Auto News 5

Chrysler has mounted a Lazarus-like comeback on the strength of its Jeeps and Ram pickups, while its car line, long a weakness, has played a smaller role, with a few face-lifted sedans and discontinued models such as the Dodge Caliber.

Ever since Denny Hamlin has returned to action after a lower back injury earlier this year he's been on a mission.

A four-race hiatus, due to that injury, means that it is an intense mission.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver needs victories to secure a wild card entry into NASCAR Sprint Cup's Chase for the Cup title.

For the second week in-a-row he's won the pole position. This time it was one-mile Dover International Speedway. He also won the pole at the fall race in Dover.

Photo: Denny Hamlin

Hamlin turned a lap of 157.978 mph Friday, in a Toyota, to win the pole at a track also known as the Monster Mile.

"I feel like we're hitting our stride," Hamlin said. "We're running really well at different types of race tracks. Overall, I'm pretty happy. We still need to get those race wins."

Toyota drivers dominated the first two rows with Martin Truex, Jr. starting second at the site of his only Sprint Cup victory.

Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth, Hamlin's teammates, will start third and fourth, respectively.

Even his teammates were a bit surprised at the back-to-back poles. "I don't know why Denny has to come back and show off all the time right away," quipped Kenseth ironically.

Series points leader and five-time champion, Jimmie Johnson, qualified 24th.

In order to make the Chase with a Wild Card Hamlin needs to finish 20th in the points or in the top ten overall. And, at the moment, he is 97 points shy of that top-ten.

"We've been qualifying pretty good, which has really helped out our cause with our race finishes," Hamlin said.

Dover is what Truex considers a home track therefore he would dearly like to double his win total and end a six-year victory drought. "You always want to come here and get the pole," Truex said. "I love this place so much and have so many fans in this area."

But the pole winner feels like he must win on Sunday.

"I think our only play is to be aggressive," Hamlin said. "I think that to come here and try to get a good points day is irrelevant because if we don't win, then we're not really accomplishing much."

Corvette's Jordan Taylor and Ferrari's Max Papis scored their respective first career pole positions ahead of this weekend's street battle at the Detroit Belle Isle circuit.

Taylor (Velocity Motorsports) led Jon Fogarty (GAINSCO) in the Daytona Prototype class to an all Corvette front row.

Papis a former pole winner in DP, pipped Boris Said (Marsh Racing Corvette) for his first GT pole, driving his No. 61 R.Ferri/AIM Motorsport Ferrari.

Tom Long (MAZDASPEED) leads the GX field.


Qualifying results - Detroit (Grand-Am)
1.Angelelli-Taylor (Corvette DP) - Taylor - 1'27"675
2.Fogarty-Gurney (Corvette DP) - Stallings - 1'27"802
3.Dalziel-Popow (Riley-Ford) - Starworks - 1'27"817
4.Lamy-Potolicchio-Sarrazin (Corvette DP/Coyote) - 8Star - 1'27"862
5.Taylor-Westbrook (Corvette DP) - SpiritOfDaytona - 1'27"953
6.Barbosa-Fittipaldi (Corvette DP/Coyote) - ActionEx - 1'27"954
7.Pruett-Rojas (Riley-BMW) - Ganassi - 1'28"460
8.Pizzonia-Yacaman (Riley-Ford) - Shank - 1'28"572
9.Frisselle-Frisselle (Corvette DP/Coyote) - ActionEx - 1'28"580
10.Valiante-Pew (Riley-Ford) - Shank - 1'28"774
11.Cameron-Nonnamaker (Riley-BMW) - Sahlen - 1'29"576
12.Nonnamaker-Nonnamaker-Sahlen (Riley-BMW) - Sahlen - 1'33"492
13.Hartley-Mayer (Riley-Ford) - Starworks - 1'35"552

The city of Baku, in Azerbaijan, has overhauled Navarra, in Spain, as the final venue on the 2013 FIA GT Series finale.

The race of Baku will take place October 18-20. Meanwhile, the Navarra venue was pushed forward, to September 12-13.

Organizers will use a special selection process to fill the 30-car grid of the first Baku World Challenge.

Of course, teams that entered at least the last three rounds of the championship will be allowed in, but winning teams from sister series will also be eligible for the event, as well as guest entries.

Organizers already held a one-off race last year in the city's streets, the Baku City Challenge.

Photo: FIA GT Series

Joey Hand kicked off his weekend in style at the Red Bull Ring, ahead of round three of the 2013 DTM season.

The American had a tough start to his DTM career last year, but was the class of the field aboard his BMW M3 DTM in the 90-minute practice session of Saturday morning, turning a lap of 1min25.407s.

Photo: DTM.com

Second was Mike Rockenfeller. The winner of round two in Brands Hatch last month went slightly faster than his Audi teammate, Filipe Albuquerque, in third.

BMW rookie Marco Wittmann placed fourth in another strong outing.

Former F1 driver Timo Glock managed eighth, and Canadian Bruno Spengler ninth.

Photo: DTM.com

Dale Coyne Racing's Mike Conway has earned pole for the second IndyCar race to be presented this weekend in Detroit. The Briton had qualified third for the first race.

Conway set the fastest overall time in the first test of the new double-header qualifying system, leading the second group with a 1m18.0977s.

His nearest rival from the group was Penske's Will Power, who was only 0.06 second behind. The Australian will start third.

James Jakes completes an all-British front row after setting the fastest time from the first group.

The Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver's 1m18.1704s beat Ryan Hunter-Reay's lap by just 0.0590s. The reigning champion will start from fourth, with race one pole sitter EJ Viso and Simon Pagenaud to complete the third row.

Mike Conway (Photo: 2mb Sports Management ltd)

Qualifying results ahead of race 2 - Detroit (IndyCar)
1.Mike Conway (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Coyne - 1'18"0977 - GR2
2.James Jakes (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Rahal - 1'18"1704 - GR1
3.Will Power (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Penske - 1'18"7035 - GR2
4.Ryan Hunter-Reay (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 1'18"2294 - GR
5.Ernesto Viso (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 1'18"7810 - GR2
6.Simon Pagenaud (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Schmidt - 1'18"8147 - GR1
7.Scott Dixon (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Ganassi - 1'18"8366 - GR2
8.Justin Wilson (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Coyne - 1'18"9558 - GR1
9.Helio Castroneves (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Penske - 1'18"8851 - GR2
10.James Hinchcliffe (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 1'18"9742 - GR1
11.Sebastian Saavedra (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Dragon - 1'19"2503 - GR2
12.AJ Allmendinger (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Penske - 1'19"4048 - GR1
13.Ryan Briscoe (Dallara DW12-Honda) - 1'19"5418 - GR2
14.Marco Andretti (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 1'19"4625 - GR1
15.Graham Rahal (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Rahal - 1'19"7555 - GR2
16.Dario Franchitti (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Ganassi - 1'19"5554 - GR1
17.Simona de Silvestro (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - KV - 1'20"0460 - GR2
18.Charlie Kimball (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Ganassi - 1'19"6196 - GR1
19.Tony Kanaan (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - KV - 1'20"1511 - GR2
20.Tristan Vautier (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Schmidt - 1'19"7928 - GR1
21.Takuma Sato (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Foyt - 1'20"1557 - GR2
22.Sebastien Bourdais (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Dragon - 1'19"9175 - GR1
23.Ed Carpenter (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Carpenter - 1'22"5913 - GR2
24.Josef Newgarden (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Fisher - 1'20"7274 - GR1
25.Alex Tagliani (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Herta - 1'22"4482 - GR1

Ganassi's Dario Franchitti was the fastest driver in the first qualifying session prior to the first of two IndyCar races presented this weekend in Detroit. Nevertheless, he will have to start 11th because of an unauthorized engine change at the Indy 500.

Because of the penalty, Andretti Autosport EJ Viso will start from the front row slot even though his best lap was 0.2 seconds down on Franchitti's. New Dale Coyne Racing driver Mike Conway was third fastest.

James Jakes finished fourth, in his first-ever Fast Six appearance, with Ryan Hunter-Reay and Alex Tagliani rounding out the top six.

A heavy shower immediately prior to the first session forced the first group to qualify on a soaking wet track, although a dry line began to appear as the afternoon progressed.

There was consternation from several teams, including Schmidt Peterson Motorsport and AJ Foyt Enterprises, who felt that they were unfairly compromised by what they considered to be inconsistencies in how the flags were used.

A separate qualifying session for the Sunday race will take place on Saturday morning.


Qualifying results - Detroit (IndyCar)
1.Ernesto Viso (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 1'19"5572 - Q3
2.Mike Conway (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Rahal - 1'19"8285 - Q3
3.James Jakes (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Rahal - 1'19"9897 - Q3
4.Ryan Hunter-Reay (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 1'20"0030 - Q3
5.Alex Tagliani (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Herta - 1'20"3514 - Q3
6.Tristan Vautier (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Schmidt - 1'22"4997 - Q2
7.Takuma Sato (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Foyt - 1'22"7164 - Q2
8.Simon Pagenaud (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Schmidt - 1'22"8250 - Q2
9.Will Power (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Penske - 1'22"9537 - Q2
10.Sebastian Saavedra (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Dragon - 1'26"8058 - Q2
11.Dario Franchitti (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Ganassi - 1'19"3311 - Q3*
12.Helio Castroneves (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Penske - no time - Q2
13.AJ Allmendinger (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Penske - 1'37"7163 - Q1
14.Sebastien Bourdais (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Dragon - 1'37"8023- Q1
15.Scott Dixon (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Ganassi - 1'30"6929 - Q1
16.Justin Wilson (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Coyne - 1'37"8891 - Q1
17.Simona de Silvestro (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - KV - 1'31"0623 - Q1
18.Marco Andretti (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 1'38"0723 - Q1
19.Tony Kanaan (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - KV - 1'31"5555 - Q1
20.James Hinchcliffe (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 1'38"2000 - Q1
21.Ryan Briscoe (Dallara DW12-Honda) - 1'31"6222 - Q1
22.Ed Carpenter (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Carpenter - 1'34"4391 - Q1
23.Graham Rahal (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Rahal - 1'30"5258 - Q1*
24.Josef Newgarden (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Fisher - 1'38"8651 - Q1*
25.Charlie Kimball (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Ganassi - 1'44"0316 - Q1*

*Engine change

From GMM

Amid the controversy about Mercedes' 'secret' Pirelli tire test, F1's governing body on Friday said it is also investigating Ferrari.

At Monaco, Ferrari and Red Bull launched a protest when it emerged that Mercedes had tested tires for Pirelli with its 2013 car and race drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg just after the Spanish grand prix last month.

But at the same time, it was rumoured that Ferrari had similarly tested, after Bahrain, but with a two-year old car and test driver Pedro de la Rosa at the wheel.

Pedro de la Rosa (right) discussing engineer Simone Resta (Photo: Ferrari)

The FIA said late on Friday that it is investigating not only Mercedes, but also the Ferrari test.

In a statement, the Paris based federation said it has asked both teams "to reply to a disciplinary inquiry in pursuance of the FIA judicial and disciplinary rules".

Every year, the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) posts a list of the 10 most stolen vehicles in the country. While sports cars used to be very popular among thieves, SUVs and pickup trucks are becoming more and more targeted.

1. 2000 HONDA CIVIC SiR

Photo: Honda

Continue reading Top 10 most stolen cars in Canada in 2012