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Hybrid and electric cars are sparing the environment. Critics say they're hurting the roads.

Volvo Cars' new Chengdu plant in China's Sichuan province has begun building pre-production versions of the S60L, a special long wheelbase model.

ASSOCIATE EDITOR JAKE LINGEMAN: The 2013 Subaru BRZ is an extremely fun car, but you have to work for it.

Fiat "has everything we need" to relaunch its historic performance sports brand Alfa Romeo, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne said.

Fiat could look for a new China partner to help it manufacture Chrysler's Jeep brand in the world's largest car market in 2014, said Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne.

Auto123.com provides live coverage of the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Canada held Sunday in Montreal.

Our motorsport editor René Fagnan is on location at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Don't miss his analysis and comments during the Grand Prix of Canada held Sunday afternoon. For logistic reasons, the feed will be carried in both English and French.

Turn on your television and follow our coverage on your computer.

Coverage will begin at 1:45 pm, Sunday June 9.

From GMM

Pastor Maldonado has played down rumours he could be shaping up to leave crisis-struck Williams.

It is now more than a year since the Venezuelan broke through for his maiden win, with Barcelona 2012 seen at the time as the end of the great British team's long slump.

But in 2013, Williams is back in the doldrums, even though Valtteri Bottas has qualified third on a wet day in Canada.

"I think the fact is in the dry the car doesn't belong in P3," the Finn immediately admitted.

Williams' troubles have triggered rumours Maldonado might be in talks with Lotus about 2014, with the Enstone team perhaps needing to replace Kimi Raikkonen, and definitely in the mood to welcome a big sponsor like PDVSA.

Lotus E21 (Photo: WRi2)

Maldonado told Spain's Marca newspaper in Montreal: "I am 100 per cent focused on this (Williams) car.

"We are having a bad year, but that can happen to any team.  I think I'm with the best team a young driver aspiring to something more in F1 can be with.

"Williams is not a small team, it's an historic team looking to get back.  And I want to fight for the title with them.

"We have everything you need to do that, and I want to win here before going anywhere else," he insisted.

Meanwhile, Speed Week reports that Maldonado's wife Gaby is due to give birth to their first child - a girl - in September.

Formula One teams took a vote, Saturday night in Montreal, over in-season testing, and agreed to its return.

The plan drafted by the teams still needs to meet the approval of the World's Motor Sport Council, which could come at the next meeting later this month, but would allow four two-day sessions to take place on grand prix sites after a race.

According to early reports, Barcelona and Silverstone are the preferred venues for in-season testing, but Budapest and Spa are also on the short list of favoured tracks.

Officials need to see the final 2014 race calendar to validate the test schedule, because a test cannot be held between two back-to-back grands prix.

Furthermore, three additional pre-season tests are scheduled, of which two could be staged in Bahrain, again if the calendar permits.

AJ Allmendinger will replace Bobby Labonte next week at Michigan International Speedway for JTG Daugherty Racing and possibly four more races.

The move is being made by the single-car operation to help refine the direction for the team's development of the Gen-6 Camrys housed in their Harrisburg, N.C. shop.


“Bobby Labonte wanted to help our team grow and develop when he signed on with our organization at the beginning of the 2011 season,” stated JTG Daugherty Racing co-owner Brad Daugherty.

“He continues to do a tremendous job for us. Bobby has given us his ideas for improving the product and we believe AJ will do the same."

Stated JTG Daugherty Racing competition director Bobby Hutchens, "A single-car team does not have the benchmarking capabilities of all the multi-car operations we compete against each weekend.  This move will help us identify where our cars stand so that we can go to work on the next generation of our car design.”


Allmendinger, 31, believes he can assist the JTG Daugherty Racing team.


“I have raced for Phoenix Racing some this year and feel confident I'll be able to provide JTG Daugherty Racing with a good comparison," said Allmendinger. "I'm thankful for this opportunity to work with the team and Bobby (Labonte).”


Allmendinger has driven a limited NASCAR schedule since being suspended for a failed drug test last year. Roger Penske fired him but gave him another chance in IndyCar. He's set to drive in two NASCAR Nationwide Series races this season for Penske Racing.

Daugherty said the team will put the 49-year old Labonte back behind the wheel at some point.

"Hopefully, this will help Bobby moving forward," Daugherty said. "This isn't an unseating of Bobby Labonte,” said Daugherty.” We just want to figure out why we're struggling so badly.

Labonte has 21 wins in 703 career cup starts but hasn't won a race since 2003.

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel took a peerless lights-to-flag victory at the Canadian Grand Prix by 14 seconds ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton.

This was the reigning world champion's and Red Bull's first win in Canada, despite having scored pole position in the last three races around the Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve.

Lewis Hamilton finished third after spending most of the race in second, but was overtaken by Alonso on lap 63 just after the start finish line.

However, the 2008 world champion was undeterred and stayed within the DRS detection zone of the Ferrari to try again to pass on the next lap.

Despite being able to overtake his former teammate, Hamilton scored his third podium for Mercedes in 2013 since switching from McLaren over the winter.

Mark Webber finished fourth ahead of Monaco winner, Nico Rosberg, despite the Australian having a large part of his front wing being knocked away by Caterham's Giedo van der Garde, after the Dutchman appeared to turn in on him whilst being lapped.

Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne scored his best ever Formula 1 career result by finishing sixth

Paul di Resta ended the day in seventh after starting 17th, one place ahead of Felipe Massa, who also drove an aggressive race to score points from 16th.

Raikkonen and Sutil rounded out the top 10, despite the latter spinning whilst trying to pass Williams' Valtteri Bottas in the races' earlier stages.

Bottas, who starred in qualifying, finished 14th after starting third on the grid and also lost three places by the end of lap three.

Williams was not the only other championship winning team who left Montreal pointless, as McLaren simply did not have the pace to score today.

Sergio Perez finished 11th, one place ahead of teammate Jenson Button.


Race results* - Canadian Grand Prix (Montreal, Quebec)
1 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 70 laps 1.32'09"143
2 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F138) - 14"408
3 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W04) - 15"942
4 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 25"731
5 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W04) - 1'09"725
6 - Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1 lap
7 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1 lap
8 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F138) - 1 lap
9 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1 v
10 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1 lap
11 - Sergio Perez (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 1 lap
12 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 1 lap
13 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1 lap
14 - Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1 lap
15 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 2 laps
16 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW35-Renault) - 2 laps
17 - Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 2 laps
18 - Charles Pic (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 3 laps
19 - Max Chilton (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 3 laps

Fastest lap of the race: 1'16"182 by Mark Webber (Red Bull)

Retirements
Lap 63 - Esteban Gutierrez
Lap 46 - Nico Hulkenberg
Lap 44 - Giedo Van der Garde

Drivers' championship
1.Vettel 132; 2.Alonso 96; 3.Raikkonen 88; 4.Hamilton 77; 5.Webber 69; 6.Rosberg 57; 7.Massa 49; 8.Di Resta 34; 9.Grosjean 26; 10.Button 25; 11.Sutil 17; 12.Vergne 13; 13.Perez 12; 14.Ricciardo 7; 15.Hulkenberg 5.

Constructors' championship
1.Red Bull-Renault 201; 2.Ferrari 145; 3.Mercedes 134; 4.Lotus-Renault 114; 5.Force India-Mercedes 51; 6.McLaren-Mercedes 37; 7.Toro Rosso-Ferrari 20; 8.Sauber-Ferrari 5.

*Unofficial

Model: 2006 to 2013 Chevrolet Impala

Vehicle Type: Sedan

The Verdict: The last-gen Impala was loved for performance, space, comfort, and even fuel mileage. The most commonly reported reliability issues should be easy to identify. The Chevy Impala will appeal strongly to a value-minded, used-car shopper after plenty of space and comfort, though a full mechanical checkup and computer scan is strongly advised.

Price: Selection abounds in the used Impala marketplace, with an earlier, higher-mileage unit opening the bidding around $7,000, and a newer, low-mileage “demo” unit commanding prices of up to $30,000. Selection seems fantastic in the $20,000 to $25,000 range for a few-year-old model with reasonable mileage, though many units exist between $12,000 and $15,000 as well.

Photo: Matthieu Lambert

What Owners Like: Owners appreciare the Impala's combination of interior space and ride comfort. Many report pleasing power output from even the smaller standard V6 engine. Gas mileage is rated well, as is powertrain refinement. Noise levels are appreciably low, and the upgraded BOSE audio system is rated highly.

What Owners Dislike: Common complaints include windshield wiper and defroster performance in cold weather, less-than-durable factory tires, and poor remote-start range.

Photo: Matthieu Lambert

Continue reading 2006-2013 Chevrolet Impala Pre-Owned