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From press release

Canadian Robert Wickens knows he will have to give everything he's got to do well, this weekend at the Norisring, round 4 of the DTM championship.

The Toronto native has experience of the Nuremberg street circuit, having raced twice with the DTM, and twice before that during his Formula 3 years.

"Here, I competed in my first Formula 3 race and I scored points in the DTM in the last two years," said the 25-year-old Mercedes driver.

Robert Wickens, Mercedes AMG C-Coupe (Photo: DTM.com)

"Here, we are fighting for every thousandth of a second, even though the track with its four corners looks very easy from the outside. The braking zones with their bumps are the key points."

As his rival Mattias Ekström points out, rhythm is also very important: "Finding the right rhythm quickly and get into a certain flow is particularly important. In qualifying, you really have to judge precisely which risk you are prepared to take," said the Swede.

Drivers will have to complete 83 laps, during Sunday's race.

From press release

Canadian Robert Wickens will start from pole this Sunday at the Norisring, for round 4 of the DTM season.

Robert WIckens, Mercedes C-Coupe (Photo: DTM.com)

The Mercedes driver clocked a lap time of 47.883 seconds aboard his C-Coupé to claim his second career pole: "I simply like this track," said the 25-year-old.

"Like last year, I am on pole position here. I can't thank Mercedes-Benz enough for the fact that we are in first place. The team has put in many night shifts to make this happen. For me, this is a special moment because my father is on site to support me for the first time in a long while."

(Photo: DTM.com)

His fellow Mercedes-Benz driver and former F1 driver Paul Di Resta was only 0.093 seconds slower and will be starting from the front row alongside Wickens.

2012 DTM champion Bruno Spengler is a disappointing 16th on the Norisring grid. Actually, it was a disappointing session for BMW, with only one diver (Marco Wittmann) in the top 10.

Bruno Spengler, BMW M4 DTM (Photo: DTM.com)

Qualifying results - Norisring
1.Robert Wickens (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 47"883 - Q3
2.Paul Di Resta (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 47"976 - Q3
3.Jamie Green (Audi RS5) - Rosberg - 47"995 - Q3
4.Pascal Wehrlein (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 48"008 - Q3
5.Gary Paffett (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 48"033 - Q3
6.Christian Vietoris (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 48"033 - Q3
7.Mattias Ekstrom (Audi RS5) - Abt - 48"079 - Q3
8.Marco Wittmann (BMW M4) - RMG - 48"210 - Q3
9.Adrien Tambay (Audi RS5) - Abt - 48"223 - Q2
10.Nico Muller (Audi RS5) - Rosberg - 48"235 - Q2
11.Maxime Martin (BMW M4) - RMG - 48"267 - Q2
12.Mike Rockenfeller (Audi RS5) - Phoenix - 48"292 - Q2
13.Timo Glock (BMW M4) - MTEK - 48"316 - Q2
14.Joey Hand (BMW M4) - RBM - 48"320 - Q2
15.Augusto Farfus (BMW M4) - RBM - 48"329 - Q2
16,Bruno Spengler (BMW M4) - Schnitzer - 48"329 - Q2
17.Daniel Juncadella (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 48"375 - Q2
18.Miguel Molina (Audi RS5) - Abt - 48"434 - Q2
19.Martin Tomczyk (BMW M4) - Schnitzer - 48"417 - Q1
20.Edoardo Mortara (Audi RS5) - Abt - 48"439 - Q1
21.Timo Scheider (Audi RS5) - Phoenix - 48"480 - Q1
22.Antonio Felix Da Costa (BMW M4) - MTEK - 48"488 - Q1
23.Vitaly Petrov (Mercedes C-Coupe) - Mucke - 48"544 - Q1

Antonio Felix da Costa, BMW M4 DTM (Photo: DTM.com)

Canadian James Hinchcliffe visited NASA's Space Camp in Hunstville, Alabama earlier this week. The tour apparently made a lasting impression on him.

The Andretti Autosport driver as impressed by the fact that astronauts can train up to four year for a single mission.

"We obviously prepare a lot in racing," he said.

"But these (astronauts) are working on one mission for four years.

"I don't think we quite spend four years working on one race. It is all about preparation and execution and to see it in this real environment has been very eye-opening and inspiring."

He was also impressed by the Neutral Buoyancy Lab, a tank 202 feet in length, 102 feet wide, and 40-feet, 6-inches deep where "Hinch" watched NASA's space walkers perform simulated tasks on an underwater mock-up of the International Space Station.

"I would go to space tomorrow," added Hinchcliffe. "If there's a 6 o'clock, I'd be on it."

From press release

The Canadian Automobile Sport Clubs for the Ontario region (CASC-OR) and Move Motorsports Management jointly announced today an innovative driver development program aimed at the regional karting community.

“We are extremely excited to be able to make this announcement today,” said CASC-OR President Perry Iannuzzi.

“This program has been developed to further enhance our relationship with the club level karting community. While we are looking to grow regional road racing and believe there are many karters that would be interested in making the jump, we are also committed to using our events, resources and reach within the racing community to help foster the growth of kart racing.” he added.

The "Karts to Cars" driver development program will be open to residents of Ontario, 15 and older, racing karts at the club level. It is not a program based on race wins and championships but more targeted towards the grassroots racer with a passion for the sport and a huge desire to race cars, for fun.

Toyo Tires F1600, Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (Photo: Ryan DuPont)

The winners will be judged by a selection committee and awarded an F1600 experience in October of this year with three of the Toyo Tires F1600 Championships top teams, during their series sampler days.

Registration will be done online, the details and criteria of the process to be made public the weekend of the Honda Indy Toronto.

Move Motorsports, promoter of both the Toyo Tires F1600 Championship and the newly launched F2000 Canada, will be responsible for the execution of the program.

They will be attending karting events in an effort to encourage registration in the scholarship as well as raising the awareness of the entire road-racing scene, from driving to marshaling and volunteering.

The first event for the program will be the Honda Indy Toronto where an F1600 racecar will be on display along with a kart and some ambassadors from both genres.

Additionally, Move Motorsports will be inviting karters from a number of clubs to come down to the track on Make A Wish free Friday to tour the F1600 paddock and get a chance to watch the action from their trackside suite.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has fond memories of his 2008 win at the British Grand Prix.

The Brit was to become world champion, but obviously he didn't know it at the time of the race. His team McLaren made the most of the changing weather conditions to get ahead of Ferrari.

Hamilton never looked back after overtaking teammate Heikki Kovalainen for the lead of lap four, and went on to win by over a minute over Nick Heidfeld, in second place.

Lewis Hamilton (Photo: Mercedes AMG F1 Team)

"Silverstone is obviously a special race for me and the support I have there is just incredible," says Hamilton.

"I won the race in the wet in 2008, which was just the best feeling. I think the gap was around 60 seconds at the end, and I'd lapped everyone up to third place which was just unreal. I could never have hoped or dreamed for a race like that - especially at my home Grand Prix.

"That has to be one of the best moments of my career. I loved raising that gold trophy in front of the home crowds and I'm determined to get my hands on it again this year."

From press release

RK M-Sport World Rally Team's Robert Kubica is reaping the benefits of home support this weekend. Despite an unfortunate roll on the opening day of competition, the Pole has shown some promising and consistent pace which sees him placed eighth overall.

Robert started Rally Poland in excellent fashion with a third fastest time through the opening speed test, but rolled his Ford Fiesta RS WRC under braking on SS2. Fortunately, his loyal supporters were on hand to right his stricken Fiesta and, impressively, the Pole lost just 25 seconds as a result.

Undeterred by the incident, he lost none of his speed en route to the stage end and was able to match the time of World Champion Sebastien Ogier through the final split.

"It's been a long day without so much driving, but I'm pleased with what we have done today and I think the driving has been good," said Kubica.

Robert Kubica (Photo: McKlein)

"The stages in Lithuania were getting worse and worse the further down the order you were so it was not easy, but we managed it well.

"I'm sure there will be even more people out on the stages tomorrow so I hope it will be a good day for us that the spectators can enjoy. It's a longer day with five different stages. A lot can happen, but hopefully we can do them well and continue as we have today."

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