Auto News 5

FIA press release

The WMSC approved for the FIA to proceed with an agreement with The Sportsman Media Group and Red Bull Media House to become the new global Promoter of the FIA World Rally Championship from 2013.

The Promoter will be responsible for investing and developing the WRC with a view to increasing its profile, reputation and commercial value. In particular, the Promoter, working in close collaboration with the FIA, will be focused on introducing live television and an innovative digital media strategy in the next years.

As part of a cost-reduction process and to attract greater entries, WRC Teams competing in the 2013 FIA World Rally Championship will now only have to contest one non-European event. WRC Teams must however still nominate and take part in a minimum of seven events.

The structure of the support Championships has been revised to reflect the interests and demands of the competitors. From 2013, the current Championship for S2000 cars will be replaced by the WRC-2 Championship including cars with four-wheel drive (R5, R4 and S2000).

A specific cup for cars in the Group N category will also form part of the FIA WRC-2 Championship, and titles for teams, drivers and co-drivers will be awarded to those who have scored the most points in six of the seven events in which they have taken part.

The current Production Car World Rally Championship will be replaced by the FIA WRC-3 Championship, including Group R cars with two-wheel drive (R3, R2 and R1). Titles for teams, drivers and co-drivers will be awarded to those who have scored the most points in five of the six events in which they have taken part.

The current FIA WRC Academy will be re-named the FIA Junior WRC Championship.

The 2013 FIA World Rally Championship calendar is confirmed as follows:

20 January: Rally Monte Carlo
10 February: Rally Sweden
10 March: Rally Mexico
14 April: Rally Portugal
5 May: Rally Argentina
2 June: Rally Acropolis (Greece)
23 June: Rally d'Italia
4 August: Rally Finland
TBC: Rally Deutschland
15 September: Rally Australia
6 October: Rallye de France
27 October: Rally de Espana
17 November: Rally Great Britain

Augusto Farfus (BMW) set the pole position in Valencia, for the 9th round of the DTM championship, while the title contenders stand way back on the starting grid.

As often, the Valencia circuit provided plenty of surprises: Farfus emerged as quickest at the end of a session that saw the main championship contenders in trouble. Jamie Green (Mercedes), third on provisional classification, was first out of the qualifying session, failing to qualify for Q3.

He is only in 18th position on the grid for Sunday's race.

His teammate Gary Paffett (Mercedes), championship leader, was not much better. The Brit made it to Q2, but failed to progress any further, as he could not manage any than 16th.

Bruno Spengler (BMW) had the opportunity to take benefit of his rivals' misfortune, but failed to make it outside Q2. He will start from 12th.

Mercedes' qualifying session was the worst of all, the best C Coupé being Rob Wickens', in 14th position. The seven other Mercedes cars are down in the last seven spots of the grid, with Ralf Schumacher dead last.

Pole sitter Augusto Farfus was followed by Audi drivers, Edoardo Mortara, Filipe Albuquerque, Adrien Tambay and Mike Rockenfeller.

Valencia - Qualifying :
1. Augusto Farfus - BMW M3 DTM - RBM - 1'26''446 - Q4
2. Edoardo Mortara - Audi A5 DTM - Rosberg - 1'26''756 - Q4
3. Filipe Albuquerque - Audi A5 DTM - Rosberg - 1'26''894 - Q4
4. Adrien Tambay - Audi A5 DTM - Abt - 1'26''981 - Q4
5. Mike Rockenfeller - Audi A5 DTM - Phoenix - 1'26''789 - Q3
6. Andy Priaulx - BMW M3 DTM - RBM - 1'26''824 - Q3
7. Timo Scheider - Audi A5 DTM - Abt - 1'26''849 - Q3
8. Mattias Ekström - Audi A5 DTM - Abt - 1'26''936 - Q3
9. Dirk Werner - BMW M3 DTM - Schnitzer - 1'27''039 - Q3
10. Miguel Molina - Audi A5 DTM - 1'27''040 - Q3
Etc.

American Securities is in the lead to buy auto parts suppliers from Carlyle Group and KPS Capital Partners, in deals that could collectively top $1.5 billion, people familiar with the matter said.

GM and Ford are jointly designing nine- and 10-speed automatic transmissions for use across their lineups in a bid to boost fuel economy.

British automaker Rolls-Royce revealed art deco-inspired examples of its vehicles for the Paris motor show.

Shelby Automobiles is being sued by one of its dealers, who claims the company pocketed upfront payments for vehicles that have yet to be delivered, or even built.

The 2012 Paris auto show kicked off this week and we've got boots on the ground bringing you all the news from the city of lights. Check out all the Paris coverage in

Also in this episode: We mourn the passing of motorsports journalist Chris Economaki.

Chevrolet has done away with front bench seats in the redesigned 2014 Impala. The century-long run for front bench seats in passenger cars ends with the 2013 Chevrolet Impala -- the last car in North America to offer them, GM said today.

What is it?

Pictures 28 Sep, 2012

Shares in Tesla Motors, the electric-car maker led by Elon Musk, this afternoon rose about 3 percent today after the company expanded a stock offering.

News 28 Sep, 2012

A Nissan Juke-rivalling small SUV is among a raft of new Volkswagen models on the way

News 28 Sep, 2012

The range-topping GT and electric Up! models will arrive in 2013

Usually, Shelby lawsuit headlines announce that Shelby is suing someone, but here's one where someone is suing Shelby Automobiles, Inc.

Is Paris 2012 the new face of motor shows, you wonder?

EXECUTIVE EDITOR BOB GRITZINGER: While there seems to be little difference in drive quality other than power between this and a standard-issue regular unleaded-burning Civic, the bigger problem is that this 2012 Honda Civic Natural Gas is a...

2012 Paris Auto Show Photos and Coverage

Paris will host exciting reveals from the likes of Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Peugeot, Citroen, Nissan, Mercedes, BMW, Mini, Fiat, Audi, Lotus, and Fisker Automotive.

2012 Paris Auto Show Photos and Coverage | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us

Chrysler and

Leading car rental companies have agreed to back Senate legislation to pull vehicles from the road when recalled for safety defects, lawmakers and the firms said on Thursday.