Source: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/01/29/954050/nhra-marking-its-60th-season.html
Philipp Hafeneger Kensuke Haga Noriyuki Haga Josef Hage Andreas Hahn Richard Haidegger
Monday, January 31, 2011
Skoda to get a rebadged Volkswagen Up! - report
With Skoda sales on the upswing, a new report is indicating the Czechoslovakian brand will get a rebadged version of the Volkswagen Up! / Lupo.
Air Guard Ford Regan Smith Furniture Row Chevrolet Casey Mears GEICO Toyota Mark Martin
2012 Mercedes C63 AMG facelift leaked
Someone in Germany should check the plumbing as the 2012 Mercedes C63 AMG has been leaked for a second time. 
Verizon Wireless Dodge Ryan Truex NAPA Toyota Joe Nemechek Gator com Chevrolet Erik Darnell
Di Resta and Hulkenberg fight for Force India seat
As the winter nights have shortened so too have the prospects of finding a Formula 1 drive for two of the sport's brightest prospects.
Nico Hulkenberg - rated as the best rookie of 2010 - and Paul di Resta - Britain's third driver in Formula 1 alongside Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button - find themselves fighting for a drive.
At the end of the season, Williams released Hulkenberg in favour of cash-rich GP2 champion Pastor Maldonado.
Hulkenberg's sudden unemployment has complicated matters for Di Resta as the German is now closing in on the Force India seat the Scot has been warming all season as the team's reserve.
To add to the dilemma, Force India's incumbent drivers, Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Luizzi, still have ties to the team with Italian Liuzzi contracted for 2011 and German Sutil sitting on a one-year option to continue.
Formula 1 insiders believe the hearts and minds of Force India are with Di Resta and the team want to give him one of the two seats that are listed as 'TBA' on the official entry list.
After joining the Silverstone-based team as a reserve for 2010, the Scot drove capably in eight first practice sessions on grand prix weekends.
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The auburn-haired Di Resta, a laidback and likeable addition to the paddock, quietly impressed the team with his technical feedback and commitment.
At the same time, the 24-year-old proved he was a winner by clinching the German Touring Car championship (DTM) for Mercedes on his weekends away from F1.
His manager Anthony Hamilton - father of McLaren driver Lewis - says: "There hasn't been one bit of negative information from the team about Paul.
"He has done a great job, the team love him. He's a champion and a leader. Nothing has changed; he is still a contender for a race seat. We are very positive."
Hulkenberg, however, is also an intriguing prospect for any F1 team.
The 23-year-old stole the headlines in the midst of the dramatic championship battle by snatching a blistering pole at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Yes, Hulkenberg had benefited from some tactical groundwork by team-mate Rubens Barrichello on his previous qualifying lap but the German's feat was still far beyond that of any of the other four F1 newcomers.
Humorous and straight-talking, Hulkenberg came into F1 on the back of a glittering junior career - where he won titles in karting, Formula BMW, Formula Three and the 2009 GP2 Series - and is now a highly-rated F1 prospect
Both Hulkenberg and Di Resta are gifted drivers - but in F1 money often talks louder than talent.
Despite being impressed by Hulkenberg's "exceptional" skills, Sir Frank Williams let him go in favour of Maldonado simply because he could bring in a reputed 10m euros - largely from Venezuela's state oil company - at a time when the Williams team had lost several key business partners.
When it comes to securing their own future, the problem for both Hulkenberg and Di Resta is that they don't bring any cash to the table.
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Hulkenberg himself says: "It has become much, much harder to open doors if your application does not come with a serious sponsor package and you really only rely on your talent as the sole 'sales argument'."
The complex situation at Force India means the team need to find the cash to buy Liuzzi out of his existing contract - so contributions from a replacement would be welcome.
And of all those in the frame only Sutil, who is understood to have bought around 2m euros to the team in 2010, has the immediate funds to strike that deal.
Force India's engine partner Mercedes-Benz could also influence the team's decision.
What if its own-brand Mercedes Grand Prix team wanted to scout out potential replacements for Michael Schumacher or Nico Rosberg by paying to place a driver in another team?
Di Resta is already well-connected and well-liked by Mercedes, especially after his DTM win, but Hulkenberg, as a rising German star, could be a perfect future fit for the Silver Arrows.
For now, Di Resta and Hulkenberg are playing the waiting game.
Hulkenberg's management company, whose founder Willi Weber also plotted Schumacher's career, opened talks at the final race in Abu Dhabi and said they had expected Force India to have made their decision by now.
Di Resta is sitting down with the team this week to discuss his future role.
Although nine cockpits are still to be filled on the 2011 grid, options elsewhere remain squeezed.
Hulkenberg's team have already approached Toro Rosso and Renault but found no room at the inn.
Toro Rosso will stick with Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi, with newly-signed third driver Daniel Ricciardo waiting in the wings. The renamed Lotus Renault team are widely expected to retain Russian rookie Vitaly Petrov alongside star driver Robert Kubica.
Timo Glock has confirmed he is staying at Marussia Virgin, with Brazilian Lucas di Grassi and Belgian Jerome D'Ambrosio - both of whom come with sponsorship - the favourites to join him. Back-of-the-grid Hispania first need to find someone to build their 2011 car before confirming drivers.
Di Resta already has a contract to continue as Force India's third driver in 2011, while Hulkenberg has been linked to the same role at Mercedes and Ferrari.
In the fickle world of Formula 1, it is never a bad idea to have a Plan B.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/sarahholt/2010/12/as_the_winter_nights_have.html
Roger De Coster Ken De Dycker Yves Demaria Gilbert De Roover Clement Desalle John DeSoto
Toyota Avensis BTCC touring car gets ready
Avensis touring car will makes its debut at the Dunlop MSA BTCC event at Brands Hatch. 
Mika Kallio Hideo Kanaya Takazumi Katayama Daijiro Kato Ken Kavanagh John Kocinski
VW will take XL1 to production for a limited run [video]
Super-efficient XL1 will be taken to production by 2013 and sold in Europe, the United States and China. 
Robert La Caze Jacques Laffite Franck Lagorce Jan Lammers Pedro Lamy Chico Landi
Rolls-Royce Phantom EW by Wald International
The Rolls-Royce Phantom Extend Wheelbase is an exceedingly rare car, but Wald International has just unveiled a new styling package for the luxury behemoth. 
Red Bull Toyota Bobby Labonte Phoenix Construction Chevrolet Chevrolet Mikko Kozarowitzky Willi Krakau Rudolf Krause
Charlotte Motor Speedway Erecting World's Largest HD Screen
Filed under: NASCAR Tracks, Sprint Cup, NASCAR, Charlotte Motor Speedway
CONCORD, N.C. -- Three tour buses slowly circled Charlotte Motor Speedway Tuesday and stopped on the backstretch, disgorging dozens of media members into the cold winter air next to the construction site of billionaire O. Bruton Smith's latest promotional extravaganza -- the world's HD largest video board.
This television screen will be 200 feet wide by 80 feet high and will tower some 30 feet higher than the backstretch lights. It will be visible -- with an impressively large image -- from every seat of the grandstands stretching from turn four all the way down the frontstretch and well into turn two.
In typical speedway fashion, the announcement included fanfare -- in this case the arrival of Marcus Smith, speedway president, and FOX NASCAR announcers Jeff Hammond and Mike Joy, all driving front end loaders.
But many in the media were more interested in hearing from Marcus Smith's father, Bruton, who parked his jet-black, brand-new Mercedes right there in the middle of the backstretch just a few yards away.
As a promoter, Smith goes back to the earliest days of NASCAR. He's always been the most innovative of the major racing promoters, and he's always been one to speak his mind. So despite the fanfare engineered by his son, when Bruton stepped out of his car, he was the one who was quickly surrounded by eager reporters.
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Zaxby s Ford Morgan Shepherd Victory in Jesus Chevrolet Eric McClure Kroger Ford Kenny Wallace
Video: Chinese inventor controls full size BMW 1-Series with a Nokia C7
Let?s just say that you?re in need of someone that can literally create something out of nothing. You?re not going to find anybody better than this genius Chinese dude named An Jiaxuan.
You know how the term ?inventor? has been thrown around these days like it doesn?t mean something? Well, thank goodness for this man. An Jiaxuan does justice to that title because he?s a pretty darn good one.
Together with his buddy, An Jiaxuan can create just about anything with his hands, including a software that allows him to electronically control a BMW 1-Series from his Nokia C7 smartphone. We?re not talking about those little R/C cars you buy at Toys ?R Us. We?re actually talking about a real, life-sized 1-Series.
This video is a definite must-watch, one that leads you to think how a dude like An Jiaxuan isn?t employed by an automaker that can definitely use his technological wizardry.
We?ll be honest; a side of us wants to be apprehensive about this whole deal because it?s just too good to be true. But if this is indeed legit, which we sincerely hope it is, then this is about the coolest thing we?ve ever seen.
Video: Chinese inventor controls full size BMW 1-Series with a Nokia C7 originally appeared on topspeed.com on Saturday, 29 January 2011 18:00 EST.
Landon Cassill Post 9 11 GI Bill Chevrolet Martin Truex Jr NAPA Brakes Toyota Joe Nemechek Washington Music Center Toyota
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Next-gen VW Golf could be built in U.S. - report
According to a recent report, Volkswagen is considering building the next-generation Golf at their plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. 
Manfred Herweh Sanadori Hikita Ernst Hiller Eric Hinton Harry Hinton Osamu Hiwatashi
Ferrari Four FF Concept prowls the night [video]
Video footage shows Ferrari FF Concept night testing at the Balocco Circuit in northern Italy. 
Citifinancial Ford Reed Sorenson Dollar General Toyota Denny Hamlin Z Line Toyota Clint Bowyer
NASCAR Announces New Points Format, Chase Changes, New Qualifying Rules
Filed under: Chase for the Sprint Cup, Sprint Cup, NASCAR
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Citing the need to make the championship format "simpler," NASCAR chairman Brian France formally introduced a new points system for the three national touring series Wednesday and also announced slight changes to the Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff format and race qualifying procedures.
As has been rumored during the last two weeks, the new points payout will be 43-to-1 -- paying 43 points to the race winner with each position decreasing in one-point intervals, with a single point going to last place in the 43-car fields.
The race winner will also receive a three-point bonus. There are one-point bonuses available for leading one lap and for the driver who leads the most laps, meaning there is a maximum of 48 points available for a race winner who leads the most laps.
"So now everyone will know, when a driver is down by 10 points, that he needs to pass 11 more cars to take the lead in the point standings,'' France told a crowded room of reporters at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in downtown Charlotte.
"Very much a simple, easy to understand system for us."
In other significant news, France announced the third major change to the Chase playoff format since its inception eight years ago. The top 10 drivers in points after the 26-race regular season will qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. And in an effort to emphasize winning, NASCAR will now make the 11th and 12th place Chase qualifiers the drivers outside the top-10 with the most wins -- giving it a sort of wild-card feel.
The top-10 drivers will be reseeded as before, with a three-point bonus given for each win, compared to the 10-point bonus previously handed out. The 11th and 12th place drivers will be reseeded but will not receive bonus points for their wins.
"These guys are going to be driving like their hair is on fire,'' Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage said.
"Give NASCAR credit for placing the emphasis on winning races with the new points system. The points championship should be secondary to winning races week in and week out. If you do that, championships take care of themselves."
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Steve Wallace 5 hour Energy Toyota Brendan Gaughan Loan Max Toyota Tony Raines Long John Silver s Chevrolet
Valencia Ducati Test Moto GP 2011
Here?s what entire Italy has been waiting for, for quite some time now: God on the Duke. Valentino Rossi, in his final goodbye to Yamaha just hit the Spanish MotoGP circuit at Valencia on the 2011 Ducati Desmosedici MotoGP GP11 bike. After doing a bunch of laps on the experimental big bang Ducati Desmosedici GP11, the Doctor shifted to the Ducati Screamer, on which he completed the rest of the 56 laps. With race chief Jeremy Burgess watching on, the Italian motorcycle god seemed to be reveling on the Ducati. Now if only Fiat chips in as principal sponsor and completes the Italian triplet of Rossi-Ducati-Fiat. For now, you have a video to watch and a tidy bunch of pics
Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/-jtfyyj0L1-/Valencia+Ducati+Test+Moto+GP+2011
Hermie Sadler III Virginia Commonwealth University Ford Brian Scott BigSpot com Toyota Carl Long Millennium Fuel Energy Drink Chevrolet
Behind the Scenes at Supercross with Laurette Cushman Nicoll
Laurette Cushman Nicoll, Host of the Monster Energy VIP Party, talks about what she does at supercross and what's in her near future.
Source: http://www.supercross.com/features/behind-the-scenes-at-supercross-with-laurette-cushman-nicoll
Stefan Bellof Paul Belmondo Tom Belso Antonio Cairoli Trey Canard HÂkan Carlquist
Fiat Yamaha MotoGP
Fiat Yamaha rider and current championship leader Jorge Lorenzo has secured pole position on the grid for tomorrow's Mugello GP clash.The 22-year old Spaniard put in a 1'48.987 lap of the Italian circuit to secure the top spot on the time sheets. Ducati Marlboro rider Casey Stoner qualified second, leaving Loris Capirossi to take third for the Rizla Suzuki squad.
Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/WLwX9g7oaHS/Fiat+Yamaha+MotoGP
GT Vodka Chevrolet Landon Cassill Zaxby s Ford Morgan Shepherd Victory in Jesus Chevrolet Eric McClure
Team orders and F1's radical plan to improve racing
Formula 1 will be changed for ever by the new rules announced by Formula 1's governing body at its world council meeting on Friday.
The decision to switch to vastly different, far more efficient engines from 2013 and the introduction of movable rear wings for next season will change both the way the sport is viewed by the wider world and the action on the track.
The new engine regulations - the adoption of 1.6-litre, four-cylinder turbo engines with energy recovery and fuel restrictions - mirror the way the car industry is going and are aimed at boosting F1's public image, helping it to survive into the future by opening up new avenues for sponsorship and - most importantly - speeding up the adoption of more sustainable engines in road cars over the next few years, thus dramatically reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
More immediately, the controversial adoption of movable rear wings in 2011 will make overtaking easier. At least that's the hope.
The issue of overtaking is a perennial problem in F1. All stakeholders agree it has been too hard to do in recent years. Races can be processional, or turn on pit stops.
The problem for F1's bosses, who want racing rather than tactics to decide outcomes, is aerodynamics.
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Cars are created with quite incredible capabilities but significant limitations when it comes to racing. Cornering forces often reach 5G. To see an F1 car in the flesh as it negotiates a fast corner like Silverstone's Becketts complex is both to doubt your eyes and to marvel at the way it uses physics to test the limits of the possible.
But aerodynamics work most effectively when a car is running on its own. Give it some turbulent air - such as that created by another car directly in front of it - and its ability to produce downforce - and therefore grip - is dramatically reduced. So drivers find it difficult to get close enough to a car in front to try to pass it, even if they are in a faster car.
A number of attempts to change this have been made in recent years, most recently major new rules in 2009 with significant changes to the way cars produced their downforce and the reintroduction of slick tyres. None of them have worked.
So F1's brains have come up with the movable rear wing.
The idea is that drivers will, when on a straight and trying to pass another car, press a button in their cockpit which will move a part of the rear wing.
This will reduce its effectiveness, thereby cutting drag and increasing straightline speed, allowing the driver to get a run on his rival into the next corner. The driver in the car in front who is defending his position will not be able to use his wing at the same time.
The plan is controversial because it appears to be adding a degree of artifice into the situation - and critics are worried it will make a joke of overtaking by making it too easy, particularly when used in conjunction with the Kers energy recovery and power-boost systems that are returning to F1 in 2011 after a year on the sidelines.
The sport's bosses are aware of the concerns. One insider who has been instrumental in writing the rule says: "The idea is to make it work, but not work too well."
The way it will work is as follows:
The FIA will define a time gap between the two cars at which point the driver behind will be able to use the system. Initially, it is likely the driver in the trailing car will need to be within a second as he enters the corner before a straight where it is possible to overtake.
The driver will then get an indication - either via a light on his dashboard or audibly - that he can operate his wing. He will then press the button when he is on the straight, giving him more speed than his rival and thus the potential to pass him.
The problem is that no-one is sure whether the system will work or achieve its objectives until it is used in a race - and the first opportunity will be on 13 March, when Bahrain hosts the first grand prix of the 2011 season.
The bottom line is that F1's bosses want to make overtaking easier but not so easy that it requires little skill.
Had the movable rear wings been in place in 2010, I am told Ferrari's Fernando Alonso would have been able to overtake the Renault of Vitaly Petrov in the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and thus keep alive his chances of winning the title.
Instead, the Spaniard was unable to pass Petrov's slower car, which had a prodigious straight-line speed, and therefore unable to chase down his rivals as he went in search of a third drivers' crown.
That would have freed Alonso up to try to catch the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg, who was in the fourth place the Ferrari driver needed to prevent Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel snatching the title from under his nose.
Rosberg was quicker than Petrov but probably marginally slower than Alonso. But because the performance differential between the Mercedes and the Ferrari was much less, getting past Rosberg would not have been a given - even under the new rules.
So rather than watching a race in which overtaking was practically impossible, the audience would have known it was possible, but not inevitable, that Alonso would get by - and would have been on tenterhooks as they watched him try.
Such a scenario would have made the title-deciding race much more exciting.
Put like that, as long as F1 finds a way to make it obvious to the audience when a driver is using his movable rear wing, the introduction of such a device has at the very least got to be worth a try.
UPDATE 1530 GMT:
The FIA's decision to remove the rule banning team orders will doubtless offend those who did not like Ferrari's application of them in this year's German Grand Prix and who objected to the Italian team "getting away" with "only" a $100,000 fine for doing so.
But the move - telegraphed when the FIA said it would look into the rule after deciding against giving Ferrari further punishment - is the only practical solution open to F1.
However offensive some find team orders, there is simply no way of effectively policing a rule banning them. There are any number of ways a team could employ them without anyone finding out.
Ferrari might have got caught out because of the unsubtle way in which Felipe Massa was asked to let team-mate Fernando Alonso through in Hockenheim but other leading teams also employed what could be termed team orders in 2010 and no one complained about them - or, in some cases, even noticed.
It is about reality not idealism, logic not emotion.
If you cannot police a rule, what's the point of having it? And surely it's better to have it out in the open than to force teams to go through the ridiculous charades some - not just Ferrari - did last season.
The lifting of the ban does not mean all teams will act in the same way as Ferrari, who now don't need to be quite so secretive about Alonso being their number one driver.
It simply means that when teams choose to use them they don't have to cover it up.
In every other way, nothing will change.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2010/12/f1s_radical_plan_to_improve_ra.html
Skip Barber Paolo Barilla Rubens Barrichello Michael Bartels Edgar Barth Giorgio Bassi
NASCAR President Mike Helton Confirms Points System Change Imminent
Filed under: Daytona Int'l Speedway, Chase for the Sprint Cup, NASCAR
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR President Mike Helton, Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton and Sprint Cup Series director John Darby held a competition update news conference Friday at Daytona International Speedway, confirming that the sanctioning body is looking at a "simpler" points system that would be introduced in all three national series for the 2011 season.
Speaking to reporters during downtime from a three-day preseason test session at the Daytona Beach track, the trio spoke on a wide range of issues. First, Helton made the news official that drivers must now select only one of the three national series to earn points toward a championship. He also indicated NASCAR was considering changes to the 1, 3 and 7:30 p.m. race start times introduced this past year.
Pemberton said that the proposed fuel injection systems would not be used this season but are progressing well in tests and Darby explained that the introduction of ethanol to fuel this year was actually an easier transition than when NASCAR switched from leaded to unleaded fuel in 2008.
The hot topic, unquestionably, was a change to the points system -- which would be the first since NASCAR formed in 1958 -- even if none of the officials would confirm what the new format might look like.
"We're in the middle of the conversations, telling the competitors where our mind is,'' Helton said. "The goal for some time is to create a points system that is easy to understand, easy to explain, easy to talk about but also be credible at the end of the season. So it's a function of taking the current one that has established credibility and come up with one that you can sit and have a conversation with someone and they say, 'well, that's pretty simple.' ''
"We're close. And we're getting a lot of good feedback from the drivers about tweaks that would go into that.''
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James Haydon Dirk Heidolf Franz Heller John Hempleman Pat Hennen Manuel Hern·ndez
Official 2012 Fiat 500 fuel economy numbers fall short of 40 mpg
Filed under: Budget, Hatchback, Fiat
2012 Fiat 500 - Click above for high-res image gallery
2011 marks the official return of Fiat here in the United States, with the adorable little 500 hitting dealerships in the coming weeks. With Fiat's MultiAir 1.4-liter engine under the hood, you'd be right to expect top-notch fuel economy numbers. And while the 500's EPA ratings of 30 miles per gallon in the city and 38 mpg on the highway aren't bad, it's not exactly what we were hoping for.
For comparison, consider the fact that much larger C-segment entries like the Hyundai Elantra, Ford Focus and Chevrolet Cruze are all capable of achieving 40 mpg or higher (granted, you have to spec certain transmissions and option packages on the latter two in order to achieve it). What's more, the 30/38 mpg rating on the Fiat 500 is only with the five-speed manual transmission. Cars equipped with the six-speed self-shifter will only achieve 27/34 mpg. Ouch.
Still, with prices starting at $15,995 for the entry-level Pop model, we don't think Fiat will have too much trouble moving 500s out of showrooms. Besides, the majority of people purchasing the Fiat 500 will be doing so because of its style rather than its frugality.
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req.]
Official 2012 Fiat 500 fuel economy numbers fall short of 40 mpg originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.autoblog.com/2011/01/28/official-2012-fiat-500-fuel-economy-numbers-fall-short-of-40-mpg/
David Horton Alois Huber Klaus Huber Brett Hudson Keith Huewen Jaroslav Huleö
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Mercedes-Benz wants full hybrid lineup by 2013
Full lineup to include hybrid variants of the C-Class, E-Class and S-Class along with a plug-in hybrid S-Class too. 
Tony Raines A and W Ford Kevin Conway Extenze Toyota Mattias Ekstrom Red Bull Toyota
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