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From GMM

A respected formula one correspondent has played down reports the sport could return to Long Beach.

Following reports Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed talks with the iconic street race's owners, Brazilian journalist Livio Oricchio admitted he suspects it is just one of the F1 chief executive's classic negotiating ploys.

"It will be surprising if these preliminary negotiations develop," said O Estado de S.Paulo's Livio Oricchio.

"Ecclestone's statements sound more like a message to the organisers of the race in New Jersey," he added.

Indeed, a street race amid the Manhattan skyline should have been on the 2013 calendar, but delays pushed back the event to 2014, even though there remain uncertainties it will ever take place.

Photo: Red Bull Racing

Officially, the New Jersey promoters said they had trouble collecting all the necessary permits for the 2013 race.

"The real reason was the necessity to find the funds for the works and the fee charged by formula one," Oricchio claimed.

He said Ecclestone's comments about Long Beach "make clear" to the New Jersey promoters that F1 has alternatives as it pushes to add more American races to the calendar.

From GMM

Mika Salo has gone some way to confirming reports FIA stewards are being lenient on F1 drivers' on-track behaviour in 2013.

We reported recently that, in a secret winter meeting, it was agreed that stewards would impose less penalties this year in a bid to encourage more wheel-to-wheel racing.

The ex-driver representative on the stewards panel in Bahrain last time out was former Sauber and Ferrari driver Salo.

The Finn told MTV3 broadcaster: "We saw really good racing in Bahrain. I encourage just this kind of hard fighting, which should not be punished. (Jenson) Button was angry when (Sergio) Perez hit him, and yes, of course, it could have spoiled both their races.

"But while Perez drove pretty aggressively, it was good racing," added Salo.

Photo: McLaren F1 Team

Also going unpunished was Fernando Alonso, despite the fact his overtaking-aid 'DRS' rear wing flap was stuck open.

Usually, illegal deployment of DRS would attract a penalty, but Salo said: "It was a technical problem, so we had nothing to investigate. We were not asked to, and none of the other teams said anything about it. Actually, while he (Alonso) had a great chance to win, the fault spoiled his race."

Mika Salo also commented on the form of his countryman Kimi Raikkonen, who is in a strong position in the world championship, with his Lotus making good use of Pirelli's heavily-degrading tyres.

"Kimi stopped one time less than the others, but I think the other teams will not take long to also learn to use the tyres. I doubt Lotus will have this advantage for too long," he added.

From GMM

Marussia looks set to use customer Ferrari engines in 2014.

With the team's current supplier Cosworth unlikely to build a new power unit for next year's radical V6 rules, Marussia's choice appeared to have boiled down to Mercedes or Ferrari.

"We'll talk with both," chief executive Andy Webb said in March.

He said the price of the engine and energy-recovery 'ERS' package, to be significantly higher than the current V8 configuration, "will be an important factor".

Webb indicated Marussia wanted to make its decision "by the end of April".

That deadline has come and gone, but technical chief Pat Symonds has told Britain's Sky Sports that a 2014 engine deal for Marussia is "close".

Photo: WRi2

He confirmed that Mercedes and Ferrari are the two options, given that Renault have "got enough on their plate".

Probably tipping the scales in Ferrari's favour was Marussia's last-minute signing of Jules Bianchi, who is strongly supported by the famous Italian marque.

Asked if the Frenchman's presence has had a positive impact on the Ferrari talks, Symonds admitted: "It absolutely hasn't done us any harm, it's brought us a little bit closer to Ferrari.

"But Ferrari genuinely wants more teams. Because everything is so new, I hesitate to call us guinea pigs or anything like that, but it's better to have a few more samples of your product out there, finding out what goes wrong and what's working.

"I think they wanted another team anyway and the contact through Jules has done nothing but help," added Symonds.

After having hosted the EuroRacecar for the first time last season on a track specially built, the race presented in the city of Tours in July will feature a banking for the races on July 6th and 7th.

The drivers will race in four rounds, 100 laps long on a 600 meters track. The new banking will feature a 9° banking, similar to the Indianapolis circuit. 24 cars will fight on track. The EuroRacecar organizers went to Daytona to work with NASCAR officials for the building of this new banking in Tours.


After the opening rounds presented in Nogaro, and dominated by reigning champion Ander Villarino, the next EuroRacecar races will be presented in Dijon, on May 11th and 12th.

First came a series of interior pictures; now, we have what appears to be the first official image of the new 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class' exterior, courtesy of a leak the folks at BlogAutomobile (France) were quick to catch.

Spy shots have been floating around for a while, but this time it looks like the real deal -- albeit with some extra visual effects. The 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class sports a completely redesigned front fascia with a larger grille, aggressively styled headlights in a brand new arrangement, and more prominent lower air intakes.

On the sides, you can see that the front wheel arches are now capped by a newly angled character line, creating a more chiseled body that makes the car look fast even at idle. The mirror caps and wheel designs are new, as well.

The 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class is scheduled to make its official debut on May 15th, so we won't have to wait much longer to get additional pictures (not to mention detailed specs) of this sleek luxury sedan.

2014 Mercedes-Benz Classe S (Photo: Mercedes-Benz)

2005-2013 Mercedes-Benz S-Class (Photo: Mercedes-Benz)

1998-2005 Mercedes-Benz S-Class (Photo: Mercedes-Benz)

1991-1998 Mercedes-Benz S-Class (Photo: Mercedes-Benz)

1979-1991 Mercedes-Benz S-Class (Photo: Mercedes-Benz)

1972-1980 Mercedes-Benz S-Class (Photo: Mercedes-Benz)

Picture yourself behind the wheel of a brand new Ford Mustang, eyes staring at the road ahead, the powerful hood, and that shiny new Mustang watch at your wrist. Yep, it's now possible thanks to a partnership between the Blue Oval and Shinola, a Detroit-based luxury goods manufacturer.

As you probably know, the iconic muscle car will celebrate its 50th anniversary on April 17th, 2014. Ford is therefore launching a number of licensed products to mark this milestone.

In this case, the limited-edition, 46-mm premium quartz timepiece by Shinola proudly sports the unique Mustang 50 Years logo. It also features Swiss movements, a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal face, and premium black leather for the band with a screw-down crown.

“Like the Mustang itself, we want our licensed products to convey an attitude of strength, passion and quality,” said John Nens, Ford lead for global brand licensing. “Shinola embodies all of these things and is a perfect fit to celebrate this special moment in automotive history.”

Over the next few months, Ford will unveil several other items that feature the Mustang 50 Years logo.

Photo: Ford

Denny Hamlin, still recuperating from his injuries suffered in California, will be racing at Talladega. For a short time that is.

The Virginia native tweeted on Tuesday "can not wait to get back in car.. The smell of fuel and tires Ahhh." Then to clarify he responded to another person on twitter "just to start."

The plan for driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing will be to drop to the rear of the 43-car field and get out of his Toyota right after the first caution. This would entitle him to receive whatever points substitute driver, Brian Vickers, may ear at the Aarons 499 on Sunday.

Photo: NASCAR

"They all came to the conclusion they were happy with me starting Talladega and getting out when it's a safe time to get out," Hamlin said at RIR. "So ... we'll start our process at Talladega and then rescan again and try to go to Darlington."

Although getting out of a NASCAR Sprint Cup car requires a bit of a maneuvering, Hamlin said he's still able to do it reasonably quickly.

"I could do it pretty easy," he said. "Really, I am physically capable of doing the same things other than running. I just can't do that yet. Getting up and down I can do just as easy as I could before the injury. I really only had about a week and a half of severe pain from the actual spine itself."

It's expected that Hamlin would remain on the scene after that.

UPDATE:
In light of the numerous reports of Denny Hamlin's return to race at Talladega NASCAR has told reporters that Hamlin is not yet cleared to drive this week.

Chrysler Group may get an upgrade in its credit rating in the next 12 months, said Standard and Poor's, which raised Chrysler's outlook Tuesday to "positive" from "stable."

The cost of a completed hydrogen fuel cell vehicle today is 1/20th of what it was when current prototypes were being developed, Toyota says, paving the way for a workable business model and improved sales prospects.

PSA Peugeot Citroen labour unions have voted to back plans to shut the Aulnay plant and axe thousands of jobs.

2013 Cadillac CTS Premium Sport Wagon

Every CTS is solid and luxurious, and this wagon is no exception.

Give Cadillac credit for taking on the European premium marques in a segment that they've pretty much owned up 'til now -- the luxury wagon. In fact, it would have been easy for Cadillac to forgo this body style altogether, given that the SRX crossover checks many of the same boxes as the wagon, on paper at least.

Photo Gallery: 2013 Cadillac CTS Premium Sport Wagon - Editors' Notebook - Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: 2013 Cadillac CTS Premium Sport Wagon - Editors' Notebook - Automobile Magazine

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Platinum Equity, a California private equity firm controlled by Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores, said it has merged two of its Michigan automotive suppliers.

Ford today said it sold more Lincoln MKZ sedans in April than in the first three months of the year combined, as the luxury brand began to recover from lengthy production and distribution delays on the car.

Older model Ford Crown Victoria police cars are the focus of an upgraded defect investigation by federal safety regulators, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said today.

In another embarrassing failure to understand what they're supposed to be regulating, the NHTSA has announced that they are investigating a and#8220;coolant leakand#8221; in Porsche

The new CEO of satellite radio company Sirius XM Radio thinks radio is a good business, but for the future he said opportunities may lie with in-car services like automated safety.

2013 Bentley Continental GT Speed Convertible First Drive

Are you sure you want a supercar?

Skirting Mono Lake in a 2013 Bentley Continental GT Speed Convertible, I think back to the last time I was in this part of California. I was in grade school on vacation with my mother, grandmother, and younger sister. We were in grandma's aging Chrysler minivan, and its three-speed automatic transmission was not long for this world.

Photo Gallery: 2013 Bentley Continental GT Speed Convertible First Drive - Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: 2013 Bentley Continental GT Speed Convertible First Drive - Automobile Magazine

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TRW has reported first quarter 2013 financial results with sales of US$4.2bn (flat on last year) and net earnings of US$162m, 21% down on the same period of last year, as tough conditions in Europe weighed down on positives elsewhere.

Ford said it began operating today in Myanmar, a country isolated for five decades until the United States eased sanctions last year.

ROAD TEST EDITOR JONATHAN WONG: We all know a