can compare with many of those that have entered the annals of Formula 1 history from the famous Spa-Francorchamps track.

The two men went into the race on Sunday well aware of their team's concerns that their front tyres could fail.

Red Bull design chief Adrian Newey said it was "one of the scariest races I've been involved in", and the mind boggles as to the bravery of the drivers in that situation.

Spa's high-speed sweeps are arguably the biggest challenge a grand prix driver can face. Although safety has improved immensely at the circuit in the modern age, it remains an old-school race track, on which there are places "you wouldn't want to go off," as Webber put it in his BBC Sport column last week.

The drivers sounded phlegmatic about it after the race, but they were well aware of the potential seriousness of the situation. "We took quite a lot of risk," Vettel said. But, he added, "when there is a chance to win, we go for it".

Of all the many qualities that make grand prix drivers different from ordinary mortals, this has to be one of the most striking.

Call it bravery, call it lack of imagination, but Vettel and Webber went into the race, committed themselves to the 180mph rollercoaster ride through Eau Rouge, having put their lives in the hands of calculations by their engineers about how long their tyres would last.

The height of concern was in the early stages of the race, when the cars were running on tyres that Newey said Pirelli had told them "were very marginal and at five o'clock yesterday they wouldn't say after half a lap or five laps but they were going to fail".

Vettel and Webber's one-two in Belgium continued Red Bull's domination of this year's championship. Photo: Reuters

Red Bull's engineers had calculated that they could be pretty sure Webber's tyres would last two or three laps, and Vettel's five - which is when the two men made their first pit stops.

Red Bull were not the only team to suffer blistering, but theirs was worse than any of their rivals.

The situation caused controversy because they were running their cars with a greater degree of camber - lean away from vertical - on their front tyres than supplier Pirelli recommends.

Pirelli motorsport chief Paul Hembery chose his words carefully after the race, but I understand there were strong words between Pirelli and Newey before the race, and that there may be less tolerance of any team who choose to go beyond Pirelli's advice in the future.

It is yet another example of how Newey pushes every parameter to the limit, an approach that allied with his genius for aerodynamic design, has led him to create so many dominant cars, of which this year's Red Bull RB7 is just the latest in a long line.

With everything that was involved - the bravery, the tyre management, racing and overtaking Fernando Alonso's Ferrari, it has to rank as one of the best of Vettel's 17 victories.

Both Newey and team principal Christian Horner described it as a "mature" drive, and, as Newey pointed out: "Mark's race was every bit as good."

Webber was compromised first by a poor start, caused when his anti-stall kicked in, and then by a radio miscommunication that meant he did not follow his team-mate into the pits under the safety car period that followed Lewis Hamilton's collision with Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi.

That committed him to a long middle stint on the slower 'medium' tyre, at the beginning of which he showed bravery of a different but no less remarkable kind.

On lap nine, Webber passed Alonso on the outside going into Eau Rouge, pulling alongside on the hill down from La Source, nosing in front, and refusing to concede.

The two men are good friends, and they always race hard but fair, giving each other just enough room in such situations, but this incident was right on the edge.

"That boy must have some balls to do that - on the outside into Eau Rouge," Horner said. "Phenomenal. Pass of the day.

"Fernando was professional and gave him enough room to work with. Mark was always going to brave it out around the outside. I think we all closed our eyes."

Of course, Vettel and Webber's one-two was facilitated by the huge performance advantage of their cars.

Alonso appeared to be in the running for victory until his team chose not to stop under the safety car, but he insisted that was an illusion, saying Red Bull had a pace advantage of "one second per lap, maybe towards the end of the race even more, 1.5 seconds".

This is quite a turnaround after Red Bull failed to win any of the previous three races, where McLaren and Ferrari both showed Red Bull-beating pace.

Newey ascribes this to the "very cool conditions and slightly abnormal races" in Britain, Germany and Hungary.

"Hungary we were actually quite competitive in the dry and in those early laps on the intermediate tyres we suffered," he said.

"Germany it was exceptionally cold and we suffered in [tyre] warm-up. Silverstone we were compromised because we believed we had cold blowing (of the diffuser) allowed but it was taken away on Sunday morning."

This does not bode well for what were admittedly faint hopes that one of Vettel's rivals might have a chance of stopping his relentless march to the championship.

Although Alonso starred in the early stages in Spa, the car closest on pace to the Red Bull would seem still to be the McLaren, judging by Jenson Button's remarkable drive through the field to third place on Sunday, which was full of clinical and elegant overtaking moves.

As Button pointed out, though, McLaren's weekend in Belgium was compromised by the mistakes that have characterised their season, and which they desperately need to cut out.

In Button's case in Belgium, that was a "miscommunication" over how many laps he had left in the second period of qualifying that left him stranded in 13th place.

Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, made another of several mistakes by himself and the team this season which have made it impossible to challenge Vettel.

Without them, he would be in the fight, rather than where is now, which is 113 points behind Vettel with only 175 still available, and his title hopes over.

Alonso, who after his fourth place in Spa is in a marginally better position but still 102 points adrift of Vettel, said he would keep battling until it was mathematically impossible to overhaul Vettel.

But even he, F1's most relentless fighter, admitted Ferrari's hopes were "not in our hands, and Red Bull need to make big, big mistakes, and have big problems if we want to win the championship".

Barring a disaster of catastrophic proportions, then, Vettel will win a second consecutive world title this year, and long before the end of the season.

After performances such as that at Spa on Sunday, and many others this year, he fully deserves it.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/08/vettel_underlines_title_creden.html

Alois Huber Klaus Huber Brett Hudson Keith Huewen Jaroslav Huleö Eero Hyv‰rinen

JR Motorsports glad to have Patrick on board for 2012 season

Source: http://www.skirtsandscuffs.com/2011/08/jr-motorsports-glad-to-have-patrick-on.html

Manny Ayulo Luca Badoer Giancarlo Baghetti Julian Bailey Mauro Baldi Bobby Ball

Honda World Motocross Update: Rui Goncalves and Evgeny Bobryshev Confirmed for 2012 MX1

The Honda World Motocross Team have confirmed Rui Gon�alves and Evgeny Bobryshev will form the rider line-up for the 2012 MX1 World Championship season.

In a press conference held at the Gran Prix of Great Britain, Honda Off-road Manager, Roger Harvey and Team Manager Lorenzo Resta announced that plans for the 2012 season will feature both current team riders.

Source: http://www.supercross.com/news/honda-world-motocross-update-rui-goncalves-and-evgeny-bobryshev-confirmed-for-2012-mx1

Tetsuya Harada John Hartle Wil Hartog Gary Haslam Leon Haslam Ron Haslam

Video: Jay Leno checks out some strange and beautiful American things at Pebble

Filed under: Classics, Convertible, Videos, Ford, Celebrities, Specialty

Jay Leno always gets to take his turn behind the wheels of lots of big, fast, beautiful things that make the enthusiast get all choked up with high-horsepower emotion and exhaust gasses. But he can also check out things that are just weird and beautiful without actually driving - and in these two cases, those things are American.

There are two videos after the jump from last week's Pebble Beach festivities in Monterey, California - one of the 1960 Plymouth XNR Concept designed by Karim Eddie but named for powerhouse designer Virgil Exner. Long, red and asymmetrical and powered by a Valiant engine, there's only one, which is only right.

The other vid is of Edsel Ford's 1934 Model 40 Special Speedster. Certainly one of the most compelling cars of the entire weekend, Jay takes his time with Edsel Ford's grandson and Pebble concours judge Ken Gross to dive into the speedster's creation and restoration. Hit the jump to check them out.

Continue reading Jay Leno checks out some strange and beautiful American things at Pebble

Jay Leno checks out some strange and beautiful American things at Pebble originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 28 Aug 2011 19:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2011/08/28/jay-leno-checks-out-some-strange-and-beautiful-american-things-a/

Vic Eastwood Daryl Ecklund Erik Eggens Richard Eierstedt Jimmy Ellis Jeff Emig

Pole Report: Ryan Newman wins pole for IRWIN Tools Night Race

Source: http://www.skirtsandscuffs.com/2011/08/pole-report-ryan-newman-wins-pole-for.html

Ken Kavanagh John Kocinski Pentti Korhonen Tomoyoshi Koyama Ewald Kluge Bruno Kneub¸hler

News ? Bautista in the top-10 at a hot and slippery Indianapolis

#Bautista in the top-10 at a hot and slippery #Indianapolis

Rizla Suzuki?s �lvaro Bautista achieved a solid result at Indianapolis in America today with ninth place on the leader-board to show for his hard work.

Bautista was one of the busiest riders today, as he completed 41 laps around the 4,216m circuit during the two sessions He recorded his best time of 1?42.231 on his penultimate lap and is sure that both he and the Suzuki GSV-R have more to give this weekend. Bautista worked hard with his crew to get the best of the difficult conditions at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as the newly surfaced circuit presented a whole lot of problems for all riders. The recently laid asphalt has not had much use, making it very slippery, but as the day wore on - and more rubber was laid down by the bikes from all three classes - the conditions improved, enabling Bautista to record a time three seconds quicker in the afternoon than he did in the morning.

Today?s practices were held in bright sunshine and air temperatures rose to 31�C. Current World Championship leader Casey Stoner on a Honda recorded the fastest time of the day, with reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo fourth.

Bautista will have one more practice session tomorrow morning, followed by an hour of qualifying in the afternoon, when he will be going all out to get a good grid position for Sunday?s 28-lap race.

�lvaro Bautista:

?This afternoon I was able to improve my lap-time because the track conditions were better than they were this morning. We still have some problems with turning the bike - we didn?t have good grip this morning because of the new surface, so this afternoon we tried to get more grip from the rear. We changed the setting of the bike, but because the track had improved and grip was better we lost a bit more turning in the corner. Now we know the track is much better, so for tomorrow we will try another setting and I?m sure that will improve things even further. We still have a lot of work to do, but I am happy with situation at the moment. We are in ninth position and I know we can still improve quite a lot. I hope to continue with the way we have been working today and in recent weeks in tomorrow?s sessions and I think we can take the bike further forward ready for Sunday.?

Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix Free Practise Classification:

1. Casey Stoner (Honda) 1?40.724: 2. Ben Spies (Yamaha) +0.194: 3. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) +0.481: 4. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) +0.737: 5. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) 0.812: 9. �LVARO BAUTISTA (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.507:

Statistics: Posted by totalmotorcycle ? Fri Aug 26, 2011 4:17 pm

Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/q48ZXlHFkZa/News+Bautista+top+10+hot+slippery+Indianapolis

Erwin Bauer Zsolt Baumgartner Elie Bayol Don Beauman Karl Gunther Bechem Jean Behra

Gone fishing: Porsche 911 Turbo edition

If you were thinking about loaning your car to a friend this weekend, you want to reconsider after watching this time-lapse video.

Source: http://feeds.worldcarfans.com/~r/worldcarfans/Jxfz/~3/Cp3ojDRgvmE/gone-fishing-porsche-911-turbo-edition

Marco Apicella M·rio de Ara˙jo Cabral Frank Armi Chuck Arnold Rene Arnoux Peter Arundell

Felipe Massa - classic F1

Massa's choices are as follows, in chronological order:

The 1991 Brazilian Grand Prix.

The 1992 Monaco Grand Prix

This was the race in which Senna brought to an end Nigel Mansell's dominant start to the season, although the Briton would go on to claim the championship.

The 1993 European Grand Prix

The one race that has come to epitomise Senna - and therefore the inevitable choice by any driver who is a Senna fan.

The 2006 Turkish Grand Prix

This was Massa's first F1 victory, an impressive and dominant performance from the front after taking pole position ahead of Ferrari team-mate Michael Schumacher.

That's what it looked like from the outside. But Schumacher would have beaten Massa to pole, despite a higher fuel load, had he not made a mistake on his qualifying lap.

The 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix

Highlights of the race, not broadcast since the day itself, are embedded below. Beneath them are links to short highlights of last year's Hungarian Grand Prix.

CLICK HERE FOR SHORT HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2010 HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX

CLICK HERE FOR LONG HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2010 HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX

The classic grands prix will be available on the BBC red button in the UK as follows:

Satellite and cable viewers will be able to watch them from 1500 on Wednesday 27 July until 0850 on Friday 29 July.

On Freeview, they will be shown from 2200 on Wednesday 27 July until 0600 on Thursday 28 July, from 2110 on Thursday until 0245 on Friday 29 July and again from 0435 until 0600 on Friday.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/07/felipe_massa_-_classic_f1.html

Stefan Bellof Paul Belmondo Tom Belso Antonio Cairoli Trey Canard HÂkan Carlquist

INDY Shorts : A Chat with Will Power

Source: http://www.skirtsandscuffs.com/2011/08/indy-shorts-chat-with-will-power.html

Takazumi Katayama Daijiro Kato Ken Kavanagh John Kocinski Pentti Korhonen Tomoyoshi Koyama

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Keselowski adds another win to his Chase efforts

Source: http://www.skirtsandscuffs.com/2011/08/keselowski-adds-another-win-to-his.html

Mike Hawthorne Nicky Hayden James Haydon Dirk Heidolf Franz Heller John Hempleman

Casey Stoner ahead of the pack Saturday morning

The Australian set the fastest lap of the morning on his Repsol Honda ahead of qualifying for the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix, with Spies and Pedrosa again following Stoner in second and third in the timings.

In cooler temperatures and with better grip conditions than the previous day, the premier class set out to lower their times across the board, with Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) the first to dip below the 1?40? barrier at the 20 minute mark. The Texan was followed almost immediately by Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda) whose time of 1?39.538 remained the fastest lap of FP3. Spies bettered his earlier time to a 1?39.670 ranking him second behind the Australian for the second time this weekend.

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa was the third and last to enter into the 1?39?s, his time of 1?39.896 set on lap 18 placed him third in the outing, followed by Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) with a 1?40.301 and Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) 0.025s behind Simoncelli in fifth.

Sixth quickest in FP3 with a best time of 1'40.438 was American Colin Edwards on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine, the Texan was one tenth of a second ahead of Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) in seventh and 2 tenths ahead of Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team). Rossi?s time of 1?40.698 set on his last lap gave the Italian the position of first Ducati in the ranking, his team mate Nicky Hayden finished 11th.

�lvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) ran off the track and was helped out of the gravel and returned to the track, the Spaniard was able to set a time of 1?40.916 on his last lap to place him tenth.

Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/mLGQcyEvhNg/Casey+Stoner+ahead+pack+Saturday+morning

Osmo Hansen Gregg Hansford Tetsuya Harada John Hartle Wil Hartog Gary Haslam

Your F1 questions answered - part III

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel has headed off for his summer holidays with a healthy championship lead but the world champion is still being criticised because he has only won once in four races.

Is Vettel cracking or is it just a blip; can his rivals at McLaren and Ferrari catch him and is Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone unfairly treated?

If you are outside the UK, you can watch the video here.

Murray gives his thoughts on the new UK television rights deal here.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/murraywalker/2011/08/your_f1_questions_answered_-_p.html

Andreas Hahn Richard Haidegger Mike Hailwood Mike Hale Ross Hannan Osmo Hansen

News ? Improved qualifying sees Bautista on the third row

Improved #qualifying sees #Bautista on the third row

Rizla Suzuki?s �lvaro Bautista made a determined effort in this afternoon?s qualifying session at Indianapolis to ensure he has a grid position that gives him a chance of a good result for tomorrow?s race.

Bautista will start from the third row after qualifying in ninth place with a best lap?time of 1?40.333 from his 28-laps. He thoroughly tested the Bridgestone race tyres that he had available, to get the best option for Sunday. Bautista is still looking for a bit more durability from his preferred front tyre selection, but believes the team will be able to make a few changes to the set-up of the GSV-R to assist with tyre life in readiness for the race.

Today?s qualifying at the 4,216m Indianapolis Motor Speedway was held in warm and sunny conditions with track temperatures getting up to 51�C. Current championship leader Casey Stoner took pole position, with American Ben Spies in second and reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo making up the front row.

Tomorrow?s 28-lap race is round 12 of the 2011 MotoGP World Championship and the lights will go out to signal the start of the event at 14.00hrs local time (18.00hrs GMT).

�lvaro Bautista:

?The qualifying today was not too bad compared with the last few races, so this is a lot better for us. We tried a long run at the start of the session and the grip from the rear was no problem, but the front did not have enough life in it to make a full race length. This will make things difficult for tomorrow, because we have to try and preserve the front tyre and make sure we have enough durability for 28-laps. We are starting from the third row so the main thing will be to get a good start and stay with the front guys. We will look at today?s data to see if we can use a setting that will give us more life in the tyre and stop it dropping off and sliding around. I am looking forward to tomorrow because we have a better grid position and I will give it full gas and 100% to get a good result.?

Paul Denning ? Team Manager:

?I don?t think �lvaro or anyone else on the team is particularly excited with ninth on the grid, but the third row gives us a decent chance to go with the fast guys on the early laps and challenge for a good result tomorrow. We?ve done a number of long runs and as much as 35-laps on a race rear tyre - and the rhythm was still pretty good. We now need �lvaro to race aggressively tomorrow like he has done recently and I think we can hope to have an exciting afternoon.?

Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix Qualifying Practice Classification:

1. Casey Stoner (Honda) 1?38.850: 2. Ben Spies (Yamaha) +0.523: 3. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) +0.779: 4. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) +1.097: 5. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) +1.174: 9. �LVARO BAUTISTA (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP): +1.483:

Statistics: Posted by totalmotorcycle ? Sun Aug 28, 2011 10:39 am

Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/3Oqnql5gRYf/News+Improved+qualifying+sees+Bautista+third

Tomoyoshi Koyama Ewald Kluge Bruno Kneub¸hler Randy Krummenacher Hiroaki Kuzuhara Z Line Designs Toyota

News ? Bautista in the top-10 at a hot and slippery Indianapolis

Statistics: Posted by totalmotorcycle ? Fri Aug 26, 2011 4:17 pm

Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/q48ZXlHFkZa/News+Bautista+top+10+hot+slippery+Indianapolis

Alessio Chiodi Jaromir Cizek Guy Cooper Paul Cooper Josh Coppins Cody Copper