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Racer magazine has learned that Italian race car manufacturer Dallara will supply the next-generation chassis of the Cooper Indy Lights series.

Andersen Promotions recently revealed that three chassis manufacturers were in the running to earn the 2015 Indy Lights chassis contract.

Racer says that the final decision reportedly fell in Dallara's favour based on offering the lowest sale price of those who submitted bids, low spare parts prices and, as a key concession, the company's willingness to create three-year finance plan to lessen the upfront costs of ownership.

Dallara has a brand new production plant based in Indianapolis, IN.

Andersen Promotions must now unveil the name of an engine supplier for this new car.

Several manufacturers, including AER, Chevy, Honda, Mazda, and others have negotiated with series' officials, and news of which small-displacement turbo engine will be used could follow directly behind the chassis announcement.

From GMM

F1's attention will turn from Sebastian Vettel's fourth title to the inside of a courtroom early this week.

Reports say that while German prosecutors have not decided whether the bribery affair will go to criminal trial, a separate civil action will get underway in London on Tuesday.

Bloomberg news agency said German prosecutors "may be watching for anything that will help their case", as media company Constantin sues F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone for $171 million for the alleged bribing of jailed banker Gerhard Gribkowsky.

"It's not ideal, it would be better if it wasn't happening, but we can't change the court system," Ecclestone, who is scheduled to appear and give evidence in the trial, said.

Former Minardi team owner Paul Stoddart said he is backing the British magnate, who turns 83 on Monday.

"I've not seen an ounce of credible evidence that proves he is guilty," he said. "F1 will be much poorer the day Bernie is not there."

General Motors said it plans to step up promotions of the Chevrolet brand in China and bolster the lineup of GM's SUVs to defend its lead in the world's largest auto market.

TrueCar dropped Honda of Annapolis from its network of participating dealerships after the store failed to finance enough vehicle sales through USAA, a TrueCar partner.

Spain's government offered the fourth car incentives program in a year, extending a program to boost sales as the economy tries to emerge from a two-year recession.

Lear, which counts on Europe for more than one-third of its business, raised its full-year sales and operating profit forecast as demand rose for its auto seats and electric power systems.

Fiat's Turkish joint venture plans to start manufacturing a new passenger car in the second half of 2015. Istanbul-based Tofas also will invest $520 million to more than double production to 580,000 vehicles by 2023, exporting a third of the total.

Workers at French supplier Faurecia's U.S. plant in Louisville, Kentucky, have elected to join the United Auto Workers union.

German supplier Mubea has opened a factory to make tailored rolled blanks in northern Kentucky. Mubea is the fourth German-owned auto company to either open or announce plans to locate a new factory in Kentucky since November 2012.

Doesn't it seem like there's a vehicle safety recall practically every other day? Actually, there is. This year, automakers announced 143 recalls in the 273 days through September, affecting as many as 18.

TrueCar expects participating dealerships to sell 400,000 vehicles this year from the shopping site, up 60 percent from the 2012 total, CEO Scott Painter said last week.

Model: 2007 to 2013 BMW M3

Vehicle Type: Performance Sedan / Coupe / Convertible

The Verdict: The M3 owners community reports that the 2007 to 2013 M3 is a reliable performance machine that's fantastic to drive and free of serious issues. Common issues are minor and easily identified - not to mention largely electronic and not mechanical in nature. A model purchased through a certified pre-owned program with full service records is your safest bet.

Photo: Matthieu Lambert

Price: Look for an earlier, higher-mileage M3 to command a price in the low $30,000 range. Unsold or extremely low-mileage 2013 units will still command well over $70,000. There's plenty of selection around $50,000 - though pricing will depend highly on options and mileage.

What Owners Like: Performance, discreet styling upgrades, a magnificently tuned engine, track-ready handling and brakes and all-around recognition and exclusivity are highly rated by M3 owners. Many owners report that the M3 also does well as a daily driver when driven gently, too. Comfortable seats and a look that favors sportiness, not bling, round out the package.

What Owners Dislike: Common gripes include heavy fuel consumption, a stiff suspension, a plain-Jane interior relative to some competitors, and the perpetual threat of driver's license revocation. Many owners wish for a sturdier cupholder design, too.

Photo: Matthieu Lambert

History/Description: Lusted after by fans of high-strung, German-engineered performance cars, the BMW M3 entered its fourth generation for model year 2007, packing, for the first time, a V8 engine. Shoppers considering an M3 from this era can look for a sedan, coupe or convertible, manual or dual-clutch, paddle-shift transmission, and access to one of the most storied performance car driving experiences on the road.

All models got a four-litre V8 with 414 horsepower at a snarling 8,300 RPM. Feature content included a carbon-fiber roof, xenon lights, automatic climate control, Bluetooth, navigation, and a full leather interior. The M3 topped the BMW 3-Series model range as the most powerful, highest-performing 3 series variant available.

Photo: Matthieu Lambert

Common Issues: The M3 looks to be a fairly solid performance car bet—but some checks are advised ahead of your purchase.

Start with all on-board electronics—including the navigation system, instrument cluster, Bluetooth, climate control and all lighting.

Using the iDrive system, click ‘Menu -> Vehicle Information -> Check Control' to see if the vehicle has any issues you should be aware of. A mechanical inspection including a ‘scan' of the M3's drivetrain computer systems should be considered mandatory, too.

Check the convertible top, if equipped, for proper operation and signs of water leaks, damaged seals or signs of hardtop panel contact, which may be visible as damaged or scuffed paint. Cycle the roof between open and closed several times, noting any unwelcomed noises or signs of straining.

Other reported issues are mainly minor—bad window seals on coupe models which could cause the glass to scratch, some interior squeaks and rattles, and a wonky brake-light fault system which could cause a brake-light ‘failure' message to display, possibly even if the brake lights are working. Have all exterior illumination double-checked to be sure.

Drivetrain wise, the V8 looks bulletproof so far—though ensuring the one you're considering has been treated to all regular maintenance and fluid changes is key to ensuring its long-term durability and reliability. The M3's transmissions look solid too, albeit some programming-related clumsiness from the M-DCT control system, which allows drivers to fine-tune the operation of the dual-clutch transmission (if equipped). Some owners have had issues with this high-tech gearbox resolved with dealer-installed software updates. If you prefer a manual transmission, stick to your guns.

Finally, to ensure you benefit from maximum long-term reliability and durability from your M3, avoid a model with extensive modifications to the engine or suspension.

Photo: Matthieu Lambert

From GMM

Sebastian Vettel spent some of his first moments as a quadruple world champion-elect in the stewards office after Sunday's Indian grand prix.

After wrapping up his 2013 title campaign in style with a third consecutive win at the Buddh circuit, the German let his emotion spill over with a series of perfect donuts on the front straight.

"(Engineer) Rocky called for the usual procedure, but I said 'not this time'," Vettel grinned as he recalled doing the donuts, stopping the car on the grid and throwing his gloves into the grandstand.

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull RB9 (Photo: GEPA pictures)

The Red Bull driver, however, broke a fundamental rule about taking his car straight to 'parc ferme' -- a crucial procedure to prevent interference with the car and strict compliance with the rules.

Indeed, FIA officials were quickly on the scene of the abandoned RB9 to 'neutralise' it, and Vettel and team manager Jonathan Wheatley were summarily called up by the stewards.

Dr Helmut Marko, however, said he could not understand the officials' strict adherence to the rules in such a universally-enjoyed moment of emotion and celebration, calling the FIA's reaction "unbelievable" and "strange".

German commentator Marc Surer said: "The FIA could penalise him, but I hope they turn a blind eye, because this was not just any race but the title decider.

"On the other hand, the FIA constantly surprises me with the penalties they issue."

Adapted from GMM

Lotus' relationship with the departing Kimi Raikkonen may have imploded in India on Sunday, as the Finn clashed on track with his charging teammate Romain Grosjean.

For most of the season, Raikkonen has been the dominant force at Lotus. But lately, the Frenchman has had the edge. This became obvious in India, where Raikkonen refused to let the faster Grosjean by.

The 2007 champ allowed him through, but only after they touched.

Romain Grosjean has been drinking more champagne than Raikkonen lately (Photo: GEPA pictures)

The team's engineering boss Alan Permane admitted to British broadcaster Sky that Raikkonen's behaviour was "disappointing".

And there was a colourful exchange on the radio in the heat of the battle, with one team member saying on the radio: "Kimi, get out of the f***ing way".

Raikkonen replied: "Don't f***ing shout at me."

NBC pit reporter Will Buxton said afterwards on Twitter: "Tell you what I'd do. I'd stick Davide Valsecchi in the car for the final three (races). Just for fun."

Meanwhile, Ferrari, arguably only the fourth-quickest team in pitlane, after Red Bull, Mercedes and Raikkonen's current employer, Lotus, is not worried about its returning drivers' run of poor form.

"I'm not the slightest bit worried," Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali told the Finnish broadcaster MTV3, "but of course I have been following him this season.

Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus E21 (Photo: WRi2)

"He has already gained our respect based on what he has been doing in his current team," the Italian added.

"He is now coming to us, and I look forward to getting to work with him again," said Domenicali, referring to Raikkonen's first Ferrari tenure between 2007 and 2009.

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel claimed his fourth consecutive drivers' title this weekend during the Indian Grand Prix, with a sixth consecutive victory. The German led his countryman Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) and Romain Grosjean (Lotus) to the finish line at the Buddh International Circuit.

Sebastian Vettel, 2013 F1 world champion (Photo: WRi2)

Two distinct tire strategies emerged over Saturday's qualifying session, previewing a straight fight between Vettel, on the soft and fast rubber, and his teammate Mark Webber on the longer lasting medium compound.

If the softs degraded as fast as he hoped, Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) would also be in with a chance of beating Vettel, which might have kept his championship prospect alive for at least another race.

But race ending alternator problems took Webber's chances away from under him on lap 39 of 60, when the race was still open. And Alonso's afternoon was ruined in a first lap incident that damaged his front wing.

This left Vettel to cruise to another dominant win, which he eventually claimed with a 29-second priority over Rosberg. His 25-point tally also earned Red Bull the constructors' title.

Grosjean made good use of a one-stop strategy to climb back from 17th on the grid to the last spot of the podium, erasing his team's mistake in qualifying the day before, when it thought the Frenchman's run on medium tires would get him into Q2.

Added to Rosberg's podium, Lewis Hamilton's sixth place allowed Mercedes to move ahead of Ferrari in the race for second in the constructors' championship.

Race results* - Indian Grand Prix (Buddh International Circuit)
1 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 60 laps 1.31'12"187
2 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W04) - 29"823
3 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus E21-Renault) - 39"892
4 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F138) - 41"692
5 - Sergio Perez (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 43"829
6 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W04) - 52"475
7 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1'07"988
8 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1'12"868
9 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1'14"734
10 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'16"237
11 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F138) - 1'18"297
12 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'18"951
13 - Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1 lap
14 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 1 lap
15 - Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 1 lap
16 - Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1 lap
17 - Max Chilton (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 2 laps
18 - Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 2 laps

Fastest lap of the race: 1'27"679 by Kimi Raikkonen

Retirements
Lap 54 - Nico Hulkenberg
Lap 39 - Mark Webber
Lap 35 - Charles Pic
Lap 1 - Giedo Van der Garde

Drivers' championship
1.Vettel 322; 2.Alonso 207; 3.Raikkonen 183; 4.Hamilton 169; 5.Webber 148; 6.Rosberg 144; 7.Massa, Grosjean 102; 9.Button 60; 10.Di Resta 40; 11.Hulkenberg 39; 12.Perez 33; 13.Sutil 28; 14.Ricciardo 19; 15.Vergne 13; 16.Gutierrez 6; 17.Maldonado 1.

Constructors' championship
1.Red Bull-Renault 470; 2.Mercedes 313; 3.Ferrari 309; 4.Lotus-Renault 285; 5.McLaren-Mercedes 93; 6.Force India-Mercedes 68; 7.Sauber-Ferrari 45; 8.Toro Rosso-Ferrari 32; 9.Williams-Renault 1.

*Unofficial scoring

From wrc.com

Jari-Matti Latvala ended the second leg of Rally de Espana with a slender 1.6sec lead, but clever tactics from second-placed Dani Sordo set up an absorbing final leg tomorrow as the event switches from asphalt to gravel.

Sordo trailed Latvala by 0.1sec heading into the penultimate stage, after which tomorrow's start order was calculated. The Spaniard measured his pace to stay behind Latvala, ensuring the Finn starts first tomorrow.

He must sweep the loose gravel roads in his Volkswagen Polo R, leaving a cleaner and faster line for Sordo to capitalise on behind. But, intriguingly, an early start means dust could hang in the still air behind Latvala, negating Sordo's advantage and handing the initiative back.    

Jari-Matti Latvala, VW Polo R WRC (Photo: VW Motorsport)

In an effort to reduce the dust threat, organisers have increased the gap between the top cars from two to three minutes - but will that be enough?

Sordo's Citroen DS3 was fastest in the opening two stages to climb from third to second, reducing Sebastien Ogier's lead to 6.5sec.

When Ogier broke his Polo R's front left wheel in the final morning test after hitting a stone not marked in his pace notes, he lost 50sec to leave Sordo and Latvala tied at the top. Latvala then edged ahead on the opening afternoon test before Sordo's tactics came into play.

As the drivers arrived back at Salou for an extended 75 minute service to allow teams to transfer their cars from asphalt to gravel specification, Latvala pondered tomorrow's situation.

“Going from asphalt to gravel after two days won't be easy,” he said. “It's a new challenge but I have a good feeling. I hope the weather will give me some support. A little bit of moisture to dampen the loose gravel would be nice....” he smiled.

“I lost a bit of time at the end of the stage so I could be in a better position tomorrow,” said Sordo, who manoeuvred himself behind Latvala last night to monitor tactics from the Finn and respond accordingly. “All I can do is try my best. The tactics started yesterday and have gone OK. Can I win? I hope so, it's a big challenge.”

Thierry Neuville is third, 29.3sec behind Latvala after a frustrating morning when he was unhappy with the balance of his Ford Fiesta RS. Changes in service revitalised the Belgian.

Ogier recovered to fourth, 46.5sec off the lead and cannot be ruled out. “I don't know what's possible. There's 140km to go and I'm starting fourth on the road. We'll push and see what we can do,” promised the Frenchman.

Mikko Hirvonen lies fifth in a DS3, only 0.1sec ahead of Evgeny Novikov's Fiesta RS. There is a 90sec gap to Mads Ostberg in seventh, the Norwegian increasing in confidence as changes to the suspension of his Fiesta RS improved its handling.

Similar changes improved Hayden Paddon's feeling on his World Rally Car debut. Despite a final stage spin, the New Zealander is ninth, 1.9sec behind Martin Prokop's similar car.

WRC 2 leader Robert Kubica completed the leaderboard in 10th.

From press release

17-year old Alex Guenette will be busy next season racing in three NASCAR series.

The 2013 rookie of the year in NASCAR Canadian Tires series announced that he would take part in an additional six races, split between the NASCAR World Camping Truck (NCWTS) and ARCA series, on top of his full-time commitment to the NCTS.

The tentative schedule calls for NCWTS races at Martinsville Speedway (March), Pocono Raceway (August) and at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (August again), and ARCA races in Kentucky (April), Talladega (May) and Pocono (June).

The young driver is thrilled to have this opportunity to participate in such series, which will see him get a first taste of superspeedways.

Alex Guenette, NASCAR Canadian Tire Series (Photo: Alex Guenette)

"I learned a lot during my first season in NCTS, like the track layouts and quick way around, and the driving styles of the other quick drivers," notes Guenette.

"(Now) I need to race on superspeedways such as Daytona or Talladega. These six races will also help me build up my experience and earn a higher-level racing license from NASCAR."

Mario Gosselin and DGM Racing, a combination Guenette knows well having raced with them last September at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park road course, will prepare the race cars.

A first test is scheduled for December, in Daytona.

From GMM

Felipe Massa has revealed he passed over Ferrari's advice in devising his race strategy for the Indian grand prix.

The Brazilian, who is leaving the Italian team after an eight-year career in red, said his engineers wanted him to qualify on the longer-lasting, harder tires.

"I made a different decision to them," Massa is quoted by Brazil's Totalrace.

"At the Nurburgring I did what the engineers said and it didn't work, so I took a different decision this time."

The strategy, with Massa on the fast-wearing soft tires, is the same as pole sitter Sebastian Vettel's, who would like to wrap up his title on Sunday with a win.

Felipe Massa, Ferrari F138, Buddh International Circuit (Photo: WRi2)

But Mark Webber, in the sister Red Bull, thinks qualifying on the harder tires was actually a wiser choice.

"We're in a good position to capitalise," said the Australian.

Vettel commented: "What turns out to be the right strategy, we'll find out in the race."

In the same car as Massa, Ferrari's Alonso is three places behind the Brazilian on the grid. But the Spaniard said he was unwilling to qualify on the soft tire.

"I don't want to be always critical of the tires," he is quoted by Italy's Autosprint, "but these (soft) tires are not good.

"It's a fact. It's random. Yesterday on a set of softs I did 16 laps with good times.

"Today I could only do three until they disintegrated," he was quoted after qualifying by Spain's Marca.

"So the race will depend on the tires, because no two sets are alike."

Alonso admitted that, if a "normal" race takes place on Sunday, Vettel will easily be crowned world champion.

From GMM

Sergio Perez on Sunday hinted the decision about his future has now been "made".

Until now, McLaren has only said the Mexican - who switched from Sauber at the end of last year - is likely to remain Jenson Button's teammate in 2014.

Perez, 23, has had a difficult year for the Woking based team, whose 2013 car has not been competitive.

"It's been a difficult year," sporting director Sam Michael told reporters in India on Sunday, "and a lot of that has been inflicted by ourselves because the car hasn't been quick enough."

Michael said McLaren is "really happy" with both Button and Perez, and repeated the statement that keeping the duo for 2014 is "most likely".

However, the rumour-mill might suggest that McLaren-backed junior Kevin Magnussen, or even Fernando Alonso, are still in the running to replace Perez.

But Perez said on Sunday that he has "not really" considered the prospect of losing his McLaren seat after just one season.

And when asked about McLaren's looming decision, he turned to Michael and smiled: "I think it's made, you can ask.

"I am confident I will stay here," Perez explained.

"I haven't seen the need to go after any other team. I expect to come back with this team."

Electric carmaker Tesla Motors aims to sell about 10,000 cars a year in Germany by 2015 as it builds out its network of charging stations, CEO Elon Musk told a German paper.