Friday, August 31, 2012

Atlanta's Ed Clark: Fast starts to photo finishes

Source: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/08/30/2304294/atlantas-ed-clark-fast-starts.html

Ron Hackett Gerhard Haeberle Bernard Haenggeli Philipp Hafeneger Kensuke Haga Noriyuki Haga

Sadler, Stenhouse Jr. continue their title battle at Atlanta

Source: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/08/30/2302674/sadler-stenhouse-jr-continue-their.html

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

Former World MX Champ Ben Townley back in action

On the 14th of April, at the Goanna tracks in Coonabarrabran during practice for Round 2 of the Monster Energy Motocross nationals, Ben Townley sustained a severe fracture of the hip which left his US ride with Two Two Motorsports in tatters and his career at a crossroads. Since that incident we have followed Ben's progress from his surgery to rehab and now to his incredible return to the bike in Auckland, New Zealand, BT101 is back ...

Courtesy JPI Pty Ltd

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Source: http://www.supercross.com/news/former-world-mx-champ-ben-townley-back-in-action

Fumio Ito Shinichi Itoh Bill Ivy Olivier Jacque Sid Jensen Mika Kallio

Pressure is on Vettel to assert title bid in Spa

Source: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/08/29/2301452/pressure-is-on-vettel-to-assert.html

Lorenzo Bandini Henry Banks Fabrizio Barbazza John Barber Skip Barber Paolo Barilla

Loretta's Amateur National Motocross 2012, Thursday, by MX Sports and Kawasaki

First, from MX Sports: Championship Battles Take Form at Day Three of Racing at Loretta Lynn's

The second set of motos came to a close at the 2012 Red Bull AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship presented by Amsoil. Thursday's race action was at an all-time high as the anticipation level continues to grow with each and every moto that gets recorded into the history book. The third and final set of motos begin Friday morning and twenty-two racers will become National champions before Saturday's grand finale at the Loretta Lynn Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tenn.

Adam Cianciarulo was heavily favored to take home dual championships this year, and so far he's shown nothing less than domination in the highly competitive Super Mini classes. Cianciarulo kicked off Day 3 with yet another win in Super Mini 1, gapping the second place of Andrew Pierce by nearly 30 seconds in Moto 2. Provided that Cianciarulo executes a smooth Moto 3, the battle for the remaining two podium positions will perhaps be some of the most exciting racing of the week. Pierce currently holds a 3-2 score in the Super Mini 1 class, but Kawasaki teammates Mark Worth and Mitchell Harrison are also going to be big players heading into Friday's class finale.

Source: http://www.supercross.com/features/lorettas-amateur-national-motocross-2012-thursday-by-mx-sports-and-kawasaki

Gary Haslam Leon Haslam Ron Haslam Bjorn Hasli Yasumasa Hatakeyama Mike Hawthorne

Crutchlow and Dovizioso finish 1-2 in Brno MotoGP test

Cal Cruthclow Brno Test 2012

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team riders Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso finished first and second at the end of a successful one-day MotoGP test session at the Brno circuit today.

Less than 24 hours after claiming a stunning debut MotoGP podium in the bwin Grand Prix Ceske Republiky, Crutchlow was back in the groove im mediately today and he managed to assess a range of different YZR-M1 settings in 47 laps completed.

The British rider carried out the majority of his laps on worn Bridgestone tyres and he was still able to set a fast and consistent pace throughout, his best time of 1.56.461 putting him at the top of the timesheets by 0.117s ahead of Dovizioso. Fourth in yesterday's 22-lap race, Dovizioso too tried different set-up options and his prime focus was on improving mid-corner speed with his YZR-M1 machine.

The Italian set a best time of 1.56.578 and with his test schedule complete ahead of the 1pm lunch break, Dovizioso didn't return to the track for the afternoon session. He is now looking forward to a short break before returning to action for his all-important home race at the Misano track on September 16.

Cal Crutchlow
"It was a good test and I was really pleased with my times. We did the whole morning and the first run of the afternoon on the same r ear tyre and it was an old one from qualifying on Saturday. I did a 56.9 on it, which is basically as fast as my race pace and it had 44 laps on it. We tried some different settings but the only problem I have with this bike now is we make some big changes but the lap time is the same, so you never know which direction to go in. In practice for the race on Friday I struggled with the hard tyre but today I tested it again and I was lot faster and consistent as well, so that was a big positive. We can leave Brno really happy because it has been a great weekend. I signed a new contract with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team, got my best grid position, scored my first ever MotoGP podium and then set the fastest time at the test today. We can go to Misano in a positive frame of mind and I'm confident we will be challenging close to the front again.”

Andrea Dovizioso
“It was a positive test today because we tried to understand if a different set-up could help give me more corner speed compared to the race, particularly in the middle of the corner. We found some positive and negative points with the changes we made so it was good to experiment with the set-up and we have found a direction to help me be faster in the middle of the corner. We tried something on the front but this didn't make such a big difference, so it is clearer now that the im provements have to come from the rear to give me more speed in the middle of the corner. The grip was quite good but the wind was very strong and it was really difficult to do the lap time, so I am happy we made a small improvement and I'm looking forward to seeing how some of the changes we tried work at the next race in Misano."

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Press Release

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Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/LbGbet6O6vt/Crutchlow+Dovizioso+finish+1+2+Brno+MotoGP

Mario Andretti Michael Andretti Keith Andrews Elio de Angelis Marco Apicella M·rio de Ara˙jo Cabral

MotoGP - Pedrosa & Honda Score Thrilling Victory at Brno

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC213V) scored a magnificent and crucial victory at Brno ...

Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/cAYs12dkjkA/MotoGP+Pedrosa+Honda+Score+Thrilling+Victory

Neil Hodgson Hernan Holder Francis Hollebecq Toshihiko Honma John Hopkins Karl Hoppe

Official: Toyota announces new four-cylinder Camry SE Sport

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There are plenty of great reasons to look forward to the upcoming three-day Labor Day weekend, but is a Toyota Camry one of them? While a special-edition Camry might not sound as exciting as the numerous parties or cookouts taking place this weekend, Toyota is giving its dealers a special way to celebrate with the new SE Sport Limited Edition added to the 2012 Camry line equipped with the four-cylinder engine.

Essentially, this car is a more attractive value package that combines a few popular options bundled together for a low(er) price. The 2012 Camry SE Sport Limited Edition will have a starting price of $25,995 (*not including delivery charges) which is about a $2,700 premium compared to the 2012 Camry SE. The package will include added equipment such as navigation, Toyota's Entune infotainment (a $2,405 option on its own), power sunroof and power driver's seat.

Toyota livened this package up a little more with exclusive features like the 18-inch, smoked-finish wheels and a Blizzard Pearl paint that will only be produced between September 12 through November 12. The Camry SE Sport that shoppers can find in dealers this weekend will come in Barcelona Red and Attitude Black. Read the official announcement below.

Continue reading Toyota announces new four-cylinder Camry SE Sport

Toyota announces new four-cylinder Camry SE Sport originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 09:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2012/08/31/toyota-announces-new-four-cylinder-camry-se-sport/

Daijiro Kato Ken Kavanagh John Kocinski Pentti Korhonen Tomoyoshi Koyama Ewald Kluge

Crutchlow and Dovizioso finish 1-2 in Brno MotoGP test

Cal Cruthclow Brno Test 2012

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team riders Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso finished first and second at the end of a successful one-day MotoGP test session at the Brno circuit today.

Less than 24 hours after claiming a stunning debut MotoGP podium in the bwin Grand Prix Ceske Republiky, Crutchlow was back in the groove im mediately today and he managed to assess a range of different YZR-M1 settings in 47 laps completed.

The British rider carried out the majority of his laps on worn Bridgestone tyres and he was still able to set a fast and consistent pace throughout, his best time of 1.56.461 putting him at the top of the timesheets by 0.117s ahead of Dovizioso. Fourth in yesterday's 22-lap race, Dovizioso too tried different set-up options and his prime focus was on improving mid-corner speed with his YZR-M1 machine.

The Italian set a best time of 1.56.578 and with his test schedule complete ahead of the 1pm lunch break, Dovizioso didn't return to the track for the afternoon session. He is now looking forward to a short break before returning to action for his all-important home race at the Misano track on September 16.

Cal Crutchlow
"It was a good test and I was really pleased with my times. We did the whole morning and the first run of the afternoon on the same r ear tyre and it was an old one from qualifying on Saturday. I did a 56.9 on it, which is basically as fast as my race pace and it had 44 laps on it. We tried some different settings but the only problem I have with this bike now is we make some big changes but the lap time is the same, so you never know which direction to go in. In practice for the race on Friday I struggled with the hard tyre but today I tested it again and I was lot faster and consistent as well, so that was a big positive. We can leave Brno really happy because it has been a great weekend. I signed a new contract with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team, got my best grid position, scored my first ever MotoGP podium and then set the fastest time at the test today. We can go to Misano in a positive frame of mind and I'm confident we will be challenging close to the front again.”

Andrea Dovizioso
“It was a positive test today because we tried to understand if a different set-up could help give me more corner speed compared to the race, particularly in the middle of the corner. We found some positive and negative points with the changes we made so it was good to experiment with the set-up and we have found a direction to help me be faster in the middle of the corner. We tried something on the front but this didn't make such a big difference, so it is clearer now that the im provements have to come from the rear to give me more speed in the middle of the corner. The grip was quite good but the wind was very strong and it was really difficult to do the lap time, so I am happy we made a small improvement and I'm looking forward to seeing how some of the changes we tried work at the next race in Misano."

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Press Release

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Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/LbGbet6O6vt/Crutchlow+Dovizioso+finish+1+2+Brno+MotoGP

Antonio Cairoli Trey Canard HÂkan Carlquist Ricky†Carmichael Danny Chandler Eric Cheney

Sebastian Vettel stars in uninspiring music video, proves he should stick to racing [video]

If you've always wanted to see Sebastian Vettel randomly bob his head, you're in luck because the Formula One World Champion has decided to star in a new music video for Melanie Fiona.

Source: http://feeds.worldcarfans.com/~r/worldcarfans/Jxfz/~3/ECPzYfjfEYI/sebastian-vettel-stars-in-uninspiring-music-video-proves

Steven Frossard Eric Geboers Sylvain Geboers Broc Glover Rui Goncalves Josh Grant

Power has IndyCar title in sight at Baltimore

Source: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/08/30/2302703/power-has-indycar-title-in-sight.html

Gordon Crockard Craig Dack Roger De Coster Ken De Dycker Yves Demaria Gilbert De Roover

Positive test for Pedrosa and learning day for Rea

Jonathan Rea Brno Test 2012

The Repsol Honda Team were back on track in Brno today after Dani Pedrosa's fantastic win in yesterday's Grand Prix of the Czech Republic.

Dani spent the day completing a busy testing programme covering many areas, including chatter issues and also a new rear shock. Also on track for Repsol Honda was Jonathan Rea, replacing the injured Casey Stoner. Jonathan used this first test to familiarise himself with the 1000cc machine and adapt to the Bridgestone tyres.

The team will resume their test schedule in Aragón on the 4th and 5th of September.

Dani Pedrosa - 4th 1'56.703
"Today, we've done a general test looking to improve the feelings we had in yesterday's race. We tried some ideas to reduce the chatter, but this is something very difficult to fix, so we've been basically working on the electronics and the suspension trying to find more edge grip and in the exit of the corner. I tried a new Öhlins shock which gave me some positive feelings and now we have some new ideas to try in Aragón next week. The track was a little bit slower than yesterday and in the afternoon it was quite windy, but this test was important as it's a good track to test at and I had all the references still fresh from yesterday's race".

Jonathan Rea - 8th 1'59.595
"It's an opportunity of a lifetime for me and I'm thankful to Honda for asking me to be here, although I'm gutted for the guys in the team and obviously for Casey as he is the guy that should be here and I wish him a fast recovery. My first impressions are that the bike isn't that difficult, it's the tyres and the way they work that I'm finding hard. I'm struggling to finish off the corner which is definitely a confidence issue as I just need to load the front and find that confidence but it's my first day and I don't want to find that limit, or risk overstepping it just yet. It's great to be able to see Dani's data and learn where to go fast, that's a big help. I don't underestimate how tough a job it is, I just need some time and I don't feel pressure to perform, it's a learning process with the team and people around me. It's been a great day, one of the best days of my life. I've been a Honda rider all my career and now to ride the best Honda machine in the World has been a dream come true".

Repsol Honda Team Press Release

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Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/TRDpHog42ql/Positive+test+Pedrosa+learning+day+Rea

Jimmy Ellis Jeff Emig Harry Everts Stefan Everts Jaroslav Falta Claudio Federici

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Smart ForTwo mule spied

The all-new Smart ForTwo and its four-seater version will be launched in 2013.

Source: http://feeds.worldcarfans.com/~r/worldcarfans/Jxfz/~3/rp4eD7Unw3U/smart-fortwo-mule-spied

Claudio Federici Tim Ferry Ashley Fiolek Ernesto Fonseca Lauris Freibergs Paul Friedrichs

Testing at Misano, Rossi No Experience the New Machine


INbolnet -   Not following the official MotoGP test at Republic on Monday, Ducati started testing their closed circuit in Misano, San Marino on Tuesday (28/8).

Valentino Rossi joined by test rider Franco Battaini to improve the performance of the latest Ducati chassis. The chassis is once he jajal trials Mugello, Italy in July.

Other changes made ​​Ducati is to find the ideal weight of the motor Desmosedici GP12. However, in these trials, Ducati is rumored to not try the latest machines and no time records were released.

On Wednesday, Ducati will continue their closed trial. Nicky Hayden did not take the test this time because it is still plagued by a hand injury. He is expected to be back to race in the series San Marino, 16 September.

Meanwhile, Honda and Yamaha will continue the official MotoGP test at the Circuit Aragon, Spain on 4-5 September.

Keyword :  Rossi New Machine,

Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/AzH8BFUbRy1/Testing+Misano+Rossi+No+Experience+New+Machine

Ryan Dungey Vic Eastwood Daryl Ecklund Erik Eggens Richard Eierstedt Jimmy Ellis

Pocono Raceway announces 2013 race dates

Source: http://www.skirtsandscuffs.com/2012/08/pocono-raceway-announces-2013-race-dates.html

John Hopkins Karl Hoppe David Horton Alois Huber Klaus Huber Brett Hudson

Power has IndyCar title in sight at Baltimore

Source: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/08/30/2302703/power-has-indycar-title-in-sight.html

Larbi Habbiche Ron Hackett Gerhard Haeberle Bernard Haenggeli Philipp Hafeneger Kensuke Haga

2013 Nissan Almera revealed in Moscow [video]

Nissan has officially unveiled the 2013 Almera at the Moscow International Motor Show. It was developed specifically for Russia.

Source: http://feeds.worldcarfans.com/~r/worldcarfans/Jxfz/~3/YUgQ2loMjOU/2013-nissan-almera-revealed-in-moscow-video

Andrea de Adamich Philippe Adams Walt Ader Kurt Adolff Fred Agabashian Kurt Ahrens Jr

Sprint Cup Pole Report: Rain cancels qualifying at Bristol

Source: http://www.skirtsandscuffs.com/2012/08/sprint-cup-pole-report-rain-cancels.html

Alex Hofmann Andreas Hofmann Neil Hodgson Hernan Holder Francis Hollebecq Toshihiko Honma

Video: Kia Hamsters return for party at the opera

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Kia Soul Hamsters Ad

As promised, the Kia Hamsters have returned for yet another volley of advertisements to show off the Soul. We've seen the rodents play roles in some fairly strange situations in the past, but the newest clip takes top honors in that department.

The ad is set in an 18th-century opera house and takes place during a ballet. It doesn't take long for the hamsters to put their own spin on things, however. This marks the fourth generation of Soul-slinging Hamster ads, and the spots have helped Kia increase its sales by a lofty 78 percent since 2008.

We'll just shut up and let you take in the weirdness. Check out the video for yourself below. The 2013 Kia Soul starts at $14,400 plus a $775 destination fee.

Continue reading Kia Hamsters return for party at the opera

Kia Hamsters return for party at the opera originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 12:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2012/08/30/kia-hamsters-return-for-party-at-the-opera/

Daryl Ecklund Erik Eggens Richard Eierstedt Jimmy Ellis Jeff Emig Harry Everts

Marquez wins a tense four-way tussle to take his sixth Moto2 victory

Marc Marquez Brno 2012

Marc Marquez (Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol-Suter) won a tense four-way tussle with Thomas Luthi (Interwetten-Paddock-Suter), Pol Espargaro (Pons 40 HP Tuenti-Kalex) and Andrea Iannone (Speed Master – Speed Up) to take his sixth victory of 2012 in the always thrilling Honda-powered series. Marquez’s winning margin over Luthi was just 0.061s, while the four riders were covered by just half a second. With six races to go, Marquez heads Espargaro by 48 points.

The ever-impressive Marquez played his hand perfectly, spending nearly all the race in second place, while Luthi did all the leading. Right behind them Espargaro and Iannone swapped places frequently. Both of them briefly made it into second place but didn’t quite have the pace to stay there.

Marquez made his winning move at turn three with three laps to go, sweeping past Luthi, backing into the corner and yet keeping his Suter perfectly on line. Luthi was able to stay with the 19-year-old and tried everything he knew to retake the lead but couldn’t quite make it.

The duel between Espargaro and Iannone was just as intense, and complicated somewhat when Espargaro made a pass under yellow flags. He was ordered to drop back to fourth to escape punishment and although he tried everything to get back on terms with the leading duo – including setting the fastest lap – he could not get close enough to attack. Espargaro finished less than three tenths behind Luthi, with last year’s Brno winner Iannone less than a tenth further back in fourth.

Marc Marquez, Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol-Suter: race winner
“Yesterday in practice I felt very comfortable; I knew that I was ready for the race and that I could be up at the front, and also that nobody could escape with us all running a similar pace. That was how it panned out, because there was less grip today, but I still rode comfortably. That was how I was able to study Luthi over the course of the race. The pace was slower than I had expected and I was able to make a plan for the final laps. When there were three to go I gave 100% to get in front, then on the last lap I closed every door in order to win. It was a different tactic to normal, but this track is a difficult one for me and I wanted to keep something in reserve.”

Catalunya Caixa Repsol Moto2 Press Release

Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/FF1V3XtSRXL/Marquez+wins+tense+four+way+tussle+take+sixth

Cody Copper Gordon Crockard Craig Dack Roger De Coster Ken De Dycker Yves Demaria

De Puniet Back to Qualify as Top CRT

Randy De Puniet Brno 2012

Just when it looked like the weekend was predestined to go the way of Dani Pedrosa there was a dramatic twist to the script today as the challenge of Jorge Lorenzo finally emerged to take pole position in qualifying practice. The Spanish pair line-up either side of Cal Crutchlow on tomorrow's front row but barring rainy conditions it is hard to see past the championship's leading two riders for the race win. 

POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar rider Randy De Puniet made life difficult for himself after just ten minutes of this afternoon's grid shootout, running straight into the gravel under braking and suffering a crash that thankfully left him and his bike without major injuries. The Frenchman bounced back to clock a 1'57.844 on his twelfth lap, enough to secure a visit to parc fermé as the fastest CRT qualifier by a single position from his team-mate Aleix Espargaró. The Spaniard was once again his most competitive rival and with a second advantage over the rest of the CRT bikes on the grid it looks to be a straight battle for honours between the pair tomorrow.

10th Randy De Puniet 1.57.844 (15 laps):
“Qualifying was a bit of a tense affair for me because I crashed on only my second run. I made a mistake trying to brake too late and went straight into the gravel. It wasn't a big one but I was a little dizzy when I got up. I went back to the garage and decided to wait for the guys to fix the bike. They did a great job and barely fifteen minutes later I was back on track. It was time to put the soft tyres on and I struggled a little to get on the pace at first because I was still a bit dazed. I came back in for another tyre and that time I was able to set a good lap. In the end I was tenth fastest and the top CRT so I want to thank the team for the job they have done. This is a great result but we have to back it up tomorrow.”

11th Aleix Espargaró 1.58.153 (20 laps): 
“Today has been very positive. I am happy because we have improved a lot from day one after suffering some major rear grip issues. We also had some chatter this morning but we have improved in both aspects and I'm pleased with the way we are responding to problems as they arise. We have put together a good pace, like my team-mate, and it looks like between us we have a bit of an advantage over the rest of the CRT riders so it could be a battle between Randy and myself if everything goes to plan. He is very fast over one lap but we'll see what happens over race distance. I am going to try everything to win and I hope it's a dry race but I won't be too bothered if it rains.”

Power Electronics Aspar Press Release

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Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/PoizsVLws3F/De+Puniet+Back+Qualify+Top+CRT

Michael Bartels Edgar Barth Giorgio Bassi Erwin Bauer Zsolt Baumgartner Elie Bayol

Video: Next 911 GT3 caught on video with PDK transmission

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Porsche 911 GT3 testing on 'Ring - video screencap

There's been debate about whether the 2013 Porsche 911 GT3 will come with a manual transmission or PDK only. Inside Line has said that only one transmission will come to market, and the 911's product chief, August Achleitner, told IL that both transmissions were being tested but that it looked like the PDK would get the nod. Few outside Porsche testing facilities know what the answer final is, but thanks to some spy video, we now know what a PDK-equipped GT3 would sound like.

Other speculation surrounding the everyday racer says that it will be 150 to 200 pounds lighter than the preceding generation, and that its engine has been moved forward a bit to improve handling. Power output is expected to be around 480 horsepower, leaving room for the GT3 RS to hit the 500-hp mark. Check out the video below for the sights and sounds - and note what looks like a Gurney flap on the prototype's unique rear wing.

Continue reading Next 911 GT3 caught on video with PDK transmission

Next 911 GT3 caught on video with PDK transmission originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 29 Aug 2012 12:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2012/08/29/next-911-gt3-caught-on-video-with-pdk-transmission/

Paul Cooper Josh Coppins Cody Copper Gordon Crockard Craig Dack Roger De Coster

Zarco finishes seventh at an exciting Czech Republic Grand Prix

Johann Zarco Brno 2012

An exciting race characterized Sunday's Grand Prix of the Czech Republic, in which two groups of riders gave a good show with many overtakes defining the final top eight positions.

At the front, the four best Moto2 riders swopped places and record lap times to compete for the podium, while among the pursuing pack was Johann Zarco, who with a consistent and determined race dueled with Simone Corsi, Alex De Angelis, Bradley Smith and Mika Kallio up to the last corner, finishing in seventh position at the flag.
The day began in a drenching rain, which forced the riders to do the warm-up with wet settings. The rain lowered the temperature of the Tarmac and air, thus changing some parameters and leading the team to change some of the choices made yesterday, including the front tyre, even though the track was now dry. At the green light, the young Frenchman managed to gain some positions and to remain attached to the lead group, sticking close to fifth position. At the end of the race fighting was intense for fifth place, which was held by the Team JiR rider but on the last lap Zarco was passed by the more experienced De Angelis and Corsi to leave the Frenchman in seventh.
More difficult was the race of Eric Granado, who after a good start struggled to find a steady pace and stay with the group in front of him. The technical nature of the track and the variable weather conditions certainly tested the young Brazilian, who will take advantage of this experience for future races.

Johann Zarco
"At the end I'm pretty happy with this seventh place, it's a good performance especially because throughout the race I was not too far from the leaders. The conditions today were very different than yesterday, this advised us to choose a softer front tyre, a proper choice for the grip that however gave me some chatter and so I had to adapt my style based on the feedback I received from my MotoBI. I could ride well in these conditions until I had someone in front, but if it was me leading it was more difficult. We had a good fight with De Angelis and Corsi, they are riders with lots of experience that paid on the last lap. I'm sorry because I felt I could aspire to the fifth place, you cannot always find such as good shape as we found for today so I would have expected to draw greater advantage, but we still made ​​important points for the championship, the objective now is to consolidate seventh place in the standings."

Eric Granado
"I was hoping to be faster actually, the conditions today were very different from yesterday, the warm up was wet so we couldn't finalise some aspects and this has given me less confidence. At the start I gained some positions but was paying a gap of about half a second from the others so I went back a few places, I also had some uncertainty with the gear engagement that now we're going to check, however I've got to knuckle down and find a better pace. Now I will do a few days in Brazil to treat shoulder in a way to get in shape for the San Marino Grand Prix."

JiR Moto2 Team Press Release

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Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/nbeVtpVIDSg/Zarco+finishes+seventh+exciting+Czech+Republic

Henry Banks Fabrizio Barbazza John Barber Skip Barber Paolo Barilla Rubens Barrichello

Speculation starts early over Hamilton's future

Lewis Hamilton's future was the subject of fevered discussion at the Monaco Grand Prix last weekend as the driver market 'silly season' began in earnest.

Hamilton is out of contract with McLaren at the end of this season and, at 27, his career is at a crossroads, with arguably the most important decision of his life looming.

Hamilton is heading into his prime as a grand prix driver. With good reason, he regards himself as the fastest in the world and it pains him that he has won only one world title so far.

That came in 2008 and it has not escaped Hamilton's attention that since then, at least until the start of this year, McLaren had not provided him with a car that was truly competitive enough.

This season started promisingly, with McLaren locking out the front row at the first two races and Hamilton on pole in both. But since then their form has dipped, particularly in the last three races.

Lewis Hamilton was fifth in the Monaco GP, behind Sebastian Vettel who was fourth. Photo: Getty

Hamilton is still very much in the title race, but he left no-one under any illusions about his feelings after his fifth place in Monaco on Sunday.

It used to be the case that discussions about drivers' futures did not start until July and August. No longer. Teams and drivers will say publicly that it is far too early to discuss it. What they mean is that it is too early to talk about it to the media; behind the scenes a lot is going on.

Hamilton's future is tied up with that of Red Bull's Mark Webber and Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher and also, to some extent, Webber's team-mate Sebastian Vettel.
It is widely believed that all four top teams are interested in Hamilton - at least to the point of holding talks with his management.

McLaren definitely want to keep him and have made that clear to both Hamilton himself and his management team - but no substantive negotiations have taken place and no financial offers made yet, despite reports to the contrary. Mercedes are known to have him seriously on their radar as a potential replacement for Schumacher. The picture at Ferrari and Red Bull is slightly less clear.

There was a rumour going around in Monaco that Ferrari were keen on signing Hamilton for next season in place of Felipe Massa, whose time at the team is expected to end this season.

That seems unlikely for one obvious reason - Fernando Alonso is contracted to Ferrari until the end of 2016. There is huge mutual respect between the two - each regards the other as their biggest rival - but that's very different from wanting to be team-mates again.

When they were at McLaren in Hamilton's debut year in 2007, it did not go well, to put it mildly, and Alonso ended up leaving at the end of the season - just one year into what had been a three-year contract.

Alonso's problem was far more with McLaren boss Ron Dennis than it was with Hamilton. Nevertheless, it is unlikely he would want Hamilton to be his team-mate again - and Ferrari is very much his team these days.

Equally, Hamilton would have to think carefully about moving to a team where he does not speak the language - even if the debriefs are conducted in English and there is an English ex-McLaren technical director - and where a man as clever, cunning and political as Alonso has been ensconced for three years.

Nevertheless, Hamilton would be highly attractive to Ferrari's main sponsors, the cigarette company Philip Morris and Spanish bank Santander, who could drop McLaren if they had an English driver at Ferrari. Together, they could basically afford to pay him whatever he wanted.

The problem with this is that a normally impeccable source close to Ferrari says the team only want a one-year driver in 2013, as they have a pre-contract with Vettel for 2014.

This pre-contract, the source says, is two-way - ie, either party can exercise it - and is performance-related. Ferrari need to be at least third in the constructors' championship at a specific stage of next season to bring it into effect.

However, a senior Red Bull insider says this is "nonsense", that they have Vettel under contract to the end of 2014.

The favourite for the expected vacancy at Ferrari is Webber, who is coming towards the end of his career and may well be interested in a year or two at Ferrari to finish it off.
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner asked rhetorically in Monaco: "Why would he want to leave?" But there are several potential reasons.

It would vastly increase Webber's post-F1 earnings potential and he would relish the chance to test himself against Alonso, a friend whom Webber regards as the best driver in the world.

Webber would not expect to beat him - in fact, he would almost certainly have to go to Ferrari on the understanding that Alonso was number one - but he would enjoy ruffling the Spaniard's feathers from time to time, as he almost certainly would.

If Webber were to leave Red Bull, that would leave a vacancy Hamilton could potentially fill.

Horner has always sounded lukewarm about taking on Hamilton, pointing out that it would raise the tension in the team as he and Vettel went toe to toe.

But ultimately it's not his decision - it's that of Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz, and the marketing value of pitting Hamilton against Vettel would be enormous.

And if Webber did leave, who else would Red Bull get? Even if Vettel is under a firm contract to the end of 2014, that's still only two years away - at which point they would still need a guaranteed top-line driver if he left.

Theoretically, Red Bull are committed to progressing their junior drivers, but Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne do not look ready for that sort of promotion yet.

Then there is Mercedes, whose decision is complicated by Schumacher.

Team boss Ross Brawn said in Monaco that he would like the seven-time champion to stay on as long as he is competitive, but there have been internal questions about whether - and how long - he will remain so.

Schumacher's commercial value to Mercedes is huge. But they have to ask themselves whether they are potentially harming their competitive position with their driver line-up - few in F1 would argue they would not improve it by recruiting Hamilton, Alonso or Vettel, who is also of long-term interest to the team.

Hamilton's decision is not just about driving, either. Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes would all almost certainly be able to pay him more than McLaren can afford to offer. And McLaren's portfolio of sponsors makes it almost impossible for Hamilton's team at Simon Fuller's XIX Management to raise money from private deals.

Ultimately, though, Hamilton will surely base his decision on competitiveness.

The best way to guarantee that in the last 20 years has been to drive wherever Adrian Newey is designer, which is Red Bull. Or does Hamilton bank on Mercedes continuing to raise their competitiveness (and, for that matter, staying in F1, which is far from a foregone conclusion at the moment)? Or take a risk on joining Alonso at Ferrari, should a seat be available?

Or does he stick with what he knows and trust the team with which he has been associated since he was 11-years-old to finally get it right, but potentially reduce his earnings potential?

Hamilton has some tough decisions to make in the next few weeks.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/05/will_hamilton_stay_at_mclaren.html

Antonio Cairoli Trey Canard HÂkan Carlquist Ricky†Carmichael Danny Chandler Eric Cheney

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Loretta's Amateur National Motocross 2012, Thursday, by MX Sports and Kawasaki

First, from MX Sports: Championship Battles Take Form at Day Three of Racing at Loretta Lynn's

The second set of motos came to a close at the 2012 Red Bull AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship presented by Amsoil. Thursday's race action was at an all-time high as the anticipation level continues to grow with each and every moto that gets recorded into the history book. The third and final set of motos begin Friday morning and twenty-two racers will become National champions before Saturday's grand finale at the Loretta Lynn Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tenn.

Adam Cianciarulo was heavily favored to take home dual championships this year, and so far he's shown nothing less than domination in the highly competitive Super Mini classes. Cianciarulo kicked off Day 3 with yet another win in Super Mini 1, gapping the second place of Andrew Pierce by nearly 30 seconds in Moto 2. Provided that Cianciarulo executes a smooth Moto 3, the battle for the remaining two podium positions will perhaps be some of the most exciting racing of the week. Pierce currently holds a 3-2 score in the Super Mini 1 class, but Kawasaki teammates Mark Worth and Mitchell Harrison are also going to be big players heading into Friday's class finale.

Source: http://www.supercross.com/features/lorettas-amateur-national-motocross-2012-thursday-by-mx-sports-and-kawasaki

Bill Aston Richard Attwood Manny Ayulo Luca Badoer Giancarlo Baghetti Julian Bailey

The season so far: pattern amid the unpredictability

This Formula 1 season has so far been a perfect storm of unpredictable results, thrilling races and a closely fought title battle.

Who would have predicted that a man who has not once had the fastest car would be leading the world championship as it neared its halfway stage?

Yet Fernando Alonso, whose Ferrari started the campaign more than a second off the pace, goes into this weekend's British Grand Prix with a 20-point lead.

Who would have predicted that the defending world champion, who took 15 pole positions in 19 races last year, would fail to get into the top 10 qualifying shoot-out?

New Pirelli tyre

Formula 1 teams will have the opportunity to test a new hard tyre compound that Pirelli are developing for the future during the practice sessions of the British Grand Prix. Photo: Getty

Yet that is exactly what happened to Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel in China - and very nearly again in Monaco.

Who would have predicted that last year's runner-up, a man who is renowned for his delicacy with tyres, would struggle for pace in a season in which the fragile Pirellis are the defining characteristic? Yet there is Jenson Button having a terrible time in the McLaren.

Who would have predicted that a driver who owes his place to sponsorship money and who was previously known best for inconsistency and mistakes would win a race? Williams's Pastor Maldonado did exactly that in Spain.

Or that it would take until the eighth grand prix for the season to have its first repeat winner? Step forward Alonso again.

F1 has been maligned for years as being boring and predictable - overtaking, people said, was too hard and working out who was going to win too easy.

No longer. There has been so much action in the eight races so far this season that you almost don't know where to look.

There are concerns that F1 has now gone too far the other way, that it is too unpredictable, that too much of a random element has been introduced by the fast-wearing, hard-to-operate Pirelli tyres that are at the root of this new direction.

In essence, the fear is that F1 has been turned from an exercise in precision engineering into a lottery.

And there is unease in certain quarters that the drivers are always having to race "within themselves", with tyre life their biggest concern.

Yet through the fog of uncertainty and apparent haphazardness, a pattern has emerged.

As the competitive edge swung wildly from one team to another in the opening races, it was revealing that the positions at the top of the championship were very quickly occupied by the best drivers - Alonso, Vettel, his Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber and McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Button.

The list of different winners continued, until Alonso's spectacular win in Valencia last time out, but through it all the big hitters continued to be the ones who scored most consistently.

Despite that, there has undoubtedly been a welcome element of unpredictability, and the top teams have not had it their own way.

So while Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes and Lotus - the teams who have won every world title for the last 15 years - have all figured at the front, Williams and Sauber have also been up there mixing it with them. As, on occasion, have Force India.

This is partly to do with the tyres. This year's Pirellis have been deliberately designed with an unusually narrow operating-temperature window. Getting - and keeping - them there is far from easy, and the big teams do not have exclusivity on clever engineers.

The unusually great importance of the tyres has so far lessened the effect of aerodynamics - for so long the determining factor in F1.

Just as importantly, the regulations have now been pretty stable for the last four years. When that happens the field always tends to close up. Both Sauber and Williams have serious engineering resources of their own, and have clearly built very good cars.

Through all of this, one man has stood out above all others.

Alonso has long been considered within F1 as the greatest all-round talent, and this year the Spaniard has driven with a blend of precision, aggression, opportunism, consistency and pace that is close to perfection.

He has taken two stunning wins and scored consistently elsewhere. In fact, had Ferrari's strategy brains been a little sharper, he may have had four victories by now - that's half the races. And all without anything close to the best car.

Of the two wins he has taken, Alonso himself rates the wet race in Malaysia as the better.

For me, though, the one in Valencia shades it, for the skill and determination he showed in battling up to second place from 11th on the grid before Vettel's retirement from the lead handed him the win.

Some of the overtaking moves Alonso pulled on the way to that win were utterly breathtaking in their audacity, the way he balanced risk and reward and made it pay off.

Hamilton's season has been almost as good, but he has been let down by a number of operational errors from McLaren, ranging from bungled pit stops to refuelling errors in qualifying. He now faces an uphill battle to get back on terms with his old rival.

Alonso has long regarded Hamilton as the man he fears most in this title battle, but one wonders if he might change his mind following Valencia.

After two years of domination, Red Bull have stumbled a little this year. Yet operationally they have still been the best team and their car has always been among the strongest on race day.

After a difficult first three races, either Vettel or Webber have now been on pole for four of the last five.

Before retiring with alternator failure in Valencia the German put in a performance as crushing as any in his title-winning years (2010 and 2011), thanks to a major aerodynamic upgrade at the rear of his car.

Up and down the pit lane, rivals fear Red Bull have moved their car up to another level.

The confirmation - or otherwise - of that will come at Silverstone this weekend. Its blend of high-speed corners provide one of the most stringent tests of a car's quality on the calendar.

Last year, following a one-off rule change that hampered Red Bull more than anyone else, the British Grand Prix was won by Alonso.

But if the Red Bull proves as effective around the sweepers of Northamptonshire as it did at the point-and-squirt right-angles of Valencia, even Alonso at his most perfect will find it hard to fend it off.

Both this weekend and for the rest of the year.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/07/andrew_benson_the_season_so_fa.html

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

Video - 2012 Thor MX Loretta Lynn's Recap

Here is THOR's video recap of their riders at the recently completed 2012 Red Bull Loretta Lynn's National Amateur Motocross Championships, in Hurricane Hills, TN.

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Source: http://www.supercross.com/features/video-2012-thor-mx-loretta-lynns-recap

Peter Arundell Alberto Ascari Peter Ashdown Ian Ashley Gerry Ashmore Bill Aston

Loretta's Amateur National Motocross 2012, Thursday, by MX Sports and Kawasaki

First, from MX Sports: Championship Battles Take Form at Day Three of Racing at Loretta Lynn's

The second set of motos came to a close at the 2012 Red Bull AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship presented by Amsoil. Thursday's race action was at an all-time high as the anticipation level continues to grow with each and every moto that gets recorded into the history book. The third and final set of motos begin Friday morning and twenty-two racers will become National champions before Saturday's grand finale at the Loretta Lynn Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tenn.

Adam Cianciarulo was heavily favored to take home dual championships this year, and so far he's shown nothing less than domination in the highly competitive Super Mini classes. Cianciarulo kicked off Day 3 with yet another win in Super Mini 1, gapping the second place of Andrew Pierce by nearly 30 seconds in Moto 2. Provided that Cianciarulo executes a smooth Moto 3, the battle for the remaining two podium positions will perhaps be some of the most exciting racing of the week. Pierce currently holds a 3-2 score in the Super Mini 1 class, but Kawasaki teammates Mark Worth and Mitchell Harrison are also going to be big players heading into Friday's class finale.

Source: http://www.supercross.com/features/lorettas-amateur-national-motocross-2012-thursday-by-mx-sports-and-kawasaki

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

All great drivers need luck, but Alonso makes his own

It's not often Fernando Alonso is overcome with emotion, but he only just managed to hold it together as he stood on the podium after a quite stunning victory in the European Grand Prix.

His voice had already cracked as he giggled his delight on the team radio on his slowing-down lap - and in the pits Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali was in the same state as he praised a "fantastic" drive by the Spaniard.

But listening to the Spanish and Italian national anthems, the magnitude of the moment almost got the better of Alonso. He choked a bit, grinned, almost cried, gritted his teeth and then collected himself.

No wonder he was so emotional - in the previous half an hour or so, it had all come together to create a perfect weekend for him.

Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso (centre) celebrates winning the European GP with second place Kimi Raikkonen (left) and third place Michael Schumacher (right). Photo: Getty  

Alonso has driven some outstanding races in his career - he is generally regarded within F1 as the finest driver in the world - but this one has to be right up there with the very best.

Fighting up from 11th place on the grid, he pulled off some quite brilliant overtaking moves to make his way up into contention, the opportunism and skill never better than when he separated Lotus's Romain Grosjean from second place immediately after a restart following a safety car period.

That move meant Alonso inherited the lead when Sebastian Vettel's dominant Red Bull retired further around the same lap. Then, as he completed a spectacular victory, his day was made perfect when the man he regards as his main title rival, Lewis Hamilton, retired with two laps to go.

Both his main rivals out of the race, a momentous win in his home grand prix and less than 24 hours after Spain's football team made it into the semi-finals of Euro 2012. No wonder he was close to tears.

Of course, luck was involved in Alonso's win. He was not going to beat Vettel before the German's retirement - no one was - and he would not have been in a position to challenge Grosjean at the re-start had it not been for yet another pit-stop problem for McLaren.

But Alonso put himself in the position to gain from others' misfortune, and all the other positions he gained he worked for and won in a style befitting one of the greatest racing drivers the world has seen.

Ferrari's superbly quick pit crew played a part, too - one rival engineer said this weekend that they had moved the goalposts for pit stops this year.

But the fact remains that Alonso would not have had to do what he did had Ferrari's strategists not made the error that left him down in 11th on the grid - a decision for which the driver must share some blame.

Ferrari failed to realise that Alonso would need to fit a second set of the 'soft' tyres in second qualifying to be sure of progressing into the top 10 shoot-out.

Lotus had also planned to follow Ferrari's strategy of running a set of 'medium' tyres in Q2 followed by a set of 'softs'.

But when the English team saw how close it was in Q1, they realised they could not afford to take the risk, and switched to running two sets of 'softs' in Q2 and only one in the top 10 shoot-out.

It's impossible to know where Alonso would have ended up on the grid had he made it through.

Fortunately for Ferrari, their blushes were spared by his stellar performance on Sunday - on a track where it had previously been almost impossible to overtake but which came alive this year with the combination of degrading tyres and a DRS overtaking zone judged exactly right.

Ferrari took a fair bit of stick for the decision - and rightly so. It would be dangerous of them not to learn from it for this is not the first time this season that their strategy has been found wanting.

Alonso might have won in Barcelona had Ferrari not allowed Williams to get Pastor Maldonado ahead of him by making their second stop earlier.

As Alonso admitted himself, a win was also on the cards in Monaco had Ferrari reacted more quickly to his blistering pace on his in-lap and left him out to do a couple more.

And in Canada, where he fell back to fifth, he should have finished at least second - and could possibly have won - but the team failed to react to his tyres losing grip dramatically in the closing stages.

Had Ferrari got those calls right, Alonso could have been heading into the Valencia weekend on the back of two wins and a second place, rather than a second, a third and a fifth.

That's 27 points thrown away even before the error in qualifying this weekend. In a season as close as this, even if Alonso wins the title it is unlikely to be by that much.

In each case, the error has been a result of apparently not being reactive enough - being either too fixed on a specific, pre-ordained strategy, and/or too focused on one specific rival and not looking at the bigger picture.

That was exactly what happened in Abu Dhabi in 2010, when another strategy error handed the title on a plate to Vettel.

Ferrari have now got back many of those points thanks to the problems suffered by Vettel and Hamilton.

Despite Vettel's retirement, the Red Bull showed frightening pace in Valencia following the introduction of a major upgrade, as BBC F1 technical analyst Gary Anderson detailed on Friday.

Vettel would have walked the race had his alternator not failed on lap 34 and the pace shown by Red Bull this weekend will have set alarm bells ringing in Maranello and McLaren's factory in Woking.

At McLaren, though, they have other things to worry about after yet another pit-stop problem for Hamilton.

This time it was a failure of one of the new Ferrari-style angled jacks the team designed as part of a wholesale restructure of their pit-stop operation following problems in Malaysia, China and Bahrain earlier this year.

It lost Hamilton a place to Alonso when the leaders pitted during the mid-race safety-car period - and that of course would have meant he was leading following the retirements of Vettel and Lotus's Grosjean.

Given the tyre problems Hamilton found himself in during the closing laps, it seems unlikely that he would have been able to hold off Alonso for the victory, but it would have meant he was clear of Pastor Maldonado, and therefore the incident that took him out of the race, for which Hamilton was blameless.

Interestingly, if you look back at how many points Hamilton had lost to various operational issues at McLaren this year before Valencia, it was 27 - exactly the same number as Alonso.

Add the 18 or 15 he would have got for either second or third place in Valencia (depending on whether Kimi Raikkonen would have caught him) and that is more than 40.

After Valencia, he is now 23 points behind Alonso. The McLaren has been on balance the fastest car this year, but Ferrari's form is getting better and better and, after Valencia, Red Bull look more formidable than at any time this year.

There are still 12 races to go in an already extraordinary season that clearly has many more twists and turns to come. But Hamilton should be comfortably leading the championship. Have McLaren already thrown it away?

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/06/alonso.html

Andrea de Adamich Philippe Adams Walt Ader Kurt Adolff Fred Agabashian Kurt Ahrens Jr

Watkins Glen president a testament to diversity

Source: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/08/29/2301012/watkins-glen-president-a-testament.html

Marcel Balsa Lorenzo Bandini Henry Banks Fabrizio Barbazza John Barber Skip Barber

Official: 2014 Mazda6 finally breaks cover in Moscow

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2014 Mazda6 - front three-quarter view

Mazda has made the unusual choice of selecting the Moscow Motor Show to unveil its all-new 2014 Mazda6. The mid-size sedan looks very sharp, and powered by the Japanese automaker's latest line of Skyactiv engines, it ought to be efficient and solid to drive, as well.

Visually, the Mazda6 is the company's latest expression of their Kodo ("Soul of Motion") design language and draws heavily from the company's well-received 2011 Takeri showcar. A widened, stretched version of Mazda's five-point grille is employed and it's perhaps the most attractive version of that design element to date. The grille is connected to the LED headlights via shiny bits, a design tactic reminiscent of the new BMW 3 Series.

According to chief designer Akira Tamatani, "We have created a design in which the wild and dynamic expressions of motion artistically realize a powerful presence." The color seen here is called Soul Red, and was enveloped by Mazda to accentuate the shapes of the new 6.

Inside, the layout is a clean and straightforward one, which has become a hallmark of Mazda cabin design. The cabin is highlighted by a color-matched interior accent panel. A trained eye will even notice a rotary selector to control the navigation system, à la BMW's iDrive.

At least in Russia, the 2014 Mazda6 gets the new range of Skyactiv engines, including the 2.0-liter Skyactiv-G (gas) engine that makes 110 kW (148 horsepower), sending power to the front wheels through either a six-speed Skyactiv-Drive automatic, or a six-speed Skyactiv-MT manual gearbox. The uprated engine is a Skyactiv-G 2.5-liter unit, developing 141 kW (189 horsepower). This engine is mated to the aforementioned automatic. A diesel engine is also expected, but it's not yet clear whether the U.S. will receive an oil-burning option (Mazda has committed to bringing an unnamed diesel model to the States in the next few years).

Also incorporated into the powertrain is Mazda's new "i-Eloop" system, which is essentially regenerative breaking. This is combined with "i-stop", stop/start technology. Actual EPA fuel economy estimates have not been released at this time, nor has price or availability, though Mazda says global deliveries are slated to begin later this year.

Check out the gallery of the all-new Mazda6 and more info on the mid-size sedan in the press release below.

Continue reading 2014 Mazda6 finally breaks cover in Moscow

2014 Mazda6 finally breaks cover in Moscow originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Aug 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2012/08/28/2014-mazda6-mazda-6-reveal-moscow/

Ken De Dycker Yves Demaria Gilbert De Roover Clement Desalle John DeSoto Tony DiStefano

Autoblog Podcast #297

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Tesla Model S test, Farley vows to fix MyFord Touch, Zombie models, BMW replaces 'is' with "M Performance," Motor Trend top driver's car

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Episode #297 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week Dan Roth, George Kennedy and Jeff Ross talk about the first instrumented test of the Tesla Model S, Jim Farley's vow to keep fixing MyFordTouch until it's right, BMW's alphabet-soup with model names, models that are not returning after this year, and the Motor Trend top driver's car for this year. Your questions and comments power the end of the 'cast, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Keep reading for our Q&A module for you to scroll through and follow along, too. Thanks for listening!

Autoblog Podcast #297:



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In the Autoblog Garage:
2013 BMW M6 Convertible
2012 Porsche Panamera S
2012 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque

Hosts: Dan Roth, Jeff Ross, George Kennedy

Runtime: 01:24:33

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Continue reading Autoblog Podcast #297

Autoblog Podcast #297 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Aug 2012 17:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2012/08/28/autoblog-podcast-297/

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

Rumormill: Next Mazda MX-5 Miata to get Mini-like levels of customization

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2013 Mazda MX-5 Roadster (aka Miata) - JDM

Much is expected of the next-generation Mazda MX-5 Miata, primarily significant weight savings and a bit more power. The new roadster will be co-developed with Alfa Romeo as part of a joint-venture agreed upon last May. A report in What Car? suggests that that Mazda's benefits won't be limited to the hard bits, claiming that personalization possibilities for the new car will be "similar" to those of the Mini Cooper and Fiat 500. The stated aim is for additional customization is "to help a customer's relationship with the car," but on a more basic level, they are popular within the segment. And depending on how Mazda structures pricing, it can fatten up the profit margin significantly.

The date of arrival is predicted to be 2015, and What Car? says the coming roadster should be around 220 pounds lighter than the current model, weighing in at 2,200 pounds. True, that isn't the 700-pound drop engineers were aiming for, but it's not small beer on such a tiny car. Power is said to come from a 1.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder good for 200 horsepower which would represent a 33-horsepower bump over the 2012 to propel a lighter, stiffer car. Sign us up.

Next Mazda MX-5 Miata to get Mini-like levels of customization originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Aug 2012 11:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2012/08/28/next-mazda-mx-5-miata-to-get-mini-like-levels-of-customization/

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