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French driver Charles Pic of the Marussia F1 Team will he dropped ten places on Sunday's starting grid of the Grand Prix of Korea.

Pic will therefore become the first driver of the 2012 Formula 1 season will receive a penalty for engine change. Drivers are allowed to use eight engines over the course of a full season.

The Cosworth engine in Pic's MR-01 had to be changed after Friday's free practice sessions.

“We plan to fit a new engine to Charles' car this evening in the knowledge that, as his ninth engine of the season, we will incur a 10-place grid penalty on Sunday,” Marussia team principal John Booth said on Friday.

Charles Pic aboard the MR01 Marussia. (Photo: Marussia F1 Team)

The project of a road course of Patras does not represents Greece's bid to stage a Formula 1 Grand Prix in the near future, says Athanassios P.Papatheodorou, architect and Project Manager of Dielpis Formula 1.

On October 1st, we posted a news which said “Greece has approved plans to build a multi-million Formula 1 racing circuit, south of Patras in the Peloponnese”.

A few days ago, Mr. Papatheodorou kindly contacted us to explain that this new circuit was not per say a Formula 1 circuit designed and destined to stage a potential Grand Prix of Greece.

“The project of a circuit in Patras has nothing to do with claiming a Formula 1 race; it merely concerns a peripheral circuit,” Papatheodorou told Auto123.com.

“On the contrary, our proposal -- Dielpis Formula 1 - represents the project of staging an F1 race in the area of the Port of Piraeus. We are the project managers of this proposal, which is based on funds coming from the private sector that we are trying to collect. The public sector will not invest in this project,” the Greek architech added.

Illustration: Dielpis Formula 1

The Dielpis project has been officially submitted by the Automobile and Touring Club of Greece (ELPA) following a request filed by the Mayor with FIA and Bernie Ecclestone on November 23, 2011, said Papatheodorou.

“On May 26, 2012, Mr. Bernie Ecclestone in a meeting held with the head of DielpisFormula1, stated his, in principle, acceptance and agreement with the above proposal (DielpisFormula1) and mentioned that the following step is just to find the investor,” he then added.

In July the Minister of Culture sent to Mr. Ecclestone the Greek Government's official position with regard to the DielpisFormula1 candidacy. And in September, the Deputy Minister of Development issued a press release whereby the expressed his Ministry's support to the candidacy including the project in the fast track procedure.

“Therefore, there is no other candidacy for an F1 race in Greece save the one submitted by the Municipality of Drapetsona entitled DielpisFormula1, for which we continue our efforts unfailingly,” Papatheodorou concluded.

GPS manufacturer TomTom released its North American Congestion Index for the second quarter of 2012. While Ottawa has dropped out of the top 10 since the previous rankings, Montreal (from 12th to 4th) and Toronto (from 9th to 5th) have both entered the top 5.

Vancouver, of course, remains the most congested city in Canada, and trails only Los Angeles in North America.

1. Los Angeles 34%
2. Vancouver 33%
3. San Francisco 29%
4. Montreal 28%
5. Toronto 27%
6. Washington 26%
7. Seattle 26%
8. New York 25%
9. Chicago 23%
10. Miami 22%

The second and final free practice session of the 6 Hours of Fuji - Round of the FIA World Endurance Championship - was held Friday in Japan.

While Toyota set the best time in the initial practice session, but Audi turned things around in the second one.

The Audi R18 e-tron quattro of Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer set the fastest time, just 4/1000ths of a second ahead of the Toyota TS030 Hybrid of Wurz/Lapierre/Nakajima.

The Audi R18 e-tron quattro with the Mount Fuji in the background. (Photo: FIA WEC)

Private team Strakka Racing, third in Bahrain, again set a great performance with Danny Watts claiming fourth place in the Honda-powered prototype, just behind the second Audi of Kristensen/McNish.

The OAK/Pescarolo, fitted with a Honda V8 engine for the first time, was 8th overall and less than one second slower than the fastest private LPM1 machine.

Potolicchio/Dalziel/Sarrazin were the fastest in the LMP2 category, driving the Starworks HPD.

Finally, teams Felbermayr-Proton (Porsche) and Larbre Compétition (Corvette) were the quickest in the GTE Pro and GTE Am categories respectively.

The High Court of Hyderabad issued on Friday a non-bailable warrant against Kingfisher Airlines and its Chairman Vijay Mallya in a case of cheques bouncing filed by GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL).

The news was published by several business papers and web sites Friday morning.

The court issued the warrant against Kingfisher airlines in a case filed by GHIAL, which manages the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport.

Kingfisher had issued cheques to GHIAL towards airport user charges which include parking, landing and navigation charges. However, all the cheques (totalling $1.9 millions) bounced and GMR filed a case against Kingfisher and Mallya.

The warrant was issued after Mallaya failed to appear despite summons issued to him.

The part-owner of the Sahara Force India Formula 1 team reportedly sought exemption from personal appearance as he was abroad. The billionnaire is currently in Korea to attend the F1 Grand Prix.

Kingfisher Airlines, which is in a state of virtual lockout till October 20, is facing massive financial crisis and has even failed to pay salary to its employees for the last several months.

There are few things like hands-on experience. We've all been to school to learn countless things, but nothing (in my opinion) equates to getting down and dirty and doing something yourself.

Like you, I'm learning more and more every day about hybrid and electric vehicles -- what makes them tick, and how they work. I've read a bunch on ‘em, I've been to a few launches, and have driven many of them over the last few years. Our recent EV comparo test shed much light on many of the ins-and-outs of living with an electric car.

I've spent time in a Volkswagen Golf blue-e-motion, Ford Focus Electric, Mitsubishi i-MiEV, Nissan LEAF, and many others. And in some of the cases, I experienced firsthand what range anxiety is all about.

For the comparo, we induced range anxiety by driving the cars “hard” through a planned route, with charging stations along the way, to see how well things would unfold. It went very, very well.

As charging stations are only beginning to sprout up here and there, I actually made phone calls to insure they were operational at several locations. For every call, the people I spoke to were very helpful, courteous and actually excited about our test.

Photo: Michel Deslauriers

With a few confirmations, I planned out a route. Once at a mall for some shopping (part of the day's intended activities), I was required to call up the company that manages the charging stations in order to have them activated. The person on the other end was thrilled and even sent me a follow-up email with charging time/energy details. Great stuff.

One of the most fascinating tidbits from the email was the amperage at which the cars recharged. Although the stations all provided an equal 240V of power, the amperage pulled by the cars varied, which largely influenced charging times. In this instance, the Focus EV pulled 28 amps of electrical current, while the Volt and LEAF drew 14. The Focus was “full” after only 37 minutes, the other two used the 95 minutes they were plugged in and still weren't 100% charged.

As well, the Focus gulped only 3.811 kWh while the Volt and LEAF took in 5.37 and 5.444 respectively. Oddly, all three cars travelled exactly the same distance, on the same routes, at the same time. Is the Focus more efficient?

This necessitates further investigation as it is clear that, much like internal combustion engines, comparable or similar does not equal identical.

After a disastrous 2012 event that saw the track literally falling apart at the seam, the Detroit's Belle Isle circuit is getting a major facelift in order to be ready for its 2013 double header.

Both races, to be held June 1st and 2nd, will take place on the original layout that was used between 1997 and 2001. Sections of the track are also being replaced with both brand new concrete and asphalt.

In addition to the resurfacing, the circuit is being slightly modified in order to allow overtaking and better racing.

The modifications will extend the track length to 2.346 miles; a quarter of a mile longer than the 2012 configuration entering the right-hand Turn 3.

This year's race, which was won by Scott Dixon, marked IndyCar's return to the circuit after a three-year absence.

Back in June, track workers fixing the asphalt during the race. (Photo: IndyCar)

AIKEN, SC. - My recent trip to Bridgestone's PSR and ORR plants in the South were far more educational than I could have ever expected. In fact, had I known I was going to learn as much, I would have stayed home and watched the tube...

That's not true. Enquiring minds such as yours and mine are always looking for the next nugget of new information. If you're in the mood, I've got one for you: LEED.

LEED or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design is a points rating system that allocates said points to a company/developer's existing or new building based on specific criteria established by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) in 1998. As an FYI, the Canadian Green Building Council (CaGBC) adhered to the same criteria and rating system in 2003.

The LEED “green” building rating system uses 110 points which fall into specific topics. Each topic has equally specific goals. Of them, we find Sustainable Site Development, Water Efficiency, Indoor Environmental Quality, and Energy Efficiency.

Not all of these topics apply to all buildings. The building designers, developers or owners can choose which match their establishments best in order to garner a rating. They work as follows:

40 to 49 points: Certified
50 to 59 points: Silver
60 to 79 points: Gold
80 or more points: Platinum

In 2009, Bridgestone was the first tire company in the world to achieve Silver LEED certification for two of its North American operations, one of them being the PSR plant in Aiken, SC, the other in Warren, Tenn. The new ORR plant literally across the street from the PSR is expected to also achieve LEED certification through recycling waste, a habitat management plan and using regional materials.

Bridgestone's Americas Technical Center in Akron, Ohio, is also Silver LEED Certified. And here's a small surprise: One of Firestone's Complete Auto Care centers, the one in Smyrna, Tenn., is Gold LEED Certified. That's impressive.

What's really impressive is Bridgestone's drive towards a better future for all.

Photo: Mathieu St-Pierre

This past summer, one of our favorite activities was gathering a selection of a few of the coolest and most fun cars available on the road today for a comparison test.

On track day, our multimedia team set up a few cameras around the track to capture a number of shots which we've compiled in this video.

The video encompasses track driving footage, a few launches, some hard braking, as well a number of beauty shots. The whole of it comes together with a few stats and some cool lounge music.

Sit back, enjoy, and make sure you check out all of our material below from this amazing gathering of cars.

Sport Compact Comparo 2.0 Road Test

Photo: Sebastien D'Amour

Sport Compact Comparo 2.0 Track Test

Photo: Sebastien D'Amour

2013 Subaru BRZ vs 2013 Scion FR-S

Photo: Sebastien D'Amour

The Overall Winner of the Sport Compact Comparo 2.0: 2013 Subaru BRZ

Photo: Sebastien D'Amour

Ford Motor Co.'s board discussed a succession plan for CEO Alan Mulally at its monthly meeting on Thursday, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

Federal safety regulators are investigating consumer complaints that panoramic sunroofs equipped on some 2012 Hyundai Velostermodels have spontaneously shattered or exploded.

Toyota Motor has recaptured the top spot among automakers in U.S. customer loyalty for the first time since the third quarter of 2009, according to a study released Thursday by Experian Automotive.

The owners of former New York dealerships Eagle Auto Mall and Terry Morris Chrysler-Jeep will face off against Chrysler Group in court on Dec. 3 in suits stemming from allegedly wrongful franchise terminations.

The Los Angeles Auto Show has made sharing and connecting easier for the social media crowd by optimizing its Web site for mobile devices.

Porsche has ramped up the performance of its second-generation

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's industry alert that warned about the proliferation of counterfeit airbags on Wednesday could spark legal debates about who should pay the cost of replacing the potentially dangerous parts.

General Motors is increasing imports of Chevrolet Spark minicars for sale in the United States following a stronger-than-expected launch here.

-- The Acura ZDX is dead,

Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund Aabar sold its remaining 3.07 percent stake in Daimler AG worth about 1.25 billion euros ($1.6 billion) on Oct. 5, the German carmaker said in a regulatory filing today.

The Porsche 962 is one of the greatest things to have ever existed. Visually, mechanically, aurally, it's perfect.