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Martin Whitmarsh makes contacts with the Mexican driver and Carlos Slim to explore a potential replacement for Lewis Hamilton.

Simple pressure or real "plan B"? The Daily Mail reports that Lewis Hamilton is more and more close to Mercedes. Team McLaren team appears to be preparing to departure of the 2008 world champion.

The British team wants to reduce the revenues of Hamilton, while Mercedes AMG is ready to pay 74 millions Euro over three years, plus bonus for victories.

Luca di Montezemolo claimed last week that Sergio Perez is too young and in experimented to drive for Ferrari. On his end, Martin Whitmarsh praises the performance and the maturity of the Sauber driver.

Sergio Perez is reportedly free for 2013, for now, even the Ferrari Academy to which he belongs, has no option on him.

Sergio Perez celebrating his 2nd place at Monza, with Sauber team. (Photo: Sauber F1 Team)

Carlos Munoz may have won the Firestone Indy Lights season finale at Fontana but, in the end, the star of the day was Tristan Vautier who won the 2012 championship battle.

Munoz took over the lead of the race right from the start when his Andretti team-mate and polesitter Sebastian Saavedra saw his car suffering a mechanical problem and had to retire before the end of the first lap.

David Ostella, who was part of the lead pack all thru the race took second, 0.6 seconds behind Munoz.

Tristan Vautier, 2012 Indy Lights champion. (Photo: IndyCar)

With 10 laps remaining, Esteban Guerrieri passed Tristan Vautier for third but, still, in order for him to move in front of Vautier for the championship crown, he had to fight his way to second place.

But, soon enough, Guerrieri found out that Ostella was extending his lead over him and that he had no chance of getting around him in the final laps. The Argentinean had to settle for third.

Vautier finished fourth, earning the championship in his rookie season. Victor Carbone completed the top 5.

Indy Lights Fontana Results - 50 laps:

Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Carlos Munoz Andretti 37m38.3281s
2. David Ostella Moore + 0.6344s
3. Esteban Guerrieri Schmidt + 3.3394s
4. Tristan Vautier Schmidt + 6.8818s
5. Victor Carbone Schmidt + 8.2987s
6. Stefan Wilson Fan Force + 12.2089s
7. Bruno Palli Juncos + 12.4233s
8. Oliver Webb Schmidt + 12.8229s
9. Mike Larrison Belardi + 34.6025s
10. Juan Pablo García Jeffrey Mark + 35.0477s
11. Gustavo Yacaman Moore + 1 lap

Retirements:
Peter Dempsey Belardi 15 laps
Jorge Goncalvez Belardi 6 laps
Sebastian Saavedra AFS/Andretti 0 laps

Toyota claims his maiden win in World Endurance Championship as the TS030 Hybrid driven by Alex Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre take win in the Sao Paulo Six Hours.

After they started from pole position, Wurz and Lapierre dominated the race, that they led from start to finish. The Toyota pulled away in front when the Audi R18 Hybrid had an anticipated pit stop, but the german prototype get closer again when the Toyota lost time during his first pit stop.

Finally, Wurz was able to pull away in front again with a performant double stint, and the Toyota won the race after a impressive performance. Only a late pit stop from the Japanese car allow the Audi Hybrid to move back to the leading lap. The Audi R18 Hybrid takes second place ahead of the Audi R18 Ultra, who lost any chance of finishing second when Tom Kristensen had a spin.

Photo: Toyota Racing

The Rebellion Lola Toyota was the first of the “petrol” cars, while the LMP2 class was dominated by the Starworks' HPD Arx.

The AF Corse Ferrari won the GTE Pro class, and the Larbre Corvette C06 was the first car of the GTE Am class.

Final classification:
1 - Wurz-Lapierre (Toyota TS030 Hybrid) - Toyota - 247 laps in 6h01'08"356 (1er LMP1)

2 - Fassler-Lotterer-Treluyer (Audi R18 e-tron) - Audi - 1'00"778
3 - Kristensen-McNish-Di Grassi (Audi R18 ultra) - Audi - 1'14"679

4 - Prost-Jani (Lola B12/60-Toyota) - Rebellion - 5 laps

5 - Leventis-Watts-Kane (HPD ARX03a-Honda) - Strakka - 7 laps
6 - Belicchi-Primat (Lola B12/60-Toyota) - Rebellion - 7 laps

7 - Potolicchio-Dalziel-Sarrazin (HPD ARX03b-Honda) - Starworks - 13 laps (1er LMP2)
8 - Perez Companc-Minassian-Kaffer (Oreca 03-Nissan) - Pecom - 16 laps

9 - Brabham-Chandhok-Dumbreck (HPD ARX03a-Honda) - JRM - 17 laps
10 - Nicolet-Lahaye-Pla (Morgan-Nissan) - OAK - 17 laps
(...)
16 - Fisichella-Bruni (Ferrari 458) - AF Corse - 26 laps (1er GTE Pro)
(...)
20 - Bornhauser-Canal-Rees (Corvette C6) - Larbre - 31 laps (1er GTE Am)
Etc.

In a race won by Ed Carpenter, who had been one of its principal leader all thru the night, Andretti's Ryan Hunter-Reay won the 2012 IndyCar championship in one exciting race presented at the 2-mile oval in Fontana.

As it had been the case in at least the two previous seasons finale, Will Power (Penske) was unable to hold his own and dramatically crashed on lap 54. Still, in order to win the championship, Hunter-Reay had to finish at least in sixth.

Ironically, Power dropped the rear of his car and crashed into the safer barrier at the same time he was passing Hunter-Reay who was fortunate not to be caught up in the accident also.

Team Penske managed to patch-up Power's car and send him back on the track to get in more points. For the Australian, it was not an easy task driving his car around the track. With 60 laps down, Power managed to do an extra 12 laps to gain a position.

Ryan Hunter-Reay, 2012 IndyCar Champion. (Photo: IndyCar)

Hunter-Reay now needed to finish fifth rather than sixth to secure the crown.The Andretti Autosport driver was able to climb to fifth when Alex Tagliani (BHA) suffered an engine failure.

During a restart after an unusual red flag caused by the crash of Tony Kanaan, Hunter-Reay found himself under pressure from Scott Dixon, who he let past, and Takuma Sato, who he battled for a couple of laps before the Japanese driver lost control and crashed on the second-last lap, sealing Hunter-Reay's triumph by moving him up to fourth and bringing the race to an end.

Carpenter took the race followed by Ganassi's Dario Franchitti. Dixon completed the podium ahead of Hunter-Reay and Helio Castroneves (Penske).

IndyCar event Fontana Results - 250 laps:

Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Ed Carpenter Carpenter Dallara-Chevy 2h57m36.6565s
2. Dario Franchitti Ganassi Dallara-Honda + 1.9132s
3. Scott Dixon Ganassi Dallara-Honda + 2.6091s
4. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Dallara-Chevy + 3.0477s
5. Helio Castroneves Penske Dallara-Chevy + 4.1933s
6. Graham Rahal Ganassi Dallara-Honda + 5.4381s
7. Takuma Sato Rahal Dallara-Honda + 1 lap
8. Marco Andretti Andretti Dallara-Chevy + 1 lap
9. Katherine Legge Dragon Dallara-Chevy + 1 lap
10. Charlie Kimball Ganassi Dallara-Honda + 1 lap
11. JR Hildebrand Panther Dallara-Chevy + 2 laps
12. James Jakes Coyne Dallara-Honda + 2 laps
13. James Hinchcliffe Andretti Dallara-Chevy + 3 laps
14. Wade Cunningham Foyt Dallara-Honda + 4 laps
15. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt Dallara-Honda + 4 laps
16. Josef Newgarden Fisher Dallara-Honda + 6 laps
17. Ryan Briscoe Penske Dallara-Chevy + 6 laps
18. Tony Kanaan KV Dallara-Chevy + 10 laps*
19. Oriol Servia Panther/DRR Dallara-Chevy + 19 laps

Retirements:
Alex Tagliani Herta Dallara-Honda 229 laps
Sebastian Saavedra AFS/Andretti Dallara-Chevy 118 laps
Rubens Barrichello KV Dallara-Chevy 107 laps
Justin Wilson Coyne Dallara-Honda 80 laps
Will Power Penske Dallara-Chevy 66 laps
EJ Viso KV Dallara-Chevy 65 laps
Simona de Silvestro HVM Dallara-Lotus 16 laps

* Not running at finish

Bruno Spengler takes his third victory this season, and the third win for his team BMW, in the 8th round of the DTM championship presented at Oschersleben.

The Canadian driver, who set the pole position, stayed in front from lights to flag, excepted during his pit stops, holding the pressure from championship leader Gary Paffett (Mercedes), who was right in his mirrors during the race.

Photo: DTM

Paffett takes second place behind Jamie Green (Mercedes), who lost second position in championship classification behind Spengler, but stays in good position in classification.

Robert Wickens, the other Canadian in the DTM, takes 7th position aboard his Mercedes C Coupé.

Gary Paffett still leads championship classification, but Bruno Spengler now stands 11 points behind the Brit with two races remaining.

Final classification:
1 - Bruno Spengler (BMW M3) - Schnitzer - 51 laps in 1h12'09"607
2 - Gary Paffett (Mercedes C-Coupé) - HWA - 0"629

3 - Jamie Green (Mercedes C-Coupé) - HWA - 15"512
4 - Dirk Werner (BMW M3) - Schnitzer - 22"311
5 - Augusto Farfus (BMW M3) - RBM - 24"423
6 - Mike Rockenfeller (Audi A5) - Phoenix - 26"940
7 - Robert Wickens (Mercedes C-Coupé) - Mucke - 33"737

8 - Mattias Ekstrom (Audi A5) - Abt - 34"631
9 - Filipe Albuquerque (Audi A5) - Rosberg - 42"943
10 - Timo Scheider (Audi A5) - Abt - 44"852
Etc.

Championship:
1. Paffett 127 points ; 2. Spengler 116 ; 3. Green 108 ; 4. Rockenfeller 75 ; 5. Mortara 74 ; 6. Tomczyk 69 ; 7. Ekstrom 66 ; 8. Farfus 29 ; 9. Vietoris 24 ; 10. Scheider 19, etc.

Jimmie Johnson's campaign for a sixth Sprint Cup got off on the right foot winning the pole at Chicagoland at a speed of 182.865; his 27th career pole. 

Yet after winning the pole at the 1.5 mile oval he wasn't overly emotional,” said the five-time Chjampion “It's too early in the Chase to be over-the-top excited or down-and-out if you didn't qualify like you wanted to today. Qualifying makes the race so much easier for you. You know you're pit stall is going to be right and clearly track position at the start of the race is going to be in your favor. It's not a ‘must' to win the race or be a threat for the championship but again it just makes life so much easier.”

Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet Impala. (Photo: NASCAR)

In contrast Johnson's teammate, NASCAR's most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., might have gotten off on the wrong foot when he over-revved his engine after qualifying fourth. That required an engine change which will send him to the back of the 43-car grid for the start.

Earnhardt's crew chief, Steve Letarte, said “Yes, we have to change the engine and go to the back of the field. I don't think we are super concerned. We had a great car in practice and qualified really well so we showed we have good speed. Fortunately, this is a race track that there are multiple pit strategies and it's not a really simple straight forward pit strategy to call. I think there will be a lot of opportunities to use our good pit stops and place on pit road to get back towards the front.”

Aric Almirola, a non-Chase driver, was second fastest in a Ford at 182.636mph.

This week his RPM team swapped crew chiefs. Almirola got Todd Parrott and Marcos Ambrose got Mike Ford.

Matt Kenseth, will start third in a Roush Fenway Ford at 182.334 mph, while another non-Chaser, Carl Edwards was fifth fastest.

Other Chasers fared moderately well with Kasey Kahne (sixth), Denny Hamlin (eighth), Clint Bowyer (ninth), Brad Keselowski (13th). Others did not with Martin Truex Jr. (18th), Jeff Gordon (19th), Greg Biffle (22nd), defending Cup champion Tony Stewart (29th) and Kevin Harvick (35th).

That's what humanitarian organization Empowerment Plan has decided to create in order to help Downtown Detroit homeless people. As part of its support, GM bought 2000 yards of car-insulation scraps and donated them to Empowerment Plan founder Veronika Scott.

This fabric, used to as interior insulating material in the Chevrolet Malibu and Buick Verano, is also waterproof; it will be used as insulating material for the production of more than 400 jackets that can be transformed into sleeping-bags, which will be handed out to some of the many homeless in that city, giving them a fighting chance over the cold winter months.

Mrs. Scott employs eight homeless women full-time in order to produce these jackets, at a rate of 150 per month. What's more, because of this donation, GM also helps reduce the volume of waste created at its production facilities. Hats-off to these two organizations for this great initiative!

Photo: General Motors

Photo: General Motors

From WRC

Jari-Matti Latvala is six stages away from winning Wales Rally GB, round 10 of the FIA World Rally Championship, following a controlled, albeit rapid display at the wheel of his Ford Fiesta RS WRC on day two of the gravel event.

Latvala left the overnight halt in Cardiff this morning leading by 12.1s. In largely dry conditions, the Finn bagged a further three stage bests to stretch his advantage out front to 24.5s. Team-mate Petter Solberg is second after staving off the attentions of Citroen's world champion Sebastien Loeb, who had closed to within 3.9s of the Norwegian after the morning stages but was then unable to respond when Solberg sped up in the afternoon.

Photo: WRC

Despite ending Ford's sequence of stage wins with the fastest time on Saturday's second test, Loeb will start day three trailing Latvala by 30.9s after he admitted to struggling to match the leading Fiestas.

Mads Ostberg made a hugely impressive start to day two by winning the first stage to close up to third-placed Loeb. However, his decision to carry two spare tyres for the afternoon loop adversely affected his car's handling and slowed the Norwegian's ultimate pace. Ostberg is more than half a minute clear of Mikko Hirvonen, who has struggled to make an impact in his works Citroen.

Classification after day 2:
1. Latvala-Anttila (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) in 2.16'18”4
2. P. Solberg-Patterson (Ford Fiesta Wrc) + 21”7

3. Loeb-Elena (Citroen DS3 Wrc) + 29”0

4. Ostberg-Andersson (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) + 45”6
5. Hirvonen-Lehtinen (Citroen DS3 Wrc) + 1'16”8
6. Tanak-Sikk (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) + 1'29”3
7. Novikov-Minor (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) + 1'48"6

8. Neuville-Gilsoul (Citroen DS3 Wrc) + 3'22”1

9. Wilson-Martin (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) + 4'30"6
10. Prokop-Hruza (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) + 5'21”4
Etc.

D.J. Kennington took his 6th victory of the 2012 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series season by winning the Wilson Equipment 300 at the Riverside Speedway in Nova Scotia.

Kennington's nearest championship challenger, J.R. Fitzpatrick, who had started from pole, finished second after trading the lead at least six times with Kennington.

But Kennington was way too strong on long green-flag runs and he finally pulled away to win by a margin of more than 3.453 seconds.

DJ Kennington, happy with his win at the Riverside Speedway. (Photo: NASCAR)

Mark Dilley finished third, followed by Scott Steckly and Ron Beauchamp Jr who rounded up the top 5.

Not a great day for Andrew Ranger who finished a distant 12th. Martin Roy finished 8th, winning the rookie title while Isabelle Roy and LP Dumoulin completed the event in 10th and 11th.

Kennington heads into the finale leading Fitzpatrick by 23 and Andrew Ranger by 30.

It was Kennington's 17th career win, which includes a win at Riverside in 2010. He led a race-high 188 laps Saturday to Fitzpatrick's 101.

The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 concludes the season with the Pinty's 250 presented by Dodge at Kawartha on Saturday, Sept. 22.

Two days before a strike deadline, the head of the Canadian Auto Workers said the union has made more headway in contract talks with Ford Motor Co. than with General Motors and Chrysler Group, but that any deal remains far off.

PSA may sell a majority stake in its Gefco trucking unit to Russian Railways after the state-owned company made the highest offer, a union official said.

Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne said German carmakers are sticking to their opposition to his efforts to form a united front to push the EU to address overcapacity in the region.

When Daimler introduced the diminutive Smart car in 1998, the vision included a smog-reducing electric version to cement the brand's image as an urban transport leader.

When Daimler introduced the diminutive Smart car in 1998, the vision included a smog-reducing electric version to cement the brand's image as an urban transport leader.

Canada's unionized autoworkers, perhaps the best rewarded in the world, may have a choice in the next few days: Give the Detroit 3 automakers concessions in current talks over new contracts or watch some of their jobs head for the United States or...

After being offered a seat at Team Penske, Ryan Hunter-Reay has decided in the end to remain with Michael Andretti and his Andretti Autosport's squad for the coming years.

According to reports, Reay has now signed a multiple-year deal with Andretti, the same team that gave him the chance to rekindle his career a couple of seasons ago.

In order to replace Ryan Briscoe, Team Penske had first approached Simon Pagenaud but due to contractual obligations with his current team Sam Schmidt, the Frenchman had to decline. Penske then spoke with Hunter-Reay.

But it wasn't going to be a clear decision, the 31-year-old veteran being loyal to Andretti for having helped him stay in the sport back in 2010 when Hunter-Reay did not have anywhere to go.

Ryan Hunter-Reay recently won the race at Baltimore. (Photo: IndyCar)

Andretti Autosport's Marco Andretti set the best time early in the session to take pole ahead of the IZOD IndyCar season's finale that will be presented Saturday night on the 2-mile oval in Fontana.

Andretti reached an average speed of more than 216.069mph that would end-up being unreachable by all his adversaries.

Ryan Briscoe (Team Penske) was the only other racer to pass the 216 mph mark in qualifying and finished second in front of his teammate and series leader Will Power but who will get a ten-spot grid penalty for an unauthorized engine change.

Unfortunately, things did not go as planned for Marco Andretti teammate and championship contender Ryan Hunter-Reay who set the 17th fastest time with a 10-place penalty to be added.

Canadians Alex Tagliani (BHA) and James Hinchcliffe (Andretti) had set respectively the 6th and 12th time but, as in the case for a total of 14 drivers, they will go down the order by 10 places.

IZOD IndyCar Fontana event - Qualifying speeds

Pos Driver Team/Car Speed
1. Marco Andretti Andretti Dallara-Chevy 216.069
2. Ryan Briscoe Penske Dallara-Chevy 216.058
3. Will Power Penske Dallara-Chevy 215.940
4. Josef Newgarden Fisher Dallara-Honda 215.919
5. Scott Dixon Ganassi Dallara-Honda 215.391
6. Alex Tagliani Herta Dallara-Honda 215.226
7. Tony Kanaan KV Dallara-Chevy 214.877
8. JR Hildebrand Panther Dallara-Chevy 214.749
9. Ed Carpenter Carpenter Dallara-Chevy 214.684
10. Helio Castroneves Penske Dallara-Chevy 214.409
11. Graham Rahal Ganassi Dallara-Honda 214.015
12. James Hinchcliffe Andretti Dallara-Chevy 213.726
13. Rubens Barrichello KV Dallara-Chevy 213.527
14. Katherine Legge Dragon Dallara-Chevy 213.308
15. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt Dallara-Honda 213.282
16. Takuma Sato Rahal Dallara-Honda 213.222
17. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Dallara-Chevy 212.773
18. Oriol Servia Panther/DRR Dallara-Chevy 212.533
19. Dario Franchitti Ganassi Dallara-Honda 211.999
20. Charlie Kimball Ganassi Dallara-Honda 211.531
21. Sebastian Saavedra AFS/Andretti Dallara-Chevy 210.619
22. EJ Viso KV Dallara-Chevy 210.134
23. Wade Cunningham Foyt Dallara-Honda 209.526
24. James Jakes Coyne Dallara-Honda 208.056
25. Simona de Silvestro HVM Dallara-Lotus
26. Justin Wilson Coyne Dallara-Honda

According to IZOD IndyCar officials, 14 drivers, including both championship contenders Will Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay will get a ten-spot grid penalty at the upcoming event at Fontana.

Of those 14, 11 have been penalized for having change engine and the three remaining for having use a sixth engine, one more than the total of 5 allowed by the IZOD IndyCar rules.

Photo: IndyCar

Drivers penalized:
No. 3 Helio Castroneves (fitting sixth engine)
No. 12 Will Power (fitting sixth engine)

No. 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay (fitting sixth engine)
No. 9 Scott Dixon (unapproved engine change)

No. 14 Wade Cunningham (unapproved engine change)
No. 15 Takuma Sato (unapproved engine change)
No. 18 Justin Wilson (unapproved engine change)
No. 38 Graham Rahal (unapproved engine change)

No. 67 Josef Newgarden (unapproved engine change)
No. 78 Simona de Silvestro (unapproved engine change)

No. 83 Charlie Kimball (unapproved engine change)

No. 77 Simon Pagenaud (unapproved engine change/fitting sixth engine)

No. 98 Alex Tagliani (unapproved engine change/fitting sixth engine)

No. 27 James Hinchcliffe (unapproved engine change/fitting sixth engine).

From WRC

Jari-Matti Latvala has reached an overnight halt of an FIA World Rally Championship round in the lead for the first time since Portugal in late March following an impressive charge on Wales Rally GB on Friday.

Latvala was slightly hesitant through the opening brace of tests while he found the “feeling” on board his Ford Fiesta RS WRC. But a quartet of stage wins has put him out front by 12.1s heading into Saturday's seven runs.

Jari-Matti Latvala, Ford. (Photo: WRC)

Indeed, it's been a day dominated by the works Ford squad with Petter Solberg moving into an early lead after going quickest on the first two stages. The Norwegian, a four-time winner in Wales, holds second with Citroen's multiple world champion Sebastien Loeb 9.2s further back after conceding that he couldn't live with the pace of the Fords on the slippery gravel stages.

Loeb, who is on course for his ninth world title and can help Citroen secure its eighth world crown in Wales, carried two spare tyres for each loop in the event of his soft compound tyres losing performance in the drying conditions. Latvala and Solberg both relied on one spare.

Mads Ostberg is fourth overnight in his Adapta Fiesta having lost precious seconds in the morning when he slowed in the mistaken belief he'd picked up a puncture on stage two. His decision to use an old set of pace notes on stage three also led to a loss of confidence. Mikko Hirvonen is fifth in the second factory Citroen with Ott Tanak sixth despite reporting a powersteering glitch in his M-Sport Fiesta.

Classification after day 1:
1. Latvala-Anttila (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) in 1.25'05”7

2. P. Solberg-Patterson (Ford Fiesta Wrc) + 12”1

3. Loeb-Elena (Citroen DS3 Wrc) + 21”3

4. Ostberg-Andersson (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) + 32”6
5. Hirvonen-Lehtinen (Citroen DS3 Wrc) + 53”8

6. Tanak-Sikk (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) + 1'19”2

7. Novikov-Minor (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) + 1'32”8
8. Neuville-Gilsoul (Citroen DS3 Wrc) + 2'27”9
9. Wilson-Martin (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) + 3'17"0
10. Prokop-Hruza (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) + 3'36”8
Etc.

A recent study released by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and three other organizations reveals that the most Canadian infrastructures are in dire straits.

More than half of the total municipal road infrastructures in the country are in need of important work. FCM President Karen Leibovici confirms the findings, stating that '' the study shows that basic municipal infrastructures, like roads and waterworks are at risk. The investments that have been made these past few years have helped, but without a major long-term strategy we are heading for a crisis.''

120 municipalities representing more than 60% of the Canadian population were polled: 25% of Canadian roads are overloaded, supporting much more than the loads that they were designed for, thanks in great part to the rise in vehicle traffic using these roadways. If no action is taken, the cost of repairing and maintaining these roads will explode.

Photo: Sébastien D'Amour