Force India is remaining publicly silent after its cars were excluded from television coverage of qualifying in Bahrain.
Paul di Resta raced into the decisive Q3 segment but, justifying the apparent black-out, Bernie Ecclestone said "nobody cares" about the cars that are not in the running for pole.
Rumours are intensifying that Force India was maliciously excluded from the sport's 'world feed' - controlled by Ecclestone's Formula One Management - because the Silverstone based team sat out a practice session over staff's safety fears.
The F1 chief executive told reporters: "I suspect it (the blackout) was more to do with the Bahrain laws on no alcohol advertising.
"They have a whisky company prominently on the car. They should have taken it off. The TV could not show that," said Ecclestone.
Force India's deputy team boss Bob Fernley, in charge this weekend in Vijay Mallya's absence, would not comment.
Indeed, McLaren and Sauber are not running their usual alcohol sponsors this weekend, but Red Bull was shown on television throughout the Bahrain grand prix weekend so far with its Singha beer brand signage.
And Force India's whisky sponsor Whyte and Mackay was seen on the world feed in Bahrain in Friday morning practice, before the team decided to sit out the second session.
Meanwhile, authoritative media sources have been briefed to the effect that Force India's current livery was approved well in advance of this weekend's race.
A team insider told the Guardian: "Everyone knows what happened. Bernie is giving Force India a slap on the wrist for missing Friday's second practice session."
Di Resta was also asked about the FOM-snub rumours.
"I've seen some stuff on Twitter," he admitted, "but I was in the garage or in my car driving so I saw my car."
McLaren will join top-team rivals Ferrari and Red Bull on F1's board.
It had emerged last month that only Ferrari and Red Bull had been offered the special deals for the new Concorde Agreement, including the right to nominate directors for the sport's holding company.
But new reports on Thisismoney.co.uk and in the Daily Mail, by the respected F1 business news writers Christian Sylt and Caroline Reid, say McLaren has also been given a seat on the board by F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.
The report said the move could "dilute opposition" to Ecclestone's plans to float formula one on the Singapore stock exchange.
Sources said the floatation plans must be approved by the board.
Ecclestone told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport this week that it was his suggestion that F1 be floated in Singapore, not in London.
"Formula one is known in Singapore, and Asia is thriving. It is a simpler market and not as restrictive," he said.
The 81-year-old said just a year ago that F1 would never float whilst under his control, because "there's no way I would sit in front of a load of shareholders".
"Let's wait and see," he now insists.
"Shareholders are always happy when they're making money. As long as we can guarantee that, they will leave us in peace."
Felipe Massa's future in formula one is at stake in 2012, Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali has admitted.
He said the struggling Brazilian driver, already fighting to keep his seat with the famous Maranello based team, "needs to improve" for the very sake of his "future in formula one".
Domenicali's latest interview in the Spanish newspaper El Mundo indicates therefore that not only Massa's Ferrari seat is in doubt, but that he might struggle to find any place on the grid next season.
Rubens Barrichello, once the great Michael Schumacher's number two teammate at Ferrari, recently advised his friend Massa to "relax" as he faces being destroyed by the Italian marque's new hero, Fernando Alonso.
"Felipe needs to accept," said Domenicali, "that he is facing a very strong teammate. If not, that hurts him.
"He needs to assume a clear role rather than trying to take advantage -- you need to learn from Fernando, not challenge him.
"That (challenging) is the way to being destroyed by a teammate such as Alonso or Schumacher, who are real cannibals," Domenicali insisted.
Apparently justifying Alonso's dominant position, Domenicali said Ferrari has a "moral obligation to champion" the highly rated Spaniard.
And that influence will extend to the selection of his 2013 teammate, Domenicali hinted.
"He (Alonso) has a central role in the team, and he therefore participates in the important issues," said the Italian.
AJ Allmendinger was just a little surprised when he learned he'd won the pole for the STP 400 at Kansas Speedway.
He knew it was "great." On the other hand "I didn't think that the lap was amazing," the former open-wheel driver said after winning his second Sprint Cup Pole.
"It was OK. When Todd (Gordon - his crew chief) told me the lap time, I was shocked by it. We'll start up front, the best that I've ever started here before. I know that I need to be better than I've been. We're getting closer [to a first points-paying win]."
Qualifying was an atypical morning affair meaning that going out early was better for cooler track temperatures rather than afternoon qualifying where later qualifying runs tend to be quicker.
Thus the other surprise was that Allmendinger was one of the last to go out when temperatures were about 10 F degrees warmer than at the start of qualifying.
"We knew going out early would probably be better. It was even more of a surprise that my lap being as good as it was. It shows that we have a fast race car," he explained after turning a lap of 175.993 mph in a Dodge.
Joey Logano went out first, in the coolest temperatures, and quickly set a mark of 175.724 mph, in a Toyota, to win the provisional pole. But Kevin Harvick, who was also one of the later qualifiers, knocked Logano to third with a lap of 175.747 in a Chevrolet.
Series points leader and last week's winner at Texas, Greg Biffle, was 17th and the quickest Ford driver.
Allmendinger, who joined Penske Racing this year, came closest to his first Sprint Cup win when he finished runner-up to Ryan Newman at Martinsville. Now his eyes are set on a victory for his new team.
"More than anything, I put so much pressure on my shoulders to go out there and perform," Allmendinger said. "They [his team] are used to winning, running up front, getting poles. It's good just to build momentum.
"So, hopefully, we have a solid 400 miles. It's good [the pole], but we know the bigger picture's on Sunday, and I'm happy to be part of the team."
Tim Andrews, Jeff Green and Tony Raines failed to qualify for Sunday's race.
The 2012 Honda Ridgeline gets a new Sport trim, refreshed grille design, reduced engine friction, more aerodynamic styling and improved fuel efficiency.
With the swan song of the Dodge Dakota last year, Ridgeline competes with the Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon, Nissan Frontier and Toyota Tacoma. The Ridgeline has always stood out more for distinctive styling and more car-like comfort and handling than work-truck performance, although it can tow up to 2,267 kg (5,000 lb) and has a half-ton payload rating. The Ridgeline still comes in just one body style: four doors, five seats.
Its five-foot-long composite cargo bed features no delineation from the cabin, for a look that's about as sleek as a pickup truck gets. The dual-action tailgate opens down or to the side, for easy access to the 240.7-litre In-Bed Trunk.
Unibody architecture contributes to superior ride and handling, as well as spacious interior dimensions with a midsize footprint. A storage area under the back seat can hold a golf bag, or the rear seating can be lifted up to provide still more storage.
The Sport adds to the VP trim exclusive black 18” alloy wheels (an inch bigger than the VP's), exclusive black honeycomb grille with black surround, leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio controls, and black headlight and brake light housings. The sport fits in between the $36,690 VP and $41,990 Touring at $37,690; the base DX starts at $34,990.
All are powered by a 3.5L, 250-hp VTEC V6 engine and five-speed automatic transmission with Grade Logic Control; a fully automatic four-wheel-drive system distributes torque to all four wheels as needed.
BMW will celebrate the 40th anniversary of its high-performance M division with a limited run of M3 Coupé Frozen Silver Edition models.
Only a hundred of the 420-hp, V8-equipped models will be produced, set to go on sale in the UK in June.
Photo: BMW
M components include the standard 7-speed DCT transmission and variable differential, while bespoke features are a unique Frozen Silver metallic paint, a first for BMW, matte black alloy wheels, dark chrome exhaust, side gills and kidney surrounds, and Jet Black hood intakes. A high-gloss Shadowline exterior trim finishes off the exterior.
Black Novillo leather with contrast stitching and Palladium leather armrests and inserts highlight the interior, along with an Alcantara-clad steering wheel with M3 chequered flag motif. Splashes of carbon fibre underscore M's sporty cred. An M-Power stitched handbrake and limited edition plaque complete the cachet.
All told, it's a little over $14K in equipment over the standard M3 for just over $6,000. Brit fans of the M Coupé can order theirs for about $93,500.
Mexico's automobile industry, once focused on small cars and pickup trucks, got a boost this week when Audi AG chose the country as the location for a new factory to build its Q5 sport-utility vehicle for the global market.
Li Shufu, chairman of Geely Holding Group, which acquired Volvo from Ford in 2010, faces a grueling dilemma: Risk diluting the Swedish marque by sharing technology with Geely or let the Chinese brand face cutthroat competition alone.
Ryan Hunter-Reay will participate in Viper's return to the ALMS - and he's looking forward to sharing the wheel of SRT's GTS-R with Dominik Farnbacher, Marc Goossens and Canada's Kuno Wittmer.
But for that, the IndyCar driver has to split his time between commitments to Andretti Autosport and Riley Technologies (the Viper's headquarters). If he's putting the extra miles in, it's because he intends to go the disance.
Wittmer, Farnbacher, Goossens and Hunter-Reay (Photo: ALMS)
"I think it's important to stay diversified. You need to have your skill set challenged all the time - always putting yourself in new environments," he said. "You have to adapt all the time, but if it has four wheels then I'll drive it. I wish I could do it more."
And Hunter-Reay is no stranger to "diversity" - he won the P2 class at Sebring no later than in 2011.
"I've driven a few cars like the Viper - GT cars for Porsche and Ferrari," Hunter Reay added. "I've done it before and I'm ready for the challenge. [My] goal is to get to Le Mans in a prototype so hopefully that will happen at some point soon."
55 teams are expected to attend the Oregon Trail Rally, including reigning Canadian champions Antoine L'Estage and Nathalie Richard.
The third round of the Rally America National Championship covers more than 120 miles of competition stages across Portland over three days, May 4-6th.
Those stages include gravel miles up Mount Hood and some tarmac stages on the Portland International Raceway.
Internet hackers have threatened to wreak havoc as they sided against formula one over the sport's decision to push ahead with the highly controversial Bahrain grand prix.
The well-known 'hacktivists' Anonymous brought down F1's official website on Friday, slamming Bernie Ecclestone as "evil" and threatening the "worst sh** storm" if the track action continues to proceed this weekend in the troubled island Kingdom.
"Attacks on their (the teams') computer servers could prevent the race taking place," the Daily Express newspaper speculated.
Anonymous also took control of another specialist website, posting a statement that accused the sport of supporting the Bahrain government despite the country's "human rights situation" and saying F1 will now "be punished".
In an awkward official press conference on Friday, team bosses continued to support the sport's decision to press ahead with the race.
"Ultimately we're a race team," said McLaren and FOTA's Martin Whitmarsh. "We're here to go motor racing and that's our number one priority."
Official confirmation of France's return to the formula one calendar is now close, Radio Monte Carlo is reporting.
"The French authorities have finally agreed the price with (Bernie) Ecclestone," the report said.
Earlier, when prime minister Francois Fillon said advanced talks with F1 were taking place, he indicated the gap with Ecclestone's demands was about 2 million euros.
RMC said the deal "should be completed next week".
It is expected that the Ecclestone-owned Paul Ricard will share an annually alternating grand prix date with Belgium's Spa-Francorchamps, beginning in 2013.
The secrets of Ferrari's newfound pitstop speed in 2012 have emerged.
It was reported recently that although the F2012 car is far from the fastest in this year's field, it is being turned around by Ferrari's pit crew the quickest at recent races.
The crew performing a pitstop (Photo: Ferrari)
Spain's Marca sports newspaper reports that the main secret is an innovative wheel nut and wheel gun design, featuring a nut that is an inherent component of the wheel rim.
After the nut is untightened, the wheel gun is then used by the operator to yank the old wheel from the spindle.
Previously, the untightening and removal of the wheel were two separate processes.
The other advantage is that when the new wheel goes on, all the wheel gun operator needs to do is pull the trigger on his gun, because the nut and washer are already in place on the new wheel.
Ferrari crew (Photo: Ferrari S.p.A)
Marca reports that Ferrari's 2.4 second pitstop in Shanghai was an outright record.
The system was pioneered by Mercedes late last season, but Ferrari appears to be the first to perfect it.
The Spanish report also said Red Bull, McLaren and Lotus are all now working to perfect integrated wheel/nut systems.
FIA president Jean Todt was unmoved on Saturday despite reports a Bahraini protester has been killed during anti-F1 demonstrations.
Opposition groups, calling the dead protester an "F1 martyr", claimed the latest clashes with police resulted in a body being left on the roof of a building less than 10 kilometres from the capital Manama.
Sky News in Britain said the Kingdom's government declined to comment.
"We know protests can have a negative result," Frenchman Todt told the BBC when asked about the reported death.
"We are a governing body running sport, you can have lots of protests and there can be consequences, and I am not sure the protests would not have happened if the grand prix would not have happened."
The FIA president said all the teams support the Bahrain grand prix.
The actual flames of Bahrain's unrest have touched yet another member of the formula one fraternity.
It has already emerged that Force India and Sauber team personnel, driving in hired vehicles en route from the circuit to their hotels, have come close to the Molotov cocktails being thrown by protesters.
Germany's Bild newspaper reports that the latest figure to come face to face with the controversial off-track action this weekend is Pasquale Lattuneddu, the well-known right-hand man of F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.
The report said a Molotov cocktail exploded close to Lattuneddu's car as he witnessed a clash between young rioters and police.
He would not confirm or comment.
Bild also reported that Michael Schumacher, despite publicly backing the Bahrain grand prix on several occasions, has moved to a "secret" location that is "protected by barbed wire" for the rest of the weekend.
Media reports say the 2012 event at Sakhir has quickly become the most controversial event in F1's long history.
"The worst case scenario?" speculated Telegraph correspondent Tom Cary from the Persian Gulf state. "It doesn't bear thinking about.
"But it could mean (Jean) Todt and (Bernie) Ecclestone are gored on the horns of a dilemma of their own making."
Other first-hand observers are less worried.
"So far my picture of Bahrain is different from what the news agencies painted and what was said in the paddock in Malaysia and China," wrote O Estado de S.Paulo correspondent Livio Oricchio.
"At least with the information I have, the scenario is less tense than it seemed. But, you know, anything can happen. Hopefully not."
Rumours are swirling after qualifying in Bahrain that Force India was deliberately excluded from Saturday's 'world feed' television coverage.
That coverage is controlled by Formula One Management, the sport's Bernie Ecclestone-run company.
F1 chief executive Ecclestone is believed to have been angry on Friday that Force India sat out the second practice session over security fears.
The 81-year-old Briton offered to ride in the Silverstone based team's hire vehicles after dark with frightened mechanics and personnel, but revealed late on Friday that they had turned down the offer.
Then on Saturday, as Force India returned to the track for the third practice session and qualifying, television viewers noticed that the orange, green and white cars were conspicuously absent from their screens.
That was despite Paul di Resta racing all the way through the three-part qualifying session into Q3.
"You could say it was Bernie's revenge, I couldn't comment," The Times' Kevin Eason said on Twitter.
Another journalist, Adam Hay-Nicholls, joked that the Force India blackout "could be season-long unless the team goes grovelling to Mr E".
Roger Penske can understand Rick Hendrick's frustration about being stuck on NASCAR Sprint Cup win number 199 like no one else.
Jimmie Johnson won number 199, in Kansas last October, for Hendrick Motor Sports. And no one from HMS has seen victory lane since then.
While going thirteen races without a victory doesn't sound like much of a drought considering that a Hendrick customer, Stewart Haas Racing, has collected eight of the last 16 victories.
Even the most dominant team in sports goes through a dry spell.
On the other hand is crossing a century mark a kind of stumbling block?
As five-time Cup Champion Johnson, who was quickest in practice on Friday, said "we've watched other athletes hit a homerun mark, or whatever it may be, and just kind of get stuck. We know that our teams are all capable of winning races and we've all been very close this year."
There happens to be an analogy and it's also in motorsports.
Penske Racing has a record in IndyCar type racing that is unapproachable by any team. Except that there was nearly a three-year, 55-race, long dry spell between win number 99 and 100.
Paul Tracy won number 99 in May of 1997, in St. Louis, and not until Gil de Ferran won at Nazareth, in April of 2000, could Penske claim victory number 100.
Penske, who also has a two-car Cup team, told Auto123.com "It was certainly tough to go through that span but the focus wasn't on getting the 100 wins, we just wanted a victory. The milestones are rewarding but we go into every race expecting to win, whether it is number one or 100.
"I am sure Rick will tell you that no matter how many races you have won before, it is always the next win that is on your mind and the longer you go between victories the more relief you feel when you finally do win."
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