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From Mercedes-Benz

Canada's Robert Wickens has a new sponsor as he embarks on his third season in the DTM.

Starting with the first race of the 2014 campaign at Hockenheim this weekend, FREE MAN'S WORLD, a new magazine title published by Burda, will be wooing readers via the livery of the Canadian's DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé.

Wickens and his FREE MAN'S WORLD Mercedes AMG C-Coupé are also contributing to a good cause.

Robert Wickens' FREE MAN'S WORLD Mercedes AMG C-Coupé (Photo: Mercedes-Benz)

The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation currently operates 13 social projects, benefiting more than 50,000 children, helping them to a better life and improving their social conditions through the medium of sport.

The language of sport is universal and, in combination with expert social and educational input, it can teach children and young people that they all have individual worth, restoring their self-esteem and giving them hope for a better future.

Children participating in the scheme discover their talents and skills, and they develop values such as self-discipline, respect, fair play, team spirit and perseverance - qualities that will help them in everyday life.

"Wow, what a great design! My new car looks really good. I just can't wait to get my FREE MAN'S WORLD Mercedes AMG C-Coupé out on the track for the first time this week at Hockenheim,” said Robert Wickens.

“I think the magazine is cool. Adventures, dreams, emotions - that just about sums up motor racing for me. I can identify one hundred percent with that concept. The connection with the Laureus Foundation is also a very positive thing. As a sportsman, supporting disadvantaged youngsters and giving them hope for a better life through the medium of sport is something very close to my heart,” Wickens added.

Tesla's Fremont plant has now reached half capacity due to increasing demand for the Model S.

When the electric car company initially purchased the 5.4 million sq.ft. facility, some non-believers predicted that it would largely go to waste. As it turned out, Tesla operations expanded at such a rate that CEO Elon Musk decided to acquire an adjacent track to conduct testing.

Tesla also had plans to build a giant battery factory, but it now looks like one will not suffice. Various locations in Texas, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico have been proposed, and two or more could eventually be home to a Tesla battery plant.

Source : greencarreports.com

French designer Anthony Colard has completed work on a Porsche concept he named ''921 Vision,'' sort of a modern interpretation of the Porsche 928 with its long hood and racy looks.

It's a rear-wheel-drive car with a front-mounted engine. Although we're talking about an independent design study, the Porsche 921 Vision looks like the stuff dreams are made of.

Source: autoweek.com

Photo: Porsche

Volvo and Google have begun testing their autonomous cars on city streets, a major step toward bringing the futuristic technology to the masses.

The Swedish automaker is starting with 100 cars on the streets near its headquarters in Gothenburg.

“The test cars are now able to handle lane following, speed adaption and merging traffic all by themselves,” Erik Coelingh, technical specialist at Volvo, said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Google is turning to the streets after several years of testing autonomous cars on highways.

Nissan, Volkswagen, Daimler, and Toyota are also busy testing self-driving vehicles with the goal of selling them by 2020.

Source: Autonews

Photo: Volvo

Canadian Jacques Villeneuve took the wheel of his Honda-powered Dallara DW12 Tuesday during a refresher on the Indianapolis super speedway.

Much has changed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and in the sport since 1995, when Villeneuve won the 79th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race.

But the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval remains the same -- challenging and fun.

Jacques Villeneuve (Photo: IMS)

Villeneuve recorded 83 laps in the No. 5 Dollar General-sponsored car for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with a best of 217.742 mph as part of his refresher test.

The first practice session for the 2014 Indy 500 is May 11, with qualifications May 17-18.

Jacques Villeneuve (Photo: IMS)

"It took a while to get there. The first few laps were surprising because it felt like I was going fast and I looked and it was 180 (mph)," Villeneuve said.

"I thought, 'There's still a long way to go,' and then 190. And another 10 laps I started getting in the rhythm, and once you start going flat all around it becomes easy. I think your brain, your vision just needs to get used to driving at speed."

Jacques Villeneuve (Photo: IMS)

In addition to demonstrating car control, placement and consistent driving pattern, the refresher program consists of 30 laps that constitute the second and third phases of the Rookie Orientation Program at speed intervals based on track and weather conditions.

Jacques Villeneuve (Photo: IMS)

"When I came here last time, I had already driven on ovals at high speed," said Villeneuve, who was the 500 Rookie of the Year in 1994 when he finished second.

"It felt crazy fast back then and it felt crazy fast today. We weren't trimmed out yet, but there was no point with the (25 mph) wind and the track was very green. At the end, we even managed to work on the mechanical set-up of the car and that made it nicer.”

Jacques Villeneuve (Photo: IMS)

If Jacques Villeneuve qualifies for the race, he'll set a record for the biggest gap between starts held by Cy Marshall and Roland Free between 1930 and 1947.

Jacques Villeneuve (Photo: IMS)

Jacques Villeneuve (Photo: IMS)

Here is the 2015 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Crew Cab Special Service Vehicle (SSV) that will join the brand's growing police vehicle lineup this summer.

Available on Silverado 1500 Crew Cab models in 1WT or 1LS trim, the SSV package includes a 5.3L EcoTec3 V8 engine rated at 355 horsepower and 383 lb-ft of torque. Active Fuel Management helps deliver the highest fuel economy for a 2WD V8-powered full-size pickup.

The Silverado SSV is also equipped with a standard 170-amp high-output alternator and 730-CCA auxiliary battery, which allows officers to operate lights, radios, computers, cameras, and other equipment while parked with the engine turned off.

Photo: Chevrolet

From GMM

Mercedes AMG may now be at the front, but little has changed in the world of Formula 1.

That is the view of former driver Juan Pablo Montoya, who left the paddock halfway through the 2006 season to begin his foray in the American series NASCAR.

Now 38, the Colombian has switched to IndyCar, where between his races at Long Beach and Alabama he sat down to watch the Chinese Grand Prix on television.

"I watched for five laps and then switched it off," the winner of 7 F1 Grands Prix told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

Montoya said he did not find the Shanghai spectacle "exciting" enough, adding that part of the problem is the loss of the high-revving, screaming engines of the past.

But the main issue, he explained, is that IndyCar is simply better racing.

"This has nothing to do with the rule changes in F1," said the former Williams and McLaren driver. "Formula 1 has always been very technical.

"As a driver you are so dependent on the car. Do you really think Alonso and Vettel have forgotten how to drive? It's just bad luck for everyone who is not in a Mercedes.

"And that's not going to change much this year," Montoya warned.

DRS makes passing too easy
He was also quoted recently as being heavily critical of the DRS overtaking system in F1, saying the sight of a great driver passing a rival just because his rear wing is wide open is "like giving photoshop to Picasso".

Montoya explains: "As a driver I don't like it because it makes overtaking too easy. You just have to get within one second of the guy in front, press the wing button and drive past.

"For the spectators it's great," he added. "What do you want in sport? A good show, and DRS makes the show better, no question."

From GMM

Formula one is pushing ahead with efforts to make its new V6 engines louder.

After decades of screaming, naturally-aspirated V12s, V10s and V8s, the markedly lower volume of this year's energy-recovering turbo 'power units' was a shock.

"I did not find it exciting," said former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya, as he explained to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport why he watched only the first five laps of the recent Chinese grand prix on television.

"And I missed the noise," the Colombian added. "At least on TV. I don't know how the engines sound in reality, but I think it is definitely not close to the screams of the high-revving V10s from my time."

The Bahrain Grand Prix new format. (Photo: WRi2)

Also unhappy is F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, who recently said Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault will work on making the 1.6 litre 'power units' sound better.

The first meeting to discuss potential solutions was in Shanghai, and Italy's Autosprint reports that more meetings are taking place away from the paddock this week.

"We're at the beginning of a consultative process," confirmed Renault's Rob White.

"I think we need to be realistic about the scope of any action that we might take but of course we're sensitive to the subject and we'll certainly participate in any of the studies that might lead to actions being taken," he added.

Given the fundamental infrastructure of the new engines, with the turbo collecting energy that would otherwise be heard as noise, it has been suggested one of the only things that can be done is a change to the exhaust pipe design.

Autosprint correspondent Alberto Antonini said an Italian company is on the verge of being commissioned to look into possible solutions.

Twenty years ago, the world of Formula 1 was severely and profoundly affected by the tragic death of its three-time champion, Ayrton Senna, during the San Marino Grand Prix.

On that fateful Sunday morning of May 1st, 1994, fans were barely getting over Rubens Barrichello's major crash with his Jordan on Friday, and Roland Ratzenberger fatally driving his Simtek into a wall on Saturday.

Senna, then racing for Williams-Renault, started the Grand Prix in pole position ahead of Benetton-Ford's Michael Schumacher.

When the green lights came on, JJ Lehto stalled his Benetton and was violently struck by Pedro Lamy's Lotus, which immediately led to an interruption.

Ayrton Senna, Toleman-Hart, 1984 Canadian Grand Prix (Photo: René Fagnan)

After the race resumed, Senna's car shot straight into the Tamburello wall on the very next lap, despite him hitting the brakes as hard as he could. Part of the front right suspension pierced his yellow helmet and fatally wounded his head.

The quick intervention by emergency personnel and a medical evacuation by helicopter could not save him.

From a driving and racing standpoint, Senna didn't do anything wrong. In spite of an endless investigation by Italian authorities, no one knows for sure what really happened.

Some people claim Senna lost control of his car after hitting a bump on the track. Because of the long race interruption, his tires had lost significant air pressure, which dramatically reduced the ride height of the Williams.

Others say the Brazilian driver was doomed by a faulty steering column, which he had extensively modified before it was welded into place.

Anyway, Formula 1 lost a polarizing figure who was mostly regarded as a gifted driver and courageous competitor.

The world will always remember Ayrton Senna. I know I will. I still carry his infamous double "S" logo on my own racing helmet.

We must not forget that another F1 driver, Roland Ratzenberger, also lost his life during this very sad San Marino Grand Prix...

From NASCAR.com

Juan Pablo Montoya will drive the No. 12 Penske Racing Ford Fusion in the June 15 race at Michigan International Speedway, and again July 27 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Montoya has 253 career starts in the Sprint Cup Series, with two wins, 24 top-fives and 59 top-10s. All of his races came for Chip Ganassi, with every start but one in the No. 42. He was a full-time driver in the Sprint Cup Series from 2007-13.

"It will be fun to get back behind the wheel of the Cup car," Montoya said in a team release.

"It's hard to believe, but Roger Penske has never won the Brickyard 400. I think that Brad (Keselowski), Joey (Logano) and I will give Roger and Team Penske a great opportunity to check that off the list and we should be strong at Michigan as well."

Ganassi announced late last season that Kyle Larson would pilot the No. 42 in 2014.

Montoya, a former open-wheel champion, drives for Roger Penske in the IndyCar Series.

"Juan is a proven winner in multiple racing disciplines and he is one of the most versatile racecar drivers competing today," Penske said in the release. "Michigan and Indianapolis are two important races for Team Penske. We know Juan has the ability to race for wins in both of those events."

The 2014 season of the DTM will start this weekend at the Hockenheimring in Germany.

Three German car manufacturers, Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz will fight for victory.

Reigning champion Mike Rockenfeller will contest his first DTM race with the No. 1 plate of the defending champion on his Audi RS5 DTM.

‘Rocky' is one of the ‘Magnificent Seven' - the seven champions on the 2014 DTM grid.

Apart from the reigning champion, his fellow Audi drivers Timo Scheider and Mattias Ekström, the BMW pairing Bruno Spengler and Martin Tomczyk as well as the Mercedes-Benz aces Paul Di Resta and Gary Paffett also have won DTM titles, in the past.

In addition to Di Resta, who makes his comeback in the most popular international touring-car series after three years in Formula 1, there are four completely new faces on this year's DTM grid: Switzerland's Nico Müller races for Audi, Belgian Maxime Martin and Portugal's António Félix da Costa will represent the Audi camp and Mercedes-Benz' new signing Vitaly Petrov is the first Russian driver in the DTM history.

New rules for 2014
The regulations have been changed in several areas. The qualifying will consist of three instead of four phases, with the fastest eight drivers battling it out for the pole in Q3. There will be only one instead of the previously two obligatory pit stops and this stop has to be made in the second third of the race.

The option tire provided by DTM's exclusive tire partner Hankook still must be used once in a race but mustn't be used for more than 50 percent of the race distance.

The DRS now also may be used on the final three laps of a race. Also new are the performance weights.

All the drivers will contest the season opener at Hockenheim with 10kg performance weights aboard their cars and depending on the race results of their brands in the coming races, they will have to add a maximum of up to another 10kg performance weight or get rid off a maximum of up to 10kg.

2014 DTM entry list:

Race number Driver Constructor Team Car
1 Mike Rockenfeller Audi Sport Team Phoenix Audi RS 5 DTM
2 Timo Scheider Audi Sport Team Phoenix Audi RS 5 DTM
3 Augusto Farfus BMW Team RBM BMW M4 DTM
4 Joey Hand BMW Team RBM BMW M4 DTM
5 Christian Vietoris Original-Teile Mercedes AMG DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé
6 Paul Di Resta Mercedes AMG DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé
7 Mattias Ekström Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline Audi RS 5 DTM
8 Miguel Molina Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline Audi RS 5 DTM
9 Bruno Spengler BMW Team Schnitzer BMW M4 DTM
10 Martin Tomczyk BMW Team Schnitzer BMW M4 DTM
11 Gary Paffett EURONICS Mercedes AMG DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé
12 Robert Wickens FREE MAN DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé
15 Edoardo Mortara Audi Sport Team Abt Audi RS 5 DTM
16 Adrien Tambay Audi Sport Team Abt Audi RS 5 DTM
17 Timo Glock BMW Team MTEK BMW M4 DTM
18 António Félix da Costa BMW Team MTEK BMW M4 DTM
19 Daniel Juncadella Petronas Mercedes AMG DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé
20 Vitaly Petrov Mercedes AMG DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé
21 Jamie Green Audi Sport Team Rosberg Audi RS 5 DTM
22 Nico Müller Audi Sport Team Rosberg Audi RS 5 DTM
23 Marco Wittmann BMW Team RMG BMW M4 DTM
24 Maxime Martin BMW Team RMG BMW M4 DTM
25 Pascal Wehrlein gooix Mercedes AMG DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé

Several medias, including the respectable Autosport, report April 30th that Azerbaijan will host a Formula 1 after having signed a deal with Bernie Ecclestone.

Bernie Ecclestone, President and chief executive of Formula One Management and Azad Rahimov, Azerbaijan's Minister of Youth and Sports signed the agreement.

"We have signed the deal with Bernie Ecclestone and will announce it officially with an event in Baku shortly," Rahimov declared in the feature posted on “Inside the games” business magazine.

The race is set to take place in 2016 and should be called Grand Prix of Europe.

The city of Baku has a street circuit that is already the scene of some motorsport action.

For the last two years it has staged The City Challenge Baku, an event for GT3-cars, which takes place on a 4.4-kilometre circuit around Crystal Hall, the venue built to host the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, and the National Flag Square.

With Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling banned for life from the NBA for making racially insensitive comments, the door appears open for corporate sponsors such as Kia Motors America and CarMax to one day return to the team.

Itand#8217;s been a tough month for the German carmakers in the recall department. Volkswagen recalled the Jetta,

Tesla Motors is close to naming sites in at least two U.S. states for a planned battery "gigafactory" and will break ground at each to ensure one is ready to supply lithium ion packs within three years.

Even after revealing that it waited years to recall cars in which faulty ignition switches caused airbags to fail, a General Motors document suggests the automaker last month remained reluctant to issue a recall for a long-known problem with airbags...

Once again, the hinges of the Hell Garage gates -- lubricated with the purest Unobtainium-239 -- creak open and bring us to another installment of Project Car Hell.

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx asked Congress today to hike the maximum civil penalty for a violation of federal auto safety laws more than eightfold to $300 million to push automakers to more quickly issue safety recalls.

Canadian parts supplier Magna International is expanding its powertrain operations in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, with a $75 million plant to produce all-wheel-drive systems for Audi.

Volkswagen Group reported a 21.8% jump in operating profit for Q1 to EUR2.9bn (US$4bn) from EUR2.3bn a year ago boosted by record sales for its Audi and Porsche divisions.