From GMM
F1 cars' standard electronic units, supplied by a McLaren subsidiary, are causing problems in 2013.
As the electronic control units (ECU) were upgraded ahead of the turbo V6 debut next year, teams struck trouble during recent testing.
McLaren Electronic Systems (MES) reacted to the bugs, but in Melbourne on Saturday, the telemetry links between the cars and FIA race control failed.
It meant drivers had to revert to watching trackside flags rather than cockpit lights, while race director Charlie Whiting was unable to automatically disable the cars' DRS systems, according to Auto Motor und Sport.
Meanwhile, a Melbourne power outage caused chaos among F1's international television broadcasters in the crucial buildup to qualifying -- which ultimately was delayed due to bad weather.
Kyle Busch was almost surprised to break the qualifying record on the way to his first Sprint Cup pole at the .533 mile Bristol Motor Speedway.
“After a couple of years of getting used to wrecking here, it sort of all fell into place,” Busch said. “I've never sat on a pole here at Bristol and qualifying is not everything here. Most of my wins come from about 30th or worse...”
Driving a Toyota; Busch turned a lap in 14.813 seconds eclipsing the record held by Ryan Newman, who had run the first sub-15-second lap in 2003.
Friday's top nine qualifiers beat the 15-second-lap time, with Busch trailed by Kasey Kahne, Denny Hamlin, Brian Vickers, Paul Menard, Jamie McMurray, Brad Keselowski, Tony Stewart and Martin Truex Jr. Joey Logano rounded out the top ten.
One of the reasons for his pole, Busch opined, “the track is getting a little bit of age on it so it's getting a little bit rougher and that's about all that we felt different from what we've had here in the past years."
Kahne, who drives a Chevrolet, went out after Busch's lap and was aware he had a big job ahead. “I knew Kyle (had put down a great lap and a track record. So I knew I had to go pretty hard,” he said.
“I just felt like I may have given up a little bit in (Turns) 1 and 2, which would have made it really close for the pole. But, we it was still really good between (Turns) 3 and 4. The car was balanced really nice. I wish we could have beat Kyle but he put down a great lap.”
Hamlin, Busch's teammate, said “Yeah, it was good. Our car has really had a lot of speed since we got here. We haven't been able to really mess it up too bad with any adjustments. It's really for us been more about getting our car off the race track, so we're pretty happy with what we've got and where we're headed so far this weekend.”
Vickers, who shares his ride with Mark Martin in the Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota while running full-time in the Nationwide Series, was pleased. “It's good to be back in the Sprint Cup Series,” he said.
“The car was good -- it was really good, better than practice. Rodney (Childers, the crew chief) did a great job all weekend. I was trying to get too much out of the car and we ended up at a (14) .90 or .91 -- I think it probably had a mid to low .80 and trying to get a .70 was just too much.”
and#8220;Fast and Furious 6and#8221; comes out in theaters on May 24. To keep the buzz going after the Super Bowl trailer, Universal Pictures has started an FF6 page on Instagram.
Architect and furniture designer Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe is often associated with the phrase and#8220;Less is more.and#8221; On the show field for the seventh annual Boca Raton Concours d' Elegance, held at the
The second week of March saw the racing season warming up. We also finished our Geneva motor show coverage and began to prepare for the
When we drove Chevy's Spark EV last year, we thought to ourselves, and#8220;Four hundred lb.-ft.? In one of the tiniest econoboxes on American roads? Yes! Please! Yes!and#8221;
President Obama, faced with few options for financing his clean-energy ambitions, on Friday proposed diverting $2 billion in revenue from federal oil and gas leases over the next decade to pay for research on advanced vehicles.
Volkswagen and the UAW have discussed setting up a German-style labor board at VW's assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., the automaker's human resources chief said today.
Toyota is recalling about 310,000 FJ Cruiser compact SUVs worldwide because cracks can develop in the rear door panels, allowing the seat-belt retractors to detach.
The first Corvette upgrade from Callaway Cars came in 1987 as an option from select dealers. The Vettes would go to Old Lyme, Conn. for the conversion, straight from the factory in Bowling Green, Ken.
Also in this episode: BMW has three vehicles set to debut in New York; Honda will recall thousands of vehicles with stability-assist program problems.
The Big Apple isn't known for its automotive culture, but there are plenty of landmarks for car lovers to check out while attending the New York auto show.
As people welcome Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, we've been wondering what type of vehicle he'll choose to transport himself.
Nissan is recalling the Altima,
The fuel economy of vehicles sold in the United States last year had the sharpest gains in almost four decades, with Honda Motor, Volkswagen AG and Mazda producing the most efficient fleets.
Hyundai said it would increase its dealer network in China from 802 to 860 this year to further boost its sales there.
Chrysler is to hire 200 more people at its Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio to meet demand for the Wrangler off-roader.
Thai vehicle assembler and parts maker Thai Rung Union is to spend THB500m (US$17m) to expand production capacity and raise revenue by 15% this year.
Porsche executives said 2012 was the best sales year in the companyand#8217;s 63-year history.
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