From GMM
Maria de Villota's condition has been downgraded from 'critical' to 'serious' as she recovers from her horror testing crash in an English hospital.
Marussia's 32-year-old test driver is currently in an induced coma following another round of surgery on Friday.
"Whilst Maria remains acutely ill ... she has been responding well to the treatment she has received since her accident," the team said in a statement.
Team boss John Booth told Bild newspaper: "The swelling in her head is not getting worse.
"This is some good news, but it will take a lot of time before she is completely well again. At the moment it's day to day, hour to hour."
Briton Booth said de Villota, who lost her right eye due to the severe head and face injuries, is aware of what has happened.
"Yes, she has spent most of the time conscious," he told the German newspaper. "But after the long surgery, the doctors decided it would be best for her recovery if she is in an artificial coma."
He denied Marussia acted negligently by putting an inexperienced driver, who does not have an FIA super license, at the wheel of the team's 2012 car for an aerodynamic straight line test.
"No, we did not. This is the normal method for a team to train its new development drivers and give them some experience.
"And it was not the first time Maria has driven a modern formula one car."
Booth would not talk about the likely cause of the crash.
"I cannot. Not yet," he insisted.
"Unlike in some other countries there are very strict procedures in England. What happened must not only be examined by the team but also by the authorities."
Booth said he can therefore "not talk about" issues such as why the truck loading ramp was sticking up at visor height.
Asked if the incident could have "serious consequences" for the Marussia team, he answered: "All I can say is that safety is taken very seriously in England."
From GMM
A young driver test is going ahead at Silverstone next week.
Earlier, Mercedes' Norbert Haug described as "ridiculous" the confusion surrounding the plans, after some teams baulked at running at Abu Dhabi as scheduled in November due to the calendar congestion in 2012.
F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone then threw water on the alternate Silverstone plan because, technically, he controls a grand prix venue in the days before and after a world championship round.
The Spanish backmarker HRT, however, has confirmed it will definitely be in action at Silverstone next Thursday and Friday.
"An agreement has been finally reached", the team said in a statement.
Boss Luis Perez-Sala added: "The fact that these tests will finally be able to take place at Silverstone is great news for us because it fits perfectly with the next step that we had planned for (Chinese driver) Ma Qing Hua's development programme."
On July 11th at San Diego's Comic-Con International, Hyundai will showcase the
Zombie Survival Machine, a customized
2013 Elantra Coupe designed by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman.
 |
| Photo: Hyundai |
Built by Design Craft, this one-off zombie killer will obviously never enter production... unless the nightmarish scenario comes to life.
Car enthusiasts who want to see the modifications to the Elantra, which will appear on the next cover of the popular comic book, can visit
www.hyundaiundead.com.
Guy Smith and Bill Auberlen have put their respective cars on pole of their respective class at the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix of Lime Rock.
Guy Smith clocked his fastest lap in 44.017s in his Dyson Racing's Madaza-powered Lola coupe, the car he shares with Chris Dyson, and took his first pole of the season by doing so.
"We have struggled this year; it has been an uphill battle," admitted Smith. "After the Monterey round (in May, team owner) Rob Dyson said we need to knuckle down and put in the work. We've worked for the last seven weeks and tested and tested and tested.
Lucas Luhr, in the P1 rival Muscle Milk Pickett Racing HPD ARX-03a, took second with a lap of 44.119s.
In GT, Bill Auberlen flew to pole position in his BMW Team RLL M3 GT, which means he will start his 100th ALMS race first. Corvette's Oliver Gavin follows in third, and then comes Team RLL's second car, driven DTM racer Joey Hand and Dirk Müller.
"We rolled off the truck really strong," Auberlen said. "We were really strong the first session and got better in the second. Qualifying went green and we banged a good lap out."
P2 pole went to Level 5 Motorsports' Christophe Bouchut, driving an HPD ARX-03b.
Canadian Kyle Marcelli (ORECA FLM09) shined in the LMPC class, taking a pole of his own for CORE autosport.
Alex Job's Racing Leh Keen (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup) took care of the GTC category.
Qualifying results* - ALMS (Lime Rock Park)
1. Dyson/Smith (Lola B12/60-Mazda) - Dyson - 44.017s
2. Luhr/Graf (HPD ARX-03a) - Pickett - 44.119
3. Tucker/Bouchut (HPD ARX-03b) - Level 5 - 46.539s
4. Marsal/Lux (Lola B11/66-Mazda) - Dyson - 46.552s
5. Tucker/Diaz (HPD ARX-03b) - Level 5 - 47.007
6. Plowman/Hansson (Morgan-Judd) - Conquest - 47.072s
7. Marcelli/Downs (Oreca FLM09) - Merchant - 47.249s
8. Junqueira/Drissi (Oreca FLM09) - RSR - 47.482s
9. Dempsey/Foster (Lola B12/86-Mazda) - Dempsey - 47.992s
10. Leitzinger/Dobson (Oreca FLM09) - PR1 - 48.033s
11. Popow/Kimber-Smith (Oreca FLM09) - CORE - 48.134s
12. Bennett/Braun (Oreca FLM09) - CORE - 48.137s
13. Richard/Ende (Oreca FLM09) - Dempsey - 48.726s
14. Mueller/Auberlen (BMW M3) - Rahal - 50.920
(...)
*Unofficial results
Kurt Busch's road to redemption got a bit shorter with a win in the Nationwide race at Daytona International Raceway on Friday night.
The race came down to a green-white checkered flag finish.
“We brought it home to Victory Lane at Daytona,” an emotional Busch said. “That there is a statement - that's what (owner) James Finch is all about. He loves Daytona and I'm happy that we were able to deliver.
“All of (the crew) came out to the start/finish line to be a part of the celebration. It's all about heart, and it's all about passion with these guys and I couldn't be more proud of this team effort tonight.”
Pushing Busch to the win was pole-sitter Ricky Stenhouse Jr., followed by Michael Annett.
“(Kurt) was fast all night and I just pushed him to the win,” Stenhouse said. “I was hoping I could make a move there, but I saw the No. 3 (Austin Dillon) car and everybody coming, so I tried to duck out and block them and we ended up second. It was a fun race.”
The reason for redemption is that the volatile one-time Sprint Cup champ parted ways with Penske Racing at the end of last season leaving the driver without a top ride for the first time in his career. James Finch who owns the tiny Phoenix Racing team hired Busch as he tries to regain a championship contending team.
“There's no other guy that gets as excited for Daytona as James Finch,” Busch said. “He wanted his cars orange so that they could be seen up front and so that the car could be recognized without a sponsor on it. We drove an unsponsored car into Victory Lane tonight.”
It was his second Nationwide win of the year. Earlier he won in a Kyle Busch Motorsports cars.
The race set a Nationwide Series record with 42 lead changes and 16 different leaders, besting the previous mark set at Daytona in February.
A combination of tandem drafting and big pack racing produced “the big one,” a 16-car wreck on lap 66 of the 100-lap race. A total of 26 cars suffered damage in the event.
Later Danica Patrick having one of her best runs and contending for the win when her car was spun and she hit the inside wall with about 16 laps to go.
From GMM
Red Bull has indicated it is keen to keep Sebastien Buemi on board as reserve driver next year.
The Swiss was dumped as junior team Toro Rosso's race driver at the end of 2011, but Red Bull Racing chief Christian Horner has indicated he is very happy with the 23-year-old's performance in his new role.
"In the simulator he's doing a sensational job," the Briton told the Swiss newspaper Blick.
"Technically he is very good, and in the simulator he can adapt to the driving style of both the race drivers without any problems. That's pretty unique," Horner added.
Buemi said earlier this week there is a possibility he could do some driving during a Friday morning practice session this season.
Horner apologised as he said that will not be possible.
But he added: "He will have a job with us in 2013 if he wants. We absolutely want to keep him."
Buemi, however, wants to return to racing next year.
"That's quite understandable," said Horner. "But Sebastien knows that he always has a job with us."
Once a high-flying green technology company, battery maker A123 Systems on Friday told investors it has about five months of cash left to fund operations, adding to woes for a sector short on results and long on government loans.
Lamborghini is widely known as a radical Italian sports-car manufacturer with a flair for the dramatic and a predilection for brutal speeds.
EV producer Smith Electric Vehicles Corp. appointed former General Motors executive and one-time Cadillac chief John F. Smith to its board of directors, and promoted chief technology officer Robin Mackie to president.
BMW will introduce the first in what will become a line of M Performance models to North America in early 2014 with the M235i coupe. It will take the place of the
Also in this episode: The Mazda MX-5 Miata receives a styling update, we mourn the death of automotive enthusiast
The automotive world lost one of its most influential figures this week.
A 1930 Ford Model A roadster belonging to a California man was stolen from the Henry Ford museum parking on June 26.
Imagine driving some of the greatest Ferraris ever made on some of the greatest tracks around the world without having to leave your home.
Two House Democrats are pressing Chrysler Group to launch a campaign warning Jeep Wrangler owners about a potential "wobble" condition in the SUV's front suspension. In a letter sent to Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne this week, Rep.
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