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From GMM

Bernie Ecclestone has reportedly offered to waive F1's usual race sanctioning fee in 2013 amid the Nurburgring's deepening financial crisis.

State governor Kurt Beck on Wednesday announced that the circuit, scheduled to return to the calendar next year, is launching "orderly insolvency proceedings" because the European Commission is to reject a government bailout.

That sounds disastrous for the future of the F1 race, which in recent years has annually alternated the German grand prix with Hockenheim.

Aerial view of the Nurburgring track.

But German reports by the news agencies DPA and DAPD, and by the Abendblatt newspaper, said that despite the news, "there could still be formula one races at the Nurburgring in the future".

The reports revealed that the German race organisers have agreed with F1 chief executive Ecclestone that the sanctioning fee in 2013 will not be paid, with the 81-year-old agreeing in return to "bear all costs but also claim all revenues".

The Citroen World Rally Team declared that the recent financial cutbacks annouced by PSA Peugeot Citroen last week should not affect its involvement in ther World Rally Championship.

Earlier this year, Peugeot stunned the motorsport community when it announced its very sudden and totally unexpected withdrawal from the World Endurance Championship weeks before the beginning of the season.

PSA Peugeot Citroen revealed 8,000 redundancies and the closure of the Aulnay car-producing factory near Paris on Thursday last week.

Photo: WRC

"The announcement of last week won't impact our WRC programme,” said a spokeswoman from Citroen Racing to Autosport.

“However, we are doing our best to look at options to reduce the financial support of the brand in our sporting package."

Here is the entry list for the Edmonton Indy IndyCar race to be held this weekend on Edmonton City Centre Airport's temporary street course.

All cars use 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series Dallara DW12 chassis and Firestone tires.

Car   Driver   Engine   Entrant
2 Ryan Briscoe Chevrolet Team Penske
3 Helio Castroneves Chevrolet Team Penske
4 JR Hildebrand Chevrolet Panther Racing
5 E.J. Viso Caracas Chevrolet KV Racing Technology
7 Sebastien Bourdais Chevrolet Dragon Racing
8 Rubens Barrichello Chevrolet KV Racing Technology
9 Scott Dixon Auckland Honda Target Chip Ganassi Racing
10 Dario Franchitti Honda Target Chip Ganassi Racing
11 Tony Kanaan Salvador Chevrolet KV Racing Technology w/SH
12 Will Power Chevrolet Team Penske
14 Mike Conway Honda A.J. Foyt Enterprises
15 Takuma Sato Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan
18 Justin Wilson Honda Dale Coyne Racing
19 James Jakes Honda Dale Coyne Racing
20 Ed Carpenter Chevrolet Ed Carpenter Racing
22 Oriol Servia Chevrolet Panther/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
26 Marco Andretti Chevrolet Andretti Autosport
27 James Hinchcliffe Chevrolet Andretti Autosport
28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Chevrolet Andretti Autosport
38 Graham Rahal Honda Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing
67 Josef Newgarden (R) Honda Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing
77 Simon Pagenaud (R) Honda Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports
78 Simona de Silvestro Lotus Lotus-HVM Racing
83 Charlie Kimball Honda Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing
98 Alex Tagliani Honda Bryan Herta Autosport w/Curb-Agajanian

(R) - Denotes Sunoco Rookie of the Year Candidate

Will Power won the 2011 edition. (Photo: LAT for IndyCar)

Toyota believes that customers who are looking for a bold, luxurious and refined family vehicle will be interested in their 2013 Venza crossover.


The Venza first appeared as a 2009 model, and is essentially a crossover version of the very popular Toyota Camry sedan.

Since Toyota launched a new Camry last year, it was inevitable that a new Venza would also be in the works. Back in April, at the 2012 New York International Auto Show, Toyota pulled the covers off its new Venza which sports refreshed styling and some added convenience features.

Standard features on all models now include a 6.1” infotainment screen with satellite Radio, plus auxiliary input jacks for your iPod or MP3 player. All devices can be accessed via the vehicle's voice recognition system.

Back in April, at the 2012 New York International Auto Show, Toyota pulled the covers off its new Venza which sports refreshed styling and some added convenience features. (Photo: Toyota)

All-wheel-drive versions of the Venza are available with Touring and Touring + JBL option packages, which add HID headlights with LED daytime running lights, driver's seat position memory, reverse tilt exterior mirrors and navigation.

Along with the 3.5L V6 engine that produces 268 hp, the Venza will also be available with a 2.7L, inline 4-cylinder engine that produces 182 hp; both engines can be chosen with front-wheel or all-wheel drivetrains. The only transmission offered on all models is a 6-speed automatic.

The 2013 Venza will go on sale within the next few weeks. The base version will cost $28,690, while a fully loaded V6 AWD model will retail fort $39,550.

2012 Mazda MX-5 Miata Special Edition PRHT

The Mazda MX-5 is a car that floods the driver with the joy and sensation of driving.

I must have racked up some serious good karma last week, because when I left work on Friday I discovered beautiful blue skies, 70-degree weather, and the keys to a Mazda MX-5. It felt like the perfect day to lower the car's power hardtop and take the long way home, so I unwound from the work week by winding around the back roads of Ann Arbor.

Photo Gallery: 2012 Mazda MX-5 Miata Special Edition PRHT - Editors' Notebook - Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: 2012 Mazda MX-5 Miata Special Edition PRHT - Editors' Notebook - Automobile Magazine

2012 Mazda MX-5 Miata Special Edition PRHT | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us

News 18 Jul, 2012

Car rental customers are being talked into buying extra insurance policies they don’t need by pushy sales people

A spokesperson for Land Rover has told just-auto that a facelifted Freelander/LR2 will be revealed at next month's Moscow motor show, to be followed by a new Range Rover at the Paris show.

Yokohama Tires recently released a short film documenting the

EXECUTIVE EDITOR BOB GRITZINGER: This SuperCrew version of the 2012 Ford F-150 Harley-Davidson stomps a huge footprint out there in the world, in every way.

What is it?

French Industry Minister Arnauld Montebourg plans to summon members of the Peugeot family to explain why PSA/Peugeot-Citroen had continued to pay dividends even as it was facing mounting difficulties, he told parliament on Tuesday.

News 17 Jul, 2012

New pictures of upcoming Range Rover Sport show most athletic figure to date

Pictures 17 Jul, 2012

News 18 Jul, 2012

Larger Toyota RAV4 has been spied testing ahead of 2013 launch

Pictures 17 Jul, 2012

News 18 Jul, 2012

Facelifted Insignia estate spotted ahead of its launch next year

Pictures 17 Jul, 2012

Mitsubishi Motors North America has started US production of the Outlander Sport (ASX) compact crossover at its plant in Normal, Illinois.

European Automotive Supplier body, CLEPA, says it is closely monitoring the situation at PSA Peugeot Citroen following the automaker's decision to drastically reduce headcount.

Opel's supervisory board has named Thomas Sedran deputy chairman of the management board. He will act as chairman until a permanent chairman is in place.