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Sauber's Esteban Gutierrez has taken full responsibility for the accident which saw him and Adrian Sutil retire from the Chinese Grand Prix.

The young Mexican ploughed into the back of Sutil's Force India on lap five after outbraking himself and not anticipating the lack of downforce that followed. Whilst the Force India retired in the pits a handful of corners later due to an excessively damaged rear wing, the Sauber retired on the spot.

"It was definitely my fault, and I apologize to Adrian and to his team," said Gutierrez after the race.

"I had Checo [Perez] fighting behind me, and I approached the corner too fast," he continued.

"I was braking at the same place where I usually brake, however, I didn't anticipate the loss of downforce and the amount of speed I had."

The incident will see Gutierrez take a five-place grid penalty in next weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix.

You'd think that after seven weekend NASCAR sweeps Kyle Busch wouldn't be very excited and you'd be wrong.

After leading much of the NRA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway Busch - who won the Nationwide race on Friday - fell behind a determined Martin Truex Jr. then came a final caution, for debris, on lap 315.

As pole sitter, Busch's team had picked the first pit stall and also performed a blazing fast pit stop. The result? He came out of the pits three car lengths ahead of Truex Jr.'s Toyota. Busch beat Truex on the final restart and held him off for the final 20 laps. It was his second win of the year and 26th in Sprint Cup.

That seventh sweep is a NASCAR record.

Kyle Busch put on a real show in Texas (Photo: Kyle Busch@Facebook)

“It's just an amazing feeling,” Busch said adding “I'm jacked up. We're in Victory Lane, in Texas, finally in the Cup Series. Man, if it wasn't for my pit crew.”

As Truex, who was in a 209 race winless slump said “the race was over when we came out of the pits.” Later he added “second is a great accomplishment, but it's not what we're here for.”

Carl Edwards finished third in a Ford said “the tail pipe, something broke or cracked in the tail pipes and I thought the engine was blowing up, the whole race, that got worse.  On one of the restarts I tightened my belts and I unhooked my whole seat belt system coming to green.”

“Unfortunately, we came home third, but that's a gift for us.  I know Martin's not happy with second, but I'm real happy with third.” Greg Biffle finished fourth.

Kurt Busch who started second finished 37th and well off the pace.

NASCAR's Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski was furious about the way his team was treated this weekend at the Texas Motor Speedway.

Both Penske cars failed a pre-race inspection for improper rear end settings. Both Keselowski's No. 2 and Joey Logano No. 22 had to replace the rear axle causing them to get to the starting grid late.

Even though Logano finished fifth and Keselowski finished ninth, Keselowski the reigning Cup champion was fuming:

“I have one good thing to thing to say and that was my team and the effort they put in today in fighting back with the absolute (expletive) that's been the last seven days in this garage area,” Keselowski said.

“The things I've seen over the last seven days have me questioning everything I believe in. I'm not happy about it. I don't have anything positive to say and I probably should just leave it at that.

“There's so much stuff going on you guys have no idea, you have no (expletive) idea what's going on. That's not your fault. I can tell you there's no team in this garage with the integrity of the No. 2 team. And the way we've been treated over the last seven days is absolutely shameful.

“I feel like we've been targeted over the last seven days more than I've seen a team targeted in my life.”

After the race, won by Kyle Busch, NASCAR announced that Truex's car failed inspection - too low. And that Keselowski's Ford was being taken back to its' Concord, N.C. R&D Center as the “random” car for inspection.

India's annual car sales fell for the first time in a decade in the financial year just ended and are expected to post subdued growth this year, calling into question bullish expectations that fueled billion-dollar bets from global manufacturers.

NEWS EDITOR GREG MIGLIORE: The 2013 Santa Fe Sport 2.0T is an attractive value with enticing design and a comfortable interior.

What is it?

Daimler's effort to reclaim the crown of world's largest luxury carmaker is looking a lot like the 1980s with the Mercedes CLA compact that harkens back to the 190 'Baby Benz' sedan.

Daimler's effort to reclaim the crown of world's largest luxury-car maker is looking a lot like the 1980s with the Mercedes CLA compact that harkens back to the 190 'Baby Benz' sedan.

2013 Fiat 500e First Drive

By Decree, an EV

The 2013 Fiat 500e is what’s called a compliance car—meaning that California requires any volume automaker doing business in the state to offer an electric model. This is Chrysler’s, and it will be sold only in California, although other states may be added later.

Photo Gallery: 2013 Fiat 500e First Drive - Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: 2013 Fiat 500e First Drive - Automobile Magazine

2013 Fiat 500e First Drive | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us

Price Range: $68,800 and up

Description: Taking the lid off Audi's popular touring-ready performance coupe, the S5, dials up driving pleasure significantly for 2013. This sleek two-door sets itself apart on the road with a chiseled, accented and wind-swept look that's accented by a prominent, chrome-slat grille, LED running lights and a tapered rear-end that terminates in a set of quad-pipe exhausts.

Photo: Audi

When drivers and up to three additional occupants wish to get a better listen to the exotic howl from those tailpipes, the S5 Cabriolet's roof can be dispatched into its storage hold in a matter of seconds, and at the touch of a button.

On board, look for aluminum and leather touches, as well as a dynamic and engaging atmosphere, to set the scene for drop-top thrills.

Drivetrain: All 2013 Audi S5 Cabriolet models get a 3.0L all-aluminum V6 engine that delivers 333 horsepower thanks to an integrated “mechanical charger,” which us North Americans call a supercharger. This compressor is integrated with the engine's intake manifold and driven by an accessory belt. Like a turbocharger, it blasts the engine full of compressed air and additional fuel at full throttle for a performance increase. Unlike a turbocharger, a supercharger acts with no lag, meaning performance is seamless.

An S-Tronic 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission is fitted to all models, as is Quattro AWD technology. Drivers can expect 0-100 km/h in 5.5 seconds.

Consider it if: a multifunction performance touring convertible is a priority. The 2013 Audi S5 is well suited for year-round use, with its drop-top increasing warm-weather enjoyment, and its extensive cold-weather testing and Quattro making quick work of winter driving. Family-ready cruising comes by way of the four-seat interior and decent-size trunk.

Skip it if: you want a manual transmission, as one isn't available here. Additionally, with a starting price approaching $70,000, the 2013 Audi S5 Cabriolet is in the same pricing territory as a number of other performance machines that offer more all-out firepower for the money.

Photo: Audi

Other Notes: Feature content includes climate-controlled seats, including a solar-heat reflecting Milano leather that ensures occupants are treated to a cool seat when they board the 2013 Audi S5. The Audi Quattro Sport Differential is also available to dial up performance and at-the-limit precision handling. Navigation, HD Radio and a Bang & Olufsen stereo system are available, too. Other must-haves include push-button start, automatic climate control, and adaptive xenon headlamps.

Don't Miss: the array of fuel-saving technologies and engineering efforts that seek to deliver top-of-class mileage. Working with the supercharger's on-demand power boost, direct injection technology helps extract the most energy possible from every molecule of fuel meaning the engine requires less of it to get the job done.

An aluminum frame and all-aluminum engine help keep the 2013 Audi S5's weight down, while the 7-speed transmission enables lower cruising revs for better highway range.

Red Bull's Mark Webber will start from the back of the grid following the fuel pump issue which eliminated him from Q2.

Despite seeming to have had a clear speed advantage over teammate Vettel during the free practice and Q1 sessions, the issue forced the Australian to park his Red Bull during Q2 and saw him originally line up 14th for tomorrow's race.

However, the team conceded in a statement from the stewards that the car did not have enough fuel on board to provide the mandatory post-qualifying fuel sample and saw Webber have his qualifying times deleted.

“Only 150ml of fuel was on board which was insufficient to provide the one-litre sample and drive the car back to the pits under its own power."

The same problem also befell teammate Vettel in the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner conceded that the situation was ‘disappointing' following the steward's decision, but remained confident in Webber's ability to fight his way back through the field.

“It's disappointing to have an issue but these things happen - we've seen it with other teams as well.” he said. “[But] the most important thing is to understand what has happened.”

“The good thing about the race here is that, particularly with the strategies, it is open and Mark's demonstrated the year before last he can come from a lowly grid position and still be right up there by the end of the race."

Lewis Hamilton has made history by claiming an ‘incredible' first pole position as a Mercedes driver at the Chinese Grand Prix by 0.277 seconds from Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

The top 3 men in qualifying (Photo: WRi2)

Despite finishing behind the Ferraris in free practice three, Hamilton became the first British driver since Sterling Moss in 1955 to claim pole for the Silver Arrows in a qualifying session that was characterised by tactics.

Many drivers elected not to take to the circuit - or not set a time/fastest lap at all - until there were just three minutes of the session remaining in order to be able to start the race on medium tires; those who set a fastest lap will have to start on the softer Pirelli compound which has an expected life of around four laps.

Fernando Alonso will have to start on the soft compound (Photo: WRi2)

Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel fell into the tyre conservation category, with the world champion not setting a competitive lap and the McLaren driver coming across the line some 31 seconds slower than Hamilton's time.

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull RB9 (Photo: WRi2)

They will line up in eighth and ninth, with Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg - another driver who failed to set a time - in tenth, and behind Daniel Ricciardo's much improved Toro Rosso in seventh. The group in front of the Australian will be headed by Nico Rosberg in fourth, Felipe Massa in fifth and Romain Grosjean in sixth.

Mark Webber, who was enjoying a clear speed advantage over his teammate in the practice and first qualifying sessions, ended the session in 14th after a fuel pump issue saw him step out of the car in Q2.

Other high profile scalps included the second McLaren of Sergio Perez in Q2 who lines up 12th between the Force Indias. Q3 saw Valtteri Bottas' Williams and Esteban Gutierrez's Sauber line up with the Marussias and Caterhams in 17th and 18th.

At the bottom of the grid, Marussia's Jules Bianchi once again leads that group in 19th, clearly ahead of teammate Chilton and the two Caterhams of Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde in 21st and 22nd.

Unfortunately, that track marshall missed some of the action (Photo: WRi2)

Qualifying results* - Chinese Grand Prix
1.Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W04) - 1'34"484 - Q3
2.Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1'34"761 - Q3
3.Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F138) - 1'34"788 - Q3
4.Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W04) - 1'34"861 - Q3
5.Felipe Massa (Ferrari F138) - 1'34"933 - Q3
6.Romain Grosjean (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1'35"364 - Q3
7.Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'35"998 - Q3
8.Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 2'05"673 - Q3
9.Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - no time - Q3
10.Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - no time - Q3
11.Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1'36"287 - Q2
12.Sergio Perez (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 1'36"314 - Q2
13.Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1'36"405 - Q2
14.Mark Webber (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 1'36"679 - Q2
15.Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'37"139 - Q2
16.Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'37"199 - Q2
17.Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'37"769 - Q1
18.Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 1'37"990 - Q1
19.Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1'38"780 - Q1
20.Max Chilton (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1'39"537 - Q1
21.Charles Pic (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1'39"614 - Q1
22.Giedo Van der Garde (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1'39"660 - Q1

*Unofficial

Kimi Räikkönen, Lotus E21 (Photo: WRi2)

From GMM

Niki Lauda has backed Sebastian Vettel, after the reigning world champion laid bare his ruthlessness in the wake of the 'Multi-21' team orders affair.

Initially apologetic and sheepish, the Red Bull driver had almost three weeks to consider the matter and let rip in the days before the Chinese grand prix.

Vettel said he didn't obey the team order because teammate Mark Webber didn't deserve to win, also insisting that if he could live the fateful moment again, he would probably do just the same.

He even hinted the move was indirect payback for Webber's past indiscretions.

Mercedes team official Lauda, the plain speaking F1 legend and like Vettel a triple world champion, backed the 25-year-old's stance. Asked about Vettel's verbal attack in Shanghai, Lauda told RTL: "There is not much to say.

"Sebastian just said the thing he needs to do to be a world champion, and well.  Now everyone knows exactly what it is."

Sebastian Vettel pulled a fast one on Mark Webber in Malaysia (Photo: WRi2)

Lauda insisted Vettel's tattered relationship with Webber is not even a side-issue.

"It doesn't matter," he said.  "Sebastian made a clear statement, and I would do the same."

Told, however, that harmony within a F1 team must be a crucial issue, Lauda persisted: "Who cares about peace?  You have to win.

Volkswagen's Sebastien Ogier has finished the opening day of the Rally of Portugal with a marginal 4.4 second lead over Citroen's Dani Sordo and teammate Jari-Matti Latvala in third.

Ogier inherited the rally lead after Mads Ostberg, who had built a lead of 3.9s, rolled his M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC into retirement after mishearing a pacenote on SS3. The Norwegian's retirement promoted Ogier to the head of the field, with Sordo and Latvala in second and third where they remained after the day's final SS5 Lisbon stage.

Despite Sordo's reputation as a tarmac expert, the Spaniard headed Citroen's assault and managed to consistently challenge the championship leader on the dusty and narrow Algarve stages by taking stage wins on SSs 3 and 4, at one point trimming the rally leader's advantage to 2.4s.

SS5 saw the VW man push his lead back up to 4.4s, despite Sordo's teammate, Mikko Hirvonen winning the stage by a slim 0.9s from Ogier.

Hirvonen lies in fourth overall, just 4.8s from Latvala but 16.2s from the rally lead after suffering setup issues once again with his DS3 despite “driving on the limit”. The Finn was unable to make any changes given Friday's loop of stages are without a full service.

The M-Sport trio of Thierry Neuville, Evgeny Novikov and Nasser Al-Attiyah lie fifth, sixth and seventh with Czech Ford's Martin Prokop in eighth. The Czech managed to leapfrog Italia Mini's Michal Kosciuszko after the Pole suffered a loose bonnet due to a hard landing after one of SS5s jumps.

M-Sport's Denis Kuipers rounds out the top-10 in his debut for the team.

Andreas Mikkelsen, another of the WRC's debutantes suffered a torrid time on his first outing with the Volkswagen Motorsport II team after losing more than two minutes due to a loss of power steering on SS3. The Norwegian now lies in 16th overall.

Sébastien Ogier, Volkswagen Polo (Photo: VW Motorsport)

Day 1 results - Rally Portugal
1. Ogier-Ingrassia (VW Polo Wrc) in 49'33”0
2. Sordo-Del Barrio (Citroen DS3 Wrc) - 4”4
3. Latvala-Anttila (VW Polo Wrc) - 11”4
4. Hirvonen-Lehtinen (Citroen DS3 Wrc) - 16”2
5. Neuville-Gilsoul (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) - 30”7
6. Novikov-Minor (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) - 1'17”0
7. Al Attiyah-Bernacchini (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) - 2'16”4
8. Prokop-Ernst (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) - 2'27”9
9. Kosciuszko-Szczepaniak (Mini Cooper Wrc) - 2'37”1
10. Kuipers-Bysmans (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) - 2'48”7

Take one viral video producer, a basketball player and four race drivers and what do you have? It's the Dude Perfect trick shot challenge.

NASCAR drivers Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Travis Pastrana and James Buescher take on Canada's James Hinchcliffe of IndyCar in this stunt video.

Listed by Advertising Age as one of YouTube's hottest brands, Dude Perfect has used its crazy basketball shots to inspire hundreds of millions with their contagious Go Big philosophy.

In the four short years since they exploded onto the scene, Dude Perfect has filmed basketball videos all over the world and worked with Fortune 500 brands such as GMC, ESPN, AT&T, and Southwest Airlines. With over 775,000 subscribers & 113 million views across their online content, Dude Perfect is now the 5th largest sports channel on YouTube.

Hinchcliffe scored his debut victory in the IndyCar series earlier this year for Andretti Autosport. Sprint Cup driver Stenhouse jr. is the two-time reigning Nationwide series champion.

Extreme sports star Travis Pastrana is getting his first full-time ride in NASCAR, while 23-year-old James Buescher races in the NASCAR's Camping World Truck Series.

Lotus' Kimi Raikkonen believes his team is still missing downforce, despite qualifying on the front row for the Chinese Grand Prix.

The 2007 world champion lines up second behind pole-sitter Hamilton, who has described the Finn as his biggest threat in the race, but Raikkonen has played down his chances in the race due to the E21 car's lack of downforce in the middle sector.

“I knew the gap was quite big still and we don't have that speed right now,” Raikkonen said.

Kimi Raikkonen, Shanghai International Circuit (Photo: WRi2)

“Second is not too bad, it is the best I can gain with the team. I'd rather be in first place, but we didn't have the speed.

“We're missing downforce in the middle sector so we will see what we can do tomorrow.”

Despite being unsure whether Lotus can challenge for victory in tomorrow's race, he believes setting a fastest lap on soft tyres was the correct decision despite their short shelf life.

“We believe our strategy is the best one, that is why we did it,” he said. “If qualifying was better on primes, then you would do it.”

McLaren's Jenson Button has tipped Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel for victory in the Chinese Grand Prix.

The two drivers will line up eighth and ninth as they elected to sacrifice grid position to save their more durable medium compound tyres, whilst their immediate rivals will start on the softer compound which is expected to last around four to six laps.

"We have a very fast car next to us [Vettel]. He is starting just behind me on slightly newer tyres,” said Button to the BBC.

“"He is the guy who is really going to challenge at the front for the win."

Jenson Button's money is on Sebastian Vettel (Photo: WRi2)

Whilst Button ruled himself and McLaren out of contention for outright victory tomorrow, the 2009 world champion is pleased with the team's improved performance this weekend.

“I think we should be very happy with our qualifying performance: we don't really have the pace of the front-running cars yet, but finishing seventh in Q2 was really satisfying,” he said. “[And] to out-qualify both Red Bulls in Q3, and with a two-minute lap, was amazing!

“This was the best we could do with what we have.”

The Briton also expects his and McLaren's decision to conserve tires to pay off in the race due to the high levels of wear seen during the practice sessions.

“I've looked at a few of the tires of the soft runners and they looked grained,” he commented. “It's going to be cooler so we're going to see the graining we saw yesterday on high fuel.”

"They're going to struggle with that at the start of the race. Hopefully we can get a good start and at some point we should find some clear air in front of us.
“It's going to be an extremely interesting race.”

Teammate Sergio Perez continued to endure a difficult weekend and will line up 12th behind the Force India of Paul di Resta, but remained confident he can add to his two points for McLaren tomorrow.

“It's been a difficult weekend so far,” commented the young Mexican. “That was frustrating; the warm-up of my tyres before my quick-lap wasn't ideal, and I struggled to really pull everything together on the lap.”

“I've got a great team behind me and I know they'll do a fantastic job to give me the best possible strategy for the race tomorrow,” he continued.

“We can definitely do a good job and score some good points.”

Toyota has taken an almost assured pole position at the opening round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, the Six Hours of Silverstone.

The team's lap is still surrounded in uncertainty, despite the #7 TS030 Hybrid driven by Alex Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre setting the fastest qualifying time in damp conditions as the session was characterised by a timing glitch which saw no times recorded.

However, the team remains confident it will keep its grid slot ahead of tomorrow's race.

Lapierre believes he and Wurz were ahead ‘by miles' from the sister car and reigning champion Audi's R18 E-Tron due to gauging the changeable British spring weather conditions correctly.

Toyota has started the 2013 WEC season on the right foot (Photo: Toyota Motorsport)

"We are on pole by miles for sure, because we got the conditions right,” he told Autosport.

"We went from intermediates to slicks, whereas our other car went inters-inters and the Audis, we think, wets to slicks.

In the other categories taking part at this weekend's race, the G-Drive/Delta-ADR ORECA-Nissan 03 driven by Antonio Pizzonia and James Walker is expected to take pole in LMP2, with the fastest GTE Pro time being set by the Aston Martin Vantage V8 of Pedro Lamy and Frederic Makowiecki.

UPDATE: Toyota has had its pole position at the Six Hours of Silverstone confirmed some four and a half hours after the qualifying session finished, with the sister car shared between Anthony Davidson, Stephane Sarrazine and Sebastien Buemi lining up alongside in second.


Qualifying results - Six Hours of Silverstone
1.Lapierre-Wurz (Toyota TS030 Hybrid) - Toyota - 1'48"021
2.Davidson-Buemi-Sarrazin (Toyota TS030 Hybrid) - Toyota - 1'49"995
3.Kristensen-Duval-McNish (Audi R18 e-tron) - Audi - 1'51"283
4.Prost-Jani-Heidfeld (Lola B12/60-Toyota) - Rebellion - 1'52"124
5.Treluyer-Lotterer-Fassler (Audi R18 e-tron) - Audi - 1'53"488
6.Belicchi-Beche-Cheng (Lola B12/60-Toyota) - Rebellion - 1'53"835
7.Graves-Pizzonia-Walker (Oreca03-Nissan) - ADR Delta - 1'55"148
8.Pla-Heinemeier Hansson-Brundle (Morgan-Nissan) - Oak - 1'57"629
9.Rusinov-Martin-Conway (Oreca03-Nissan) - G drive - 1'57"697
10.Baguette-Gonzales-Plowman (Morgan-Nissan) - Oak - 1'58"729
11.Turner-Mucke-Senna (Aston Martin Vantage) - Aston Martin - 2'00"566
12.Dalla Lana-Makowiecki-Lamy (Aston Martin Vantage) - Aston Martin - 2'00"772
13.Goethe-Hall-Campbell Walter (Aston Martin Vantage) - Aston Martin - 2'01"158
14.Bergmeister-Pilet-Bernhard (Porsche 911 RSR) - Manthey - 2'01"308
15.Lieb-Lietz-Dumas (Porsche 911 RSR) - Manthey - 2'01"452
16.Bruni-Fisichella (Ferrari F458) - AF Corse - 2'01"512
17.Nygaard-Poulsen-Simonsen (Aston Martin Vantage) - Aston Martin - 2'01"544
18.Holzer-Kraihamer-Charouz (Lotus T128) - Lotus - 2'01"555
19.Kobayashi-Vilander (Ferrari F458) - AF Corse - 2'01"803
20.Weeda-Liuzzi-Bouchut (Lotus T128) - Lotus - 2'02"144
21.Gerber-Griffin-Cioci (Ferrari F458) - AF Corse - 2'02"396
22.Perez Companc-Minassian-Kaffer (Oreca03-Nissan) - Pecom - 2'02"454
23.Potolicchio-Aguas-Peter (Ferrari F458) - 8 Star - 2'02"513
24.Bornhauser-Canal-Rees (Chevrolet Corvette C6) - Larbre - 2'02"862
25.Imperatori-Howson-Ka To (Morgan-Nissan) - KCMG - 2'02"991
26.Narac-Bourret-Vernay (Porsche 911 RSR) - IMSA - 2'04"176
27.Dyson-Marsal-Kimber-Smith (Zytek Z11SN-Nissan) - Greaves - 2'04"491
28.Krohn-Jonson-Mediani (Ferrari F458) - Krohn - 2'05"482
29.Nicolet-Merlin (Morgan-Nissan) - Oak - 2'10"475
30.Leventis-Watts-Kane (HPD ARX 03a-Honda) - Strakka - no average time

Fernando Alonso is still confident of Ferrari's chances in tomorrow's Chinese Grand Prix despite both cars qualifying third and fifth

The double world champion comfortably set the fastest time in FP3 ahead of teammate Felipe Massa, who recorded the quickest lap of FP2 on Friday. The team's pace seemed to fade slightly during Saturday's qualifying session with Alonso and Massa dropping to third and fifth, despite many considering Ferrari to be the favourites for pole.

However, Alonso refused to be downbeat following qualifying and believes Ferrari's traditionally strong Sunday pace will allow both cars to fight for the podium come the race.

"I think the race pace is normally better so I don't see any change here compared to any other race," Alonso said.

Fernando Alonso, Ferrari F138 (Photo: WRi2)

"I expect tomorrow to have a good position in the race fighting for the podium and hopefully for the win.

“The car felt competitive from Friday, this morning we made some changes and the car was responding well,” he continued.

“I think we have a good setup for the race as well - which is always more important than qualifying - and I think tomorrow if everything goes well I think we should be able to fight for the podium and hopefully with both cars, so this is good news for the team.”

Despite his optimism, the Spaniard expects strategy and Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus - a car notoriously soft on its tires - to be decisive factors in the outcome of tomorrow's race.

“Tomorrow we know the tires are going to be the key factor,” he said.  “Pitting first is obviously going to be an advantage in terms of pace but it's going to be a disadvantage in terms of traffic.

You'll be in the middle of many cars that will probably be going longer; cars that are starting in 11th will go longer with the prime, also people like [Sebastian] Vettel and [Jenson] Button will be longer with the prime so it's something that we need to be very flexible in the strategy and very clever and hopefully take the best chance.

I think especially with Kimi we will have a strong opponent because normally Lotus and him is one of the best at taking care of the tires.”

Oh brother! It took a track record to spoil Kurt Busch's day as his younger brother, Kyle, had a record qualifying run of 27.509 seconds 196.299mph in a Toyota at Texas Motor Speedway.

“Not too shabby of a day,” Kyle said.  “It certainly didn't start out as good as we expected to -- but we made the most of the day.  We used the whole tool box today.

“I can't say enough about everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing -- everyone at the shop that work so hard to give us great equipment to come to the race track with.

“I appreciate that Dave (Rogers, crew chief) and the guys dug in and worked hard today to give us a good piece for qualifying and I feel like we have a good piece for the race tomorrow night too

Brian Vickers set the track record of 196.235mph in 2006.

Kurt, the former Sprint Cup champ, lapped the mile-and-a-half oval in 27.595 seconds or 195.688mph in a Chevrolet. How did he feel about losing the pole to his brother?

“Track record is a small feather in the cap.  The fact that it's Kyle I wouldn't want to lose to anybody other than him, but it is bitter because I did lose to him.”

This is the second time since the Busch brothers will start one-two. The first time was in 2009 at Las Vegas their home track.

A pair of Richard Petty Motorsports Fords, Aric Almirola and Marcos Ambrose were third and fourth respectively at 195.009 mph and 194.946 mph.