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German Nico Rosberg recorded a blistering time of 1min33.283s aboard his Mercedes W05 to keep the Brackley outfit on top on the final day of this Bahrain winter test.

The 28-year-old, who was 1.5s quicker than McLaren's Jenson Button, the second-fastest driver of the day, completed a total of 89 laps of the Bahrain International Circuit.

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes W05 (Photo: WRi2)

"This morning we were able to try some qualifying practice runs which felt good," said Rosberg. "Later in the day, we did a race simulation. (...) My head was full of information!"

His best time Saturday was the quickest of the four-day pre-season venue, and less than a second shy of his best V8-powered time of last year at the same circuit.

Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari F14T (Photo: WRi2)

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen crashed late in the day but still managed to be third fastest aboard the F14T.

"I spun on the kerb at the exit of turn 4, these things can happen. Luckily, it was right at the end of the day."

Felipe Nasr, Williams FW36 (Photo: WRi2)

Driving a Formula One car for the first time, Brazilian Felipe Nasr was an impressive fourth. It was announced earlier today the 21-year-old will be Williams' test and reserve driver this season. He completed 87 laps behind the wheel of the FW36.

Pastor Maldonado was fifth fastest for Lotus, while Red Bull endured another difficult day. Daniel Ricciardo only managed 15 laps throughout the day. The Australian settled for seventh fastest.

"In all honesty it wasn't a great day today," said Ricciardo. "I guess we still need more time. We have four more days coming up and hopefully we can maximise those.

Pastor Maldonado, Lotus E22 (Photo: WRi2)

Best lap time in 2013:
Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG in Q3: 1m32.330

Best lap time, Day 1:
Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1m36.880

Best lap time, Day 2:
Kevin Magnussen McLaren, 1m34.910

Best lap time Day 3:
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1m34.263

Unofficial Saturday test times from Bahrain

1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1m 33.283s, 89 laps

2. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1m 34.957s, 66 laps

3. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1m 36.718s, 82 laps

4. Felipe Nasr, Williams, 1m 37.569s, 87 laps

5. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus, 1m 38.707s, 59 laps

6. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1m 39.258s, 19 laps

7. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1m 39.837s, 15 laps

8. Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso, 1m 40.472s, 19 laps

9. Kamui Kobayashi, Caterham, 1m 43.027s, 17 laps

10. Marcus Ericsson, Caterham, 1m 45.094s, 4 laps
11. Adrian Sutil, Sauber, no time, 7 laps

12. Jules Bianchi, Marussia, no time, 5 laps

From GMM

Brazilian Felipe Nasr, and his sponsor Banco do Brasil, have joined Williams.

GP2 frontrunner Nasr, 22, is the British team's new reserve driver, and Williams said he will take part in five Friday morning practice sessions this year.

In a separate media statement, it was announced that the logos of Banco do Brasil, the largest bank in Latin America, will appear on the FW36's engine cover.

Felipe Nasr, GP2 (Photo: Paolo Pellegrini)

"I can't wait to get behind the wheel of a formula one car for the first time in Bahrain," said Nasr.

Throughout his racing career, Nasr also competed in British F3, where he won the title in 2011, and in Formula BMW. In 2012 and 2013, he took part in the prestigious 24 Hours of Daytona.

From WRC

WRC newcomers Hyundai will field a trio of I20 World rally car at Apris' Rally de Portugal in a bid to accelerate the car's 2014 development programme.

The event, round four of the 2014 FIA World Rally Championship, will be the first time that Hyundai will run more than two cars. 

In the two points-nominated entries will be the team's lead driver Thierry Neuville and Finn Juho Hänninen who finished an impressive competitive debut in the i20 at Rally Sweden earlier this month.

Joining them after his debut for the team at Rallye Monte-Carlo will be Spaniard Dani Sordo.

“Having three cars at Rally de Portugal will be very positive for us and it will allow us to continue our data collection and to accumulate more mileage in our debut WRC season,” said team principal Michel Nandan.

Thierry Neuville, Hyundai i20 (Photo: McKlein)

“I think we have a good line-up with Thierry, Juho and Dani - each of them will bring their experience and will give us their own unique feedback which will help us in the continuous development of the Hyundai i20 WRC.

Thierry's level of performance combined with Juho's skills on gravel and Dani's experience and excellent track record at Rally de Portugal make them a very good choice for the event” he added.



The Alzenau-based team has also announced its participation in the one-day Fafe Rally Sprint on Saturday 29th March, the traditional curtain raiser before Rally de Portugal.

From press release

Honda Performance Development has announced a new, 3.5-litre racing application for the versatile, production-based Honda V6 engine found in a wide range of Honda/Acura passenger cars and light trucks and now raced in multiple categories worldwide.

The Honda HR35TT twin-turbocharged V6 is expected to make its TUDOR United SportsCar Championship debut at the 2014 Mobil1 12 Hours of Sebring, mounted in a Riley Gen3 prototype chassis campaigned by Starworks Motorsport.

Previously, Starworks partnered with HPD to win the LMP2 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and World Endurance Championship in 2012, using HPD's ARX-03b chassis and Honda HR28TT twin-turbocharged V6, which also is derived from Honda's J35 series of engines.

Starwoks Riley DP (Photo: IMSA.com)

Starworks becomes the second team to utilize Honda power for the new TUDOR championship.  Extreme Speed Motorsports campaigns a pair of prototype class HPD ARX-03b Hondas, after a successful initial season with the same package in the 2013 American Le Mans Series.

“This is an exciting program for HPD and our customer teams in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship,” said Steve Eriksen, HPD Vice President and COO.

“Adding Starworks, a team that achieved great success with us in 2012, in a prototype machine alongside the proven HPD-Honda combination run by Extreme Speed Motorsports provides HPD with a strong, balanced attack in the inaugural TUDOR Championship.

“It's a fantastic feeling to be partnering with Honda once again,” said Starworks team owner Peter Baron. “We absolutely love working with HPD and have been in collaboration to find a new opportunity to partner with them again.”

Starworks Motorsport has compiled an enviable record in Daytona Prototype competition, with five race victories, including back-to-back wins at Indianapolis in 2012 and 2013; and a second-place finish in the Daytona Prototype team championship in 2012, with two victories and six podium finishes.

That same year, Starworks became the first American-based prototype team to win an FIA World Championship since 1968, and HPD won its first world title in WEC competition.

The HPD-developed twin-turbocharged Honda engines to be used in the TUDOR championship are both derived from the Honda J35 series of production V6 engines, and include relevant twin-turbocharger technology, along with the efficiency provided by direct fuel injection.

Honda HR35TT V6 Engine
Engine Type: Aluminum alloy, twin-turbocharged, direct fuel-injected V6
Displacement: 3.5 liters
Valve Train: Single overhead camshaft, four valves per cylinder
Crankshaft: Alloy steel
Pistons: Forged aluminum, low-friction coatings
Connecting Rods: Machined alloy steel
Engine Management: HPD/McLaren
Ignition System: Digital inductive
Lubrication: Dry sump system
Cooling: Single mechanical water pump
Fuel: E10 100-101 octane gasoline, 10% ethanol

From GMM

Felipe Massa, the new Williams driver, revealed he recently visited his former Ferrari teammate Michael Schumacher in the Grenoble hospital.

"He looks normal," Massa said at the Bahrain test, "and he also gave some reactions with the mouth and everything.

"I'm not a doctor, but when I saw him, for me, it looked very positive."

Massa managed a healthy 60 laps in the FW36 on Friday, as the third day of Bahrain testing took place.

His pace was bettered only by fellow Mercedes-powered runners Jenson Button (McLaren) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), as the German carmaker continues to dominate early in the new V6 era.

Renault-powered Red Bull, meanwhile, continues to struggle, with Daniel Ricciardo managing just 28 laps on Friday until yet another mechanical problem.

But Australian Ricciardo insisted: "The car is definitely making progress. It's coming together bit by bit."

From press release

The No. 5 Corvette DP from Action Express Racing continues to build momentum in the early stages of the 2014 season, as Sébastien Bourdais drove the Rolex 24 At Daytona-winning machine to the top of the time chart on Friday for the second consecutive day at the Sebring International Raceway winter test.

The two-day test in preparation for the 12 Hours of Sebring included 42 cars across four classes. The March 15 race is the second round of the United SportsCar Championship (USCC).

“The car was not quite as good as yesterday,” said Bourdais. “We've been going through our test program, and seeing how the car responds to changes. It was not perfect today. Traffic was challenging, and the wind was not predictable. It was gusty and quite strong at times, and I went off twice. It looks like our car is strong, but this race is going to be a big challenge.”

Meanwhile, Porsche topped the GT Le Mans (GTLM) charts in all four sessions and the GT Daytona (GTD) charts on Friday at Sebring International Raceway.

Photo: IMSA.com

The clean sweep of testing adds to an already successful start to the season for Porsche after Tandy, Lietz and Pilet combined to drive the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR to victory in the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona.

"We had a clear set of objectives entering the test,” said Owen Hayes, Porsche Motorsport North America director of operations.

“While finding speed is always very nice, our main goal was to test the cars at one of, if not the, most physically demanding race courses in the world. To be able to work through our checklist of items to test without any major issues with either of the Porsche North America 911 RSRs was very encouraging.” 

From press release

Muscle Milk Pickett Racing will be adding Nissan Playstation GT Academy winner Jann Mardenborough to its driver lineup for the 12 Hours of Sebring, the second round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.

The 22-year old Brit will be making his North American race debut at Sebring International Raceway thanks to the Nismo Global Driver Exchange which places members of Nissan's international driving squad into different championships and teams to gain experience on the world stage.

Mardenborough won the 2011 Nissan GT Academy and has quickly made his way up the ranks with his top sports car moment coming at last year's 24 Hours of Le Mans where he placed third in class with fellow GT Academy winner Lucas Ordóñez and Nissan veteran Michael Krumm.

Jann Mardenborough, Oreca-Nissan No. 6 (Photo: IMSA.com)

Just this week it was announced that he would be competing full-time this season in the Formula One feeder series - GP3 - while also joining an intensive driver development program with Red Bull Racing.

The 22-year old took his first laps aboard the #6 Muscle Milk Nissan ORECA yesterday during the first day of testing for the TUDOR Championship at Sebring International Raceway.

After turning some more laps on Friday, the Brit will return to the team next month for the 60th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida, which takes place March 15, 2014.

Hot on the tailpipes of the Kia GT4 Stinger's debut in Detroit comes word of an even racier-looking two-seater from parent company

Volkswagen AG is bidding more than $9.2 billion for the rest of truckmaker Scania AB to deepen cooperation with its other commercial-vehicles units after being blocked previously in those efforts by the Swedish company's minority shareholders.

VW Group is bidding 6.7 billion euros for the rest of truckmaker Scania to deepen cooperation with its other commercial-vehicles units after being blocked previously in those efforts by the Swedish company's minority shareholders.

VW Group appointed former Daimler executive Andreas Renschler to its management board to deepen cooperation at its commercial vehicles operations.

Volkswagen appointed former Daimler executive Andreas Renschler to its management board to deepen cooperation at its commercial vehicles operations.

Volkswagen appointed former Daimler executive Andreas Renschler to its management board to deepen cooperation at its commercial vehicles operations.

Ford has been raising incentives on the Fusion sedan to help clear out growing inventories, just months after it started building the car in a second North American plant to keep up with demand.

The UAW filed an appeal today with the federal government, asking it to set aside the results of an election last week where workers at a Tennessee Volkswagen plant voted not to join the union.

A sizable segment of the Jeep-buying public doesn't do much off-roading, spending much more time on the commute than on the trail. If their vehicle's 4WD system didn't work, it would take a few months and a snowstorm of two for them to notice.

Mazda will preview the look of its next-generation Mazda2 subcompact when it reveals the Hazumi concept car next month at the Geneva auto show.

Volvo has brought the station wagon back to America; one small slice of the automotive continuum has been set to right. But the new

News 27 Feb, 2014

Volvo’s Concept Estate revealed ahead of Geneva Motor Show with styling and interior design pointing towards new XC90 SUV

In opening its $800 million assembly plant here to build the 2015 Fit subcompact hatchback and crossover variant, Honda is joining a rapidly growing slate of automakers and suppliers in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato.