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In an effort to secure the various computer systems in its Model S sedan, Tesla Motors has just hired Kristin Paget, a well-known hacker who used to work for Apple and also helped Microsoft secure Windows Vista, according to Re/Code.

At Defcon 2010, Paget even showed how to build a fake cell tower to intercept cellphone calls.

Source : recode.net

The 2014 edition of the Big Show is underway this week and will be open to the public until February 23rd. Check out our team's press day photo gallery of the CIAS which takes place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

From GMM

Bernie Ecclestone is no longer a serious candidate to buy the embattled Nurburgring.

The F1 chief executive revealed last month that he has made a bid for the fabled German grand prix venue, amid its financial problems.

"We want to make sure there is a formula one race in Germany every year in the future," said Ecclestone.

The 83-year-old Briton said at the time that there are "one or two other interested parties", and the Rhein newspaper now claims they are entities from Dusseldorf and the US, and a private equity firm.

Correspondent Dietmar Bruck said the parties all have until Monday to submit their final proposals, with Ecclestone apparently no longer in the running.

Aerial view of the Nurburgring track.

Meanwhile, Britain's Guardian newspaper claims the newly-retired former Mercedes boss Ross Brawn was approached to take over from Ecclestone, should the F1 chief executive lose his job amid the corruption affair.

Adding that F1 owners CVC refused to comment, correspondent Richard Williams said the approach to Brawn had been "unsuccessful".

General Motors of Canada is recalling 153,310 vehicles including the 2005-2007 Chevrolet Cobalt, 2007 Pontiac G5, and 2005-2006 Pontiac Pursuit.

In some cases, a defect in the ignition switch could allow the switch to move out of the "run" position if the key ring is carrying added weight or the vehicle goes off-road or is subjected to some other jarring event. The timing of the key movement out of the “run” position, relative to the activation of the sensing algorithm of the crash event, may result in the airbags not deploying, increasing the risk of injury.

Consequently, dealers will replace the ignition switch.

Source: Transport Canada

2007 Chevrolet Cobalt (Photo: John Leblanc)

From GMM

Red Bull and Renault have denied rumours the reigning world champions could split.

Together, after Sebastian Vettel won the last nine grands prix of 2013, Red Bull and Renault are now embroiled in a technical crisis after the new V6 'power unit' struggled to merely run in the rear of Adrian Newey's RB10.

It has triggered rumours Red Bull is on the lookout for a new engine supplier.

Reports have emerged that Cosworth, without a customer for the 2014 season, has nonetheless completed its turbo V6 design that will not be raced this year.

The wilder rumours indicate Red Bull could take over the project and run its own engines for 2015.

Red Bull RB10-Renault. (Photo: WRi2)

When asked about the split rumours, Renault Sport's Remi Taffin told Sport Bild: "I know nothing about that. We are currently working very closely with Red Bull, and several teams of (Red Bull) engineers are even at our base in Viry and working on the integration of the power unit and chassis."

Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko also told the German publication: "We have a long term contract with Renault, which is of course linked with our results on the track. Nevertheless, we are not going to panic and are making a joint effort to solve the problems."

World champion Vettel also sounded calm about the current situation, whilst admitting he hopes to finally get up to speed this week in Bahrain.

"Of course the Jerez test did not go the way we wanted," he said. "Other teams did a lot more kilometres and that was important because we are talking about completely new technology. But it's better to have the problems in testing than at the races. Hopefully the situation in Bahrain will already be better, and I'll have a car not only that goes around the track, but that I can use at full throttle."

Peugeot says the new 108 minicar is bigger, greener and more premium than the car it replaces, the 107, to better challenge rivals such as the segment-leading Fiat 500.

VW's works council said it would press on with efforts to set up labor representation at the automaker's U.S plant after workers there voted against any such step involving the United Auto Workers union.

Fiat has asked the Bank of Italy's permission to turn its financing unit into a bank. The move would make Fiat more competitive against rivals such as VW and PSA, which already have their own internal banks.

The Peugeot family, the largest shareholder in PSA/Peugeot-Citroen, will meet on Monday to decide whether to give its blessing to two deals aimed at securing the French carmaker's future, a source said.

The Peugeot family, the largest shareholder in PSA/Peugeot-Citroen, will meet on Monday to decide whether to give its blessing to two deals aimed at securing the French carmaker's future, a source said.

The UAW could be forced to reconsider its efforts to organize workers at foreign-owned factories in the U.S., labor experts say, as the union vowed to keep fighting after losing a closely watched vote at VV's Tennessee plant.

With as many as 22 controls, seats in a luxury sedan can befuddle the average motorist. Not to worry: Automakers and key suppliers are developing self-adjusting seats that use cameras and pressure sensors to automatically fit the occupant's contours.

Dodge is adding a model to its Journey crossover line this spring to appeal to shoppers who like all-wheel drive. Only about 15 percent of Journeys were sold last year with awd, Dodge says, compared with up to 80 percent in competitive crossovers.

Officials at the National Corvette Museum had just two bits of good news after a very tough week: The sinkhole that swallowed eight of their classics isn't getting any bigger; and General Motors is sending an ambulance for the battered Vettes.

This column started out to be an argument for changing inconsistent rules for Daytona 500 qualifying. That is until the pace car for the Sprint Unlimited burst into flames without any obvious external impact.

The 18-car field for exhibition race, which is basically for Sprint Cup pole winners, was virtually cut in half on lap 36 in after a multi-car accident. And in the weirdest moment of that event Ricky Stenhouse Jr. plowed his car into the side of a stopped Danica Patrick, his girlfriend.

But I digress.

Back to the pace car fire.

The Daytona International Speedway has seen some strange sights in recent years. Like the time a pothole that required repairs caused a lengthy red flag stoppage. And who could forget the 2012 race when Juan Pablo Montoya's car rammed into the back of the jet dryer causing a huge fire and lengthy delay to put out that fire and clean the track.

I recall the only thing that worked to clean off the unignited jet fuel was laundry detergent.

But those incidents pale in comparison to what appeared as the Chevrolet pace car spontaneously ignited.

Brad Keselowski, who ended up second, had a ringside view of the fireworks. He said that he'd seen fires (the jet fire) and wires (a cable supporting a mobile television camera) failing at Charlotte causing a race stoppage).

“I don't even know what to expect for the 500.  Seems like we always find the weirdest thing for the 500,” he said

“I couldn't exactly tell what happened.  I just saw the whole back of the car was on fire.  I thought it was a racecar.  Someone said it was the pace car.  I just couldn't help but start laughing.”

Third place, Kyle Busch, added, “I didn't get to see it. I saw the aftermath where two guys were getting out of it. Seemed like they were running for their life, scared of a little fire. Maybe they need fire suits now.”

Race winner, Denny Hamlin quipped, “they should have had a (Toyota) Camry,” like the one he drives.

One crew chief, Slugger Labbe, tweeted that an auxiliary battery pack in the trunk which supported external lights exploded, but by close to midnight Saturday night NASCAR had not made an official statement of the cause.

It was truly one of the oddest moments your humble servant has observed in decades of race coverage.

In the not odd, but not-so odd, department is an inconsistent NASCAR rule, solely in effect for the Daytona 500. Drivers Danica Patrick, Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte, will have to start at the back of the pack one week from Sunday because of “unapproved engine changes.”

The rationale is to prevent teams spending money on qualifying engines. But the problem is that except for the two fastest cars, qualifying will be determined after Thursday's qualifying “Duels”.

Thus an engine change might not alter the race lineup. And teams are permitted to change engines after those races. It seems unfair to punish a driver who drives from the back of the duels for changing an engine when such a change afterwards is permitted.

From press release

The weather was much kinder for the organizers of the 32nd running of the Grand Prix Ski-Doo of Valcourt Presented by Intact Insurance who were able to run a full day of racing on Saturday. Two major types of competitions are featured on Circuit Yvon Duhamel: the high-speed ice oval snowmobiles sanctioned by Circuit Pro Tour and the high flying snocross machines sanctioned by SCMX.

Since its first Grand Prix in 1983, Valcourt has always featured the top American and Canadian racers. Snocross competition includes riders from the Ontario-based Canadian Snocross Racing Association (CSRA), the American East Coast Series (ECS), the Québec-based Super Compétitions Motorisées XTreme (SCMX), and some of the top International Series of Champions (ISOC) Ski-Doo team members.

Malcolm Chartier wins the Pro Champ 440 on the Ice Oval Track
In the day's grand finale, Malcolm Chartier won the Pro Champ 440 race, his ninth of the season and his third in Valcourt. The Marine City, Michigan rider crossed the finish line ahead of defending Grand Prix of Valcourt Champion Nicholas Van Strydonk of Tomahawk, Wisconsin. Third was another Wisconsinite, Matt Schulz of Wausau. Top Canadian was Travis MacDonald of Winnipeg with a fourth-place finish, while local favourite Jacques Villeneuve of St. Cuthbert, Québec finished sixth.

Photo: Sébastien Desbordes

Lidman and Hayden are Kings of the Hill in Snocross
The first race final of Saturday morning, actually Friday's postponed final race, was won by Johan Lidman (ISOC) of Hill City, Michigan ahead of Maxime Taillefer (SCMX) of Laval, Québec, and Colby Crapo (CSRA) of Breslau, Ontario. Taillefer led the first six laps before Lidman took the lead with five laps to go. Travis Muller (ISOC) of Windom, Minnesota was fourth followed by Mike Bauer (ECS) of Westminster, Massachusetts.

The final snocross races of the day saw Iain Hayden (CSRA) of Holland Center, Ontario win his first-even race in Valcourt, leading home Lincoln Lemieux (ECS) of St. Johnsbury, Vermont and Colby Crapo (CSRA) of Breslau, Ontario. Fourth-place went to Danny Poirier (ECS) of St. Theodore d'Acton, followed by Maxime Taillefer (SCMX) of Laval, Québec. In the Pro Lite class, Brandon Bradbury (CSRA) of Yellowknife, North West Territory was the winner ahead of Jesse James Bonnaduce (ECS) of Somerville, New Jersey and Maxime Pepin (SCMX) of St. Julie, Québec.

More racing on Sunday
The action at the Grand Prix Ski-Doo of Valcourt continues Sunday starting at 8:00 a.m. with free practice followed at 9:00 a.m. with the first rounds of qualifying on both the oval and snocross tracks. Green flags for the Grands Prix of Valcourt will be waved at 3:30 p.m.

Tickets for the Sunday Grand Prix of Valcourt presented by Intact Insurance can be purchased at the Circuit Yvon Duhamel ticket office located at 917, Route 222 in Maricourt, Quebec J0E 2L2. Sunday's tickets cost $30 each. Children age 12 and under are admitted free with an adult holding a valid ticket. All guests, including children, must hold a pass to enter the trackside suites.

From press release

2013 Formula Ford Scholarship Champion of Great Britain, Harrison Scott has been invited to join the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) ‘Rising Stars' programme in only his second year of single-seater motor racing.

17 year-old Harrison, from Althorne, Essex, already has an impressive set of racing results under his belt. The 2007 Super One British Karting Champion, and World & European number three, maintained a succession of achievements right up until his final year of karting competition in 2012 when he won the Senior Rotax European Winter Cup and took home the third place trophy in the Senior Rotax European Championship.

Harrison Scott (Photo: Harrison Scott Racing)

Harrison entered his inaugural single-seater season in 2013 with Falcon Motorsport and became the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Scholarship Champion and Vice Champion in the main Championship - all while attending his full time school education. He recently attended the BRSCC Awards dinner in Stratford-Upon-Avon to collect his two Championship trophies along with the ‘Joe Tandy Memorial Trophy' for Best Rookie Driver (photo above).

Scouted from trackside, the BRDC Rising Stars (24 years and under) are described as “the future of the Club, today”. From all four-wheel racing disciplines, the Rising Stars represent the BRDC in national championships wearing the schemes unique ‘blue roundel' - being in effect “junior members” of the Club.

Harrison shall contend the 2014 Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship once again with the Falcon Motorsport team which is based in Farringdon, England.

Ontario's Terry Jones drove a solid race, Saturday at the Daytona International Speedway, to finish 8th of the Lucas Oil 200, round 1 of the 2014 ARCA season.

Jones had qualified his Jones Group-JMC Steel Group Toyota 10th on Friday, and managed to keep himself on the leader's lap throughout the 200 miles of the race Saturday to cap off his weekend with a strong finish.

Mount Brydges, ON's Cole Powell also had a strong qualifying, keeping himself in the top 20. But he was involved in a crash on lap 12. The race ended there for him.

In her first ARCA race with Team Stange, Maryeve Dufault finished 18th, only one lap down on the winner Grant Enfinger.

Fellow French Canadian Mario Gosselin endured a somewhat more difficult race, which saw him cross the finish line in 23rd out of 29 classified cars.

Rallycross is pure racing.

That is the view of 1997 Formula One world champion Jacques Villeneuve, who announced last week he would take part in the new World Rallycross Championship (RallycrossRX).

"(Rallycross) is pure racing back to its roots," the French Canadian told Crash.net shortly after he signed his deal with Albatec Racing.

"It's not artificial - which I like - and it's rough and tough. It's challenging."

Jacques Villeneuve, Albatec Racing Peugeot 208 (Photo: jakobebrey.com)

Villeneuve even compared rallycross with NASCAR, which he has raced on and off since leaving F1 during the 2006 season: "The feeling I got from rallycross was a little bit more of the NASCAR aspect of it.

"It's a family of races where racing is a passion and it's not the politics that come with it. So I like that, that's why I got in to racing in the first place years and years ago."

The 42-year-old even liked the 600-horsepower Peugeot 208 he will drive in the RallycrossRX, which he tested recently.

"(The car) actually drove like a proper race car! That was a positive surprise for me," Crash.net also quotes him as saying.

From WRC

The boss of M-Sport, Malcolm Wilson, believes his new driver Robert Kubica will be able to put his early season misfortunes behind him to do well in the upcoming Rally Mexico.

The reigning WRC2 champion crashed out in Monte Carlo and finished 36 minutes behind rally winner Jari-Matti Latvala in Sweden after leaving the road three times in tricky conditions.

But the first gravel stages of the season at Rally Mexico will present Kubica with a more familiar challenge and Wilson expects the Pole to show his true potential as a WRC driver.

Robert Kubica, Ford Fiesta RS WRC (Photo: McKlein)

He said: “We saw great pace from Robert in Monte and we always felt it would be very difficult for him in Sweden if the conditions were like they were. But he's looking forward to Mexico. It's an event that tends to bring consistent road conditions and I think that will be good for him. It will give him the chance to really learn the car.”

Wilson said the former F1 race winner was ‘very much still up for the fight' and was doing everything possible to score a positive result in Mexico.

“Very few people have any idea how focused and professional Robert is when preparing for rallies,” Wilson explained. “We'll be doing a test in Spain prior to the event and that will give him time in the car in similar conditions to those we're expecting in Mexico.

“We'll simulate the expected performance and power of the car on the test - something that can be reduced by as much as 30% in Mexico. By simulating that on the test, Robert will know what to expect from the car and that will help him in competition,” he added.