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From GMM

F1 driver turned commentator Mika Salo spent two days in custody at the end of last month, the Finnish newspaper Suomen Kuvalehti reports.

The report said the 46-year-old, who last raced in F1 for Toyota in 2002 and is now a pundit on Finnish television MTV3, is facing charges for tax fraud.

He was reportedly arrested at Helsinki-Vantaa airport after returning from the recent Singapore grand prix.

An official said: "The suspects deny committing any crime."

Salo would not comment.

Mika Salo, Ferrari F399

From GMM

He is on the cusp of an ultra-rare fourth consecutive world championship, but Sebastian Vettel is not the best driver in the F1 field.

That is the view of Lewis Hamilton, who said his old McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso is better than the German.

"Fernando is the strongest driver I've raced against in my life," the Briton told Germany's frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.

As for Vettel, Hamilton added: "He is not unbeatable; his car is unbeatable."

But Hamilton, the 2008 world champion who now drives for Mercedes, said Red Bull's Vettel will surely win the 2013 title.

"When I see him on Sunday before the start of the drivers' parade, I'll probably congratulate him," he said.

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull RB9, Korean International Circuit

From GMM

Fernando Alonso on Saturday put Pirelli back in the F1 headlines, after questioning the "quality" of the Italian marque's tires.

The Ferrari driver told reporters in Korea the tires "will not do 5km" - not even a single lap - around the Yeongam track without wearing out.

"We have to be honest," said Alonso.  "The quality of the tires is very on the limit."

He also criticized the 'marbles' that are shed by the heavily-degrading Pirelli tires throughout the grand prix calendar, saying it creates a "two metres racing line".

"The quality of the tires is very on the limit," says Alonso (Photo: WRi2)

Alonso insisted he is not blaming the tires for Ferrari's lack of pace.

"I'm sure with a better tire the others can push more as well," he said.  "The deficit we have is the same with any tire, but at least you could drive."

Pirelli boss Paul Hembery is quoted by the BBC as saying Alonso's comments are "disappointing" and "below the standards you would expect from such a champion".

"I can only suggest he goes to ask the soon-to-be four time champion how to get the best from the same tires," he added, hinting Alonso should take example from Vettel.

Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) is still the man to beat in F1, despite rumours his team fitted a traction control system to his car. The young German recorded his third consecutive pole by beating Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) to the pole, ahead of the 2013 Korean Grand Prix, in Yeongam.

Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber (Photo: WRi2)

Vettel's 42nd pole position is also Renault's 208th, which means the french manufacturer is now tied with Ferrari at the top of the list for the most poles by engine make.

Hamilton showed speed, but nothing to match Vettel, who only needed one lap to secure his place at the very front of the grid. Mark Webber (Red Bull) qualified third, but will start only 13th, as he moves back 10 spots for his involvement in the taxi incident with Fernando Alonso (Alonso) in Singapore.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W04 (Photo: WRi2)

Romain Grosjean (Lotus) was the first to take advantage of Webber's penalty, as the Frenchman set the fourth fastest time. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) will line up beside him on the second row.

Alonso and his teammate Felipe Massa qualified fifth and sixth, ahead of the two Sauber drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Gutierrez, who both made it into the top 10 for the first time of the season.

Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber C32 (Photo: WRi2)

They beat Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus), whose back still hurts. Meanwhile, Sergio Perez (McLaren) narrowly out-qualified his teammate Jenson Button for 10th place.

Jules Bianchi (Marussia) avoided being the slowest driver in qualifying by beating his teammate Max Chilton, but will start last anyway because he blocked Paul di Resta (Force India) during Q1.

Earlier in the day, Vettel had led Webber to a Red Bull 1-2 during the last final free practice session. Rosberg, Hamilton and Alonso completed the top 5.

Sebastian Vettel (Photo: WRi2)

Qualifying results* - Korean Grand Prix (Yeongam circuit)
1.Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 1'37"202 - Q3
2.Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W04) - 1'37"420 - Q3
3.Romain Grosjean (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1'37"531 - Q3
4.Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W04) - 1'37"679 - Q3
5.Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F138) - 1'38"038 - Q3
6.Felipe Massa (Ferrari F138) - 1'38"223 - Q3
7.Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 1'38"237 - Q3
8.Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 1'38"405 - Q3
9.Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1'38"822 - Q3
10.Sergio Perez (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 1'38"362 - Q2
11.Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 1'38"385 - Q2
12.Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'38"417 - Q2
13.Mark Webber (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 1'37"464 - Q3 **
14.Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1'38"431 - Q2
15.Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1'38"718 - Q2
16.Jean Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'38"781 - Q2
17.Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'39"470 - Q1
18.Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'39"987 - Q1
19.Charles Pic (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1'40"864 - Q1
20.Giedo Van der Garde (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1'40"871 - Q1
21.Max Chilton (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1'41"322 - Q1
22.Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1'41"169 - Q1***

*Unofficial timing
**10-place grid penalty
***3-place grid penalty

From press release

Belgium's Thierry Neuville is the surprise leader of Rallye de France - Alsace after a complex opening day that rewarded accurate weather forecasting and shrewd tyre choices.

Neuville, who drives a Ford Fiesta RS, got the package just about right, and was fastest on three of Friday's six asphalt stages to return to the Service Park in Strasbourg with a lead of 9.8sec over Citroen's Dani Sordo. Volkswagen Polo R pilot Jari-Matti Latvala is third, just 1.9sec further back.

Thierry Neuville, Ford. (Photo: WRC)

Neuville's day started well, with an inspired tyre choice for the opening loop of three stages. 

While the majority of the WRC runners chose Michelin's hard compound tyres, Neuville gambled on a mixture of hards and softs. When rain made things damp on the day's second test, he benefitted from the extra grip of the soft rubber. 

His Qatar M-Sport squad got it right again in the afternoon. This time Neuville's car was shod with hard compound tyres, while his rivals, who were expecting rain, biased their choices towards the soft. The rain held off, and Neuville was untouchable.  

On his WRC swansong, Sebastien Loeb held the lead for much of the day. The Frenchman's legendary sense of grip kept him out front throughout the morning, even though he faced more rain than most on SS3. 

In the afternoon, however, Loeb gambled on soft tyres. And when the rain he hoped for never materialised, he lost ground to Neuville - almost ten seconds on the last stage alone.

Special livery at Citroen for the last rally of Sebastien Loeb. (Photo: Citroen Racing)

Power Stage winner Sordo snatched second from Loeb on Friday's final test. Reinvigorated by his recent victory in Germany, the Spaniard has been in sparkling form and a top-three stage finisher on all but one of the tests so far. 

Latvala is third, just 1.9sec adrift of Sordo. The Finn has had a trouble-free day, and felt his wet pre-event test had helped him in the rain on SS3. However that advantage was countered by a set-up mistake in the afternoon. 

The much-anticipated duel between Loeb and Sebastien Ogier was one of the casualties of the day. Newly crowned World Champion Ogier lies fifth in his Polo R, 16.5sec behind his team-mate. “This morning I found it difficult to wake up,” said Ogier. “This afternoon I tried to react and it was better, but I was still too slow. Unfortunately we didn't have the right tyre choice...”

Evgeny Novikov is sixth, 34sec further back in his Ford Fiesta RS, with Volkswagen's Andreas Mikkelsen seventh. 

Kevin Harvick found himself in unfamiliar territory in Kansas on Friday. The 13-year Sprint Cup veteran won the pole, in a Chevy at 187.526mph, his first pole since September 2006 in New Hampshire, 254 races previously.

High winds ahead of a storm forecast made picking a qualifying set up at the one and one-half mile oval tricky.

Harvick explained it was difficult for his RCR team to adjust for the weather “because this is a new generation tire for us and has kind of thrown us all for a little bit of a curve ball as to what we need in the car and what we're feeling and how we're feeling it. I think we just have to wait and see what we get in practice tomorrow (Saturday) and then work from there.”

Teams had tested the new multi-zone Goodyear tire for over three hours on Thursday but they still felt that they had not mastered the novel design.

Ricky Stenhouse, in a Ford, was second fastest in at 187.840 mph. “It was not quite good enough, but, our average start here at Kansas is going to be pretty solid now.”

Photo: kevinharvick.com

Jimmie Johnson, currently second in the points was third fastest at 187.162 mph overcoming a spin in practice with no damage to his Chevy. So he was mildly pleased and especially because he out qualified points leader Matt Kenseth who will start seventh.

Brad Keselowski (186.233 mph), Joey Logano (186.168 mph) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (186.072 mph) took positions four through six.

Harvick is in his last year with Richard Childress Racing and determined to win a Sprint Cup title before he leaves. "We're three races into the Chase, and it is what it is. We've done our thing and put ourselves in position to just go out and race and enjoy it," he said.

In addition to Harvick, Johnson, Logano, Earnhardt, Kenseth, all Chase drivers qualified as follows: Carl Edwards, ninth; Jeff Gordon, 14th; Kasey Kahne, 15th; Ryan Newman, 17th; Kurt Busch, 18th Kyle Busch 19th; Clint Bowyer, 22nd; and Greg Biffle, 26th.

Besides hiring Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing did surprised everyone by announcing that it was switching Honda to Chevrolet engines for the 2014 IndyCar season.

This means that starting next year, both Ganassi Racing programmes, in IndyCar and NASCAR, will be aligned with the same engine manufacturer.

"We wanted the opportunity to try to consolidate our manufacturers [in both programmes] and try to be part of a winning effort,” declared Chip Ganassi.

Tony Kanaan and Chip Ganassi. (Photo: IndyCar)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, in a letter posted on the company's Web site, defended the safety of the company's flagship Model S sedan after a fire involving one of the cars raised questions about its lithium ion battery pack.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, in a letter posted on the company's Web site, defended the safety of the company's flagship Model S sedan after a fire involving one of the cars raised questions about its lithium ion battery pack.

It happens every year, that inevitable moment Mother Nature decides to unleash her snowy wrath on the greater part of the United States.

Volkswagen Group of America's settlement of a class-action lawsuit over alleged defects in the continuously variable transmissions in thousands of Audi vehicles has received final approval in federal court in Los Angeles.

The 2014 Corvette will be in short supply, with few unsold units on dealer lots until spring at the earliest. GM officials said production of the two-seat sports car will be capped at about 160 units per day on one shift.

A 2014 Ford Mustang Cobra Jet Prototype sold for $200,000 at the Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas sale.

2013 Lexus RX 350 F Sport First Drive

More mild than wild.

The 2013 Lexus RX 350 isn't the biggest luxury sport-utility vehicle on the market. It's not the fastest, or the sexiest, or the most practical. It's not the newest, certainly, and it doesn't carry the most cachet. But the Lexus RX is the one that effectively created the luxury SUV segment when it debuted in 1998. And three-and-a-half model generations later, it remains not only the best seller in the class but also the standard by which its rivals are measured.

Photo Gallery: 2013 Lexus RX 350 F Sport First Drive - Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: 2013 Lexus RX 350 F Sport First Drive - Automobile Magazine

2013 Lexus RX 350 F Sport First Drive | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us

What's the deal with auto commercials showing cars driving through the desert? Who does that? Not Acura, if Jerry Seinfeld has anything to say about it.

Car companies warn car buyers that their fuel economy will vary in the real world. The numbers vary in the laboratory, too, says the top auto regulator at the EPA -- and he's warning automakers to mind the gap.

The Volkswagen XL1 hyper fuel-efficient vehicle debuted in Chattanooga, Tenn. on Thursday at the 23rd Annual Society of Environmental Journalists Conference.

XCar is talking early Porsches with 911 fanatic Magnus Walker.

News 4 Oct, 2013

A 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO has become the world most expensive car after selling for $52million