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Russia's president Vladimir Putin awarded brand new Audi cars to all the athletes who won a medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

The 24 gold medallists received an Audi A8 sedan, while the 26 silver medallists took home an A7 hatchback. As for those who won a bronze, they were given a smaller A6 sedan.

''On behalf of all Russian supporters, I want to thank you for your performance and our country's success in these Olympics,'' Putin said to the athletes.

Team Russia finished fourth with 82 medals. Just imagine how much all these Audis cost the president...

Source: liberation.fr

The XJ performance luxury sedan will get even more competitive for the 2013 model year, as Jaguar is introducing several powertrain improvements.

All-wheel drive will be offered on the XJ for the first time ever, a rear-wheel biased system that will send torque to the front wheels for added traction when needed.

The XJ will also benefit from a new engine. A supercharged 3.0L V6 will develop 340 horsepower, not a bad thing since the competition offer similar smaller-displacement lumps, such as the Audi A8. The Intuitive All Wheel Drive system will be paired to the new V6.

Also new is an 8-speed automatic transmission, which will be fitted to each and every XJ. In addition, a start/stop system will be offered on some models.

With all these new features, the 2013 Jaguar XJ should provide considerably better fuel economy as well as all-weather traction.

Photo: Jaguar

Photo: Jaguar

Auto123.com Racing provides live coverage of the qualifying session of the 2012 NAPA Auto Parts 200 NASCAR Nationwide series from the Gilles Villeneuve circuit in Montreal.

René Fagnan, our motorsport editor is in paddock of the road circuit.

He will provide live comments and analysis of the action while it happens out on the race track.

For technical reasons, the commentaries are provided in both English and French.

Simply click on the box below to access the Live Coverage.

A total of 9,150 SUVs (GMC Envoy and Envoy XL, Chevrolet Trailblazer and Trailblazer XL, Buick Rainier, Saab 9-7X) from the 2006-2007 model years are being recalled by General Motors.

On certain vehicles originally sold or currently operated in areas of heavy road salt usage during winter months (Ontario, Quebec, Atlantic Canada), the driver's door module could short circuit and fail. An electrical short could result in a vehicle fire causing property damage and/or personal injury.

Owners will be informed by GM when the appropriate correction has been determined.

Source: Transports Canada

2007 Buick Rainier (Photo: Buick)

2007 GMC Envoy (Photo: GMC)

2006 SAAB 9-7X (Photo: SAAB)

2007 Chevrolet TrailBlazer (Photo: Chevrolet)

From GMM

More publications and sources are reporting rumours Mercedes could be looking to reshape its commitment to formula one.

The latest edition of the French weekly Auto Hebdo reported that, still yet to agree a new Concorde Agreement deal, the Stuttgart carmaker could field only a 'semi-official' team from 2014.

The report said the move, with Mercedes remaining an engine supplier but taking a more engineering rather than managerial focus, could see the Brackley based team rebadged as 'AMG', which is the German marque's high performance arm.

Photo: Mercedes AMG F1 Team

A similar story, reportedly due to "increasingly insistent rumours", is now being told by Italy's Autosprint.

That report said the 'AMG'-solution is a "compromise" in light of the Mercedes board of directors pushing hard for a full formula one withdrawal.

Autosprint said the directors are unsatisfied that, three seasons after the Brawn GP rebranding and the reunion of Ross Brawn and Michael Schumacher, all Mercedes has to boast is Nico Rosberg's single win.

The report said the "greatest advocate" of the Mercedes GP project has been Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche, who will reportedly step down within a few months.

Also reporting that a "radical change" in Mercedes' F1 commitment is shaping up is French commentator Jean-Louis Moncet, who in his Auto Plus column cited a source who is "known for the veracity of his information".

That source said the matter will be finalised at Mercedes' next board meeting.

Who said that hybrids are slow and boring? Actually, we might have...

Volkswagen is not the first manufacturer to demonstrate that hybrids can get speeding tickets. Toyota, with their Prius, hit in excess of 130 mph or nearly 210 km/h a few years back.

The new Jetta Hybrid is powered by a turbocharged 1.4L 4-cylinder gas engine that is good for 150 hp and an electric motor that generates 27 extra hp. Sending power to the wheels is a 7-speed DSG transmission.

With the necessary modifications done to comply with Southern California Timing Association's (SCTA) rules, the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid was able to reach a staggering 185.394 mph (298.363 km/h) at the famed Bonneville Salt Flats, during the annual Speed Week.

The driven Jetta Hybrid was also tweaked mechanically by Volkswagen R&D in Wolfsburg, Germany, in order to achieve the necessary amount of horsepower to get the car to this speed.

Here's a nugget for comparison: The Ferrari F430 has a top speed of 192 mph.

Photo: Volkswagen

The first free practice session presented on Friday at the Nürburgring, 6th round of the DTM championship, was dominated by Filipe Albuquerque's Audi A5 ahead of his team mates Mattias Ekström and Mike Rockenfeller.

The Portuguese driver, who ran 38 laps in the afternoon session set his best lap in 1m25.007. Ekström was four tenths of a second slower, while Rockenfeller was half a second behind.

Jamie Green, who stands in second position in provisional standings, was fourth fastest and best Mercedes driver with a time of 1m25.607. Green finished in front of two other Audis driven by Miguel Molina and Adrien Tambay. Championship leader Gary Paffett (Mercedes) was 7th quickest at the end of the session.

BMW never ran on the Nürburgring track, and had quite a tough session, with his best car standing in 9th place with Dirk Werner, 0,9 seconds slower than Albuquerque.

Both Canadians in the field also had a difficult start to the weekend. Bruno Spengler (BMW) was 12th quickest (1m25.950) and Robert Wickens (Mercedes) was back in 18th position (1m26.314).

The second free practice session will be presented on Saturday morning, before the qualifying session in the afternoon.

Hyundai Canada announced today that its all-new 2013 Santa Fe will offer lots of additional features for the same price as the outgoing model.

Slated to arrive in dealerships this October, the five-passenger 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe will come in three trim levels including 2.4 Sport ($26,499), 2.4 Premium ($28,299) and 2.4 Luxury ($33,899).

A pair of four-cylinder engines will be available: a 2.4L GDI rated at 190 horsepower (9.5L/100km in the city and 6.0L/100km on the highway) and a 2.0L turbocharged GDI that produces 264 horsepower (fuel consumption TBD).

Standard safety features include seven airbags, an electric power steering and electronic stability control with rollover protection, just to name a few.

Large families will be delighted by the return of a seven-passenger Santa Fe in early 2013.

Photo: Hyundai

Spaniard Formula 1 team HRT has gone through a restructuring process in which it has settled at a new base, practically renewed the staff entirely and new drivers have arrived, including Narain Karthikeyan.

The Indian faces his second season as an official driver of the Spanish team and his experience has been vital in consolidating and evolving the F112. Having arrived at the midway point of the season, Karthikeyan assesses this start to the season alongside the Spanish team in an interview posted on the team's web site.

Question: This is your second season with HRT Formula 1 Team and you know better than anyone how much the team has changed. It won't have been easy but what has this change been like?
Karthikeyan: The change has been a big one but also a progressive one. Now the entire team is under the same roof and the facilities are really fantastic; anyone who visits them will see the intentions of a very serious Formula 1 team. I give full marks to the management who put this together and I feel very fortunate to form a part of this team which is growing. We've still got a lot to do but we're making steady progress.

Photo: HRT F1 Team

Q: We've completed just over half of the races, how would you assess this first part of the season?
Karthikeyan: I think that my race performance has been very strong, with my 15th place in Monaco standing out, but in qualifying I've been a bit weaker. Right now I'm about three tenths behind Pedro and that's something I have to improve in this second half, no doubt about it. The tyres have been quite difficult to get used to and Pedro has a lot of experience with Pirelli and McLaren. He's a very good driver who hardly makes mistakes and I must learn from him to improve.

Q: Both the team and the car are new, what has surprised you most about each one?
Karthikeyan: We knew the car would be pretty basic but I've been surprised by its reliability and I think it has potential to improve. And the team has surprised me even more because renewing almost 85% of the staff isn't easy and I think that we have a very good combination of people with a lot of experience in F1 and young people with a lot of hunger. But everyone is very professional and it's a real pleasure working with them.

Q: Your performance at your home Grand Prix in India was fantastic. Having enjoyed more continuity and confidence, what are your expectations for this year?
Karthikeyan: The car will have evolved a bit more come the Indian Grand Prix so I think I will put in a better performance than last year. It's obviously my favourite race and we will try to do our best there. My expectations are always high and we will aim to improve on last year's 17th position.

From GMM

Fernando Alonso has singled out Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel as probably his toughest challengers for the 2012 title.

With half of this year's grands prix now in the past, Spaniard Alonso has won more than any other rival and has a 40-point lead in the drivers' chase over Mark Webber.

But close behind Australian Webber is his Red Bull teammate and reigning back to back world champion Sebastian Vettel, followed by another 2012 race winner and former title winner, Lewis Hamilton.

Alonso is quoted by Brazil's Totalrace: "Hamilton and Vettel are the drivers we have focused on since the beginning. They are the biggest challengers, but all of the teams are close."

"Hopefully, they will fight among themselves and not one of them will dominate," he added.

With nine races still to run in 2012, Alonso is taking nothing for granted.

"I think the distance between the top five, top six is not impossible to recover," he said. "You just need one good race or two good races and you are up there."

Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) leading Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) at Montreal. (Photo: WRi2)

Pundits have lauded Alonso's extreme consistency so far in 2012, the Ferrari driver finishing all eleven races inside the points.

"Sometimes we know we can be on the podium, other times maybe it's only seventh, but we cannot afford to make any mistakes or do anything that we will regret," said the 31-year-old.

F1 veteran Rubens Barrichello said to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport: "Alonso is in the form of his life. He does not have the fastest car but he is the one getting the best out of what he has. And his rivals are taking points off one another. In the end I see this (championship) as a duel between Alonso and Vettel."

In this episode: Ford charges up its vehicle electrification group, we think about the looks of the new Chevrolet SS, and did BWM go the extra mile with its July sales?

Nissan is updating the

Jaguar is offering the option of all-wheel drive on the XF and

This weekend at Pebble Beach, Monterey and the Legends of the Autobahn,

The Woodward Dream Cruise may officially be a Saturday-only event, but don't tell the thousands of people -- and cars -- out on the Avenue already this week.

News 16 Aug, 2012

New Ford S-MAX could do without a B pillar when it arrives in 2014

Tata Motors' luxury car unit Jaguar has announced that all-wheel-drive (AWD) versions of the XF and XJ sedans will be available in 'snow belt' markets from the 2013 model year.

News 16 Aug, 2012

Four-wheel-drive variants of the XF and XJ - but they're not for the UK

Hyundai is dropping the 4.6-liter V8 in the Genesis sedan lineup for 2013. The 5.0-liter V8 will continue in the R-Spec model, while the rest will get Hyundai's 3.8-liter V6.

Ford may need a smaller crossover in its lineup, and the new