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From Albatec Racing

Albatec Racing has secured support from Canadian food giant St-Hubert for tomorrow's round seven of the FIA World Rallycross Championship at the Grand Prix of Trois-Rivieres.

St-Hubert will back the fledgling rallycross team comprising Team Principal Andy Scott and 1997 F1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve in a pair of 600bhp two-litre, 16v Peugeot 208 Supercars for the event, which takes place around a purpose-built rallycross track.

Jacques Villeneuve's Peugeot 208 Supercar (Photo: Albatec)

Founded in 1951 in St-Hubert Street in Montreal the restaurant's tradition is rooted in innovation. Offering free home delivery service and an avant-garde approach to advertising using radio and TV commercials to attract people to the restaurant, the Hélène and René Léger-founded St-Hubert eatery is now at the forefront of the Quebec restaurant industry.

“I am delighted to welcome St-Hubert aboard as a supporter for arguably the biggest event on the calendar for Albatec Racing' said Andy Scott, Team Principal, Albatec Racing.

“Aside from our own home event in Lydden Hill, the event here in Canada marks a huge weekend for Jacques and I'm very happy to be a part of the prestige event alongside one of the oldest, longest-running companies in Quebec.”

A new U.S. study published by Liberty Mutual Insurance and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) shows that teenagers are not the only culprits when it comes to making risky decisions behind the wheel. Parents actually commit the same violations they warn their kids against.

What dangerous — and in some cases, illegal — driving behaviours are we talking about exactly? Here they are:

• Talking on cell phone while driving: 86%
• Speeding: 80%
• Texting while driving: 40%
• Driving after consuming alcohol: 34%
• Driving without a seat belt: 21%

What's even more alarming is that 83% of teens say their parents engage in unsafe driving behaviours with them in the car, and 41% report that their parents do not change their driving habits when asked to do so.

Some parents just don't want to admit that they're bad drivers. According to the study, 58% of teenagers say they have witnessed their parents texting while driving, but just 40% of parents plead guilty.

Do as I say, don't do as I do? That couldn't be more true in this case, it seems.

What about you? Are you a bad example for your kids when you take the wheel?

Source: Liberty Mutual Insurance

From Fox Sports

The National Guard said Wednesday it will end its sponsorship of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. and IndyCar's Graham Rahal, but it is not clear when that goes into effect.

NASCAR's Hendrick Motorsports said in a statement it has a contract through 2015.

"We have not been approached by the guard about potential changes and plan to honor our current agreement," the team said.

Bobby Rahal, co-owner of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, said in a statement he learned of the guard's decision on Wednesday. He called it disappointing news "given the significant incremental brand exposure we have worked to produce for the National Guard in our first season together, including various off-track marketing and advertising programs focused on supporting the mission set forth."

The Guard said in a statement posted on its web site it spent $32 million on its NASCAR sponsorship and $12 million on its IndyCar sponsorship this year, and noted that "sports sponsorships have played an important role in helping the guard build strong brand awareness." But, the guard statement said its sponsorship contracts in NASCAR and IndyCar "are set to expire at the end of the current season," which contradicts the Hendrick claim.

"Significantly constrained resources and the likelihood of further reductions in the future call for more innovative and cost-effective ways of doing business," Maj. Gen. Judd H. Lyons, acting director of the Army National Guard, said in the statement.

Military funding has come under increased scrutiny in Congress as Sen. Claire McCaskill, has called the sponsorship "wasting a bunch of money on a very expensive sports sponsorship."

One of the most daunting corners in Formula 1, Monza's iconic Parabolica, has suddenly lost most of his appeal.

The 180-degree Parabolica, the final turn at the Autodromo Monza, has had a gravel trap after a section of grass to penalise drivers for running too wide.

Photos taken recently show that the owners of the circuit have altered the corner by replacing the gravel trap with asphalt.

Drivers are clearly unhappy with the change.

"So the Monza Parabolica now has Tarmac run off on the outside - another great corner that will lose it's challenge," tweeted Karun Chandhok.

"Parabolica will never be the same corner again," added Jerome d'Ambrosio.

Photo: Twitter/Karun Chandhok

Dearborn, MI -- Ford's second annual conference on trends centered on four areas: The series of sessions included “The Big Deal with Big Data” followed by “The Female Frontier” then “Sustainability Blues.” Number four on the hit parade was “Decoding Design.” Not in the program, but an experience that Ford made sure everyone had was entitled “Inside the Blue Oval.”

Decoding Design
As with many things, the last mentioned is often the most interesting. Participants were tantalized by virtual reality design checks on the quality of new model vehicles. After that, jaws dropped at the “Mobii” (short for Mobile Interior Imaging) display where a stereoscopic camera (necessary for 3D images) would focus on the driver and decide what the driver was allowed to do. If Mobii didn't know you, it would ask you to stop and it would send the owner a message saying that an unauthorized driver was in the vehicle. Mobii would then follow the owner's instructions.

Sustainability Blues
Reduced water consumption in manufacturing was the theme of “Sustainability Blues.” On a worldwide basis Ford believes that current water consumption is not sustainable, and while water is cheap at the moment, prices will not remain low for long. The smart thing to do is work on reducing consumption in facilities and in our personal lives before there is a shortage. India's average consumption is 4 litres of water per day, whereas here in North America we individually consume about 550 liters. Ford reduced its consumption by 62% between 2000 and 2012 or the equivalent of 10.6 billion gallons of water.

The Female Frontier
If you have no idea how women, as a gender, influence our daily lives then “The Female Frontier” was a must-attend event. A little light-hearted, but seriously meant comments such as “66% of women globally agree that the world would be a better place if men thought like women” provoked thought.

Conversations centered on women's changing roles at work and at home, as well as their increasing importance in the marketplace. This new female frontier has an impact on household dynamics and definitions of family worldwide. For example, more women are buying new cars around the world than men. This paradigm shift is indicative of what the near future in the car business holds, and Ford fully understands that.

The Big Deal with Big Data
The “Big Deal with Big Data” centered on the terra- and petabytes of information companies collect from each individual without gathering specific information. Companies such as MasterCard and UPS use this information to pick up on trends and buying habits of local populations to help their customers make better decisions based on data rather than “gut feeling.” Alan Mulally's motto is “The data will set you free.” This has helped the company reach new heights of success over the last few years.

Henry Ford used the early vestiges of this over 100 years ago when he told reporters why he never asked consumers about wanting a car. His answer was, “If I had asked consumers what they wanted, they would have wanted faster horses.”

The final goal
Ford may want to help improve the world, reduce consumption and lead the eco-soundness charge, but there is a good chance Ford intends to make a profit doing so. Profit is a good thing. If companies can make money being green, they will become green and we get a better world to live in while they're at it.

From GMM

Ferrari could learn from Williams' recovery from the doldrums of the British team's past few seasons.

That is the claim of Felipe Massa, Williams' new driver who moved to Grove for 2014 after a long Ferrari career.

Undoubtedly aided by the dominant Mercedes engine, Williams has been arguably the surprise team of 2014, having finished a woeful ninth in the 2013 constructors' table to now trail only the top three teams and proving a regular front row and podium challenger.

Initially, Williams seemed merely to be benefitting from superior horsepower in 2014, but now the FW36 is proving competitive even at twisty circuits like Hungary.

"Now we are competitive in the other areas too," confirmed Brazilian Massa in an interview with the latest edition of Italy's Autosprint magazine.

"It took a while but we did it. And there is still so much to improve," he added.

Personally, however, 33-year-old Massa is enduring a rough patch alongside the on-form Valtteri Bottas but he argues that his struggle is simply for a turn of luck.

"The important thing is that we have a competitive car," Massa insisted, "and that I am competitive myself. That's what I care about."

Rob Smedley and Felipe Massa, both axed by Ferrari in 2013 and now at Williams. (Photo: WRi2)

So when asked if he would have any advice to offer Ferrari if he was ever called back to race for his struggling former employer, Massa answered in the affirmative.

"Yes, but I won't say," he insisted. "I don't know if it will happen, but if one day I had to change teams again, I would take all of the experience that I have from Williams."

Indeed, with Ferrari notably struggling in 2014, Italy's influential La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that new boss Marco Mattiacci has headed into the summer break having identified the four major areas Maranello must focus on.

They are the V6 power unit, speeding up development response times, coordination between the engine and chassis, and better balancing reliability versus performance.

MINI has just launched a new app called JustPark allowing users in the U.K. to reserve a parking spot directly from their dashboard. It's the first car company to offer such an app, which can be downloaded from the Apple Store now.

No word yet on North American availability.

“Just as we use apps to order taxis and takeaways, parking is finally being brought out of the dark ages,” said JustPark founder Anthony Eskinazi.

JustPark-registered drivers can find, book and navigate to a parking space, choosing from over 100,000 spaces across the U.K.

Photo: MINI

More specifically, drivers can choose whether to input their final destination or search for parking around them while on the go. They then browse a selection of convenient parking spots, from car parks and hotels to homes and pubs. They can explore location details, pricing and reviews left by previous drivers.

Once drivers have chosen and paid for a parking space, they are directed to their destination by the car's navigation system. The JustPark app is designed to be used while on the move, having undergone extensive safety testing by BMW laboratories in Munich.

MINI wants to eliminate the time spent circling the streets looking for an available and suitable parking spot — an inconvenience that reportedly costs the average driver 106 days of their life.

Source : BMW Group

Infiniti Red Bull Formula 1 driver, Sebastian Vettel has bought a Ferrari road car.

The four-time World Champion was recently in Italy to take delivery of a Ferrari California.

He bought the car for his father, Norbert, a talented amateur race car driver himself.

The Italian car carries German licence plate HP N1 (for Heppenheim Norbert 1).

Photo: Instagram

Mazda is on a roll with its innovative SKYACTIV technology and hot new products like the award-winning Mazda3, whose striking design language speaks directly to a large number of car buyers.

Now, it appears the Japanese automaker wants to make an even stronger statement in the small SUV/CUV market by launching a CX-3, which would become the CX-5's little brother, likely next year or in 2016.

Martin Benders, managing director at Mazda Australia, told The Motor Report that compact SUVs are a compelling segment for the company.

“There's opportunity there, absolutely. We've made it clear that it's an area we'd like to be represented in,” he said while announcing that a new entry-level crossover is “not that far away.”

Expect an eventual Mazda CX-3 to be based on the upcoming Mazda2's platform and be an absolute thrill to drive.

2012 Mazda CX-7 (Photo: Mazda)

Will the CX-7 make a comeback?
In addition, Benders told Car Advice that Mazda may actually launch a next-generation CX-7 to bridge the gap between the CX-5 et CX-9. However, he remained evasive about the vehicle's size.

Could a new CX-7 offer three-row seating like the Mitsubishi Outlander and Kia Sorento?

“That would be interesting,” Benders reportedly said with a grin.

Source : caradvice.com.au

From GMM

Daniil Kvyat, the youngest rookie in formula one, has hit back at suggestions formula one drivers lack the hero status of the sport's past stars.

Amid the sport's struggle to fill grandstands and boost television ratings in 2014, many have pointed the finger at the drivers for failing to compete in the charisma and courage stakes with greats like Villeneuve, Senna and Mansell.

F1 legend Michael Schumacher's manager Willi Weber, for example, this week hit out at the "wimps" that today fill the grand prix grid.

20-year-old Russian rookie Kvyat, however, thinks it is wrong to suggest that today's F1 drivers lack courage.

"In my opinion F1 remains one of the sports in which courage is most relevant," he told Italy's Omnicorse.

"I don't like to hear that the modern driver is no longer a knight of risk -- that compared with the 80s we are not real men," the Toro Rosso driver insisted.

"That's all bullsh*t," said Kvyat.

"All that separates us from 340kph and the wall is our brakes and a hundred metres of asphalt," he exclaimed. "Risk in formula one cannot be erased, but it is right that we do everything possible to improve the safety of the tracks and the cars."

Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) fighting against Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), Valtteri Bottas (Williams) and Jenson Button (McLaren). (Photo: WRi2)

Another criticism made by Weber this week, and echoed by many others, is that greats like Schumacher, Senna and Villeneuve gave "their answer on the track" rather than to their engineers on the radio.

But Kvyat argues: "With the new regulations, the role of the engineer is essential -- the management of electrical energy cannot be controlled only by the driver.

"Let's clarify another thing," he added. "If there is the possibility to overtake, the driver must always try it. There is never the situation when the engineer tells you to forget it, to wait.

"But at the same time we need to adapt to the situation of fuel consumption and the wear of the tires."

As for the suggestion that the grands prix today are boring, Kvyat also argues his case.

"I don't know what people are expecting," he said. "I have looked at the grands prix and I have to say that the show is not bad at all.

"Sure, some races are more exciting than others, but if we go back to the races in the 2000s they were dominated by one driver -- what was so spectacular about that?

"Maybe the public has not understood the rule changes we have done, but I am sure we have taken the right path," Kvyat continued. "It took courage to change to experimental solutions in order to progress normal road cars."

Finally, when asked what rule change he would instigate immediately to improve F1, Daniil Kvyat answered: "I would wait a little longer. It seems to me that the package we have now is not so bad."

From GMM

McLaren's current car is a "rolling laboratory" for the start of the works Honda era beginning in 2015.

That is the news of team boss Eric Boullier, who arrived at Woking this year and is overseeing the British grandee's struggle to even stay in the top five constructors in 2014.

This season is the last in McLaren's long and successful partnership with Mercedes, even though the relationship is no more than a mere customer pairing in 2014.

McLaren lies behind its usual top-team protagonists at the mid-season point, but also behind Mercedes' other customers Williams and Sahara Force India.

Still, Frenchman Boullier said the team is not giving up on developing the MP4-29.

McLaren MP4-29-Mercedes. (Photo: WRi2)

"We see this year's car as a rolling laboratory for the coming season," he is quoted by Speed Week.

"What we do this year has great relevance, because according to the rules the mounting points of the engine and transmission are the same next year, even if you change engine partner.

"So most of our improvements this year will have a direct impact on the design of the next McLaren," Eric Boullier explained.

In-car voice recognition systems work so poorly that automakers should give up trying to add new features and go back to the basics, said Kristin Kolodge, JD Power's executive director of driver interaction.

Three proxy advisory firms are recommending that Superior Industries International Inc. shareholders vote for the supplier's four board nominees at its annual meeting next week.

Toyota's plan to move supplier development and purchasing staffs to its technical center in Ann Arbor will improve suppliers relations, a top executive said today.

ADESA has acquired a 50 percent stake in a software company that has created a system to help franchise dealers buy and sell vehicles among themselves, ADESA's parent company said.

The auto industry will have to side-step social unrest and political obstacles to take advantage of a coming decade of overseas growth opportunity, says GM's chief economist.

The $14 billion global market for collision avoidance and driver assistance is expected to grow about 25 percent a year -- a growth rate that has established active safety as one of the auto industry's hottest segments.

The weekend blast at a Kunshan auto parts plant, described by former workers as a dusty deathtrap, prompted China to overhaul workplace safety practices, and reignited concern about occupational hazards in the world's second-largest economy.

Chrysler Group CEO Sergio Marchionne today fired a shot at his supply base, saying that suppliers' double-digit profit margins were making his blood pressure go up.

After a year of record global sales of 425,000 vehicles in 2013 and a 14 percent increase in the first half of 2014, Jaguar Land Rover is facing a problem it has not seen in decades: Demand is far outstripping supply on some models.