Source: http://www.skirtsandscuffs.com/2012/03/nascar-in-heels-race-to-cure-progeria.html
Santiago Herrero Tom Herron Wilfred Herron Manfred Herweh Sanadori Hikita Ernst Hiller
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Official: Honda announces Fit production moving to Mexico
Filed under: Budget, Plants/Manufacturing, Hatchback, Honda
The strength of the Yen is forcing many Japanese automakers to consider building cars for export markets outside their home country. Honda is no different, and has confirmed that it will build the Fit hatchback at its new plant in Mexico starting in the spring of 2014.
The plant in Mexico is not the only location where Honda will build the Fit, but it will be used to supply the small hatchback to the large United States, Mexican and Canadian markets. Honda expects to build up to 200,000 subcompact vehicles per year at its plant near Celaya, Guanajuato.
Honda already builds a huge number of vehicles in North America. In fact, as pointed out in the press release after the break, more than 85 percent of the Honda and Acura models sold in America were built in the United States, Canada or Mexico. What's more, the addition of the Fit to the Accord, Civic, and CR-V means that all four of Honda's global nameplates will be produced in North America.
Continue reading Honda announces Fit production moving to Mexico
Honda announces Fit production moving to Mexico originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.autoblog.com/2012/03/30/honda-announces-fit-production-moving-to-mexico/
Z Line Designs Toyota Parker Kligerman Trevor Bayne Out! Pet Care Toyota Jason Leffler Great Clips Toyota
James Stewart Injury Update, courtesy JGR MX
Two time former AMA Supercross Champion, and former AMA Motocross Champion James Stewart will not race round 12 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship this Saturday at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, ON, Canada. UPDATED 4:46pm EASTERN TIME. (Quote from James directly below.)
James, who suffered a crash at last weekend’s event in Indianapolis has been thoroughly examined by his medical team and the determination has been made that he is not yet ready to return to racing.
"Unfortunately injury is a part of sports,” said team JGR MX owner Coy Gibbs. "The safety of our riders is our highest priority and we want James to have time to recover and not risk further injury by coming back too soon."
And from James, courtesy of Red Bull ...
It really hurts me to say this, but after spending the last couple of days under the observation of doctors and my family, it looks like it would be best for me to sit out this weekend’s race in Toronto. The fall at Indy was big but aside from the obvious, it aggravated a couple old injuries and I’ll need time to fully recover from that.
I know you haven’t heard a lot from me over the last few of days, but we’ve been working hard to see what I could and should do. I’ve tried to push through it to see where my limitations are. And unfortunately it looks like that I wouldn’t be able push myself at the pace needed to run with the guys out there. I’m sorry for that.
So at this point, there's no real time line for my return. But we’ll be working at it again next week to reevaluate my abilities for the race in Houston.
Trust me, this was a hard decision to make. And it really came down in the last few hours. After assessing myself again today, talking to my team, my sponsors and my family, it’s clear that I need to give myself the time to heal. So I just want to say thank you for supporting me. To my team, thanks guys and good luck this weekend to Davi; keep that podium streak alive! I’ll be back soon. To my sponsors, you guys are the best, I can’t say that enough. Thank you for the always sticking with me. And to my fans; man all you guys. I mean all you guys on Facebook with me, my Twitter followers, all you guys at the races or watching at home. Thank you for the love. You guys really are the greatest. I’m working so we can get back out there soon, win some more races and have a couple more dinners.
Thank you all,
- James Stewart #7
Source: http://www.supercross.com/news/james-stewart-injury-update-courtesy-jgr-mx
Eric Hinton Harry Hinton Osamu Hiwatashi Gary Hocking Alex Hofmann Andreas Hofmann
Petrucci happy with Ioda progress
The Came Iodaracing Project rider put in a hard shift at the Jerez Test and was satisfied with how the team's CRT machine is coming along.
Danilo Petrucci and the Came Iodaracing Project continued the development of the TR003 CRT machine at the Official MotoGP™ Test at Jerez over the weekend, and the Italian rider left the Spanish circuit pleased with what had been achieved.
Danilo Petrucci:
"We've had three very hard days, but in the end I am satisfied with the results we have achieved. I am the third Italian in the timings and the third CRT bike, even though I fell short of my target lap time by 0.1s – we wanted to be less than three seconds from the MotoGP bikes. Today (Sunday) I tested different tyres and we worked on the electronics a lot. We had two small problems that stopped us right at the moment when the track conditions were ideal for putting in our target lap time, but in the end I improved my lap time at the very end of the day. I must thank the team because they did a fantastic job. The TR003 continues to develop and today it proved it is reliable considering the 87 laps I completed. Now we go to Qatar knowing there is still a lot of work to do."
Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/Cp_L-V8JLGU/Petrucci+happy+Ioda+progress
Giancarlo Baghetti Julian Bailey Mauro Baldi Bobby Ball Marcel Balsa Lorenzo Bandini
Video: Well That Didn't Take Long: V8-powered Toyota GT 86 drift car undergoes testing
Filed under: Aftermarket, Motorsports, Coupe, Performance, Etc., Hatchback, Lexus, Toyota, Racing
Cash-strapped enthusiasts may not have had much to get all sticky over from Camp Toyota in recent years, but the automaker's new GT 86 / Scion FR-S coupe promises to mine a rich paystreak of driving enjoyment. And while we're big (okay, huge) fans of the car's low-speed dynamic thrills, not every enthusiast is so forgiving of its rather middling power and acceleration figures. We knew it wouldn't take long for the aftermarket to remedy this perceived power deficit with things like forced induction and ECU reflashes, but we foolishly expected a full engine swap to take a bit longer than it apparently has.
What you're looking at here is Manabu "Max" Orido's Toyota GT 86 prepped for drifting in D1 Grand Prix events. In this case, that means the two-door has been gutted and stuffed with the 5.0-liter V8 from the Lexus IS F, one of Toyota's more emotive offerings thanks to its honkin' great eight.
Orido's GT 86 is shown here undergoing shakedown testing, and from the looks of things, the transplant appears to be going rather swimmingly. At first glance, we even dig the more aggressive widebody look, lack of paint and all. Check it out for yourself below, and be sure to have your speakers on.
Continue reading Well That Didn't Take Long: V8-powered Toyota GT 86 drift car undergoes testing
Well That Didn't Take Long: V8-powered Toyota GT 86 drift car undergoes testing originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 19:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.autoblog.com/2012/03/30/well-that-didnt-take-long-v8-powered-toyota-gt-86-drift-car-un/
Derek Bell Stefan Bellof Paul Belmondo Tom Belso Antonio Cairoli Trey Canard
Ben Spies: Yamaha YZR-M1 MotoGP could still be a mainstay of 2012
After undergoing a pre-season trial twice at the Sepang Circuit, Malaysia and one in the Jerez Circuit, Spain, Yamaha Factory Racing Team rider, Ben Spies claimed that Yamaha YZR-M1 is a very competitive bike.
Riders from the United States to end the pre-season testing at Jerez last as the fastest rider in the 4th and the fastest Yamaha rider to-2.
Although still 0.7 seconds slower than the fastest rider at the time, Casey Stoner, Spies felt that he was ready for the first MotoGP race of the season at Losail Circuit, Qatar.
“I am satisfied with the course of this trial. I and Jorge Lorenzo worked very hard to try a variety of different methods, and I think we are happy that finally the motor can go to Qatar with us,” said the World Superbike championship in 2009.
“Several years ago the area that seems problematic now been improved. We can not say that the problems are completely gone before we were on the track longer, but we liked the balance of this bike and I think we have a very competitive bike for the season 2012, “added the rider nicknamed the Texas Terror.
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Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/sh4t4-f4E8-/Ben+Spies+Yamaha+YZR+M1+MotoGP+still+mainstay
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Vettel collision: A champion under pressure?
Sebastian Vettel's behaviour during and after the Malaysian Grand Prix has been causing a bit of a fuss in Germany over the past few days.
The media have lapped up his response to his collision with backmarker Narain Karthikeyan, in much the same way as their British counterparts would have done with a similar incident involving Lewis Hamilton, and Vettel has come in for a fair bit of criticism.
On the BBC after the race, Vettel called Karthikeyan an "idiot" for his role in the collision that cost the world champion fourth place.
Speaking in German, the word he chose was "cucumber" - a common insult in that country for bad drivers on the road.
Vettel faces increased competition from outside and inside his Red Bull Team. Photo: Getty/AFP
It has also been pointed out that shots from Vettel's onboard camera appear to show the 24-year-old Red Bull driver giving Karthikeyan a middle-finger salute as he drives past. This has led some to call for him to be punished by governing body the FIA, which so far is keeping a low profile on the matter.
Comparisons have been drawn with McLaren's Jenson Button - who also failed to score any points in Malaysia, but who reacted with his usual calm.
Vettel, some in Germany have said, doesn't know how to lose.
They point out that last year he won 11 races on his way to one of the most dominant championship victories in Formula 1 history. Failing to win four races in a row in that context, the critics say, should not elicit this kind of reaction.
Vettel has not spoken in public since leaving Malaysia, and Red Bull are shrugging it off.
After the race on Sunday, team principal Christian Horner defended Vettel's driving in the collision with Karthikeyan, saying that it was the Indian's "responsibility to get out of the way of the leaders as he is a lapped car".
Although the stewards penalised Karthikeyan for the incident, others are not sure it's quite so clear-cut.
One leading F1 figure told me: "It was completely Vettel's fault - he needed to give Karthikeyan more space. He only had to clear the last inch and he cut across the front of him. He was showing a bit of frustration and it bit him."
Certainly Vettel has found himself at the start of 2012 in a situation with which he is not familiar.
Vettel has had the fastest car in F1 since at least the middle of 2009, and he has used it to good effect.
But now things are different. Red Bull's new car is not a match for the McLaren, and it has also been behind one Mercedes and one Lotus on the grid in each of the first two races.
For a man who is as driven to win - to dominate even - as Vettel is, that will not be a comfortable situation.
Nor will it have escaped his attention that team-mate Mark Webber has so far out-qualified him in both races this year - again, quite a turnaround from 2011, when the Australian managed it only three times in 19 grands prix.
It is early days, but so far the comparison between the two Red Bull drivers looks much more like it was in the first part of 2010 - before the team started fully exploiting the exhaust-blown diffusers that dominated the last 18 months and which have been banned for this season.
Webber was never that comfortable in last season's Red Bull - and while he came to match Vettel on race pace in the second half of last season, he never really got on terms with him in qualifying.
Much of that was to do with the behaviour of the car on corner entry, where the exhaust-blown diffusers were so powerful in increasing performance.
Red Bull's decline has also coincided with the stiffening of the front-wing load test, an attempt to stop teams allowing the ends of the wing to droop towards the track at speed to increase downforce. Red Bull were noticeably better at doing this than the other teams.
It may be an unrelated coincidence, but this year's Red Bull suffers from understeer, a lack of front-end grip - a handling characteristic Webber is comfortable with, while Vettel prefers oversteer.
This is not the first time Vettel has been criticised for letting his emotion get the better of him when things are not going his way.
There was the infamous 'nutter' sign he directed at Webber following their collision in the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix.
There were also mistakes in Britain, Belgium and Singapore that year as he very nearly gifted the world title to Ferrari and Fernando Alonso, who lost it only after a strategic error in the final race.
Such was Vettel's domination in 2011 that it never arose- leading some to say he had reached a new level of maturity both in and out of the car.
The truth of that claim looks set to be tested this year, as Red Bull and Vettel struggle to regain a position that the driver at least seems to consider is rightfully his.
Meanwhile, his rivals will have been watching with interest.
Webber, Alonso, Button and Hamilton remember Vettel's behaviour in 2010 all too well.
Betraying his emotions in such an obvious way will be seen by them as a weakness - they will look at it and think he is rattled.
So it is true to say on the one hand that Vettel's reaction proves he is a winner.
But it is also the case that learning how to lose gracefully - as Button and Alonso, particularly, have learnt in recent years - also has its benefits.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/03/vettel_collision_a_champion_un.html
Michele Alboreto Jean Alesi Jaime Alguersuari Philippe Alliot Cliff Allison Fernando Alonso
Unboxing the Volvo V60 Plug-In Hybrid [videos]
Volvo has released a couple of clever promo videos which pretend to unbox the new Volvo V60 Plug-In Hybrid.
Paul Belmondo Tom Belso Antonio Cairoli Trey Canard HÂkan Carlquist Ricky†Carmichael
Andrea Dovizioso has the potential to be the fastest
Curiosity and Andrea Dovizioso in the speed started his career with Yamaha makes Monster Tech 3 team leaders, technicians and their Herve Poncharal shock.
The Italian rider became the third fastest rider on the third occasion in driving a 1000cc motorcycle YZR-M1 in pre-season testing at Sepang and was in front of the factory Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies.
Whereas in the pre-season testing, Dovizioso is not in good health because he still suffered a broken right collarbone motocross accident.
“We all know that Andrea is a rider with a high level, but I was still surprised by his progress. I knew he was in third position at the end of the rider standings last season, but he was not a rider who likes to push the record time when he did not need it,” said Poncharal .
“But after testing at Valencia last year with Yamaha, he knew he had to adjust riding style,” continued the man from the French. “Seeing him become the fastest Yamaha rider a lot of fun.”
“Yamaha is also satisfied, and I think no one would have thought that he would as soon as he was in a state of injury,” he added. “I believe Andrea’s performance will increase.”
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Reading between the lines in a phoney war
The annual Formula 1 phoney war was in full swing at the second pre-season test at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya this week.
Fernando Alonso was talking down Ferrari's form, Lewis Hamilton was talking up McLaren's - as, intriguingly, was Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel. And the unlikely combination of Kamui Kobayashi and Sauber set the fastest time of the week.
As ever, the headline lap times were a poor guide to the order of the grid that can be expected in Melbourne at the first race in just three weeks' time.
But look behind the fastest laps, and there is usually a way of gleaning at least some sense of form ahead of the season.
Fernando Alonso's Ferrari could yet to turn out to be a dark horse. Photo: Getty
I'll preface what follows with a major caveat - this has been one of the most difficult tests to read for some time. But here goes.
Red Bull, as ever, looked especially strong. Vettel was fastest of all on the first day of the test, and throughout the four days he and team-mate Mark Webber set consistently formidable-looking times.
On Wednesday afternoon, Vettel and Hamilton set out to do race-distance runs at more or less the same time. Both did 66 laps - the length of the Spanish Grand Prix, which will be held at the track in May.
Vettel did five pit stops; Hamilton four. Discount laps on which they went in and out of the pits and they both managed 55 flying laps. Vettel completed his more than two minutes faster than Hamilton.
If that was repeated in a race, Hamilton would be lapped by the end.
And the pattern was repeated on Thursday with Mark Webber and Jenson Button, although the margin was reduced to about half a minute.
Of course, this is very far from an exact scientific comparison.
They didn't use the same tyres as each other - although they don't necessarily have to in the race either.
We don't know what they were doing with fuel loads - although it would be counter-intuitive to start putting fuel in at pit stops because it would provide the team with data that was never going to be relevant to competition.
And it's an especially confusing situation because only the day before Vettel was saying how impressed he had been with the McLaren's pace on the longer runs.
But there was more - none of it especially happy ready for those hoping for a close season.
On the Wednesday, Vettel's fastest time of all was nearly a second faster than Hamilton's on the same type of tyres. Although both were set on very short runs - suggesting a qualifying-type simulation - that's still potentially meaningless as there is no way of knowing the level of fuel on board at the time.
Nevertheless, if you then look at the lap times both were doing at the start of their race-distance runs, they were about the same margin slower than each driver's fastest laps as you would expect given a full race fuel load.
That suggests that the headline lap times of those two drivers could be a reasonably accurate indicator of form - again worrying for McLaren.
Of course, this is only testing, and teams have updates to put on their cars before the first race - as Button pointed out. And everyone expects McLaren to be a close to challenger at the front come Melbourne. Nevertheless, few are under any illusions about Red Bull's strength.
"You're old enough, Andrew," one senior insider said to me during the test, "to know that Red Bull look very strong. McLaren and Ferrari are a bit behind. Force India look like they have a quick car, too."
He might have added that the new Mercedes looks quite decent as well.
But few teams are as difficult to understand right now as Ferrari - who have not done any race simulations to compare with their main rivals.
The messages coming out of the team have all seemed pretty negative.
There has been a lot of attention put on technical director Pat Fry's remark at the first test in Jerez that Ferrari were "not happy" with their understanding of the car.
Start raking through the time sheets, though, and you begin wonder what's behind all the negativity.
On headline lap times, Alonso was less than 0.3secs behind Vettel. And on both his days he started 10-lap runs with a lap in the region of one minute 24.1 seconds.
If you take 10 laps' worth of fuel off that time, you are left with a lap in the low 1:23sec bracket - again, not far off what Vettel managed. And you can bet the Ferrari was running with more than just 10 laps of fuel anyway; most top teams routinely test with 60-80kg of fuel on board.
In other words, the Ferrari actually looks reasonably fast, and an insider did admit: "The car is not as bad as a lot of people think."
If - and it's a big if - Ferrari can start to extract that potential before the first race of the season, Red Bull might just have a serious fight on their hands. And that's without even considering what McLaren might be able to achieve.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/02/reading_between_the_lines_in_a.html
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Official: Honda announces Fit production moving to Mexico
Filed under: Budget, Plants/Manufacturing, Hatchback, Honda
The strength of the Yen is forcing many Japanese automakers to consider building cars for export markets outside their home country. Honda is no different, and has confirmed that it will build the Fit hatchback at its new plant in Mexico starting in the spring of 2014.
The plant in Mexico is not the only location where Honda will build the Fit, but it will be used to supply the small hatchback to the large United States, Mexican and Canadian markets. Honda expects to build up to 200,000 subcompact vehicles per year at its plant near Celaya, Guanajuato.
Honda already builds a huge number of vehicles in North America. In fact, as pointed out in the press release after the break, more than 85 percent of the Honda and Acura models sold in America were built in the United States, Canada or Mexico. What's more, the addition of the Fit to the Accord, Civic, and CR-V means that all four of Honda's global nameplates will be produced in North America.
Continue reading Honda announces Fit production moving to Mexico
Honda announces Fit production moving to Mexico originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.autoblog.com/2012/03/30/honda-announces-fit-production-moving-to-mexico/
Andrea de Adamich Philippe Adams Walt Ader Kurt Adolff Fred Agabashian Kurt Ahrens Jr
Friday, March 30, 2012
2012 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series - Toronto Preview
When the 2012 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series kicked off, expectations were high … very high. After all, the 2011 series was one of the most exciting and variable seasons of premier class racing in the history of the sport, with multiple winners and points lead changes. The championship even came down to a three-way battle in the very last race.
So for 2012, most were hoping for somewhat of a repeat, and for a while it seemed that the likes of Ryan Villopoto, James Stewart, Ryan Dungey, Chad Reed, and Trey Canard might deliver the goods again. But then Canard got hurt in Los Angeles. Okay, not too much of a blow there, but Trey could very well have been a contender, having won three races in 2011. Other than that, for the first four races things were looking up, with four different winners in four rounds. Not bad.
Then along came the East Coast rounds and the main contenders began dropping like flies. First Reed went down in a violent crash during the Dallas main event. The ensuing injury may keep him off the bike for the remainder of the year (which is likely the reason that earlier this week TwoTwo Motorsports announced the signing of Ben Townley to compete in the 2012 AMA Pro Nationals).
Then a press release following the St. Louis round revealed that second in points, Dungey, had fractured his collarbone and undergone surgery in the week leading up to Daytona. Whether he returns to racing before the end of the indoor series or not, Dungey is basically out of the title hunt.
Then last week in Indianapolis, Stewart had his own blunder, falling just after the first turn of his heat race and getting run over by about four other riders. Not many details have been released as to his current condition, but he did not return to racing that night. No word yet on whether fans will be seeing him in action up in Canada.
Last weeks race coverage from Indy
Source: http://www.supercross.com/news/2012-monster-energy-ama-supercross-series-toronto-preview
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Fisker Nina plug-in hybrid caught ahead of new York unveiling
The Nina will be smaller than the Karma and will reportedly act as its entry level model. It will use a powertrain that consists of an electric motor that works alongside a range extending BMW-sourced four-cylinder engine. 
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Motogp: Stoner dominates Jerez tests, Rossi 6th - Agenzia Giornalistica Italia
 BBC Sport | Motogp: Stoner dominates Jerez tests, Rossi 6th Agenzia Giornalistica Italia (AGI) Jerez de la Frontera - Casey Stoner has once again recorded the fastest time on the final day of testing in Jerez. The defending world champion of team Repsol Honda, who had dominated both the first day of testing and yesterday's rain-soaked ... MotoGP: Casey Stoner fastest on final day in JerezBBC Sport Stoner: We can still improve the bike quite a bitcrash.net Stoner tops MotoGP testing times in JerezAFP Herald Sun -Yahoo! Eurosport UK -The Age all 183 news articles » |
Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/RSf1xAroVd5/Motogp+Stoner+dominates+Jerez+tests+Rossi
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Supercross.com is Proud to Announce a New Sponsorship Partnership with The Mint 400
Just in time for The 2012 General Tire Mint 400 race! The Mint 400 and Supercross.com will join forces to produce and distribute news articles, photos, and exclusive video coverage to the vast numbers of Supercross, Motocross, and off-road racing fans on the Supercross.com website, throughout The Mint 400 race weekend, and the weeks following the race.
Mint 400 Owner Matt Martelli says “We’re thrilled to be working with Supercross.com! This partnership will extend our reach with the race dramatically - which is great for the event, our sponsors, and our race teams. Off-road racing and Supercross share the same competitive history and love for dirt - so we’re excited to help showcase The Great American Off-Road Race to the entire Supercross community.”
(Much more below.)
Daryl Ecklund Erik Eggens Richard Eierstedt Jimmy Ellis Jeff Emig Harry Everts
All-new 2013 Lexus ES teased for New York - but it's too late
Lexus has announced today the all-new 2013 ES sedan will make its world debut at the New York Auto Show next week - but it's too late. 
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Video: Chrysler turns to ground game with new "Second Half" ads post Super Bowl
Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram
Chrysler today is launching a continuation of its Halftime In America ad effort for the Ram pickup, Chrysler 300, Dodge Challenger and Jeep Wrangler.
The new ads do not feature Clint Eastwood, as the February Super Bowl ad did.
The Ram ad, titled "Tommy and The Ram," is a vignette that depicts a wife's admiration for her husband's hard work and determination to provide for his family in any economic environment. There is a great line in this ad as he drives his Ram to a job site: "Where there's a truck, there's a job." The idea here is that as long as he has a reliable truck, he always has a chance to earn.
The ad for the Chrysler 300 is told through a father talking about his pride in his son making his own way in life, while the Wrangler spot is told through the story of a young daughter adapting to a new life and new city with her family.
The ads will be breaking during the NCAA Men's basketball semi-finals, NHL games, NASCAR, Mad Men and the American Country Music Awards.
Watch all four ads below.
Continue reading Chrysler turns to ground game with new "Second Half" ads post Super Bowl
Chrysler turns to ground game with new "Second Half" ads post Super Bowl originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 11:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.autoblog.com/2012/03/30/chrysler-turns-to-ground-game-with-new-second-half-ads-post-su/
Chuck Arnold Rene Arnoux Peter Arundell Alberto Ascari Peter Ashdown Ian Ashley
Motogp: Stoner dominates Jerez tests, Rossi 6th - Agenzia Giornalistica Italia
BBC Sport | Motogp: Stoner dominates Jerez tests, Rossi 6th Agenzia Giornalistica Italia (AGI) Jerez de la Frontera - Casey Stoner has once again recorded the fastest time on the final day of testing in Jerez. The defending world champion of team Repsol Honda, who had dominated both the first day of testing and yesterday's rain-soaked ... MotoGP: Casey Stoner fastest on final day in JerezBBC Sport Stoner: We can still improve the bike quite a bitcrash.net Stoner tops MotoGP testing times in JerezAFP Herald Sun -Yahoo! Eurosport UK -The Age all 183 news articles » |
Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/RSf1xAroVd5/Motogp+Stoner+dominates+Jerez+tests+Rossi
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Ram teases new model for New York Auto Show
Ram has released the first teaser image of an upcoming model that will be unveiled at the New York Auto Show. 
Marcel Balsa Lorenzo Bandini Henry Banks Fabrizio Barbazza John Barber Skip Barber
Videos - Indianapolis Supercross 2012
2012 Indianapolis Supercross.
Justin Brayton talks about his career high second place finish.
Blake Wharton after winning the 250 East Lites Main Event.
Davi Millsaps talks about his season best finish from last week's race at Daytona.
http://www.youtube.com/embed/BjiLHpbzVvc?rel=0
Go figure on this one ...
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Source: http://www.supercross.com/features/videos-indianapolis-supercross-2012
Parker Kligerman Trevor Bayne Out! Pet Care Toyota Jason Leffler Great Clips Toyota Paul Menard
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Teased: Nissan releases final teaser for all-new Altima [w/video]
Filed under: New York Auto Show, Sedan, Technology, Nissan, Infotainment
Nissan has released the fifth and final teaser of its all-new 2013 Altima sedan ahead of the car's official debut at the 2012 New York Auto Show. It's a good thing this is the last one, because Nissan has seen fit to show off almost the entire car, albeit very quickly and never stationary.
It's plain to see that this new Altima will be much swoopier than before, with a highly stylized front fascia and a steep D-pillar arc. We also note a rising body line that starts below the side mirrors before heading over the rear haunches to the taillamps. At the rear, there appears to be a bulging rump on the trunk lid that reminds us of the infamous Bangle Butt made popular by past BMW models.
It seems Nissan is most interested in promoting its latest interior technology, pointing out that the 2013 Altima will feature a "new Advanced Drive-Assist Display" in the instrument cluster that "is designed to keep the driver focused on the road." Available will be lane departure warning, rear moving object detection and blind spot warning. We're pretty sure we see steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters, too.
Feel free to peruse the press release below, but not before watching the video. Enjoy, and come back next week for the Altima's full reveal.
Continue reading Nissan releases final teaser for all-new Altima [w/video]
Nissan releases final teaser for all-new Altima [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.autoblog.com/2012/03/29/nissan-releases-final-teaser-for-all-new-altima-w-video/
Lorenzo Bandini Henry Banks Fabrizio Barbazza John Barber Skip Barber Paolo Barilla
F1 pre-season testing provides poor guide to form
So, after four days of testing and nearly 3,500 laps of running at Jerez in sunny southern Spain, what has the first Formula 1 pre-season test revealed about the season to come?
The simplest answer – as ever – is “not much”. Testing – or the “winter world championship”, as McLaren chairman Ron Dennis famously described it – is a notoriously poor guide to form.
Or at least it is if you look only at the headline lap times. At the end of last year’s test in Jerez, the fastest man was Williams driver Rubens Barrichello – and his team were about to embark on the worst season in their once-illustrious history.
Likewise, if anyone thinks Lotus driver Romain Grosjean is going to win this year’s world championship after setting the pace in Jerez this week, they will be waiting a long time for those pigs to fly in front of that blue moon.
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso set the fastest time on the final day of the first Formula 1 pre-season testing in Jerez, in Spain with a time of 1.18.877. Photo: Getty
Nevertheless, it would be wrong to say that Jerez has revealed nothing.
First of all, it has become clear the teams dislike the look of the new cars as much as anyone.
For them, the ugly step on top of the noses of all cars apart from the McLaren is an unfortunate necessity in the pursuit of the best possible aerodynamics, following a rule change requiring lower front noses.
"Performance comes before aesthetics," as Red Bull design chief Adrian Newey put it.
The teams head back to their factories with a mountain of data, on which decisions will be based about the direction in which to take the development of their new cars.
These gleaming machines are prototypes for their entire lives, but in terms of maturity right now they are still in the post-natal stage.
Nowhere, it seems, is that more true than at Ferrari, whose decision to start with a clean sheet of paper after a chastening year in 2011 has left them with a lot of work to do.
Fernando Alonso may have left Jerez with the fastest time from the final day - and the second fastest overall - but no-one was fooled by that.
Ferrari were clearly struggling to understand their new F2012 and spent most of the four days doing aerodynamic assessment tests.
The car, they said, was behaving inconsistently in the corners, and so far fixing its behaviour at one stage - the entry, say - messes it up at either the mid-corner or exit, or both.
This is not an especially encouraging sign for a team whose 2011 season came off the rails at the final pre-season test, when new parts that they expected to bring a chunk of speed actually made the car worse.
It turned out this was a result of a lack of correlation between the results that were being created in the wind tunnel and the actual performance of the car out on the track - a major problem in a sport where aerodynamics are critical to performance.
Ferrari spent most of last season trying to get on top of this, and by late summer they insisted they had. Yet when they introduced an update to the car at the Belgian Grand Prix in August, that too did not work.
Were they not concerned about this, I asked an insider a little later in the season. No, he said, they knew why it had happened - the wind tunnel correlation was fine.
Yet on Thursday this week, there was technical director Pat Fry admitting that there was still a small problem in this area. "There's reasonable correlation," Fry said. "I certainly wouldn't say it was perfect."
Despite that eye-catching lap time from Alonso, then, Ferrari's potential remains unclear.
"That time was on soft tyres," a source close to the team said. "It was not so special. The feeling is they are waiting for a lot from this car - but they don't know how to get it. It is impossible to say what will be the future."
But it is not just Ferrari. Over at McLaren, Lewis Hamilton has said his first impressions of the car were "all positive". But the more he talked, the more you wondered.
They had not found the best set-up yet, he said - unsurprising, perhaps, so early in testing.
"It feels like an evolution of last year's car in many ways but also there are some things that are not so good," he added. "The downforce on the rear for instance, is not as good through the high-speed corners as it was last year, but I'm sure we'll get that back."
Again, this was to be expected given the ban on exhaust-blown diffusers, from which all top teams gained huge amounts of rear downforce last year - and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel also noticed a similar experience in his car.
But perhaps Hamilton's most revealing remark was this: "You never know what fuel loads people are on. I think we've been quite aggressive with our fuel loads."
A translation of which seems to be that McLaren are running with less fuel on board than they might normally be expected to - which will make their lap times look more impressive.
Despite that, the car looked as if it was not quite as fast as the Red Bull, which Hamilton effectively admitted. "I think you can see the Red Bull looks quick," he said.
The Red Bull indeed appeared to do its times with relative ease, both in the hands of Mark Webber and, later in the week, Vettel.
Just as much of a concern for their rivals will be that pictures suggest the car seems to have retained what most believe to be its crucial secret.
That is getting the front wing to run closer to the ground than any other car, a critical aerodynamic advantage.
This is despite design chief Adrian Newey saying they had had to reduce the rake on their car following the ban on exhaust-blown diffusers and despite the introduction of a tougher front-wing deflection test.
And yet even Red Bull clearly have work to do. After three pretty much trouble-free days, an electrical fault appeared on the final morning, and Vettel lost an entire morning's running while the team fixed it.
In summary, then, Red Bull again look like the team to beat, and there is a mixed picture from McLaren and Ferrari.
Just as it did in 2011 when the team were Renault, the Lotus has left a good initial impression.
Toro Rosso and Williams also appear to have decent cars, while Force India fell back after a promising start, almost certainly because of losing a day to reserve driver Jules Bianchi's crash on Thursday.
There follows a 10-day break before the teams reconvene at Barcelona on 21 February.
The Circuit de Catalunya's mix of long corners of varying speeds have long been the ultimate test of an F1 car's all-round capabilities, so more pieces of the jigsaw should fall into place there.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/02/f1_pre-season_testing_provides.html
Hiroaki Kuzuhara Z Line Designs Toyota Parker Kligerman Trevor Bayne Out! Pet Care Toyota Jason Leffler
New Renault Grand Kangoo 7-passenger van revealed
Renault has revealed the Grand Kangoo for the French market. Order books open early April with prices in France starting from ?20,750. 
Bill Aston Richard Attwood Manny Ayulo Luca Badoer Giancarlo Baghetti Julian Bailey
Alonso gifted a Ferrari FF for winning the Malaysian GP
Ferrari's star Formula One driver Fernando Alonso brought home a surprise win at the recent Malaysian Grand Prix, and as a result was rewarded with a Ferrari FF. 
Nicky Hayden James Haydon Dirk Heidolf Franz Heller John Hempleman Pat Hennen
All-new 2013 Lexus ES teased for New York - but it's too late
Lexus has announced today the all-new 2013 ES sedan will make its world debut at the New York Auto Show next week - but it's too late. Gregg Hansford Tetsuya Harada John Hartle Wil Hartog Gary Haslam Leon Haslam
F1 pre-season testing provides poor guide to form
So, after four days of testing and nearly 3,500 laps of running at Jerez in sunny southern Spain, what has the first Formula 1 pre-season test revealed about the season to come?
The simplest answer – as ever – is “not much”. Testing – or the “winter world championship”, as McLaren chairman Ron Dennis famously described it – is a notoriously poor guide to form.
Or at least it is if you look only at the headline lap times. At the end of last year’s test in Jerez, the fastest man was Williams driver Rubens Barrichello – and his team were about to embark on the worst season in their once-illustrious history.
Likewise, if anyone thinks Lotus driver Romain Grosjean is going to win this year’s world championship after setting the pace in Jerez this week, they will be waiting a long time for those pigs to fly in front of that blue moon.
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso set the fastest time on the final day of the first Formula 1 pre-season testing in Jerez, in Spain with a time of 1.18.877. Photo: Getty
Nevertheless, it would be wrong to say that Jerez has revealed nothing.
First of all, it has become clear the teams dislike the look of the new cars as much as anyone.
For them, the ugly step on top of the noses of all cars apart from the McLaren is an unfortunate necessity in the pursuit of the best possible aerodynamics, following a rule change requiring lower front noses.
"Performance comes before aesthetics," as Red Bull design chief Adrian Newey put it.
The teams head back to their factories with a mountain of data, on which decisions will be based about the direction in which to take the development of their new cars.
These gleaming machines are prototypes for their entire lives, but in terms of maturity right now they are still in the post-natal stage.
Nowhere, it seems, is that more true than at Ferrari, whose decision to start with a clean sheet of paper after a chastening year in 2011 has left them with a lot of work to do.
Fernando Alonso may have left Jerez with the fastest time from the final day - and the second fastest overall - but no-one was fooled by that.
Ferrari were clearly struggling to understand their new F2012 and spent most of the four days doing aerodynamic assessment tests.
The car, they said, was behaving inconsistently in the corners, and so far fixing its behaviour at one stage - the entry, say - messes it up at either the mid-corner or exit, or both.
This is not an especially encouraging sign for a team whose 2011 season came off the rails at the final pre-season test, when new parts that they expected to bring a chunk of speed actually made the car worse.
It turned out this was a result of a lack of correlation between the results that were being created in the wind tunnel and the actual performance of the car out on the track - a major problem in a sport where aerodynamics are critical to performance.
Ferrari spent most of last season trying to get on top of this, and by late summer they insisted they had. Yet when they introduced an update to the car at the Belgian Grand Prix in August, that too did not work.
Were they not concerned about this, I asked an insider a little later in the season. No, he said, they knew why it had happened - the wind tunnel correlation was fine.
Yet on Thursday this week, there was technical director Pat Fry admitting that there was still a small problem in this area. "There's reasonable correlation," Fry said. "I certainly wouldn't say it was perfect."
Despite that eye-catching lap time from Alonso, then, Ferrari's potential remains unclear.
"That time was on soft tyres," a source close to the team said. "It was not so special. The feeling is they are waiting for a lot from this car - but they don't know how to get it. It is impossible to say what will be the future."
But it is not just Ferrari. Over at McLaren, Lewis Hamilton has said his first impressions of the car were "all positive". But the more he talked, the more you wondered.
They had not found the best set-up yet, he said - unsurprising, perhaps, so early in testing.
"It feels like an evolution of last year's car in many ways but also there are some things that are not so good," he added. "The downforce on the rear for instance, is not as good through the high-speed corners as it was last year, but I'm sure we'll get that back."
Again, this was to be expected given the ban on exhaust-blown diffusers, from which all top teams gained huge amounts of rear downforce last year - and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel also noticed a similar experience in his car.
But perhaps Hamilton's most revealing remark was this: "You never know what fuel loads people are on. I think we've been quite aggressive with our fuel loads."
A translation of which seems to be that McLaren are running with less fuel on board than they might normally be expected to - which will make their lap times look more impressive.
Despite that, the car looked as if it was not quite as fast as the Red Bull, which Hamilton effectively admitted. "I think you can see the Red Bull looks quick," he said.
The Red Bull indeed appeared to do its times with relative ease, both in the hands of Mark Webber and, later in the week, Vettel.
Just as much of a concern for their rivals will be that pictures suggest the car seems to have retained what most believe to be its crucial secret.
That is getting the front wing to run closer to the ground than any other car, a critical aerodynamic advantage.
This is despite design chief Adrian Newey saying they had had to reduce the rake on their car following the ban on exhaust-blown diffusers and despite the introduction of a tougher front-wing deflection test.
And yet even Red Bull clearly have work to do. After three pretty much trouble-free days, an electrical fault appeared on the final morning, and Vettel lost an entire morning's running while the team fixed it.
In summary, then, Red Bull again look like the team to beat, and there is a mixed picture from McLaren and Ferrari.
Just as it did in 2011 when the team were Renault, the Lotus has left a good initial impression.
Toro Rosso and Williams also appear to have decent cars, while Force India fell back after a promising start, almost certainly because of losing a day to reserve driver Jules Bianchi's crash on Thursday.
There follows a 10-day break before the teams reconvene at Barcelona on 21 February.
The Circuit de Catalunya's mix of long corners of varying speeds have long been the ultimate test of an F1 car's all-round capabilities, so more pieces of the jigsaw should fall into place there.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/02/f1_pre-season_testing_provides.html
Philipp Hafeneger Kensuke Haga Noriyuki Haga Josef Hage Andreas Hahn Richard Haidegger
Lexus developing an entry-level crossover - report
Andy Pfeiffenberger, the vice president of Lexus Europe, has revealed the company is considering an entry-level crossover to battle the Audi Q5 and BMW X3. 
Bill Ivy Olivier Jacque Sid Jensen Mika Kallio Hideo Kanaya Takazumi Katayama
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