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Sebastian Vettel claims pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix, ahead of Lewis Hamilton

Li Shufu, chairman of Geely Holding Group, which acquired Volvo from Ford in 2010, faces a grueling dilemma: Risk diluting the Swedish marque by sharing technology with Geely or let the Chinese brand face cutthroat competition alone.

55 teams are expected to attend the Oregon Trail Rally, including reigning Canadian champions Antoine L'Estage and Nathalie Richard.

The third round of the Rally America National Championship covers more than 120 miles of competition stages across Portland over three days, May 4-6th.

Those stages include gravel miles up Mount Hood and some tarmac stages on the Portland International Raceway.

Source: Rally America

Roger Penske can understand Rick Hendrick's frustration about being stuck on NASCAR Sprint Cup win number 199 like no one else.

Jimmie Johnson won number 199, in Kansas last October, for Hendrick Motor Sports. And no one from HMS has seen victory lane since then.

While going thirteen races without a victory doesn't sound like much of a drought considering that a Hendrick customer, Stewart Haas Racing, has collected eight of the last 16 victories.

Even the most dominant team in sports goes through a dry spell.

On the other hand is crossing a century mark a kind of stumbling block?

As five-time Cup Champion Johnson, who was quickest in practice on Friday, said "we've watched other athletes hit a homerun mark, or whatever it may be, and just kind of get stuck. We know that our teams are all capable of winning races and we've all been very close this year."

There happens to be an analogy and it's also in motorsports.

Penske Racing has a record in IndyCar type racing that is unapproachable by any team. Except that there was nearly a three-year, 55-race, long dry spell between win number 99 and 100.

Paul Tracy won number 99 in May of 1997, in St. Louis, and not until Gil de Ferran won at Nazareth, in April of 2000, could Penske claim victory number 100.

Penske, who also has a two-car Cup team, told Auto123.com "It was certainly tough to go through that span but the focus wasn't on getting the 100 wins, we just wanted a victory. The milestones are rewarding but we go into every race expecting to win, whether it is number one or 100.

"I am sure Rick will tell you that no matter how many races you have won before, it is always the next win that is on your mind and the longer you go between victories the more relief you feel when you finally do win."

From GMM

Nico Rosberg escaped unscathed but the bird was not so lucky, after a 200 km/h collision in Bahrain during Friday practice.

Bild newspaper reports that the Shanghai winner, and Friday afternoon's fastest in the island Kingdom, came to blows with a wayward feathered-friend as Rosberg's Mercedes circulated the Sakhir circuit.

Video and photo footage depicted the 26-year-old German driver returning to the pits with bloodied feathers stuck in his visor.

"I thought, God, what's that?!" Rosberg told the newspaper.

"It was a violent impact, pushing my head right back. The bird exploded on the helmet, but nothing else happened," he said.

In 1960, British F1 driver Alan Stacey died at Spa-Francorchamps, after a bird smashed through his visor.

Rosberg wears a state-of-the-art EUR 12,000 Schuberth helmet.

History/Description: Giving BMW fans a touring 2+2 that was equal parts luxury and performance, the BMW 6-Series was available in both coupe and convertible variations.

Look for top-notch luxury and technology features—including heated and chilled seats, navigation, premium audio, keyless engine start and plenty more. As pricey BMW models tended to go, the 6-Series packed world-class equipment levels.

2004 BMW 6-Serie (Photo: BMW)

Power came from one of two V8 engines. Earlier 6-Series models wearing a ‘645' badge got a 4.4 litre unit with 325 horsepower. From 2006 and on, a 4.8 litre V8 with 360 horsepower was fitted—alongside a nomenclature change to ‘650'.

Look for rear-wheel drive on all models. A six-speed transmission was available in the driver's choice of automatic or manual.

What Owners Like: No surprises here. Styling, power, luxury, comfort, technology and exclusivity were among the most highly-rated aspects for 6-Series owners. Steering and handling response were said to be top-notch, as was seat comfort. Many drivers claim their 6-Series sticks to corners like glue.

What Owners Dislike: Many 6-Series owners wished for a roomier back seat, better gas mileage and easier-to-use controls. Many owners report that BMW's iDrive central command interface overcomplicates manipulation of even simple vehicle functions.

Common Issues: Shopping for a convertible 6-Series? Be sure the motorized roof operates smoothly in both directions as outlined in the owner's manual. Note any binding, excessive wear or self-reversing of the top or power windows during roof operation. Duct tape is a bad sign, too. A variety of sensors and motors work the roof mechanism, and if any are faulty or failing, problems may result.

Approach your test-drive looking exhaustively for signs of electrical or electronics-related problems. The 6-Series is a complicated car—meaning a virtual rat's-nest of wiring, sensors, modules and computers lies within. You'll want to ensure these are all talking to one another effectively.

Make sure the iDrive system, climate control, navigation and driver computer all work as expected. Try the motorized seats, all lights, and all accessories-- including the keyfob and paddle-shifters, to be sure they're functioning properly.

2008 BMW 6-Serie (Photo: Philippe Champoux/Auto123.TV, Matthieu Lambert/Auto123.com)

Continue reading 2004-2010 BMW 6-Series Pre-Owned

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel seems to have waken up at the Bahrain Grand Prix, taking his team's first pole of the season - out-qualifying his teammate Mark Webber, also for the first time in 2012.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton secured yet another front row start - his third in four races -. The Brit is then followed by Webber (third) and his McLaren teammate Jenson Button (fourth).

Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) struggled to repeat his Shanghai performance of last week, managing only fifth. Aboard the second Mercedes, Michael Schumacher had an even tougher time, exiting qualifying after Q1 because he did not make the break-out time.

Hekki Kovalainen (Caterham) can be blamed for the seven-time world champion's surprise exit: he put in a blistering lap near the end of the session - with Schumacher on the bubble - only a tenth shy of McLaren and Ferrari; a full second faster that what his Caterham teammate Vitaly Petrov could do.

To Schumacher's defence, he did experience KERS problems, which explain why he did not venture himself out for one last run that could have put him clear of Kovalainen's effort. William's Pastor Maldonado also had reasons to complain about the energy recovery system.

The Venezuelan was forced to sit out Q2. He then dropped five places on the grid because of a gear box change.

Completing the top 10, are Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo, Lotus' Romain Grosjean, Sauber's Sergio Perez, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Force India's Paul di Resta.

Both Alonso and di Resta elected not to run in Q3, in order to save themselves an extra set of fresh rubber for the race.

Also noteworthy, rookie Charles Pic (Marussia) out-qualified his teammate Timo Glock for the first time of the season. But to be fair, Pedro de la Rosa, in his HRT F112, also qualified ahead of the German.

Source: Autosport.com



Starting grid - Bahrain Grand Prix
From ItaliaRacing.net

First row

Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 1min32.422s - Q3
Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 1min32.520s - Q3


Second row
Mark Webber (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 1min32.637s - Q3
Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 1min32.711s - Q3

Third row
Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP W03) - 1min32.821s - Q3
Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 1min32.912s - Q3

Fourth row
Romain Grosjean (Lotus E20-Renault) - 1min33.008s - Q3
Sergio Perez (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 1min33.394s - Q3

Fifth row

Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F2012) - no time - Q3
Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) - no time - Q3


Sixth row

Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E20-Renault) - 1min33.789s - Q2
Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 1min33.806s - Q2

Seventh row

Nico Hulkenberg (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) - 1min33.807s - Q2
Felipe Massa (Ferrari F2012) - 1min33.912 - Q2

Eighth row
Bruno Senna (Williams FW34-Renault) - 1min34.017s - Q2
Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham CT01-Renault) - 1min36.132s - Q2

Ninth row

Michael Schumacher (Mercedes MGP W03) - 1min34.865s - Q1
Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 1min35.014s - Q1


10th row
Vitaly Petrov (Caterham CT01-Renault) - 1min35.823s - Q1

Charles Pic (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) - 1min37.683s - Q1


11th row

Pedro De La Rosa (HRT F112-Cosworth) - 1min37.883s - Q1
Timo Glock (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) - 1min37.905s - Q1


12th row

Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW34-Renault) - 1min34.639s - Q2 *

Narain Karthikeyan (HRT F112-Cosworth) - 1min38.314s - Q1



* five-place grid penalty

From GMM

The actual flames of Bahrain's unrest have touched yet another member of the formula one fraternity.

It has already emerged that Force India and Sauber team personnel, driving in hired vehicles en route from the circuit to their hotels, have come close to the Molotov cocktails being thrown by protesters.

Germany's Bild newspaper reports that the latest figure to come face to face with the controversial off-track action this weekend is Pasquale Lattuneddu, the well-known right-hand man of F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.

The report said a Molotov cocktail exploded close to Lattuneddu's car as he witnessed a clash between young rioters and police.

He would not confirm or comment.

Bild also reported that Michael Schumacher, despite publicly backing the Bahrain grand prix on several occasions, has moved to a "secret" location that is "protected by barbed wire" for the rest of the weekend.

Media reports say the 2012 event at Sakhir has quickly become the most controversial event in F1's long history.

"The worst case scenario?" speculated Telegraph correspondent Tom Cary from the Persian Gulf state. "It doesn't bear thinking about.

"But it could mean (Jean) Todt and (Bernie) Ecclestone are gored on the horns of a dilemma of their own making."

Other first-hand observers are less worried.

"So far my picture of Bahrain is different from what the news agencies painted and what was said in the paddock in Malaysia and China," wrote O Estado de S.Paulo correspondent Livio Oricchio.

"At least with the information I have, the scenario is less tense than it seemed. But, you know, anything can happen. Hopefully not."

From GMM

FIA president Jean Todt was unmoved on Saturday despite reports a Bahraini protester has been killed during anti-F1 demonstrations.

Opposition groups, calling the dead protester an "F1 martyr", claimed the latest clashes with police resulted in a body being left on the roof of a building less than 10 kilometres from the capital Manama.

Sky News in Britain said the Kingdom's government declined to comment.

"We know protests can have a negative result," Frenchman Todt told the BBC when asked about the reported death.

"We are a governing body running sport, you can have lots of protests and there can be consequences, and I am not sure the protests would not have happened if the grand prix would not have happened."

The FIA president said all the teams support the Bahrain grand prix.

From GMM

Rumours are swirling after qualifying in Bahrain that Force India was deliberately excluded from Saturday's 'world feed' television coverage.

That coverage is controlled by Formula One Management, the sport's Bernie Ecclestone-run company.

F1 chief executive Ecclestone is believed to have been angry on Friday that Force India sat out the second practice session over security fears.

The 81-year-old Briton offered to ride in the Silverstone based team's hire vehicles after dark with frightened mechanics and personnel, but revealed late on Friday that they had turned down the offer.

Then on Saturday, as Force India returned to the track for the third practice session and qualifying, television viewers noticed that the orange, green and white cars were conspicuously absent from their screens.

That was despite Paul di Resta racing all the way through the three-part qualifying session into Q3.

"You could say it was Bernie's revenge, I couldn't comment," The Times' Kevin Eason said on Twitter.

Another journalist, Adam Hay-Nicholls, joked that the Force India blackout "could be season-long unless the team goes grovelling to Mr E".

From GMM

Official confirmation of France's return to the formula one calendar is now close, Radio Monte Carlo is reporting.

"The French authorities have finally agreed the price with (Bernie) Ecclestone," the report said.

Earlier, when prime minister Francois Fillon said advanced talks with F1 were taking place, he indicated the gap with Ecclestone's demands was about 2 million euros.

RMC said the deal "should be completed next week".

It is expected that the Ecclestone-owned Paul Ricard will share an annually alternating grand prix date with Belgium's Spa-Francorchamps, beginning in 2013.

From GMM

Internet hackers have threatened to wreak havoc as they sided against formula one over the sport's decision to push ahead with the highly controversial Bahrain grand prix.

The well-known 'hacktivists' Anonymous brought down F1's official website on Friday, slamming Bernie Ecclestone as "evil" and threatening the "worst sh** storm" if the track action continues to proceed this weekend in the troubled island Kingdom.

"Attacks on their (the teams') computer servers could prevent the race taking place," the Daily Express newspaper speculated.

Anonymous also took control of another specialist website, posting a statement that accused the sport of supporting the Bahrain government despite the country's "human rights situation" and saying F1 will now "be punished".

In an awkward official press conference on Friday, team bosses continued to support the sport's decision to press ahead with the race.

"Ultimately we're a race team," said McLaren and FOTA's Martin Whitmarsh. "We're here to go motor racing and that's our number one priority."

From GMM

The secrets of Ferrari's newfound pitstop speed in 2012 have emerged.

It was reported recently that although the F2012 car is far from the fastest in this year's field, it is being turned around by Ferrari's pit crew the quickest at recent races.

The crew performing a pitstop (Photo: Ferrari)

Spain's Marca sports newspaper reports that the main secret is an innovative wheel nut and wheel gun design, featuring a nut that is an inherent component of the wheel rim.

After the nut is untightened, the wheel gun is then used by the operator to yank the old wheel from the spindle.

Previously, the untightening and removal of the wheel were two separate processes.

The other advantage is that when the new wheel goes on, all the wheel gun operator needs to do is pull the trigger on his gun, because the nut and washer are already in place on the new wheel.

Ferrari crew (Photo: Ferrari S.p.A)

Marca reports that Ferrari's 2.4 second pitstop in Shanghai was an outright record.

The system was pioneered by Mercedes late last season, but Ferrari appears to be the first to perfect it.

The Spanish report also said Red Bull, McLaren and Lotus are all now working to perfect integrated wheel/nut systems.

Ryan Hunter-Reay will participate in Viper's return to the ALMS - and he's looking forward to sharing the wheel of SRT's GTS-R with Dominik Farnbacher, Marc Goossens and Canada's Kuno Wittmer.

But for that, the IndyCar driver has to split his time between commitments to Andretti Autosport and Riley Technologies (the Viper's headquarters). If he's putting the extra miles in, it's because he intends to go the disance.

Wittmer, Farnbacher, Goossens and Hunter-Reay (Photo: ALMS)

"I think it's important to stay diversified. You need to have your skill set challenged all the time - always putting yourself in new environments," he said. "You have to adapt all the time, but if it has four wheels then I'll drive it. I wish I could do it more."

And Hunter-Reay is no stranger to "diversity" - he won the P2 class at Sebring no later than in 2011.

"I've driven a few cars like the Viper - GT cars for Porsche and Ferrari," Hunter Reay added. "I've done it before and I'm ready for the challenge. [My] goal is to get to Le Mans in a prototype so hopefully that will happen at some point soon."

Source: ALMS.com

RM Auctions has added a rare Ferrari F40 Prototype to its Monaco event, due May 12 at the Grimaldi Forum. The car is one of a mere eight F40 Prototypes known to exist; it was converted into GT racing spec by Michelotto, and was most recently housed in the garage of a Milanese collector.

Photo: RM Auctions

The sixth of eight cars used by the factory for testing, it is chassis number 74047. It was displayed t the 1987 Frankfurt Motor Show, with GT modifications made subsequently. Its ride height is lower by 5 cm. It produces 590 hp and boasts Brembo brakes, racing uniball suspension, quick-fill fuel system, extra NACA cooling ducts, fire system, and wider, Speedline wheels.

It still wears the colours it had when winning two first and two second-place podium finishes in the Italian Supercar GT Champsionship.

Estimated worth is between 700,000 and 900,000 euros.


_{Source: GTSpirit}

Toyota won tentative dismissal of some claims by plaintiffs who said their vehicles lost value because of the automaker's recalls for sudden, unintended acceleration-related issues. U.S. District Judge James Selna in Santa Ana, Calif.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it will hold a forum on lithium-ion batteries in electric cars next month, almost a year after a Chevrolet Volt caught fire three weeks after a crash-test.

Word broke this week that the next generation of the Ford Mustang, due in 2014, will have a design similar to the Evos concept shown at the 2011 Frankfurt motor show.

and#8220;After thirty years in America, South Bend to me still refuses to be anything but Souse Bend. Yet readers will not sail in uncharted waters.

Also in this episode: The Indy 500 roster takes shape,