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.
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."
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.
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."
Toyota won tentative dismissal of some claims by plaintiffs who said their vehicles lost value because of the automaker's recalls for sudden, unintended acceleration-related issues. U.S. District Judge James Selna in Santa Ana, Calif.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it will hold a forum on lithium-ion batteries in electric cars next month, almost a year after a Chevrolet Volt caught fire three weeks after a crash-test.
Word broke this week that the next generation of the Ford Mustang, due in 2014, will have a design similar to the Evos concept shown at the 2011 Frankfurt motor show.
The Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival, the third-annual event under that title, returns to Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., on June 2-3. The event this year is titled, and#8220;Moments in Time: a Celebration of the History of Motorsports.
American Honda is seeking to have a judge overturn a small claims court decision that awarded nearly $10,000 to a woman who sued the automaker over the fuel economy of her Honda Civic Hybrid, the Associated Press reported.
Europe's auto production will probably be disrupted first if carmakers can't find alternative resins used to make fuel systems and brake lines, according to a Credit Suisse report.
Roll over, America. It's finished. Fold up your tents. Retire from the field. Let us stick the collective fork in our collective self, because we're flat-out done. Kaput. Finito. It's Sacajawea-dollars-on-the-eyes time. China has beaten us.
Nissan said today that an American, Senior Vice President Greg Kelly, has been nominated for the company's board. If elected at the Japanese automaker's annual meeting in June, Kelly would be the first American board member.
Europe's auto production will probably be disrupted first if carmakers can't find alternative resins used to make fuel systems and brake lines, according to a Credit Suisse Group report.
There are some vehicles that are so ridiculously awesome, we can't help but share them. This highly modified Jeep Wrangler by CEC Wheels is just such a vehicle.
Earlier in the year, I was happy to read that Jaguar made some improvements to its infotainment interface for 2012. According to Jaguar's web site, one of the changes was the addition of dedicated buttons on the console to make it quicker and easier to access a few functions that previously required several screen selections or were totally buried in the system. It shortens the distraction time for some but unfortunately, it's still a bit wonky. For example, if you choose to use the touch-screen to navigate to adjust the seat heaters, you will also be able to turn on the heated steering wheel from the same screen. If you push the new button on the dash instead, an entirely different screen comes up that only allows you to adjust the heated seats. Very frustrating. The changes definitely are a step in the right direction but they also create problems of their own.
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