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From GMM

All eyes will turn to Paris' Place de la Concorde on Thursday, as the very fate of Mercedes' F1 foray rests in the hands of the governing FIA.

It is at president Jean Todt's new international tribunal that some sort of penalty is expected to be levied against the German carmaker, after sanctioning a highly-controversial 'secret' Pirelli tire test at Barcelona recently.

"I fear a hefty penalty. Without functioning regulations, a sport like formula one cannot exist," commentator Christian Danner told Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

Danner admitted he is also expecting further consequences.

"Depending on who has made a mistake, heads will roll -- either at Mercedes or the FIA," he predicts.

Ross Brawn, Mercedes AMG. (Photo: WRi2)

That corresponds with speculation Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn, who according to Welt newspaper will not be accompanied to Paris by fellow bosses Niki Lauda or Toto Wolff, might be the Brackley based team's fall guy.

And there have been reports Charlie Whiting could also be in trouble, with the Guardian newspaper saying Brawn has an email from the FIA race director that incorrectly permits the test.

"We have nothing to hide," Wolff told Welt.

"We have prepared our documents, on Thursday the judgement will come, and we'll see if we can live with it. We are not targeting this outcome or another; we do not even say there necessarily must be an acquittal. There is no judgement that we are expecting. Our belief is that we have done nothing wrong."

Nonetheless, it is rumoured that if the FIA acts harshly against Mercedes, the very fate of the Brackley based team is at risk.

The 'tire-gate' scandal has given some shareholders of the parent company Daimler fresh ammunition to call for the end of Mercedes' F1 foray.

"The group's three-digit million spending (on F1) brings nothing to nobody. In our opinion, not a single car has been sold because Mercedes is represented by a team in formula one," said Michael Muders, of Union Investment.

Photo: WRi2

Mercedes-powered McLaren driver Jenson Button, however, is not rushing to judgement ahead of Thursday's hearing.

Asked if he thinks the team got an unfair advantage by testing in Barcelona, he answered: "Both drivers (Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg) have said no. If they did (get an advantage), they'd have to be lying. So I believe them," he told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

Over the years, I've noticed an interesting correlation in the automotive world: We love horsepower and horse power. There's a definite connection there, and never has it been clearer to me than on a recent trip to Lexington, KY where I spent time with Land Rover at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. Surrounded by tens of thousands of horse people, as well as countless Land Rover owners and enthusiasts, it became crystal clear.

While listening to the announcers of the dressage competition on day one, I found it intriguing that they used terms like “rear drive,” “controlled cornering,” and “cutting apexes” to describe the horse's performance. The trend continued the next day during the cross-country course where the horse's power, precision and performance was under constant scrutiny by announcers, and put to the test over every jump.

Here is a community of people dedicated to a group of animals all about power, strength, and agility. The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event is the triathlon of equine eventing, a proving ground for horse and rider where they not only prove their prowess as riders but their horse's well-rounded athleticism in all three disciplines. So, what better vehicle to be associated with such an event than Land Rover who continuously prove their ability to blend the lines between off-road capability, urban living and luxury?

You don't have to be rich to have a love and appreciation of horses and cars. Quite a few automotive journalists I know also have an affinity for the equine breed (yours truly included). And trust me, we are not a highbrow, high-income bunch (no offense, guys).

I believe it has a great deal to do with harnessing in a great deal of power, controlling such strength, and the sense of freedom one gets cantering through an open field on the back of something so incredibly capable -- much like the rush one would get piloting a drop-top 911 down the Autobahn. Bliss.

I get a rush each time I saddle up to go for a ride that's similar to strapping myself into a high-powered sports car. I know I'm about to experience something spectacular, something that will get my adrenaline pumping; even something that could scare me and teach me a valuable lesson. I'm nervous, excited, happy, thrilled and cautious all at once. I understand I have the ability to harness the power beneath me, but know I can easily make a mistake.

We must work together as one to make this union work, we must mutually respect one another and yet accept one as the proven leader (reader: the rider/driver).

Driving a powerful car is a lot like riding a powerful horse, and I see that connection now more than I ever did before. Even driving a mundane, everyday car is like plodding along on a weathered old mare; you still have to keep your wits about you because the thing you're controlling can still overpower you at any moment.

Horse people and car people share a connection I'm not sure many of them realize. Even if you don't particularly like the idea of jumping on the back of a horse to head out on a hack, you surely appreciate the power and strength these creatures have; just as you might loathe the idea of a long Sunday drive along a winding road, yet still appreciate the power and performance of the vehicle.

Photo: Miranda Lightstone

Greg Biffle's second-straight win at Michigan International Speedway turned into a huge milestone as Ford's 1000th victory in NASCAR's top three series.

A rare mistake by Jimmie Johnson sealed the deal for Biffle who drives for Roush Fenway Racing.

"The guy was 10 (on the restart) and was catching me with 10 to go," Biffle said. "That's a fast race car. We beat the 48 (Johnson) today and that says a lot. He was really, really fast."

Photo: NASCAR

Johnson was catching up with Biffle in closing laps when the five-time champion smacked the wall and had to pit eventually ending up 28th.

“We got him to make a mistake, we got him to falter, and we pushed the envelope, and that's part of racing and part of running hard and being competitive, and it makes you feel good when you push the guy over the edge, and he made a mistake. And that's what makes you feel good is that you outsmarted him or you beat him at his game, and he definitely had a fast car and we got him to make a mistake today, and I don't think he was going to catch me, but at the same time he made a mistake trying,” added Biffle.

“I guess just running that hard trying to get through traffic and get to the No. 16 (Biffle) we wore through the right-front,” said Johnson.

Kevin Harvick finished second in a Chevrolet followed by the Toyota of Martin Truex Jr.

“We didn't start off great,” said Harvick “We made some big adjustments on that first pit stop and we were able to get some track position and then they did a good job managing, when the caution came out there, to get us off the end of pit road in front of the leader. So, everybody did a great job today.”

Johnson's problems were the tip of the iceberg for Hendrick Motorsports which had its' worst finish since Sonoma in 2005 as all four team cars finished 28th or worse.

Just a few laps into the 400-mile race at the two-mile oval a spin by Bobby Labonte, driving for Phoenix Racing caught Jeff Gordon. Dale Earnhardt Jr. aiming to repeat a spring race win in Michigan had a blown engine. Kasey Kahne's string of bad luck lengthened when his car hit the wall and caught fire. He was not hurt.

Carl Edwards, the polesitter, finished eighth and narrowed the gap to points leader, Johnson, to 31 points.

Photo: Ford

The win was Ford's 715th in Sprint Cup, 200th in Nationwide, and 85th in the Camping World Truck Series.

The Roush Fenway Racing considers the Michigan oval its' home track. Thus the win and the milestone took on special meaning. "We expect to be at our best when we come to MIS and I am glad we could pull it off," Roush said. "I was a little nervous for a minute there, but I am glad it worked out and glad we could give Ford its 1,000th win."

From press release

With three weeks to go until the start of the Euro-Racecar NASCAR races on the Tours Speedway oval on 6-7 July in France, work is in full swing.

The Speedway is being built in record time and it will create a circuit that's unique in Europe and will enable fans to see exceptional races.

General view of the construction site. (Photo: Euro-Racecar)

After the inaugural event in 2012 on a temporary layout, Tours Evenements and the city of Tours now have a real speedway designed and developed with the expertise of NASCAR officials from the USA.

Trusn 1 and 2. (Photo: Euro-Racecar)

The track has been entirely resurfaced with asphalt, and a permanent banking with a 9° slope has been built in corners 3 and 4 (like Indianapolis).

Flattening, removal and refilling plus adding the asphalt surface have all been successfully carried out to enable the safety structures to be installed (walls and fencing) on Monday June 24.

General view of the oval. (Photo: Euro-Racecar)

Turns 3 and 4. (Photo: Euro-Racecar)

From GMM

Jenson Button has backed former teammate Lewis Hamilton to bounce back strongly after finding his feet at Mercedes.

Since 2010, the pair were teammates at McLaren, where Hamilton began his F1 career, won the 2008 title, and solidified his reputation as one of the very best on the grid.

But since moving to Mercedes, the Briton has had his hands full alongside his former karting teammate Nico Rosberg, who in the three previous seasons even had the edge on seven time world champion Michael Schumacher.

Jenson Button, however, is tipping Hamilton to hit back strongly.

Lewis Hamilton in Monaco. (Photo: Mercedes AMG F1 Team)

"To be fair, he has already scored significantly more points than Nico," lead McLaren driver Button told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

"Lewis is incredibly fast," the 2009 world champion added. "But the same is as true for him as it is for the rest of us -- if he doesn't have a balance in the car that suits him, that he got used to over many years, then it's not easy. The other side is that Nico is also fast. But Lewis has not lost his speed. It's still there. He will come back and shock everybody."

The wildest racing machines tackled the 12.4 miles of the Pikes Peak hill climb course this past weekend in preparation for the big finale to be held June 30.

For the first time, competitors got the chance to drive the famous Pikes Peak course in its entirety, which reaches a vertiginous 4300 metres at its summit.

Photos: Red Bull

“We've done two test sessions now and my feeling is that the car is ready,” said none-time World Rally Champion, Sebastien Loeb who drives a 875-bhp Peugeot 208 T16.

“But one big question mark is the fact that many of our serious rivals have skipped the two test sessions held so far. So while I'm confident that we've done as much as we need to do, you never know what the others have up their sleeve.”

Photo: Red Bull

“It's not like a race with a warm-up lap, or a rally with a road section, before you start here. You just sit in the car and bang! You're off at full speed straight away!” Loeb added.

“A car like this is actually never what you would call easy to drive, but that's what makes it so thrilling,” said Loeb at the end of the test.

“In the end though, we discovered some really useful things. I never had a chance to drive the whole mountain before - just sections of it - so the work we did on Friday, when we could go from the very bottom all the way to the top, was a really good taste of what was to come. And we had four potential tire compounds to choose from, so we evaluated them all and selected the compound that we thought would suit the conditions best,” he ended.

Photo: Red Bull

2014 Fiat 500L First Drive

Plus-Size Italian Style

While sitting (cowering, really) outside the bathrooms at Baltimore-Washington International Airport during a tornado warning, I pondered my day driving the 2014 Fiat 500L.

Photo Gallery: 2014 Fiat 500L First Drive - Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: 2014 Fiat 500L First Drive - Automobile Magazine

2014 Fiat 500L First Drive | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us

GM is recalling about 231,000 additional SUVs that might be in danger of an electrical short that could cause a fire.

BMW is trailing Mercedes-Benz in luxury vehicle sales so far this year in the United States, but it still exceeded its German counterpart in first-quarter new vehicle registrations.

BMW is trailing Mercedes-Benz in luxury vehicle sales so far this year in the United States, but it still exceeded its German counterpart in first-quarter new vehicle registrations.

SENIOR ONLINE EDITOR DAVEY G. JOHNSON: When the Lexus RX and

In true Italian style, Fiat brought the drama to its 500L launch event in Baltimore this week.

Countless automobile models have been designed and produced over the past 125 years. Some of them have faded pretty quickly, while others continue to be a huge hit among car buyers.

Without further ado, here are the top 10 best-selling cars of all time:

10. Chevrolet Impala - 14 millions
The Chevrolet Impala is the only GM model to appear on this list. Since its inception in 1959, the Impala gave birth to 10 generations.

Photo: Chevrolet

Continue reading Top 10 best-selling cars of all time

Model: 2004 to 2006 Volvo S80

Vehicle Type: Luxury Sedan

The Verdict: Relatively low asking prices and high levels of luxury, space, and flagship status are arguably the largest draws to the used S80. Though information is somewhat inconclusive, shoppers are advised strongly against buying a model that hasn't been subjected to a pre-purchase inspection of the engine, transmission, and electronics. A non-turbocharged, front-drive model will likely be the most affordable and reliable for the long-term.

Photo: Volvo

Price: Pricing for this generation S80 in the used market starts as low as $5,500 for an early, high-mileage unit, and climbs into the high-teens for a 2006 with about 50,000 kilometres on the dial. Note that pricing will vary depending on trim and equipment levels, and that selection is somewhat limited.

What Owners Like: Typically, the S80's promise of fuel efficiency, safety, and driving confidence attracted shoppers to showrooms with a spacious cabin, high-end interior design, and a comfortable, luxurious ride sealing the deal. Exterior styling, the up-level stereo system, and the seats are all highly rated, too.

What Owners Dislike: Interestingly, the most common complaint of most S80 owners is the cupholder design and placement.

Photo: Volvo

Continue reading 2004-2006 Volvo S80 Pre-Owned