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From GMM

Ferrari has joined Lotus in criticising Pirelli's mid-season tire tweak.

Following early-season criticism, culminating in the furore after Barcelona recently, Pirelli announced it is making key changes to its controversial 2013 tires for next month's Canadian grand prix and beyond.

Lotus team owner Gerard Lopez was the first to react, likening the change to widening football goals because one team was always striking the post.

Now, in the anonymous 'Horse Whisperer' column posted on the official Ferrari website, Ferrari has lashed out at those who claim four-stop strategies in F1 show that the tires are too extreme.

Undoubtedly, the Ferrari writer is referring to the kind of criticism made by world champions Red Bull.

"It's a shame that these worthy souls kept quiet two years ago when, at the very same Catalunya circuit and on the Istanbul track, five of the six drivers who got to those two podiums made exactly the same number of pitstops," the column read.

Fernando Alonso, Ferrari. (Photo: Pirelli)

Ferrari also recalled the 2004 French grand prix, when Michael Schumacher won at Magny Cours with a four-stopper that left Ferrari and Bridgestone "showered with praise" within the paddock.

"Today however, it seems one must almost feel ashamed for choosing a strategy that, as always for that matter, is aimed at getting the most out of the package one has available," the column added.

A new law proposed by the North Carolina Senate will apparently make it illegal for Tesla to e-mail its customers and even answer their questions on the phone. How crazy is that?

The bill actually prevents automakers from "using a computer or other communications facilities, hardware, or equipment" to sell or lease a car to anyone in North Carolina.

Tesla communications director Shanna Hendriks has confirmed that "any communications device -- including a telephone -- could be captured as conducting sales activity, and [its use] prohibited except by franchise dealers."

She claims state authorities are "trying to tie our hands as much as possible to ‘protect the customer'."

The controversial law aims to eliminate what dealer associations in North Carolina and several other U.S. states deem ''unfair competition for rival dealerships."

Tesla is currently the only automaker operating factory stores or so-called ''non-sales showrooms.'' It owns no dealer franchise and sells vehicles exclusively through the Internet.

Some outraged N.C. residents have already launched a private website, Tesla Motors NC, to rally efforts around preventing passage of the law.

www.greencarreports.com

Photo: Nauman Farooq

From GMM

Niki Lauda has hailed Pirelli's move to alter the design of its 2013 tires ahead of the Canadian grand prix next month and beyond.

Lotus, arguably the team with the best grip on the Italian supplier's controversial tires this year, is not happy with the decision.

"It's clear that Pirelli have found themselves in a difficult situation and under pressure from different quarters," team boss Eric Boullier said. "I hope they (the changes) are not too extreme."

Within the pitlane, the bulk of the 'pressure' put on Pirelli came from Red Bull and Mercedes.

Photo: Pirelli

Mercedes' W04 is perhaps the fastest car in the entire field over one lap this year, but it chews alarmingly through the tires over a race distance.

Asked what he thinks of Pirelli's change of tack for Canada and beyond, chairman Lauda said: "This is very positive, and I'm speaking as a neutral observer and not the Mercedes chairman.

"No one understands what's going on anymore, and there are no more man-to-man fights, because everyone is just focused on the tires. It can't be the intention of racing that the slowest man wins," the great Austrian told Osterreich.

"Everyone is just hoping he gets into the window where the tires work, and often it's a coincidence only," added Lauda.

Photo: McLaren F1 Team

Former driver Mika Salo, meanwhile, has played down Lotus' fears the team will be overly disadvantaged by the Montreal tweak.

Backing the move, the Finn told MTV3 broadcaster: "There didn't seem to be any drivers left who were happy with the tires. It was clear that something was wrong with them. But I don't think it's anything for Lotus to panic about, as they were also good on last year's tires.

"If they are able to use the tires better now, then they will also use these (new) tires better," added Salo.

A new U.S. study to be presented at an emergency medicine conference claims that the driver of an SUV is as much as 10 times more likely to survive in a head-on collision with a passenger car.

“The overwhelming majority of fatalities occur in the smaller and lighter of the two vehicles,” explains Dr. Dietrich Jehle, a professor of emergency medicine at New York's Erie County Medical Center, and one of the authors of the new study conducted by the University of Buffalo.

If the passenger car has the better rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a driver is still four times more likely to die. If the SUV has the better rating, that jumps to 10 times.

Researchers say even when a small SUV impacts a large passenger car, the driver of the SUV is more likely to survive because their truck is more likely to “ride over” the car.

According to Dr. Jehle, the larger SUVs now in production are “some of the safest cars on the roadways.”

Source : www.thedetroitbureau.com

From GMM

It will be at least June before anything more is known about Bernie Ecclestone's bribery charges.

It is believed F1's 82-year-old chief executive has been charged by Munich prosecutors regarding his payment of $44 million some years ago to now jailed former banker Gerhard Gribkowsky.

But a spokeswoman told German news agency DPA that the district court will not make a decision about how to proceed with the charges "within three to four weeks".

She would not comment further.

Taking just five years rather than the original 10-year period, Tesla Motors could become the first automaker to repay its loan awarded under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program that was implemented by U.S. President Barack Obama in 2009.

The company, which made a payment of about $13 million in the first quarter of 2013, said that proceeds from selling 2.7 million shares (valued at $249 million at Wednesday's $92.25 closing price) and $450 million in convertible senior notes due in 2018 will go to pay off its $465 million loan with interest and fund other operations.

Tesla's market capitalization totalled $10.62 billion as of Thursday's close, higher than the $8.6 billion for Fiat S.p.A., majority owner of Chrysler Group.

Nissan, Ford, and Fisker Automotive also received a loan from the federal government in 2009. However, Fisker is now at risk of bankruptcy after missing a payment in April.

Source : www.autonews.com

Photo: Sébastien D'Amour

Fiat said the idea of moving the group's legal headquarters to the United States following a planned merger with Chrysler Group is not on the company's agenda.

Like the snake, the right rear tire in this burnout video sheds its dead and decaying skin at 0:52. But then it soldiers on, unfazed, into perpetuity, like the ouroboros.

Ford, moving to ease production constraints in North America, plans to shift output of the Fiesta subcompact from Mexico to Thailand in 2016, The Detroit News reported today.

Johan Schwartz shattered the Guinness World Record for longest sustained drift in a

In 1979, Jack Brabham became the first race driver ever to be knighted for his services to motorsports.

The steady growth in sales of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles, along with public and private investment, is expected to drive a sharp rise in the number of charging stations worldwide by 2020, a new study says.

Update: Preview video added below for your enjoyment.

The Subaru Forester and

Mahle has increased its holding in the Behr Group from 36.85% to around 51% with the acquisition of all shares in the BWK holding company (BWK).

We know Bring a Trailer features much,

Volvo Buses' new plug-in hybrids will hit the streets of Gothenburg, Sweden this month as part of a field test. The technology will facilitate a reduction in fuel consumption by 75% compared with current diesel buses.

Russia's light vehicle market declined by 8% in April in a further signs of slowing demand in Russia.

Ford will free up much needed production capacity in North America by moving Fiesta production from Mexico to Thailand in 2016, according to a US newspaper.

Huge strikes sweeping the German metalworking sector have ended with the main union provisionally agreeing two sets of pay rises to 2014.