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News 21 May, 2014

Latest Mercedes C-Class Estate more luxurious and practical than ever, and wide engine range includes two hybrids

Pictures See all 12 pictures 21 May, 2014

What is it?

Few men were more instrumental in Ferrari's history in America than John von Neumann -- importer, businessman, race-car driver, "the pillar of California sports-car racing," who

-- Fancy a spot of cargo capacity in the BMW i8, the Citroën SM of our generation? Well, only the finest luggage for sirrah, n'est-ce pas? Louis Vuitton, which would like to remind you that it still makes luggage as Monsieur Vuitton intended...

About a month ago, we found some screenshots and .pdfs of the ordering guide for the 2015 Ford Mustang. The only thing we didn't know was the price.

News 21 May, 2014

Mercedes reveals a new teaser image and video of the upcoming AMG GT supercar ahead of an official reveal later this year

Toyota defended its title as the world's most valuable car brand. BMW was No. 2 while Ford made the biggest improvement, leaping past VW brand and Nissan into the top five, according to a study.

France's Bollore Group is setting up a car-sharing program for electric vehicles in the United States. The company already offers similar services at home and says it will launch car-sharing in London this year.

Peugeot has high hopes for the new 308 SW despite many customers deserting compact station wagons for SUV-styled crossovers.

Toyota has developed a new semiconductor it says can boost fuel efficiency in hybrid cars such as the Prius by up to 10 percent.

From GMM

Formula one drivers have paid tribute to their stricken former rival Michael Schumacher.

For years ahead of the Monaco grand prix, seven time world champion Schumacher captained the F1 drivers' football team as they annually took on Prince Albert's all-stars at the Stade Louis II.

But in 2014, the F1 legend was missing on Tuesday, as he continues to fight in France amid a long coma in the wake of his late December skiing fall.

Michael Schumacher met the German Football team. (Photo: Mercedes-Benz)

According to the major German daily Bild, the F1 drivers' team - now captained by Fernando Alonso - made clear they missed Schumacher as they went against all-stars like top tennis player Novak Djokovic on Tuesday night.

On the electronic advertising hoardings circling the ground, a message repeatedly read: "Michael, we miss you! We can't wait to see you back on this grass next year."

Among those on the grass on Tuesday was Schumacher's former teammate Felipe Massa, Sergio Perez and impressive Russian teen rookie Daniil Kvyat, who scored a goal.

Photo: WRi2

A shipment of Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell vehicles has just arrived in Southern California. The first retail sales of this mass-produced crossover are expected to begin within the next several weeks at three select dealers.

Under the Hyundai leasing program, customers will be able to drive Hyundai's next-generation Tucson Fuel Cell for $499 a month, including unlimited hydrogen refuelling and "At Your Service" valet maintenance at no extra cost.

According to Hyundai, people have shown strong interest in the Tucson Fuel Cell leasing opportunity, with over 200,000 unique visitors to the Tucson Fuel Cell microsite.

Source : prnewswire.com

Photo: Hyundai

Former Formula 1 and NASCAR driver, Brazilian Nelson Piquet Jr. will contest the 2014 Global Rallycross season with team SH Racing.

SH Racing will run the full season this year with Piquet driving the No. 07 Ford Fiesta ST.

The car will be sponsored by N.O.-XPLODE in six of the 10 events, including the X Games Austin.

For Piquet Jr, the Global Rallycross is a new opportunity after a lack of sponsorship ended his partnership with Turner-Scott Motorsports in NASCAR.

The son of three-time World Champion Nelson Piquet Sr. became the first Brazilian to win a NASCAR national series race in 2012 when he won the Nationwide event at Road America, and he scored Truck Series wins at Michigan and Las Vegas.

Canadian rally driver 'Crazy Leo' Urlichich this season is competing in the FIA World Rally Championship, running in the new Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy.

Urlichich started the season by contesting the Rally de Portugal in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta R2 alongside his new co-driver, Andrew Roughead.

However, for personal reasons Roughead is no longer able to continue co-driving the Canadian.

'Crazy Leo' Urlichich at Rally de Portugal. (Photo: 'Crazy Leo' Facebook)

“We've done my first World Rally Championship event earlier this year with Andrew Roughead, and it was awesome. There are no problems between Andrew and me, but Andrew had some major changes in his personal life in the last month”, ‘Crazy' Leo explained.

“Andrew is a great co-driver, and I'd love to have him back in the car, but he can't commit to any rallies outside of the United Kingdom (and close to his home) at this point,” he added.

Urlichich's next WRC event is the Rally Poland, scheduled June 26-29. That leaves little time for ‘Crazy' Leo to find a new co-driver.

Experienced co-drivers who are interested in running WRC events and who are available this year should send their resume to Leo at: me@crazyleo.net.

Monaco is the slowest Formula 1 circuit of the season. Rivals say that such a twisty track might just neutralise the Mercedes W05s perceived advantage of very high top speed.

Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Ferrari arrive firmly believing that Monaco will offset their poor top speed, and the cornering ability of the Renault-powered RB10 car has long been recognised as standard setting by trackside observers.

"Monaco is one of my favourite tracks, it's an absolute challenge," admits Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel.

"You cannot afford to make one single mistake, because you would easily crash into the railings. Overtaking is only possible with taking an extreme risk. The best place to overtake is before the harbour chicane when we exit the narrow tunnel at 300 km/h and race towards the first-gear chicane”, vettel explained.

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, Mercedes W05. (Photo: WRi2)

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso also hopes that Mercedes AMG could be vulnerable here, and that Red Bull will challenge strongly.

"I think Monte Carlo will be one of the few possibilities to challenge Mercedes, especially for Red Bull," Alonso said.

"In the corners they [Red Bull] are very fast but on the straights they seem to lose a lot of lap time. In Monte Carlo there are no straights so Red Bull could challenge Mercedes."

He also stresses that Ferrari is not aiming merely for a podium finish here. "It's true the world championship is in their [Mercedes'] hands. They have a big advantage, but I think it's not any different to any sport, or any racing over the years - we can fight. We need to have a strong weekend and get some good points,” Alonso declared.

The first free practice session will begin at 10am, local time, Thursday morning.

The 98th running of the prestigious 500 Miles of Indianapolis will be run this weekend on the 2.5-mile Brickyard. Here are 9 fascinating things and fun statistics to know about this race.

1
Most victories by a driver: 4 by A.J. Foyt (1961, 64, 67, 77), Al Unser (1970-71, 78, 87), Rick Mears (1979, 84, 88, 91)

Al Unser. (Photo: IMS)

2
Longest span between first and last victory: 17 years for Al Unser (1970 to 1987)

3
Youngest winner was Troy Ruttman (1952) at 22 years, 80 days old
The oldest winner was Al Unser (1987) at 47 years, 360 days old

Troy Ruttman. (Photo: IMS)

4
Largest margin of victory was 13 minutes, 8.40 seconds - Jules Goux over Spencer Wishart in 1913. The closest margin of victory was 0.043 of a second - Al Unser Jr. over Scott Goodyear in 1992.

Al Unser beats Scott Goodyear by just 0.043 second. (Photo: IMS)

5
Most Indy laps led in career: 644 by Al Unser

6
Most laps led without winning in his career: 431 by Michael Andretti

7
Most lead changes, single race: 68 in 2013; fewest lead changes, single race: 1 in 1930

8
Most consecutive laps/miles in career: Scott Dixon, 1,366 laps or 3,415 miles

9
Largest family at Indy: the Andrettis with 5 members
Mario Andretti (1965-78, 80-94) Father
Michael Andretti (1984-92, 94-95, 01-03, 06-07) Son of Mario
Marco Andretti (2006-13) Son of Michael
Jeff Andretti (1991-93) Son of Mario
John Andretti (1988-94, 2007-11) Nephew of Mario

The Sports Authority of Thailand and the organisers of the Race Of Champions have been unable to find a new date for the 2013 event, originally scheduled to take place on December 14-15.

This is due to date clashes with the 2014 motor sport calendars and the ongoing political situation in Bangkok, where martial law was imposed yesterday.

The Race Of Champions has been held all over the world for 25 consecutive years, including a successful ROC 2012 in Bangkok, and we hope to return to the Thai capital city to repeat that success at a future event.

News about ROC 2014 will be announced in the near future.

From press release

Hyundai Motorsport announced May 21 the appointment of renowned Italian motorsport specialist Nino Frison as the company's Technical Director with immediate effect.

Frison will be based at Hyundai Motorsport's factory in Alzenau, from where he will head up the various engineering departments (chassis, engine and design).

He will report to Team Principal Michel Nandan and be responsible for the continuous development of the Hyundai i20 WRC car.

Frison has a wealth of experience dating back over thirty years during which he has become one of the most trusted technical and management advisors in international motorsport. His experience covers all forms of racing from single seaters, including numerous leading roles within Formula 1 teams, to the pinnacle of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC).

Hyundai Motorsport inaugurates new engine dyno facilities at Alzenau

Hyundai Motorsport has recently inaugurated a new engine test bench (dyno) at its factory in Alzenau in a bid to accelerate its engine development and testing processes.

The dyno will give the team more freedom to conduct ongoing development and analysis of its 1.6 litre turbocharged engine in-house, while simulating the diverse range of conditions that the team will have to face in the competitive WRC environment.

Nino Frison. (Photo: Hyundai Motorsport)

From press release

The Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour will open another season of stock car racing this Saturday, May 24 at Scotia Speedworld with the Harry Poole Memorial 100 presented by Lucas Oil.

The season opener will launch the 12-race schedule that will take the Tour to five Maritime markets over the next 17 weeks.

Approximately thirty of the best teams from across the region are expected to battle for a spot in Saturday's main feature. Qualifying for the Harry Poole Memorial 100 presented by Lucas Oil gets underway at 3:10 pm with racing slated for 4:00 pm. Grandstands gates open at 1:00 pm.

Saturday's season opener will be run in honour of Harry Poole, one of the original builders and owners of the Pro Stock Tour and Scotia Speedworld.

John Flemming (Halifax, NS) won the season opener last year en route to his fourth series championship (2002 '03, '06, '13).

Two fellow multi-time series champions are also expected in the field on Saturday; Shawn Tucker, (Fredericton, NB) a three-time series champion, (2004, '07, '10) and Shawn Turple (Enfield, NS) who has won two of the Tour's prestigious tiles (2010, '12).

These veterans will have their hands full as an ambitious and talented field of drivers will be looking to take home the first checkered flag of the season.

Sarah McKay (Quispamsis, NB) will debut as the first female to pilot a car on the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour. When the green flag flies this Saturday, McKay will become the first lady of racing in the Maritimes. McKay has a solid track record, a standout in karts; McKay moved to the competitive Sportsman division at Speedway 660 in 2013 and won the Rookie of the Year Award in the class.

After competing at Speedway Miramichi and Petty Raceway to complement her Speedway 660 schedule and showing quick promise in a full bodied Late Model, the team made the call to run full-time on the Tour in 2014.

The Maritime League of Legends will kick off their 2014 campaign with a 50-lap feature prior to the Harry Poole Memorial 100 presented by Lucas Oil.

Admission for Saturday's season opener is $25 for adults; $5 for youth; pit admission is $30. Children 7 and under are admitted for free. Tickets will be available at the gates on race day (Cash Only).

Sunday May 25th will launch the 2014 season for Scotia Speedworld's Weekly Racing Series, racing starts at 2:00 pm on Sunday.

EXPECTED ENTRY LIST - Harry Poole Memorial 100 presented by Lucas Oil
No.0 - Shawn Turple - Enfield, NS
No.5 - Jonathan Hicken - Brudenell, PE
No.8 - Kent Vincent - Westmoreland, PE
No.11 - Marty Prevost - Fall River, NS
No.14 - Terry Dougay - Albany, PE
No.18 - Darren MacKinnon - Charlottetown, PE
No.20 - Greg Fahey - St. Stephen, NB
No.21 - Shawn Pierce - Bridgewater, NS
No.24 - Steve Ross - Waverly, NS
No.29 - Greg Proude - Springvale, PE
No.31 - Colby Smith - Cape Sable Island, NS
No.32 - Sarah McKay - Quispamsis, NB
No.37 - Cy Harvey - Elmsdale, NS
No.51 - Vance Hanes - Kennetcook, NS
No.52 - Shawn Tucker - Fredericton, NB
No.53 - Cole Butcher - Porter's Lake, NS
No.66 - Daryl Mahar - Hubley, NS
No.67 - Dylan Blenkhorn - Truro, NS
No.72 - Brad Eddy - Lower Sackville, NS
No.87 - Matt Harris - Fredericton Junction, NB
No.88 - George Koszkulics - New Glasgow, NS
No.89 - Donald Chisholm - Antigonish, NS
No.91 - Dylan Gosbee - Cornwall, PE
No.97 - John Flemming - Halifax, NS
No.98 - Jerome Kehoe - Sydney, NS
No.99 - Craig Slaunwhite - Terence Bay, NS

*Entry list subject to change without notice