From Audi
Audi is still undefeated in the 2013 sports car season. All five rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) went to Audi Sport Team Joest. Now the next sporting milestone is just around the corner. On the Fuji circuit in Japan, Audi may achieve the early defense of the World Champion's title in the manufacturers' classification on October 20.
Japan feels like home for many Audi drivers.
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| Japanese crowd (Photo: Audi) |
Tom Kristensen (DK) drove in Japan for four years, his team-mate Loïc Duval (F) has been active in the land of the rising sun since 2006 and lives in Tokyo. Together with Allan McNish (GB), who frequently traveled to Japan in the past as a test driver, they are leading the WEC drivers' standings with a 33-point advantage following their third victory of the season at Austin.
Their own team-mates are their closest rivals. André Lotterer (D) has been involved in Japanese racing series since 2003 and lives in Tokyo, his partner Benoît Tréluyer (F) spent twelve years of his racing career in the Pacific island state. Only Marcel Fässler (CH) had no connection to Japan before the WEC round at Fuji a year ago.
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| Audi R18 e-tron quattro (Photo: Audi) |
Some hard facts are indicating that Japan will be an important race. Audi may win this year's first World Championship title right at the sixth WEC round. Audi's advantage over Toyota amounts to 69 points, with a total of 52 points yet to be awarded at the two rounds following Fuji. Thus, finishing the race is the prerequisite for securing the title early.
But there is much more at stake. After Audi was defeated at Fuji last year, the R18 e-tron quattro is to cross the finish line as the winner in 2013. In the competition, Audi will be meeting with two race cars from challenger Toyota.
From Grand-Am.com
The maximum car capacity guidelines are based on space available at each venue. Series officials arrived at the car capacity for each class based on current projections, and the actual capacity per class may fluctuate as full-season entries are filed.
IMSA will begin taking entry applications on Nov. 1.
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| Photo: Grand-Am.com |
The Prototype (P) class will have a tentative cap of 20 cars at five venues: Sebring International Raceway, Long Beach, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Detroit's Belle Isle and Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The P class will be capped at 19 cars for all other venues on the 2014 schedule.
The Prototype Challenge (PC) class will be tentatively capped at 10 entries for all TUDOR Championship events. PC competitors will race for the overall victory in a two-class race alongside the GT Daytona (GTD) class at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on May 4. A separate race will be held on the same day for the P and GT Le Mans (GTLM) classes, with FOX Sports set to televise both events.
PC will also headline an event at Kansas Speedway - which hosted its first professional sports car events in August with the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge - on Saturday, June 7. PC will conduct doubleheader sprint races alongside IMSA's Cooper Tires Prototype Lites powered by Mazda series at Kansas and at Virginia International Raceway (VIR).
The class will have a total of 10 events in the 2014 TUDOR Championship, removing Detroit and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park from the previously announced schedule for PC.
The GTLM class will have a tentative cap of 19 cars at VIR, 16 at Long Beach, 14 at Sebring and Indianapolis and 12 at all others. GTD will be tentatively capped at 19 cars for all events except for Detroit, where the class will have capacity for approximately 21 cars.
From GMM
Sergey Sirotkin "can be happy" after kicking off his quest for a F1 super licence on Friday.
The Russian teen, who will line up as Sauber's 2014 race driver if he qualifies for the mandatory credential, was circulating at Fiorano.
Making use of Sauber's relationship with its engine supplier, Sirotkin was at the wheel of a 2009 Ferrari at the fabled Italian team's own test track.
"Sergey has done quite well, as it was his first time in a formula one car," said Sauber team boss Monisha Kaltenborn, not referring to Sirotkin's recent running in a straight line and for a demonstration at Sochi.
"He drove 180 kilometres (at Fiorano)," Kaltenborn is quoted by
Speed Week, "and even if we don't want to talk about laptimes, I can summarise by saying that he can be happy."
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| Ferrari F60, Fiorano |
From GMM
Maria de Villota's post-mortem has confirmed reports the former Marussia tester died of natural causes.
International publications say the 33-year-old died of a heart attack after a suspected brain haemorrhage in a Seville hotel early on Friday.
Germany's Welt newspaper said Spanish authorities are investigating, but rumours de Villota could have committed suicide are wide of the mark.
The report also said no medications or drugs were found in the hotel room or de Villota's body.
"It was absolutely natural causes," a forensic medicine spokesman said in Seville after the autopsy.
Spain's EFE news agency said Isabel de Villota suggested her sister's death was related to her serious head injuries sustained in the Marussia test crash last July.
A possible failure of the throttle position sensor has led Nissan Canada to recall 3,452 Infiniti M35 and M45 luxury sedans from 2006-2010.
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| Infiniti M45 2008. (Photo: Infiniti) |
A faulty throttle position sensor will return the engine to idle. In certain cases, an abrupt return to idle could result in the engine stalling, causing a loss of propulsion which, in conjunction with traffic and road conditions, as well as the driver's reactions, could increase the risk of a crash.
Infiniti dealers will therefore replace the throttle position sensor and reprogram the engine control module on all affected units.
Source: Transport Canada
The old General Motors assembly plant in Ste-Thérèse, Quebec (later known as Boisbriand), opened on October 12th, 1965.
As the lone GM production facility in La Belle Province, it started with 939 employees who built the Chevrolet Biscayne and Pontiac Strato Chief.
Thirty-seven years and more than 4 million vehicles later, production ended with the Chevrolet Camaro Z28 on August 27th, 2002. The Ste-Thérèse plant was demolished in 2004.
Source: Boisbriand
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| Photo: GM |
The EPA on Friday sought to calm a furor over its apparent proposal to reduce ethanol use in gasoline next year, saying that no final decisions had been made about the contentious mandate.
The 2014 Cadillac ELR plug-in hybrid will go on sale in January with a sticker price of $75,995, including destination charges.
The idea of self-driving cars isn't so farfetched anymore. Even our furloughed bureaucrats think so. But the question now is: whose cars?
Last week the Volvo Club of America held its annual meet in the ski resort of Stratton Mountain, Vt., and we dropped by to take a look.
TRW has announced that it has supplied safety systems on the entry model from Chinese premium brand Qoros.
Crestview Partners is seeking a buyer for Key Safety Systems, a Michigan supplier of airbags, seat-belt systems and other car safety components that could be valued at more than $800 million, according to several people familiar with the matter.
Most Americans are receptive to the idea of a driverless car, a new study says.
ASSOCIATE EDITOR JAKE LINGEMAN: The GLK is my favorite of the Mercedes ' SUVs.
Henry Ford may not have invented the concept of the moving assembly line, but his triumph --
Hyundai unveiled the ultimate Zombie Survival Machine, designed by fan Anson Kuo, at the New York Comic Con on Thursday.
Symphony Teleca aims to reduce recalls by accelerating issue fixes through remote software management. Vanessa Scholfield, QUBE Connected Vehicles analyst, recently spoke to the company to learn more.
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11 Oct, 2013
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