Auto News 5

From GMM (Updated, see below)

Felipe Massa has agreed a five-year deal to stay in formula one next year with the British team Williams, a Brazilian website is reporting.

'Diario Motorsport' said the Brazilian, who has lost his Ferrari race seat, will replace Pastor Maldonado, who could take his lucrative PDVSA backing to Lotus.

The report said the news, with 32-year-old Massa to be "paid a wage" by Williams rather than become a pay-driver, will be announced "in the next days or even hours".

But for now, it remains just a rumour, even though it is interesting that, only very recently, Massa decided to 'follow' Oxfordshire based Williams on Twitter.

UPDATE
Felipe Massa on Thursday admitted he is in talks with Williams.

That would tie in with speculation Massa's move is being powered by the former Williams sponsor Petrobras, a Brazilian oil company, whose branding would clash with Venezuela's PDVSA.

"It's too early to talk about it. I am talking with many teams, and Williams is one of them,” he is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

The Brazilian driver insisted he would be a paid driver.

"I do not pay to drive," said Massa in India. "If a team wants to have me, it's because of my performance and my experience.

"I would never go to a team and say 'I have a sponsor, can I drive for you?'

"First, I want the contract," Massa explained. "Then if a sponsor wants to join, I will help the team, because any extra money for the team will also benefit me."

Photo: Williams F1 Team

From GMM

An Indian court will on Friday hear a petition to cancel this weekend's formula one race near New Delhi.

Indian reports say a supreme court judge agreed to hear the petition that was filed by a public interest campaigner called Amit Kumar, on the grounds that organisers have not paid enough tax.

"We will hear the petition tomorrow," the judge said.

Earlier this week, the Uttar Pradesh government was in the supreme court seeking the withdrawal of entertainment tax exemption for the beleaguered Indian grand prix organisers.

The exemption had been achieved for F1 by the former Uttar Pradesh government.

While it is unlikely Friday's court action will succeed, Indian motor racing official Vicky Chandhok admitted the 2013 race could be the country's last.

He told British broadcaster Sky that he is only 70 per cent sure the race will return to the calendar in 2015, after a one-year hiatus for reportedly "logistical" reasons.

"I am really disappointed about not having it 2014, but I hope to be in 2015 and 2016," said Chandhok. "But the price has to be right."

Ferrari in the Indian pitlane. (Photo: WRi2)

Following its debut the Frankfurt Auto Show, the Jeep Wrangler Polar Edition will arrive in North American showrooms in November.

The exterior includes 18'' gloss black alloy wheels, a body-coloured hardtop, a gloss black Jeep logo above the front grille, and a unique, three-colour hood decal featuring the outline of mountains. Three paint options are offered: blue, black, and white.

What's more, the Polar badge next to the front fender flares exhibits the 78 degrees S and 106 degrees E coordinates that correspond to the location of Vostok in Antarctica -- the exact point where the absolute severest temperature in the world was recorded at -89.2 degrees Celsius.

Jeep Wrangler Polar Edition 2014. (Photo: Jeep)

Inside the Jeep Wrangler Polar Edition, you'll find black heated leather seats enhanced by Pearl White accent stitching and a Polar logo embroidered on the upper portion of the backrests.

The Jeep Wrangler Polar Edition is motivated by a 3.6L Pentastar V6 that produces 285 horsepower through a standard 6-speed manual transmission or an optional 5-speed autobox.

Pricing for the Jeep Wrangler Polar Edition has yet to be announced.

Source: Jeep

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s head injury last year may put NASCAR on notice that all drivers need to have a medical baseline before such injury occurs.

On Thursday NASCAR announced that beginning in 2014, the sanctioning body require pre-season neurocognitive baseline testing as part of its comprehensive concussion prevention and management program for all of its national series drivers.

Danica Patrick crashing hard into the SAFER barriers. (Photo: NASCAR1Getty Images)

Earnhardt had a suffered a concussion while testing at Kansas Speedway, in August 2003, but insisted on continuing racing until he was involved in a 25-car crash at Talladega last October. Persistent headaches caused him to seek medical attention and his doctor ordered him to miss two races in the middle of NASCAR's playoffs.

Earnhardt and NASCAR learned from that. And now they are both onboard with the testing.

“This test can pinpoint where in the brain you're struggling, what kind of injury you have, what kind of things you can do to rehab and to recover,” Earnhardt told the Associated Press in February. “It helped me a lot. There was a lot of good information I learned throughout that whole process.”

In a press release NASCAR explained:

Baseline testing will be performed through the use of an ImPACT (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing) test, which is a widely-used neurocognitive assessment tool. The result of neurocognitive testing is one factor out of many that doctors use to diagnose and treat concussions. This particular test evaluates an athlete's verbal and visual memory, processing speed and reaction time.

By performing this test prior to the start of a season of competition, doctors are given a snapshot of an athlete's brain function while in a healthy state. Doctors can then use that baseline to compare to post-concussion tests to assist them in both evaluating the effects of any injury and informing their decisions to return an athlete to competition.

“NASCAR made this decision because we think it is important to drivers' health for doctors to have the best information and tools available in evaluating injuries,” said Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR vice president of racing operations.

“Before announcing this rule, we provided drivers concussion and baseline testing education and created opportunities for them to ask any questions they may have to a top neurosurgeon that specializes in traumatic brain injuries. Also, remember that ImPACT tests are not new to our sport and have been used for treatment through the years.”

Since NASCAR's recommendation prior to the start of this season, drivers were invited to two concussion education sessions featuring Dr. Vinay Deshmukh, M.D. of Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates, a member of NASCAR's Medical Advisory Group of Consulting Physicians. At those sessions, drivers were presented with an overview of what concussions are, their causes, treatment and the role that baseline tests play in the comprehensive evaluation of concussions.

“We are extremely confident that our concussion protocol is among the best in sports,” O'Donnell said. “We regularly review all of our practices involving safety and health to see if there is anything that we can do better, or should do differently moving forward. Implementing baseline testing is a primary example of our philosophy to protect our competitors the best that we can.”

The cab-rearward proportions, revamped grille and taut new sheet metal on Hyundai's re-engineered Genesis are part of a plan to pit the rear-wheel-drive sedan more directly against German luxury models.

GM's ability to reverse years of losses in Europe is coming down to products, not partners.

2013 Infiniti JX35 - Four Seasons Wrap-Up

Oh, the things we carried.

Whenever we see an Infiniti, the first thing that comes through is its message of style. However, when a 2013 Infiniti JX35 AWD arrived in our Four Seasons fleet, we realized that it would be silly to look only at its exterior. Instead, we had to turn our imagination inside out, because it's the inside that counts. The sheetmetal is just the hard candy shell for the possibilities within.

Photo Gallery: 2013 Infiniti JX35 - Four Seasons Wrap-Up

Photo Gallery: 2013 Infiniti JX35 - Four Seasons Wrap-Up

2013 Infiniti JX35 - Four Seasons Wrap-Up | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us

Mercedes-Benz USA has promoted marketing chief Bernhard Glaser to the new job of vice president and managing director of Mercedes-Benz Vans USA. Drew Slaven, 47, will take Glaser's post as vice president of marketing.

Nissan is recalling 188,302 mid-sized SUVs globally to fix a software problem in the antilock braking system that may lead to an increase in stopping distance.

Before there was the Bugatti Veyron, there was the 1995 Lotec

News 23 Oct, 2013

Mercedes CLA and three other models are given full marks in the latest round of safety testing

Mississippi's Alliance for Fairness at Nissan (MAFAN) is mulling a visit to Japan in order to move its concerns surrounding unionisation at the automaker's US Canton plant, rapidly up the agenda.

In the last installment of Project Car Hell, we went with

Volkswagen's Audi has opened its EUR34m (US$46m) logistics park at its base in Gyor, Hungary, which will create some 300 jobs and manage 150 lorries a day from suppliers in 30 countries.

The 2014 Jeep Wrangler Polar Edition first made its debut at the

Hevo Power has come up with the innovative idea of using existing manhole covers in New York City to conceal wireless chargers for electric vehicles.

Toyota and PSA/Peugeot-Citroen are likely to build about 200,000 vehicles at their joint plant in the Czech Republic this year, down from from 215,000 in 2012. The factory builds the Toyota Aygo, Peugeot 107 and Citroen C1 minicars.

Toyota and PSA are likely to build about 200,000 vehicles at their joint plant in the Czech Republic this year, down from 215,000 in 2012. The partners make the Toyota Aygo, Peugeot 107 and Citroen C1 minicars at the factory.

Hyundai continued its SEMA effort on Wednesday with the most powerful street-focused Veloster Turbo yet.

Ford expects the Russian market to be flat in 2014 following a fall this year but is confident about the prospects for the long-term.