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From press release

Ed Carpenter Racing announced today that Mike Conway has joined the organization as the driver of the No. 20 Chevrolet-powered Dallara Indy car for the road and street course events during the 2014 IndyCar Series. 

Conway, 30, is a two-time IndyCar Series winner with victories in 2011 at Long Beach and 2013 at Detroit.

Ed Carpenter, the IndyCar Series' only team owner/ driver, will continue to pilot the No. 20 Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet for all of the oval races throughout the 2014 campaign. Carpenter also is a two-time IndyCar Series winner with race wins in 2011 at Kentucky and 2012 at Fontana.

“We couldn't be happier to welcome Mike Conway to the Ed Carpenter Racing family,” said Carpenter

2014 will be Conway's sixth IndyCar season with 60 career starts including his two victories, four podiums, five top-fives and 18 top-10 finishes.

From GMM

According to the paddock grapevine in Austin, Nico Hulkenberg is no longer in the running for the 2014 race seat at Lotus.

Venezuelan oil minister Rafael Ramirez has hinted to the newspaper El Nacional that Pastor Maldonado's PDVSA millions are being switched from Williams to Lotus.

"The team is changing (from Williams) and what he is working on is going to Lotus," said the PDVSA president.

Maldonado confirmed: "We are talking to teams but we are quite clear about where we want to go.

Pastor Maldonado, Williams (Photo: WRi2)

"I believe in the coming days we will have a confirmation," he is quoted by Brazil's Totalrace.

The news of PDVSA's switch to Lotus, whose 'Quantum' investment appears to have fallen over, will also be a blow for Sauber, who recently welcomed Maldonado to Hinwil.

Also assessing his ever-diminishing options is German Hulkenberg, who is now fending off a new and powerful addition to the 2014 driver market -- the Telmex-backed Mexican Sergio Perez.

Force India might now be Hulkenberg's last hope of a 2014 seat, as his current team Sauber muses the possibility of an all-Mexican lineup, featuring Perez alongside Esteban Gutierrez.

"We have several options," team boss Monisha Kaltenborn is quoted by Sport1, "but a team like ours has to consider how it stands financially.

"We have never chosen drivers by nationality," she added. "We are talking about drivers who are both talented."

From GMM

F1's controversial 22-race calendar for 2014 has shrunk by three races, it has emerged in the Austin paddock.

Germany's Auto Motor und Sport has seen the revised 19-race calendar and it does not feature previously-scheduled grands prix in New Jersey, Mexico and Korea.

The season finale, previously set to be held in Brazil late in 2014 as per the last few seasons, will now be held in Abu Dhabi, with the championship also to be wrapped up two weeks earlier than expected.

Korea and New Jersey have reportedly succumbed to financial troubles, while Mexico City has run out of time to guarantee that necessary money for improvements to the circuit - last used for F1 in 1992 - will flow.

"But the grand prix will be held in 2015," said correspondent Michael Schmidt. "The (Mexican) government has had to delay its subsidy because of the recent flooding, which is more important than a grand prix," he added.

The revised calendar is set to be rubber-stamped by the governing FIA in early December.

From GMM

Bernie Ecclestone is officially the 'bad boy' of formula one.

His wife, Brazilian Fabiana Flosi, proudly and prominently wore a t-shirt bearing the words 'Good girls love bad boys' as they strolled together in the Austin paddock on Friday.

Ecclestone, F1's 83-year-old chief executive, has spent the week in London testifying in a multi million pound lawsuit, amid the Gerhard Gribkowsky bribery scandal.

On Thursday, Ecclestone's former legal advisor Stephen Mullens told the court he suspects the diminutive Briton may have been behind a "horrific" robbery in 2009.

Asked if he thinks Ecclestone "orchestrated" the crime because of a dispute involving his former wife Slavica, Mullens admitted: "It crossed my mind that he may have."

According to Germany's Bild newspaper, however, Ecclestone might actually be Fabiana's 'bad boy' because F1 teams are angry with him about the unfair distribution of revenue under the new financial arrangements.

Red Bull, for example, is getting an 'appearance fee' of $72 million this year, while Ferrari gets a whopping $99 million, on top of lucrative Concorde Agreement prize money.

Struggling Lotus, however - although with only a few less points than Ferrari in 2013 - gets no such appearance bonus, according to Auto Motor und Sport.

Sebastian Vettel emerged quickest in Q3 Saturday to claim pole position for the 2013 US Formula 1 Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

The four-time World Champion set a time of 1m36.338 on a set of Pirelli medium tires. It was the 44th pole of his career and his eighth this season.

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing (Photo: Rene Fagnan)

Qualifying got underway in ambient temperatures of 27 degrees with a strong wind, blowing the dust from the surrounding fields onto the race surface.

Williams' driver Valtteri Bottas went fastest in Q1 on the medium tires, which all the drivers who completed a second run used by the end of the session.

Romain Grosjean, Lotus (Photo: Rene Fagnan)

Lotus drivers Romain Grosjean and Heikki Kovalainen both did only one run while all the other teams completed two runs. Both Red Bull Racing drivers used just one set of hard tires during Q1 and this enabled them to save their allocation of medium tires for the rest of qualifying and the race.

Most drivers complained that the track had changed massively from this morning's P3, complaining about significant balance problems.

View from Corner 1 (Photo: Rene Fagnan)

In Q2, Vettel led his teammate Mark Webber by the end of the session as track temperatures fell slightly and the wind decreased.

The final top 10 again used the medium tires only during Q3. Vettel set pole position on his second run, in the closing seconds of the session - having made the difference over his teammate in the last sector of the lap.

Lotus' Grosjean ranked third, ahead of the impressive Nico Hulkenberg for Sauber.

Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber (Photo: Rene Fagnan)

Lewis Hamilton was fifth for Mercedes AMG, leading Fernando Alonso for Ferrari, Sergio Perez for McLaren, Kovalainen, Valtteri Bottas for Williams (quick all weekend) and Esteban Gutierrez for Sauber.

Gutierrez was later penalised by the stewards for having "unnecesseraly impeded the car of Pastor Maldonado between turns 19 and 20 whist performing dangerous manoeuvres". The Mexican has received a 10-spot grid penalty.

“It was a tricky session as the wind had picked up quite a bit since this morning; it does influence the behaviour of the car and it's not that easy, especially in the corners, I wasn't that happy with my first run in Q3, but I think I had a solid run at the end which was enough,” said Vettel.

Mark Webber, Red Bull Racing (Photo: Rene Fagnan)

Pastor Maldonado was out of action immediately after Q1. After he exited his Williams, an emotional Maldonado told Sky Sports F1: "I think in my car somebody is playing with the pressure and the temperatures."

2013 US Grand Prix, Circuit of the Americas (qualifying times*)
1. Sebastian Vettel 1'36''338 (Q3)
2. Mark Webber 1'36''441 (Q3)
3. Romain Grosjean 1'37''155 (Q3)
4. Nico Hulkenberg 1'37''296 (Q3)
5. Lewis Hamilton 1'37''345 (Q3)
6. Fernando Alonso 1'37''376 (Q3)
7. Sergio Perez 1'37''452 (Q3)
8. Heikki Kovalainen 1'37''715 (Q3)
9. Valtteri Bottas 1'37''836 (Q3)
10. Esteban Gutierrez** 1'38''034 (Q3)
11. Daniel Ricciardo 1'38''131 (Q2)
12. Paul di Resta 1'38''139 (Q2)
13. Jenson Button 1'38''217 (Q2)
14. Nico Rosberg 1'38''364 (Q2)
15. Felipe Massa 1'38''592 (Q2)
16. Jean-Eric Vergne 1'38''696 (Q2)
17. Adrian Sutil 1'39''250 (Q1)
18. Pastor Maldonado 1'39''351 (Q1)
19. Giedo van der Garde 1'40''491 (Q1)
20. Jules Bianchi 1'40''528 (Q1)
21. Charles Pic 1'40''596 (Q1)
22. Max Chilton 1'41''401 (Q1)
*Unofficial timing
** 10-spot grid penalty

Heikki Kovalainen, Lotus (Photo: Rene Fagnan)

Story updated, see below

A very angry and bitterly disappointed Pastor Maldonado said on television that his Williams F1 car had been sabotaged by an unspecified team member.

Maldonado is leaving Williams at the end of the season in one of the most hostile divorces seen in recent F1 history.

Talking live to Sky Sports F1, Maldonado said after Q1: “I never got 100% from the tires. Someone is playing with tire pressure and temperatures.”

When asked why his teammate, Valtteri Bottas was doing so well in comparison, Maldonado said “You have to ask the guys who are working on the car. It is quite clear.”

Moments later, Claire Williams has insisted the Williams team would never sabotage one of their cars.

The daughter of Sir Frank Williams refused to criticise their outgoing driver in public, insisting that his outburst on Saturday was simply borne of frustration after being out-qualified by teammate, Valtteri Bottas.

UPDATE
Two hours after accusing Williams of deliberately sabotaging his car in qualifying for the U.S. GP, it was a calmer Pastor Maldonado who faced the media in the Austin paddock.

"I drove for three years in the team and I never feel something like that," Maldonado insisted later on Saturday. "The car is nowhere, the car is undriveable and it's very clear on the on-boards and the data where and when I'm suffering on the track.

"The car was turning more to one side than the other," he told Sky Sports F1.

Auto123.com provides a live description of the qualifying session of the 2013 Grand Prix of of the United States from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

Our motorsport editor, René Fagnan is in the media centre located at the race track.

Follow his analysis and comments of the three rounds of qualifying held Saturday afternoon. For logistic reasons, the feed will be carried in both English and French.

Follow the action on TV and follow our analysis here.

From GMM



Paul di Resta could rescue his career in America's premier open wheel series Indycar in 2014.

Curiously, the retirement of his famous cousin, Dario Franchitti, could have opened up the vacant seat for the Scot, Italy's Italiaracing reports.

Fellow West Lothian-born Franchitti, 40, has called time on his career on medical advice, in the wake of his horror crash in Houston recently that caused head and spinal injuries.

"Racing in America is slightly different, isn't it?" di Resta, who could be replaced after three years at Force India after next week's Brazilian grand prix, said in Austin when asked about his cousin's retirement.

Dario Franchitti, IndyCar (Photo: Getty Images)

"In Europe he (Franchitti) is probably under-appreciated," he is quoted by the Mirror.

"To sit there at 40, having won four Indycar titles and three Indy 500s -- I would like to be in that position."

Italiaracing said di Resta could be a contender to succeed Franchitti at the Ganassi team.

But the 27-year-old said in Austin that he hopes to stay in F1, even though the 2014 driver market seems to be speeding ahead without him.

"I think it's very late, given where it all is at the moment -- but what can you do?" di Resta said.

The Scuderia Ferrari racing team was founded by Enzo Ferrari on November 16th, 1929, initially to race cars produced by Alfa Romeo.

Scuderia is Italian for a stable reserved for racing horses. As for the logo, the yellow badge represents Enzo Ferrari's hometown of Modena, while the prancing horse is derived from the symbol on World War I ace Francesco Baracca's fighter plane.

Tensions between Enzo Ferrari and Alfa Romeo (which sought control of Scuderia Ferrari) led to Ferrari's independence in 1938. The brand started building its own cars -- both for the road and the track -- in 1947.

Source: Wikipedia

Ferrari main entrance in Maranello, Italy. (Photo: WRi2)

As you may be aware, Walmart authorizes people to spend the night - or even several nights - in its parking lots in an effort to boost sales. However, dozens of Americans are more than happy to take advantage of the situation, like in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Here, you can find a real community of Walmart squatters, including both overnighters and people who call these parking lots a temporary home. They sleep in cars, minivans, trucks, and RVs.

American photographer Nolan Conway met with them and took pictures of some this past summer. All agreed that they've bonded over time, not unlike vacationers at a camping site.

Source: Wired

Photo: Nolan Conway / Wired.

2014 Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid Review

Nissan gets back in the hybrid game.

Nashville, TN -- Although the successful Leaf proves that Nissan can build a great EV, its gasoline-electric-powered models have always left something to be desired, from the clunky Infiniti hybrids to the discontinued Altima with a licensed version of Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive. With the 2014 Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid, Nissan is hoping for a fresh start, as this crossover sport-utility represents the first application of a new hybrid system that has been developed in-house.

Photo Gallery: 2014 Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid Review - Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: 2014 Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid Review - Automobile Magazine

2014 Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid Review | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us

The Chrysler 300 is getting a few upgrades for 2014, and it will debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

General Motors CEO Dan Akerson says he's frustrated by the 'confusing' overlap between GM's Opel and Chevrolet brands in Europe, signaling that a major strategic shift is ahead to change the company's brand strategy in the region.

General Motors CEO Dan Akerson says he's frustrated by the 'confusing' overlap between GM's Chevy and Opel brands in Europe, signaling that a major strategic shift is ahead to change the company's brand strategy in the region.

General Motors CEO Dan Akerson says he's frustrated by the 'confusing' overlap between GM's Chevy and Opel brands in Europe, signaling that a major strategic shift is ahead to change the company's brand strategy in the region.

Hyundai will launch new versions of its Sonata and Genesis sedans and a hydrogen-fueled Tucson crossover in the United States in the first half of 2014, the automaker's top United States executive said today.

2014 Dodge Charger, Challenger Centennial Editions Debut Before 2013 L.A. Show

Happy 100th Anniversary, Dodge Brothers.

Dodge will unveil two special edition models to the 2013 Los Angeles auto show to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of John and Horace Dodge building the first Dodge car in 1914. Based on the 2014 Dodge Charger and the 2014 Dodge Challenger, these special 100th Anniversary Edition cars will feature a special exterior paint colors and other exclusive elements to set these limited production models apart.

Photo Gallery: 2014 Dodge Charger, Challenger Centennial Editions Debut Before 2013 L.A. Show - Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: 2014 Dodge Charger, Challenger Centennial Editions Debut Before 2013 L.A. Show - Automobile Magazine

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The Federal Reserve today said it does not object to a revised capital plan for Ally Financial for 2013, after it rejected the firm's initial proposal earlier this year.

Whether you drive a Tesla Model S, a Nissan Leaf or a

Hyundai is working on a 1.8-liter engine that works like a diesel, but burns gasoline.