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Workers at two Bangalore factories run by Toyota's subsidiary in India have been locked out of the plants after a series of talks stretching back 10 months on wage settlements failed to reach an agreement.

Bentley expects to reverse last year's 3 percent decline in China deliveries after introducing a new V-8 variation of its all-new Flying Spur sedan next month.

News 18 Mar, 2014

Car electrical faults are on the increase as new gadget-packed models grow in complexity

European car sales rose by nearly 8 percent percent in February, the sixth consecutive monthly gain, as a gradual economic revival in southern Europe and price cuts helped to boost demand for new models.

European car sales rose by nearly 8 percent percent in February, the sixth consecutive monthly gain, as a gradual economic revival in southern Europe and price cuts helped to boost demand for new models.

Tenneco recently acquired exclusive rights to the digital valve technology used in its so-called DriV suspension products. Continuing just-auto's series of interviews with leading market players in this sector, Matthew Beecham spoke to Rudi Schurmanns, Executive Director, Ride Performance Global Engineering to find out more.

A few days ago, the United States Secret Service posted the bid requirements

Mini Coopers really come to life when finished in the marque's signature appearance packages, such as Union Jack roofs and checkered flag mirror caps.

Somewhere in the deserts of Morocco there's an array of thin plumes of dust heading west towards Erfoud, near the Algeria border. The 160 teams of women have no directions, GPS, even binoculars.

-- If your crippling hangover didn't remind you today, yesterday was St. Patrick's Day. You know what that means: today is a good time to catch up on

Forget NASCAR, Subaru found a competitor to race against in the arts and crafts aisle.

The new Smart ForTwo and ForFour will share up to 70 percent of their components with the redesigned Renault Twingo, but they will bear no resemblance to the new Twingo.

From press release

Race Time Radio (RTR) is back for the 2014 season with the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour, bringing fans far and wide closer to the action with five races confirmed to be streamed live via www.racetimeradio.com.

RTR has been streaming races on the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour since the 2012 season, making Canadian motorsports history at the IWK 250 that year by airing the event live to Satellite Radio, which became the first stock car race in Canada to be aired live on the platform.

Two races at Riverside International Speedway and a trio of races at Scotia Speedworld will be streamed live this season, which include some pivotal events within the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour season. The season opener on Saturday, May 24th and season finale on Saturday, September 13th will be live via www.racetimeradio.com, along with both extended 250-lap events on the season, the IWK 250 on Saturday, July 19th and the 15th Annual Atlantic CAT 250 on Saturday, August 9th.

The first race at Riverside International Speedway this season, the Ron MacGillivray Chevrolet Buick GMC 150, will also be live to air on the RTR website on Saturday, June 14th.

Race broadcasts will be available for listeners absolutely free, no subscription necessary via www.racetimeradio.com by clicking the "Listen Live" links in the upper right of the page, or by downloading their smart phone App, for iPad, iPhone, & Android.

Over 30,000 fans streamed the 2013 Atlantic CAT 250 live, which was won by Terence Bay, Nova Scotia's Craig Slaunwhite.

The season comes to life at Scotia Speedworld on Saturday, May 24th. Racing action begins at 4:00 pm. For more information on this event, or any of the 12 races on the 2014 schedule, visit www.maritimeprostocktour.com.

From Ferrari

The scenario suggested by winter testing turned out to be true in Australia, at the first Formula 1 Grand Prix of the year.

There was little doubt that all the teams would be facing reliability issues, or that these will continue to be a decisive factor throughout the course of the season.

As would car performance, which, from what was seen in Albert Park, means that all the teams will be working either to close the gap, as is the case for Scuderia Ferrari, or to maintain it in the case of Mercedes.

Reliability was certainly again encouraging for Ferrari, even if there is still room for improvement to ensure that the new and complex power unit works at its best.

However, the main task facing the team at the moment is increasing the efficiency of the F14 T, as the Scuderia's technical director, James Allison explained to www.ferrari.com.

James Allison and Kimi Raikkonen. (Photo: Ferrari)

“While we can take some satisfaction from the reliability shown by the F14T, it is clear that we have our work cut out to improve our car in order to compete on equal terms with the Mercedes team,” said Allison.

“There is plenty about the F14T that is working very well: The starts and the pace in the corners - especially the high speed ones - are particular strong points, but we need to work further on the stability under braking and the speed on the straights.”

While it might be stating the obvious, in Maranello, the work goes on round the clock to achieve the improvements Allison mentions as soon as possible.

“All the recent seasons in F1 have been characterised by a fierce development battle from March until November. With all the new regulations this year, the opportunities to improve the car are legion and we can expect the race to improve the cars to be even more intense than normal,” Allison added.

Therefore, after the Australian Grand Prix, the lesson has been learned and there is a great desire to get the homework done.

“Our competitiveness was not acceptable in Melbourne. But we intend to fight our way back up the grid with the improvements that we will bring to the car,” the British engineer said.

After narrowly escaping bankruptcy in 2011, Bertone continues to face major financial setbacks. In fact, the famous design studio could indeed go bankrupt this time around.

Despite more than €20 million in revenue last year (mostly from China), several employees and suppliers are still waiting to be paid.

Autocar reports that Bertone, which recently fired 160 workers, is facing a number of lawsuits from creditors.

Former design chief Michael Robinson resigned in December, leaving Bertone out in the cold.

All hope is not lost, however: A Turkish company is reportedly willing to purchase Bertone for €2.7 million. Seven other firms from Italy have shown interest, too.

Source : gtspirit.com

Aston Martin Rapide Bertone prototype (Photo: Bertone)

Just when you thought you seen and/or heard the craziest things about NASCAR something new amazes and amuses you.

We've had the pothole and exploding track dryer at Daytona in years past. This year there have been rain delays, but that's nothing new.

There have been phantom debris cautions, but what about a truly phantom caution?

At Bristol Motor Speedway late Saturday night the long rain-delayed race was about to conclude with Carl Edwards cruising to his first win of the 2014 when caution came out with about two laps remaining.

Carl Edwards, Bristol, 2014 (Photo: Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)

Only there was no wreck, no debris, and -at the time of the caution- no weather conditions apparently giving a reason for the caution. It did start to pour again shortly after the caution flags waved.

As Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition and racing development, explained it “after review of the situation post-race, what had happened in the closing laps of the race, it appears that in the flag stand one of the flag people had leaned on the switch that is the manual override for the caution lights, and so that happened.

We've got times here, but anyway, that happened, and at that time when the flag stand realized that the caution lights were illuminated, the flag man threw the flag, and then after that happened we froze the field from the tower.

It appears that in, not all, but most of the flag stands have a manual override for the caution lights, and due to the weather and due to other things, there's an area that it couldn't have been ‑‑ it wasn't secured properly, and the flag person leaned against the switch and turned the caution lights on.

We tried to turn them off, and we realized that the override switch was on and they were hung on caution. It was a stupid error.”

Edwards actually saw the caution as an opportunity.

“Yeah, concern is not really a strong enough word, but it definitely got my attention. But at that point, hey, I've seen a lot of things happen in a racecar, and I know that I knew, hey, we're probably going to win this race if a caution doesn't come out,” said Edwards.

“The caution did come out, and I went; now we're going to have an opportunity to prove we deserve to win this race. Honestly it might have been more exciting. With everything like that there's always an opportunity, but yeah, I did not want to see that caution. I did not at all. So I'm glad that the rain came. I think there was some higher powers at work that. That worked out great.”

After a long day at the track including approximately four hours of rain delay I guess it will be hard, even for the natives of Pisa, Italy, to complain about the leaning tower official of NASCAR.

From GMM

Daniel Ricciardo thinks he has a good chance at winning back his Melbourne podium.

Red Bull has vowed to appeal the stewards' decision to throw out the Australian's popular home race result due to irregularities with fuel flow into his Renault engine.

Early on Monday, having learned the bad news only at midnight after Sunday's race, the 24-year-old told the local Herald Sun: "I'm not really in a place ... not in the mindset to talk about it right now."

But after jetting from Melbourne to his native Perth for a few days of training before Malaysia, Ricciardo told the West Australian newspaper that he is confident Red Bull will prevail.

"Otherwise they wouldn't (appeal). It's a lot of time for them and some money as well so they have confidence that we can turn it around, but it's going to take a while until we know," he said.

Daniel Ricciardo on the Australian podium. (Photo: WRi2)

F1's other two engine suppliers, however, are siding with the FIA, despite Red Bull team boss Christian Horner insisting all three manufacturers had trouble with the mandatory fuel flow sensor in Australia.

But Ferrari's Stefano Domenicali said: "We need to rely on the fact that it is a situation that is well managed by the FIA."

And Mercedes' Toto Wolff was also quoted by the Guardian newspaper: "The FIA is obviously controlling fuel flow and checking with all the teams, and it is a question of learning by doing it between the FIA and the teams."

But Daniel Ricciardo said he thinks Red Bull has solid grounds to be unhappy with the Melbourne ruling.

"They feel that it's not black or white, it's a little bit shaded, so that's why they're going to fight it and we'll see how they go," he said.

It could take some time before the FIA schedules the actual appeal hearing, but Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko thinks the matter needs to be at least clarified urgently.

"The device that measures the flow rate has weaknesses," he told Kleine Zeitung newspaper. "In our opinion we were within the regulations.

"This has to be clarified by the next race, because at the moment there is not a reliable measurement," Marko insisted.

F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, meanwhile, thinks the entire rule limiting the flow of fuel into the engine should be scrapped.

"The whole regulation, to me, seems a bit of a joke," he told the Mirror.

Bernie Ecclestone said he thinks the rule limiting each car to just 100 kilograms of fuel per race is enough.

"If you use too much you are going to run out of fuel. It seems to be that simple and if it isn't, it should be," he said.

From GMM

Eric Boullier insists McLaren 'supremo' Ron Dennis is letting him get on with his new job.

Boullier, previously in charge at Lotus, was drafted in to replace the ousted Martin Whitmarsh after McLaren's disastrous 2013 season.

The Frenchman's first race in charge was in Melbourne, but lurking nearby was the McLaren supremo Dennis, who has returned to the formula one paddock on a mission to rescue his beloved team that "lost its way" last year.

66-year-old Dennis will not wear a team uniform at the races and, during the pre-season, he insisted "he is not going to be on the pitwall", according to the Daily Mail.

But "What's the betting he will be (on the pitwall) before the season is over?" said correspondent Jonathan McEvoy.

Indeed, in Melbourne, Dennis was spotted walking to the pitwall, apparently to tell Boullier what to do.

"He was not (telling me what to do)," Boullier insisted to the Telegraph. "He came to visit a couple of times."

Ron Dennis said he is just an observer at the races this year.

Ron Dennis and Eric Boullier, McLaren. (Photo: WRi2)

"I'm a racer, so the thought of not understanding and contributing doesn't come across my mind," he said. "When you observe things it's good to say 'why not this?' or 'why not that?'"

The bigger McLaren-themed story after Melbourne was the surprisingly good debut performance by rookie Kevin Magnussen.

But another F1 rookie, Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat, also caught the attention of the experts, like triple world champion Niki Lauda.

"These guys are, first of all, huge talents," he said.

The old guard is impressed at how the youngsters are arriving on the grid with almost no track testing and performing at the highest level.

Niki Lauda says it's a generational thing.

"It's like my kids, who are four and a half and already better at computer games than me. They are made quite differently than in my day," he smiled.

The Verizon IndyCar Series held its first open test of the upcoming season at the Barber Motorsport Park.

The Penske squad showed its great form by finishing with the three fastest times in a session that was cut short due to poor visibility in the morning.

Will Power ended-up at the top of the chart followed by his teammates Juan Pablo Montoya and Helio Castroneves.

Juan-Pablo Montoya, Penske-Chevrolet. (Photo: LAT / IndyCar)

Reinging IndyCar champion Scott Dixon was fourth for Ganassi, while AJ Foyt Racing's Takuma Sato rounded up the top five in the fastest Honda-powered car.

Reigning champion Scott Dixon, Ganassi-Chevrolet. (Photo: LAT / IndyCar)

Ryan Briscoe was sixth quickest in the second Ganassi car, ahead of Justin Wilson, Simon Pagenaud, James Hinchcliffe and Ryan Hunter-Reay, who completed the top 10.

James Hinchcliffe, Andretti-Honda. (Photo: LAT / IndyCar)

Pos  Driver  Team/Engine  Time Gap  Laps
1. Will Power  Penske/Chevy  1m07.6492s   48
2. Juan Pablo Montoya  Penske/Chevy   1m07.7170s   +0.0678s   55
3. Helio Castroneves  Penske/Chevy  1m07.7214s  +0.0722s  51
4. Scott Dixon  Ganassi/Chevy  1m07.8225s   +0.1733s  40
5. Takuma Sato   Foyt/Honda  1m07.8619s  +0.2127s   39
6. Ryan Briscoe  Ganassi/Chevy  1m07.8834s   +0.2342s   44
7. Justin Wilson  Coyne/Honda  1m07.8863s  +0.2371s   31
8. Simon Pagenaud  Schmidt/Honda   1m08.0682s   +0.4190s  35
9. James Hinchcliffe   Andretti/Honda   1m08.1629s  +0.5137s  32
10. Ryan Hunter-Reay   Andretti/Honda  1m08.3194s  +0.6702s   30
11. Charlie Kimball  Ganassi/Chevy  1m08.3209s  +0.6717s  41
12. Tony Kanaan  Ganassi/Chevy  1m08.3254s  +0.6762s  42
13. Mike Conway   Carpenter/Chevy  1m08.4734s  +0.8242s   42
14. Graham Rahal   Rahal/Honda  1m08.4907s  +0.8415s  37
15. Josef Newgarden  Fisher/Honda   1m08.5798s  +0.9306s   25
16. Sebastian Saavedra   KV/Chevy  1m08.6539s  +1.0047s  50
17. Marco Andretti   Andretti/Honda   1m08.6688s   +1.0196s  28
18. Mikhail Aleshin  Schmidt/Honda   1m08.7296s  +1.0804s  28
19. Jack Hawksworth   Herta/Honda  1m08.9223s  +1.2731s  36
20. Carlos Munoz   Andretti/Honda  1m08.9299s  +1.2807s  42
21. Oriol Servia   Rahal/Honda  1m09.2164s  +1.5672s  7
22. Sebastien Bourdais  KV/Chevy  1m09.6668s   +2.0176s  11

Takuma Sato, Foyt-Honda. (Photo: LAT / IndyCar)

From GMM

Bernie Ecclestone has vowed to get to work on making formula one loud again.

The F1 chief executive said he is "horrified" by the purring tones of the new turbo V6 era, arguing it will drive race promoters and spectators away.

Ecclestone was critical of the new engine formula long before the first 1.6 litre 'power unit' was fired up, but his latest comments follow Melbourne race organisers' claim the low volume may even be a breach of contract.

"It's not what we paid for. It's going to change," Australian Grand Prix chairman Ron Walker told Melbourne's Age newspaper.

Start of the 2014 Australian Grand Prix. (Photo: WRi2)

Ron Walker said he has spoken to his friend Ecclestone already, while Ecclestone admitted he has been on the phone to FIA president Jean Todt.

"What I've said is that we need to see whether there is some way of making them sound like racing cars," the 83-year-old Briton told the Telegraph.

"I don't know whether it's possible but we should investigate. I think let's get the first few races out of the way and then maybe look to do something. We can't wait all season. It could be too late by then," said Bernie Ecclestone.