Auto News 5

Will Power (Team Penske) drove his No. 12 Dallara-Chevrolet to the top of the time sheet during qualifying of the Mid-Ohio IndyCar round.

He bested the track's old record for the IndyCar series; and rival Scott Dixon - winner of three of the past fives IndyCar races held on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course of Mid-Ohio.

Dario Franchitti lines up alongside Power, Dixon is only fifth.

Behind Franchitti and Power are Frenchman Simon Pagenaud and Canadian Alex Tagliani. Although, Tagliani received a 10-place grid penalty for an unapproved engine change that promotes Dixon up to fourth.



James Hinchliffe, the other Canadian, is down in 16th on the grid, where he stands beside Formula One veteran Rubens Barrichello, who qualified one position ahead.

Helio Castroneves, currently runner-up in the championship, suffered both a 10-place grid penalty for another unapproved engine change and a crash in the morning practice session. He will have to start the race with a bruised hand.

Giorgio Pantano, the veteran Italian racer who is standing in for the injured Charlie Kimball, qualified 24th.



Starting grid - IndyCar (Mid-Ohio)

First row

Will Power (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Penske - 1'05"647 - Fast Six

Dario Franchitti (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Ganassi - 1'05"895 - Fast Six

Second row
Simon Pagenaud (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Schmidt - 1'05"904 - Fast Six
Scott Dixon (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Ganassi - 1'06"097 - Fast Six

Third row

Ryan Briscoe (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Penske - 1'06"201 - Fast Six

Sebastien Bourdais (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Dragon - 1'05"941 - Q2

Fourth row

Ryan Hunter-Reay (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 1'06"066 - Q2
Marco Andretti (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 1'06"114 - Q2

Fifth row

Josef Newgarden (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Fisher - 1'06"172 - Q2
Oriol Servia (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - D&R - 1'06"205 - Q2


Sixth row

Justin Wilson (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Coyne - 1'06"661 - Q2

Helio Castroneves (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Penske - 1'06"704 - Q2

Seventh row
JR Hildebrand (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Panther - 1'06"377 - Q1
Alex Tagliani (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Herta - 1'06"005 - Fast Six *


Eighth row
Rubens Barrichello (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - KV - 1'06"710 - Q1
James Hinchcliffe (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 1'06"435 - Q1

Ninth row

Mike Conway (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Foyt - 1'06"781 - Q1
Takuma Sato (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Rahal - 1'06"440 - Q1


10th row

Tony Kanaan (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - KV - 1'06"843 - Q1
EJ Viso (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - KV - 1'06"451 - Q1


11th row

James Jakes (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Coyne - 1'07"123 - Q1

Graham Rahal (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Ganassi - 1'06"625 - Q1


12th row
Simona de Silvestro (Dallara DW12-Lotus) - HVM - 1'08"074 - Q1

Giorgio Pantano (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Ganassi - 1'07"035 - Q1


13th row

Ed Carpenter (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Carpenter - 1'08"512 - Q1

*

10-place grid penalty for unapproved engine change

For some time, manufacturers have been pushing back the technical boundaries of batteries used for hybrid electric vehicles. Matthew Beecham asks executives of three leading advanced battery makers - Western Lithium, GS Yuasa and Axeon - for their opinions on how this blossoming market is shaping-up.

Also in this episode: Carroll Shelby's Ford Mustang GT500 KR goes up for auction, and the Chevy Spark shows off its wares.

July 2012 Auto Sales

Seasonable highs, with scattered showers.

This summer's auto sales continue at a pretty good clip, but that doesn't mean there's equanimity in the results of the various automakers. The industry's annualized sales rate in July again was over 14 million units. That's not bad, considering that 2011 ended with 12.8 million new vehicles sold. July's pace was also 9% ahead of last year's.

Photo Gallery: July 2012 Auto Sales - Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: July 2012 Auto Sales - Automobile Magazine

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Toyota is currently rolling out the latest addition to the Prius hybrid family - the Prius Plug-in. How does it differ from the standard Prius hybrid?

Social security numbers and other personal information belonging to 883 former and current General Motors retirees was taken after a salaried GM employee copied documents containing the information just before retiring, The Detroit News...

Chevrolet marketers are aiming the Spark minicar at millennials, and to grab the attention of these Generation Y consumers, Chevy plans to follow the game plan it used for the launch of the 2012 Sonic -- forgoing TV spots in favor of a digital...

The auto industry and Michigan's business community have been growing more concerned in recent years about counterfeit automotive parts, computer intrusions and trade secrets -- and federal prosecutors have taken action.

2012 Mercedes-Benz E63 Wagon

We probably should just come right out and admit that the E63 AMG wagon is our favorite car. So much for objectivity.

I probably should just come right out and admit that the E63 AMG wagon is my favorite car. So much for objectivity.

Photo Gallery: 2012 Mercedes-Benz E63 Wagon - Editors' Notebook - Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: 2012 Mercedes-Benz E63 Wagon - Editors' Notebook - Automobile Magazine

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Last week, we made the Hell Garage a punitive shrine to

Toyota has slipped behind competitors in drivetrain technology and now must play catch-up against the likes of

General Motors, which acquired a 7 percent stake in PSA Peugeot Citroen in March, said it may have to write down its investment as the European auto market heads toward its fifth straight annual sales decline.

General Motors, which acquired a 7 percent stake in PSA /Peugeot-Citroen in March, said it may have to write down its investment as the European auto market heads toward its fifth straight annual sales decline.

First Look: 2013 Nissan Pathfinder

Bigger, lighter, and more fuel efficient: Pathfinder returns to unibody construction.

Almost every three-row SUV on the market has switched from old-fashioned, truck-style body-on-frame construction to more modern, car-like unibody design. The Nissan Pathfinder was one of the holdouts, but the new 2013 model finally switches to a unibody, front-wheel-drive platform. You may recall the Pathfinder launched as a body-on-frame SUV in 1985, became unibody from 1996-2004, and reverted to a body-on-frame vehicle from 2005-2012.

Photo Gallery: First Look: 2013 Nissan Pathfinder - Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: First Look: 2013 Nissan Pathfinder - Automobile Magazine

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2013 Infiniti JX35 - Eastbound and Down

As soon as we took delivery of our JX, it went to New York for a month.

It's unusual for Automobile Magazine's New York contingent -- Jamie Kitman and me -- to get first crack at a long-term car, but that's exactly what happened with our new, Four Seasons 2013 Infiniti JX35. It paused in Ann Arbor just long enough for art director Matt Tierney to snap a few pictures before road test editor Chris Nelson hopped in to rendezvous with me, exchanging the JX for the Four Seasons Mazda CX-5. Most of the staff in Ann Arbor didn't even get a look at it before it left.

Photo Gallery: 2013 Infiniti JX35 - Four Seasons Update - August 2012 - Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: 2013 Infiniti JX35 - Four Seasons Update - August 2012 - Automobile Magazine

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Ford launched an assembly line in its Van Dyke transmission plant in Michigan to produce front-wheel-drive hybrid transmissions.

News 3 Aug, 2012

Video gives us our first glimpse of the production-ready 918 Spyder

Car sales in India continued to rise last month with the diesel market showing more growth.

Pictures 3 Aug, 2012