Auto News 5

Europe's decline in car sales is showing signs of bottoming out but heavy price competition among brands and dealers threatens to kill any sense of relief for automakers struggling with excess plant capacity.

Model: 2010 to 2013 Volkswagen Golf
Vehicle Type: Hatchback

The Verdict: Decent reliability, an upscale driving experience, and plenty of selection in the used market mean used Golf shoppers should have no problem confidently finding a model to suit their needs.

Price: Pricing on this generation Golf varies widely based on numerous trim grades and powertrain options. A newer, low-mileage unit can command in excess of $22,000, possibly more with the diesel engine. Older, higher-mileage units can be found from the low- to mid-teens.

Photo: Marie-Andrée Ayotte

What Owners Like: This era of Golf is rated highly in terms of comfort, utility, ride quality, and an overall upscale and sporty driving experience. Many owners say they love the Golf's cabin, which is attractively styled, highly functional, and nicely trimmed.

What Owners Dislike: Typical complaints include high up-front pricing, wind noise at speed, and a mediocre, standard stereo system. On models with larger wheels, expect a rougher ride, too.

History/Description: The 2010 to 2013 Volkswagen Golf delivered style and comfort with an eye for versatility, flexible operation, and plenty of selection in the marketplace. Countless variants of the popular German hatchback were available, including a sporty GTI model, a high-performance R variant, and an ultra-thrifty TDI.

Our focus here will be on the mainstream models powered by the “standard” gasoline engine or the popular TDI diesel engine. Gas models got a 2.5L 5-cylinder with 170 horsepower. The TDI engine was a 2.0L unit with 140. Look for manual, automatic or DSG gearboxes, depending on the model selected.

Golf was available in 3- or 5-door configurations, with Trendline, Comfortline, Sportline, and Highline models spanning basic to loaded, respectively.

Available feature content included Bluetooth, leather seating, a sunroof, premium audio, auto climate control, and more.

Photo: Rob Rothwell

Continue reading 2010-2013 Volkswagen Golf Pre-Owned

During the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's (IIHS) small overlap front crash tests, the 2014 Subaru Forester and 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander earned the highest marks among 13 compact SUVs and crossovers from the 2013-2014 model years. They received a “Good” and “Acceptable” rating, respectively.

Here are the full rankings:

• Good : 2014 Subaru Forester
• Acceptable : 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander

Marginal :

• 2013 BMW X1
• 2013 Honda CR-V
• 2014 Mazda CX-5
• 2013 Volkswagen Tiguan (certain models)

Poor :

• 2013 Buick Encore
• 2013 Ford Escape
• 2013 Hyundai Tucson
• 2014 Jeep Patriot
• 2013 Kia Sportage
• 2013 Toyota RAV4 (built after April 2013)

Note that all of these vehicles still received a Top Safety Pick mention from the IIHS.

Source : www.iihs.org

Photo: Mike Goetz

Two-time NASCAR Canadian Tire Series champion Scott Steckly ended his 17-race winless streak by winning Saturday night's A&W Cruisin' The Dub 300 at Motoplex Speedway.

For the veteran, it was a 12th career win and came after back-to-back runner-up finishes in the last two races.

He ran a flawless race and crossed the finish line with a priority of 2.197 seconds over runner-up Jason Hathaway, his third win in the last four races at the Vernon half-mile tri-oval. 

Jim White finished third while Mark Dilley ended-up fourth in front of L.P. Dumoulin who now takes over the points lead by two from D.J. Kennington.

Hathaway is third, 10 points behind Dumoulin and just four in front of Steckly.
J.R. Fitzpatrick won the pole position earlier Saturday but encountered mechanical problems in the race that relegated him to a 19th-place finish.

The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series will be back in action for the Velocity Prairie Thunder presented by Bayer CropScience at Auto Clearing Motor Speedway July 17th.  

NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Standings:
Pos.  Driver      Points
1. L.P. Dumoulin 191  
2. D.J. Kennington 189 
3. Jason Hathaway 181 
4. Scott Steckly 177  
5. Martin Roy 171  
6. J.R. Fitzpatrick 169  
7. Ryley Seibert 160  
8. Jason White 153  
9. Noel Dowler 152 
10. Ron Beauchamp, Jr. 152 
(...)

Henri Julien, the founder of AGS, has died, Saturday at the age of 84.

Julien founded AGS, a French race car brand, in 1969, at the end of his short driving career. His company made single-seaters for various series, starting with Formule France and Formule Renault.

Eventually, AGS made it to F1, where it raced between 1986 and 1991, after spells in F2 and F3000.

Drivers who competed for AGS, which has now been turned into a race school, include Yvan Capelli, Roberto Moreno and Gabriele Tarquini.

AGS in F3000 (Photo: Jean Luc Taillade/Collection Groupe Blanchet)

Audi's Mattias Ekström ended a nine-year domination of Mercedes at the Norisring, when he crossed the finish-line of round five of the DTM season in first position. The Swede beat Canadian Robert Wickens (Mercedes) to the win.

Second-place was still Wickens' best result yet in the DTM. For the occasion, he got to share the podium also with his teammate Christian Vietoris. Meanwhile, his countryman Bruno Spengler (BMW) slipped to second in the championship, after finishing sixth. Because he came in one place ahead of Spengler, Mike Rockenfeller (Audi) is now alone at the top of the standings.

Ekström started only ninth, but took advantage of two full-course yellows and a perfect strategy to give Audi its first win at the Nüremberg street course since 2004.

Mattias Ekström, Audi RS 5 DTM (Photo: Audi Motorsport)

Wickens, who started from pole, benefited from a heated battle between Gary Paffett (Mercedes) and Edoardo Mortara (Audi). In a close fight for second place, the two men eventually collided and had to retire.

The disappointing finish was only the tip of the iceberg of Paffett's up and down race. Earlier in the race, he picked up a drive-through penalty for jumping the start, but got back to the front with a bold pitstop strategy, before stumbling upon Mortara.

From second on the grid beside his countryman, Spengler was probably hoping for a better result, but lost many places in the pits. He was first leapfrogged by Mortara. Then, was tossed by Ekström and finally dropped down to ninth during the second phase of pitstops. Paffett and Mortara's retirements, and a late pass on Roberto Mehri (Mercedes) earned him back three places.

Co-leader of the championship with Spengler before the race, Rockenfeller managed to save his weekend with a clean race. From 19th on the grid, he shot through to the top five, finishing just behind Daniel Juncadella (Mercedes).

Ekström's win, as well as being Audi's first at the Norisring since 2004, marked the first time since 2006 that neither Spengler nor Jamie Green, only 19th in 2013, stood on the top step of the podium.

(Photo: Audi Motorsport)

Race results - DTM (Norisring, Germany)
1 - Mattias Ekstrom (Audi RS5) - Abt - 83 laps in 1h12'14"698

2 - Robert Wickens (Mercedes C-Coupé) - HWA + 2"646

3 - Christian Vietoris (Mercedes C-Coupé) - HWA + 6"282

4 - Daniel Juncadella (Mercedes C-Coupé) - Mucke + 7"039
5 - Mike Rockenfeller (Audi RS5) - Phoenix + 8"411

6 - Bruno Spengler (BMW M3) - Schnitzer + 17"083
7 - Roberto Merhi (Mercedes C-Coupé) - HWA + 18"594
8 - Joey Hand (BMW M3) - RBM + 31"198
Etc.

Championship
1. Rockenfeller 69 points ; 2. Spengler 67; 3. Vietoris 55; 4. Paffett 47; 5. Ekstrom, Wickens 45; 7. Farfus, Wittmann 33, etc.

Presse release

Audi driver Mattias Ekström has lost his victory in the fifth DTM round at the Norisring.

After the Swede illegitimately had water poured into the pockets of his race suit in parc fermé in Nuremberg on his 35th birthday, he was excluded from the race by the stewards because of an infringement of the parc fermé rules.

As a result, victory went to Mercedes-Benz driver Robert Wickens from Canada, who scored his maiden DTM race win and brought the brand from Stuttgart its eleventh consecutive success at the Norisring.

Christian Vietoris and Daniel Juncadella (both Mercedes-Benz) were promoted to second and third place respectively. Points' leader Mike Rockenfeller (Audi) was classified fifth and now has a margin of two points from Bruno Spengler (BMW), who finished fifth in Nuremberg.

Mattias Ekström, Audi RS 5 DTM (Photo: Audi Motorsport)

Ekström's Team Audi Sport Abt Sportsline has announced its intention to appeal and has two days to back this up in writing.

The amended result remains provisional until the appeal has been decided upon. Moreover, Ekström was given a 1,000 euros fine because he failed to attach the steering wheel properly after getting out of his car in parc fermé.

Driving the No. 78 Chevrolet, Kurt Busch set the fastest time in the second practice session for the Camping World RV 301 held at New Hampshire Motor Speedway while Brian Vickers was quickest in the last one.

Busch drove around the one-mile, low-banked oval at the average speed of 133.497 mph.

Kurt Busch. (Photo: René Fagnan)

Matt Kenseth was second ahead of Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson who will have to start 43rd and last on Sunday due to a technical infraction in qualifying.

Brian Vickers was quickest in the third and last practice session, setting a speed of 133.417 mph in the No. 55 Toyota.

Brian Vickers. (Photo: René Fagnan)

Vickers, ineligible for driver points in the Sprint Cup series, beat Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Bowyer, Johnson and Jeff Gordon.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Photo: René Fagnan)

Brad Keselowski, the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup champion and driver for Penske Racing will start from pole position at 1pm Sunday, having set the fastest time in qualification at the speed of 135.922 mph in the No. 2 Ford.

New Hampshire has typically been a good track for Keselowski. In the last three visits to the track, his worst showing was sixth place. He fell just short of winning in the second race at the track in 2011, coming in second.

Kyle Busch. (Photo: René Fagnan)

Ganassi's Scott Dixon won the first race of the Toronto double-header, becoming the first back-to-back winner of the 2013 IndyCar season by edging Sebastien Bourdais (Dragon Racing) and the first demoted then reinstated Dario Franchitti.

The New Zelander had the best over then leader Will Power (Team Penske) by staying a lap longer during the final pitstop rounds, but still was passed by Bourdais on a restart with 16 laps remaining.

But the Frenchman would become an easy prey for Dixon as was soon out of push-to-pass and racing on his fading red tires.

The Ganassi driver then rapidly opened a 3.3 seconds, only to lose it when Alex Tagliani brought out the yellows again by spinning while trying to pass Simon Pagenaud.

The restart came with a lap to go but Dixon maintained the lead and crossed the finish line ahead of Bourdais. 

Things did not went as smoothly for Franchitti, who was first stripped of his third place finish because he blocked Will Power, but upon review, officials of the IndyCar series decided that Franchitti's move was perfectly legal and reinstated the Scot to the podium. 

There were a number of incidents but few drivers had more things go wrong than reigning champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, who stalled in both of his stops, and then hit the wall while battling Andretti team-mate EJ Viso.

The race was scheduled to feature the first-ever standing start in an IndyCar-sanctioned race, but that was abandoned when Josef Newgarden stalled on the grid.

Under the regulations, the race was switched to a rolling start.

Scott Dixon (Photo: IndyCar)

Race 1 results - IndyCar (Toronto, ON)
Pos  Driver               Team/Car                Time/Gap
1.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi/Honda      1h41m17.0605s
2.  Sebastien Bourdais   Dragon/Chevy            +1.7007s
3.  Dario Franchitti     Ganassi/Honda              +2.9116s
4.  Marco Andretti       Andretti/Chevy          +3.7273s
5.  Tony Kanaan          KV/Chevy                +4.5961s
6.  Helio Castroneves    Penske/Chevy            +5.0720s
7.  Mike Conway          Coyne/Honda             +5.5749s
8.  James Hinchcliffe    Andretti/Chevy          +8.6580s
9.  Simon Pagenaud       Schmidt/Honda          +10.2140s
10. Simona de Silvestro  KV/Chevy               +10.8797s
11.  Justin Wilson        Coyne/Honda            +11.3536s
12.  James Jakes          Rahal/Honda            +11.6899s
13.  Ed Carpenter         Carpenter/Chevy        +13.0557s
14.  Dario Franchitti     Ganassi/Honda          +27.9116s
15.  EJ Viso              Andretti/Chevy         +47.5037s
16.  Will Power           Penske/Chevy              +1 lap
17.  Sebastian Saavedra   Dragon/Chevy              +1 lap
18.  Alex Tagliani        Herta/Honda               +1 lap
19.  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti/Chevy           +2 laps
20.  Tristan Vautier      Schmidt/Honda            +2 laps
21.  Graham Rahal         Rahal/Honda              +3 laps
22.  Charlie Kimball      Ganassi/Honda           +13 laps
23.  Ryan Briscoe         Panther/Chevy           +21 laps

Retirements                           

Josef Newgarden      Fisher/Honda             34 laps
Takuma Sato          Foyt/Honda               32 laps

Scott Dixon ended-up the fastest driver at the end of qualifications for the second event of the IndyCar double-header presented in Toronto finishing in front of his Ganassi teammate Dario Franchitti.

Dixon was able to stop the clock at 58.9686s, therefore becoming the only competitor to dip below the 59s mark. Dario Franchitti who earned pole for the first race finished second with his 59.1905s.

Helio Castroneves (Team Penske) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport) will share the second row ahead of their respective teammates Will Power and EJ Viso.


Qualifying results for Race 2 - IndyCar (Toronto, ON)
Pos  Driver               Team/Engine        Time      Gap
1.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi/Honda      58.9686s
2.  Dario Franchitti     Ganassi/Honda      59.1905s  +0.222s
3.  Helio Castroneves    Penske/Chevy       59.1953s  +0.226s
4.  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti/Chevy     59.3915s  +0.423s
5.  Will Power           Penske/Chevy       59.2503s  +0.281s
6.  Tony Kanaan          KV/Chevy           59.5360s  +0.567s
7.  Sebastien Bourdais   Dragon/Chevy       59.5421s  Group 2
8.  Ryan Briscoe         Panther/Chevy      59.5473s  Group 1
9.  Alex Tagliani        Herta/Honda        59.7601s  Group 2
10.  Simona de Silvestro  KV/Chevy           59.6489s  Group 1
11.  EJ Viso              Andretti/Chevy     59.7821s  Group 2
12.  James Hinchcliffe    Andretti/Chevy     59.6750s  Group 1
13.  Simon Pagenaud       Schmidt/Honda      59.8326s  Group 2
14.  Justin Wilson        Coyne/Honda        59.7113s  Group 1
15.  Takuma Sato          Foyt/Honda       1m00.0874s  Group 2
16.  Charlie Kimball      Ganassi/Honda      59.7871s  Group 1
17.  Tristan Vautier      Schmidt/Honda    1m00.3204s  Group 2
18.  Marco Andretti       Andretti/Chevy     59.8207s  Group 1
19.  Josef Newgarden      Fisher/Honda     1m00.6174s  Group 2
20.  Graham Rahal         Rahal/Honda        59.9216s  Group 1
21.  James Jakes          Rahal/Honda      1m00.7204s  Group 2
22.  Sebastian Saavedra   Dragon/Chevy     1m00.1913s  Group 1
23.  Ed Carpenter         Carpenter/Chevy  1m00.9519s  Group 2
24.  Mike Conway          Coyne/Honda      1m00.3919s  Group 1

The UK government and the auto industry will invest 1 billion pounds ($1.5 billion) in a research center to develop low-carbon technologies and help secure the jobs of 30,000 people working in the country's car engine supply chain.

Hyundai will boost production capacity at its plant in Turkey as output of the next-generation i10 minicar shifts from India.

David Strickland, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, took office at the start of 2010, just as Toyota started a series of recalls over unintended acceleration that ultimately included more than 14 million vehicles worldwide.

The chase is on for the fully connected car. Streaming Internet music sites through the car radio isn't enough anymore.

Ganassi's Dario Franchitti will be starting from the front line as he earned pole position for the upcoming IndyCar's first race in the Toronto double-header.

Franchitti clocked a time of 59.5756s, which was definitely good enough to let Sebastian Bourdais (Dragon Racing) finished second just 0.09s off Franchitti's lap.

Will Power (Team Penske) finished third while KV Racing's Tony Kanaan will start from fourth in front of James Jakes (Rahal Letterman Lanigan) who will probably get a 10-place grid penalty for an unauthorized engine change.

Franchitti's teammate Scott Dixon completed the top six.


Qualifying results - IndyCar (Toronto, ON)
Pos Driver Team/Engine Time Gap
1. Dario Franchitti Ganassi/Honda 59.6756s
2. Sebastien Bourdais Dragon/Chevy 59.7701s +0.0945s
3. Will Power Penske/Chevy 1m00.0612s +0.3856s
4. Tony Kanaan KV/Chevy 1m00.1179s +0.4423s
5. James Jakes Rahal/Honda 1m00.1430s +0.4674s
6. Scott Dixon Ganassi/Honda 1m00.3228s +0.6472s
7. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti/Chevy 1m00.1954s Round 2
8. Helio Castroneves Penske/Chevy 1m00.2866s Round 2
9. Justin Wilson Coyne/Honda 1m00.2954s Round 2
10. Ryan Briscoe Panther/Chevy 1m00.3843s Round 2
11. Marco Andretti Andretti/Chevy 1m00.6027s Round 2
12. Takuma Sato Foyt/Honda 1m02.3831s Round 2
13. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt/Honda 1m00.4303s Group 1
14. James Hinchcliffe Andretti/Chevy 1m00.5083s Group 2
15. EJ Viso Andretti/Chevy 1m00.4556s Group 1
16. Charlie Kimball Ganassi/Honda 1m00.6569s Group 2
17. Alex Tagliani Herta/Honda 1m00.4586s Group 1
18. Graham Rahal Rahal/Honda 1m00.6868s Group 2
19. Josef Newgarden Fisher/Honda 1m00.5822s Group 1
20. Mike Conway Coyne/Honda 1m00.9526s Group 2
21. Tristan Vautier Schmidt/Honda 1m00.9053s Group 1
22. Simona de Silvestro KV/Chevy 1m01.1553s Group 2
23. Ed Carpenter Carpenter/Chevy 1m01.2367s Group 1
24. Sebastian Saavedra Dragon/Chevy 1m01.2939s Group 2

Steele Auto Group, Atlantic Canada's leading automotive group, has joined SiriusXM Canada's pre-owned vehicle program, which helps participating dealerships market pre-owned inventory by offering a complimentary 90-day SiriusXM subscription with any purchase of a pre-owned vehicle equipped with satellite radio.

“We are very pleased to welcome Steele Auto Group to SiriusXM's pre-owned vehicle program,” said James Byun, Vice President, OEM, SiriusXM Canada. “The program helps dealerships add value to pre-owned vehicles and gives more drivers the opportunity to experience SiriusXM's incredible content and programming.”

Steele Auto Group owns and operates 14 dealerships in the Atlantics:

• Audi Halifax
• Halifax Chrysler
• Land Rover Halifax
• MacPhee Chevrolet
• Porsche of Halifax
• Steele Chrysler
• Steele Ford Lincoln
• Steele Hyundai
• Steele Jaguar
• Steele Mazda
• Steele Premium Preowned
• Steele Subaru
• Steele Volkswagen
• Volvo of Halifax

SiriusXM Canada is inviting other car dealers to participate in its pre-owned vehicle program, so expect this type of offer to become available elsewhere in Canada in the near future.

Canadian Robert Wickens (Mercedes) clinched his first pole position in DTM at the Norisring, ahead of fellow country man Bruno Spengler.

Spengler set the pace in the first part of the session, after he was quickest in Saturday morning's free practice session.

But the French-Canadian driver made a little mistake while approaching the first corner in his flying lap in Q4, losing about 0.15s in the first sector, concluding the lap 0.059 thousands of a second slower than Wickens.

That was a good qualifying session for Mercedes, as Gary Paffett was third quickest, just ahead Edoardo Mortara's Audi. 18-year-old Pascal Wehrlein (Mercedes) missed by almost nothing his qualifying for Q4, to finally classify in 5th position, his best qualifying result in DTM so far.

The German leads Andy Priaulx's BMW, Daniel Juncadella's Mercedes and Filipe Albuquerque's Audi.

Meanwhile, that was a disappointing session for championship leader Mike Rockenfeller (Audi), who failed to qualify for Q2, and qualified only in 19th position.

Bad day also for Jamie Green (Audi), the best performer at the Norisring (he won four races here in five races), who could not do better than the 14th performance in qualifying.

Robert Wickens, Mercedes C Coupé DTM (Photo: DTM.com)

Qualifying classification
1. Robert Wickens (Mercedes C Coupé DTM - AMG) - 48''384
2. Bruno Spengler (BMW M3 DTM - Schnitzer) - 48''443
3. Gary Paffett (Mercedes C Coupé DTM - AMG) - 48''460
4. Edoardo Mortara (Audi A5 DTM - Rosberg) - 48''490
5. Pascal Wherlein (Mercedes C Coupé DTM - AMG) - 48''356
6. Andy Priaulx (BMW M3 DTM - RMG) - 48''406
7. Daniel Juncadella (Mercedes C Coupé DTM - AMG) - 48''410
8. Filipe Albuquerque (Audi A5 DTM - Rosberg) - 48''454
Etc.

From GMM

Red Bull is not ruling out following Mercedes' lead and conducting a private test with F1 tire supplier Pirelli.

Mercedes and Pirelli were reprimanded by the FIA recently, after news of their 'secret' 1000km test at Barcelona with a 2013 car took the paddock by surprise.

But F1's governing body did not ban that sort of tire testing altogether, albeit insisting that strict guidelines be followed in future.

Ferrari, albeit with a two-year-old car, has also tested with Pirelli in 2013, and so Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said the reigning world champions could be next in line.

"We will see," he is quoted by Sporting Life.

"It is something we have to discuss with Pirelli."

Horner said the important thing about individual teams conducting tire testing with Pirelli in future is that "It has to be done transparently".

"We don't want people sneaking off behind closed doors -- and wearing nondescript helmets," he said, alluding to one of the aspects of Mercedes' test that so riled the paddock.

NASCAR's reigning champion, Brad Keselowski; (135.922mph) led eight drivers under the track record set by Ryan Newman (135.232mph), two years ago, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Jimmie Johnson had turned a lap of 135.902mph but his time was disqualified due to his car failing post-qualifying inspection for being too low. He'll start 43rd.

Notwithstanding how much work Johnson will do, Keselowski's job will be even bigger as he struggles to make the Chase with eight races remaining.

Brad Keselowski. (Photo: René Fagnan)

Johnson has a commanding lead of 49 points, while Keselowski stands 13th and 11 points outside of tenth place which would lock him into the Chase. Of course he might get in with a Wild Card, but first, he'd have to get a victory.

Keselowski, when asked the mood of the team, said “there is a sense of urgency but not a sense of panic. I think there is a strong difference between the two. We are eager to get going, we are hungry and feel like we can do it but I don't feel as sense of panic.

“There are still two months of racing essentially to get into the Chase. We have fast race cars and if we do our part we don't need any help. If we do our part we don't even need any luck. We just need to do our jobs and I feel like we have got the team to do just that.”

Jimmie Johnson. (Photo: René Fagnan)

But Johnson was feeling the pressure even before qualifying. “We had two small issues one with the side skirt height missed it by a sixteenth of an inch.  Then I think a pound of weight was missing or wasn't right on the right-side weight.  We had to go through twice and that is usually big trouble for teams.  We were able to get it done quickly and get out just in time.

“With all that being said it just added a lot of stress to my qualifying lap,” he said.

Knaus came to the media center to explain why Johnson's car failed the first time stating it was a mis-assembly problem “it was all our fault.  We knew something just wasn't right.”  And because of playing catch up the car settled down after qualifying.

Kurt Busch. (Photo: René Fagnan)

As a result of the disqualification Kurt Busch will roll off in second place.

The second row will consist of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch.

Seventy-one year-old Morgan Shepherd, who earned a starting spot based on owner points, becomes the oldest driver to start a Sprint Cup race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Photo: René Fagnan)

Organizers of the German DTM, Japanese Super GT and North American Grand-Am series have put together a new group to monitor the progressing unification of their three series, and also decided to postpone to 2017 the debuts of an American DTM championship.

The movement of unification between the three important racing series started in late 2012, when the Super GT agreed to start using the technical regulations of the DTM in 2014. Soon after, Grand-Am people were signing another cooperation deal to start a DTM championship in America.

The DTM championship (Photo: DTM.com)

But Grand-Am is set to merge with another American championship next year, the ALMS, and become the United SportsCar Racing series. An American DTM championship could be part of that same fold.

Initially, the debuts of this American DTM championship under a common regulation with DTM were planned for 2015-2016. But following the Norisring meeting, it has been announced that the new series will be launched in 2017 instead.

The delay is probably to give organizers time to convince American and Japanese constructors to join the new series alongside BMW, Audi and Mercedes.

Super GT (Photo: Supergt.net)

And most recently, a new group called the "Steering Committee" was put together to regulate the progressing unification of the three series. Promoters of all three championships and representatives of all manufacturers involved were made part of this newly founded Steering Committee, which met for the first time at the Norisring, as part of the DTM race there.

The Steering Committee's job will also be to supervise the "Technical Working Group", which concentrates on the technical aspect of the unification.

Grand-Am (Photo: Grand-Am.com)