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Carmakers including Audi and Mercedes-Benz are turning to high-tech adhesives as they seek ways to make cars lighter and tougher.

When Daimler AG brought its Euro-styled Sprinter van with a 14-foot high roof and sloped brow to the United States, it stood out on the parkway like a pachyderm.

Tesla Motors has no advertising, no ad agency, no chief marketing officer, no dealer network. And that's no problem.

Carmakers including Audi and Mercedes-Benz are turning to high-tech adhesives as they seek ways to make cars lighter and tougher.

Carmakers including Audi and Mercedes-Benz are turning to high-tech adhesives as they seek ways to make cars lighter and tougher.

Carmakers including Audi and Mercedes are turning to high-tech adhesives as they seek ways to make cars lighter and tougher.

If you live in Switzerland and want to enjoy peace of mind when leaving the house for a few days, you can rent a fake police car to keep potential robbers at bay.

Who exactly came up with that idea? Andras Birrer, a mechanic from the Lucerne area, thought it would be funny to rent a Hyundai i40 painted with the colours of the local police force. Well, at €200 a week, what started as a joke is now a highly lucrative business!

Source: Caradisiac

Adapted GMM

There is a growing consensus in the paddock that Mercedes will be penalised when the FIA's brand-new international tribunal meets to discuss the secret Barcelona test on June 20.

Sauber team boss Monisha Kaltenborn, who entered F1 as a team lawyer, told Auto Motor und Sport: "A contract can't overrule a law."

She is referring to Pirelli's defence that its deal with the FIA allows tyre testing with a representative car, therefore overriding the tightly-controlled test limits in the sporting regulations.

But Spanish sports newspaper Marca's correspondent Marco Canseco reported rumours a fine in the order of EUR 5 to 10 million will be imposed against Mercedes.

Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko told Blick: "A fine and a points deduction would be appropriate."

With the 'testgate' saga occupying the time and minds of most regular F1 journalists in the Montreal paddock, the details and rumours continue to flow.

Germany's Sport Bild claims earlier rumours that Mercedes has proof - an email - of Charlie Whiting's permission to use its 2013 car, was wrong.

That report said Whiting gave only conditional approval, "only if all the other teams are informed and agree".

Team Penske's Will Power has earned pole position for the upcoming Saturday night's IndyCar race at Texas Motor Speedway after dominating the charts at the 1.5 mile oval.

The Australian set a two-lap average of 219.182mph which is way in front of his closest rival Marco Andretti (Andretti Autosport) who could only produce a 217.553mph average effort.

Andretti's teammate and current IndyCar champion Ryan Hunter-reay was third just ahead of Ganassi's Dario Franchitti.

Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan showed a lot of speed on his first lap but, without reason lost more than 3mph on his second pass to finish a distant 15th. 

Neither Tristan Vautier nor Takuma Sato set times, both had to sit out the session, Vautier had to wait for his Schmidt Peterson squad to change his engine while Sato had his new gearbox installed.


Qualifying results - Texas (IndyCar)
1.Will Power (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Penske - 219.182 mph (352.739 kmh)
2.Marco Andretti (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 217.553
3.Ryan Hunter-Reay (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 217.524
4.Dario Franchitti (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Ganassi - 217.504
5.Ernesto Viso (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 217.244
6.Helio Castroneves (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Penske - 217.100
7.Josef Newgarden (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Fisher - 216.693
8.Charlie Kimball (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Ganassi - 216.570
9.Ed Carpenter (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Carpenter - 216.552
10.James Jakes (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Rahal - 216.487
11.Scott Dixon (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Ganassi - 216.447
12.Simona de Silvestro (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - KV - 216.396
13.James Hinchcliffe (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 216.248
14.Simon Pagenaud (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Schmidt - 215.727
15.Tony Kanaan (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - KV - 215.474
16.Alex Tagliani (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Herta - 215.406
17.Sebastien Bourdais (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Dragon - 214.839
18.Oriol Servia (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Panther DRR - 214.586
19.Graham Rahal (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Rahal - 213.888
20.Sebastian Saavedra (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Dragon - 213.217
21.Pippa Mann (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Coyne - 212.785
22.Justin Wilson (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Coyne - 207.807
23.Takuma Sato (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Foyt - no time
24.Tristan Vautier (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Schmidt - no time

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel has claimed pole position in a rain soaked and surprising qualifying session ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas for tomorrow's Canadian Grand Prix.

The reigning world champion set a time of 1m25.425s in a top-10 shootout, which included both Toro Rossos, Adrian Sutil's Force India and Bottas.

Photo: WRi2

The session also marked Bottas' first appearance in Q3 and Williams' best qualifying result of the season.

Monaco winner Nico Rosberg finished fourth, with Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso rounding out the top-six.

Photo: WRi2

Jean-Eric Vergne was seventh ahead of Adrian Sutil, Kimi Raikkonen and teammate Ricciardo.

McLaren once again endured a tough time with both Perez and Button failing to get the best of the MP4/28 in the tricky conditions, with the Mexican driver beating the 2009 world champion. They will line up 12th and 14th respectively.

Photo: WRi2

However, McLaren were not the only front running team to have a difficult Saturday in Montreal, as Felipe Massa shunted his Ferrari heavily for the second consecutive race at Turn 3, which subsequently brought out the red flag.

As a result, the Brazilian will start tomorrow's race in 16th.

Photo: WRi2

As expected, the Caterhams and the Marussias dropped out in Q1, but the first round of qualifying also surprised after Lotus' Romain Grosjean and Paul di Resta failed to make it through into the next session.

Both drivers finished 19th and 17th respectively.

Photo: WRi2

The French driver will occupy the last position on the grid due to a grid penalty hangover from Monaco, and this is the second race weekend in succession that Di Resta has failed to make it through to Q2.

Photo: WRi2

Qualifying results* - Canadian Grand Prix (Montreal, Quebec)
1.Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 1'25"425 - Q3
2.Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W04) - 1'25"512 - Q3
3.Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'25"897 - Q3
4.Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W04) - 1'26"008 - Q3
5.Mark Webber (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 1'26"208 - Q3
6.Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F138) - 1'26"504 - Q3
7.Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'26"504 - Q3
8.Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1'27"348 - Q3
9.Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1'27"432 - Q3
10.Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'27"946 - Q3
11.Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 1'29"435 - Q2
12.Sergio Perez (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 1'29"761 - Q2
13.Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'29"917 - Q2
14.Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 1'30"068 - Q2
15.Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 1'30"315 - Q2
16.Felipe Massa (Ferrari F138) - 1'30"354 - Q2
17.Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1'19"496 - Q3
18.Charles Pic (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1'25"626 - Q3
19.Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1'26"508 - Q3
20.Max Chilton (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1'27"062 - Q3
21.Giedo Van der Garde (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1'27"110 - Q3
22.Romain Grosjean (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1'25"716 - Q3**

*Unofficial
**10-place grid penalty

From GMM

Eric Boullier has leapt to the defence of Romain Grosjean, who many in the paddock say is reverting to his 'nutcase' ways of 2012.

Frenchman Grosjean had an horror weekend in Monaco, crashing four times and incurring a ten-place grid penalty for this weekend's Canadian grand prix.

But Lotus team boss Boullier told France's RMC: "Nobody should say, just because of a tough weekend, that the ghosts of 2012 have reappeared.

Romain Grosjean, Lotus E21 (Photo: WRi2)

"He made an excellent start to the season, correcting everything he was accused of last year," he added.

Boullier revealed he sat down with Grosjean for a detailed discussion about Monaco after the troubled weekend in the Principality.

"Our discussion was to reassure him," he said, amid earlier rumours Lotus might replace the 27-year-old with reigning GP2 champion Davide Valsecchi.

From GMM

Summer in Europe has arrived, and that is the usual trigger for 'silly season'.

Spain's Marca sports newspaper said the first driver rumour in the Montreal paddock this weekend is that Felipe Massa is "impatient" for a new Ferrari contract for 2014.

But Germany's Bild newspaper said the Maranello based team actually has its eye on two Germans -- reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel, and Monaco winner Nico Rosberg.

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes W04 (Photo: WRi2)

Regarding Mercedes' Rosberg, Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali said: "He is certainly one of the drivers that we have already considered.

"I'm not surprised that he is faster than Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.  He has always been good, but now he has shown that he has matured."

Another rumour, according to Marca correspondent Marco Canseco, is that Williams' Pastor Maldonado is a possible successor in the event Lotus loses Kimi Raikkonen to Red Bull.

"The arrival of PDVSA as a team sponsor would be welcomed by (team owner) Gerard Lopez, of course," said Canseco.

Auto123.com provides live coverage of the qualifying session of the 2013 Grand Prix of Canada from the Gilles Villeneuve circuit in Montreal.

René Fagnan, our motorsport editor is in the media centre located inside the Formula 1 paddock.

Follow his analysis and comments of the three rounds of qualifying held Saturday 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.

Live coverage will start a 1:45 pm, Saturday June 8.

As if Jimmie Johnson needed any more assistance he'll start from the pole in Sunday's Pocono 400 after qualifying was rained out on Friday.

The five-time Sprint Cup champion was awarded the pole because his car leads the series in owner's points.

“There are a lot of good benefits from starting on the pole, from track position to pit road picks,” said Johnson who drives a Chevy.

“We'll take it. The great season that we've had so far and the quick start, it's nice to have that. It's one of the benefits (as the point leader) when things rain out. So we certainly earned this first starting spot, and we'll try to take advantage of it on Sunday.”

The weather forecast for Saturday's final practice also includes the possibility of rain showers curtailing activities at the 2.5 mile Pocono International Raceway. That has made another driver a bit anxious.

Carl Edwards will start second in a Ford. “If we get a practice tomorrow (Saturday)” and if it happens to be a shortened one, it will be a very intense practice session,” said Edwards.

“We will be trying everything we can.  We'll be working with as many of the Ford teams as we can to try to not waste time.  If we didn't get practice, it's fortunate that yellow flag laps are so long here because you will see people changing some serious stuff during the race to try to tune their cars in.”

Clint Bowyer will start third and Matt Kenseth will start fourth, respectively, in Toyotas.

A total of 43 cars were entered for Sunday's race, and the qualifying rainout determined that all 43 entries will race on Sunday.

Adapted from GMM

Rumours that Pirelli will leave formula one at the end of the season are growing by the day.

Heavily criticised for its 2013 tires, and now embroiled in 'testgate', the Italian supplier is also unhappy with F1's tight testing limits and the obstacles to tire specification tweaks being erected by the teams.

Facing the wrath of the FIA's new international tribunal for accepting Pirelli's invitation of a private test at Barcelona recently, Mercedes' team boss Ross Brawn on Friday sounded uncertain Pirelli will still be in F1 in 2014.

"Discussions about testing for next year will certainly be beneficial for whoever the tire supplier is in the future," he said.

Italy's La Repubblica said Paul Hembery repeated Pirelli's recent quit threat on Friday, "if we are unable to do some tests with the new tires before the start of the season".

"We cannot continue to work in the dark," he added. "By September first we need to provide the specifications for next year, but we don't even know what the cars are going to be like.

"We believe that the (2014) tire should be wider, but we don't know by how much.

"This year, because of the lack of tests ... we ended up with these cases of delamination, and then because we couldn't go onto a track we had to remedy it in the laboratory."

And, still, the teams refuse to agree to the new tires debuting at Silverstone late this month.

"We have heard that Lotus will not accept any changes," Hembery is quoted by Finland's MTV3.

"If that's right, we will use the same tires for the rest of the season. There may be some more four-stop races, but what can we do?"

Mark Webber and Valtteri Bottas have received reprimands from the FIA stewards in Friday's first practice sessions for the Canadian Grand Prix.

During the morning practice, the Red Bull driver and the Williams driver both failed “to make significant reduction in speed while double yellow flags were displayed at Turn 3”.

Valtteri Bottas, Williams FW35 (Photo: WRi2)

Afterwards, the race stewards listened to Bottas and Webber as well as team representatives.

However, they were also privy to video, audio and telemetry evidence, which prompted them to reprimand both drivers.

Mark Webber, Red Bull RB9 (Photo: WRi2)

Webber also received a warning for colliding with Mercedes' Nico Rosberg in the Bahrain Grand Prix; if he incurs a third for a driving infringement before the end of the season, he will be given a ten-place grid penalty.

During the afternoon session, the stewards panel decided not to penalise
Jenson Button after the McLaren driver had a gear selection problem that required him to avoid approaching cars by crossing the white line at the pit entry.

2014 Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring

This is the engine the CX-5 needed, and it's the one you'll want.

If you're in the market for a Ford Escape with the 1.6-liter EcoBoost turbo engine, promise me you'll at least glance at this crossover first. Why? The CX-5's new 2.5-liter Skyactiv I-4 engine has, in my eyes, eroded the Escape's only remaining advantage: speed.

Photo Gallery: 2014 Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring - Editors' Notebook - Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: 2014 Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring - Editors' Notebook - Automobile Magazine

2014 Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us

"Grid 2" from Codemasters hit store shelves on Tuesday with more tracks to go with the same mix of arcade and simulation racecar handling.

The unveiling of the

Colorado dealers have stronger franchise laws that they say now level the playing field with manufacturers.