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The General Motors engineer often identified as responsible for a faulty ignition switch that has been linked to 32 deaths said "I did my job the best I could" in his first public comments since GM recalled 2.

Adapted from press release

Toronto's Nicholas Lafini qualified 9th for the Formula 3 qualifying race to be held at the Macau Grand Prix.

Latifi and his teammate Esteban Ocon's tactic to take two new tires late in the session did not pay off as yellow and then red flags played a large part in them not improving.

The Canadian enjoyed some time in the top six during the final qualifying session but was relegated to ninth as he was taking on his two new tires.

Nicholas Latifi (Photo: SJM Prema)

However, Ocon, Latifi and their Italian teammate Antonio Fuoco, driving for SJM Theodore Racing by Prema, have two more fresh tires from their event allocation of 14 than most of their rivals to use either in the qualification race or the Grand Prix.

“Before second qualifying it went OK. I'm kind of disappointed with the end result,” Latifi said.

“I was hoping for much more than P9. I was quite happy with the lap on the first set of tyres. After that we put only two new tyres on and with the yellow flags and the traffic it was quite difficult to improve. It was like a train of slower guys in front, slowing each other and battling, and you'd keep catching them up. But if I stay out of trouble in the first race it's possible to move up and be in a good position for the final.”

The Caterham F1 Team announced Friday that it will be racing at the final Formula 1 Grand Prix of the season in Abu Dhabi next week.

The small team in administration thanked the fans who have helped raise enough money to make it possible through Crowdcube, the world's leading investment crowdfunding platform.

“We set ourselves a major challenge, but it's definitely been worth it! In only a week the fans have made the impossible, possible,” said Finbarr O'Connell of Smith & Williamson, joint administrator of Caterham Sports Limited.

“We now head to Abu Dhabi ready to show what a hard-working and positive group of people this is and to hopefully secure a future for the team. During the past few days the interest of many potential buyers has increased massively and by racing in Abu Dhabi the team will be showcasing itself as a live and functioning team that deserves to continue into 2015 and beyond,” O'Connell declared.

The freight, including the two Renault-powered CT05s, the spare parts, equipment and all must be shipped to Abu Dhabi this weekend.

Caterham has yet to confirm drivers for this last race of the year. No doubt that small team will rely on drivers who bring personal sponsorship money.

The deadline for crowdfunding has been extended to midnight (GMT) Sunday November 23rd.

Photo: Caterham F1 Team

From GMM

Another Newey is plotting a course to the F1 grid.

16-year-old Harrison's father is Adrian Newey, widely acclaimed as one of the best technical minds in the history of formula one.

The 55-year-old is also a keen car collector and amateur racer, although his on-track exploits have often resulted in Ford GT and Jaguar E-Types being written off.

It appears young Harrison's pedigree may be better, as he has just signed up to contest the forthcoming British Formula 4 winter championship.

Media reports say the rookie, already an international kart racer, made his single-seater debut in French F4 last month, finishing a race in ninth place.

"It's going to be a big step up from karting," he said, "but I'm really looking forward to it."

Harrison and Adrian Newey. (Photo: Formula4.com)

From GMM

Almost six weeks on, there is "no change" in Jules Bianchi's condition.

That is the news of Graeme Lowdon, who as sporting director and president has overseen not only the aftermath of Frenchman Bianchi's horror Suzuka crash, but also the closure of the struggling Marussia team.

Although sounding upbeat that there may be light at the end of the tunnel for the stricken Banbury-based team, Lowdon has less to report on the condition of 25-year-old Bianchi, who remains in a coma in Japan.

"There's no change in his condition," Graeme Lowdon told Britain's Sky.

"He's still stable but critical, and I think the thoughts of everyone in the team and also his very wide fan base are with Jules at the moment," he added.

Jules Bianchi and Graeme Lowdon, Marussia. (Photo: WRi2)

From GMM

Carlos Sainz jr may have emerged as a shock candidate to be Fernando Alonso's teammate next year.

The Red Bull-backed rookie Spaniard now appears out of the running to make his debut for Toro Rosso next year, with the energy drink company likely to instead pair the young Max Verstappen with the more experienced Jean-Eric Vergne.

But Italy's Omnicorse claims a golden option may have emerged out of the blue for 20-year-old Sainz, the son of the world rally legend and the newly-crowned Formula Renault 3.5 champion -- the youngest in its history.

McLaren, having survived without a title sponsor in 2014, and new partner Honda are reportedly breaking the bank to sign the highly-expensive Alonso for 2014.

Team boss Eric Boullier hinted in Brazil that the team is open to welcoming Spanish sponsors to accompany the 33-year-old.

"Santander, Madrilena ... there are no serious negotiations, but if they want to come, there is no problem!" he laughed.

Omnicorse claims one of them could be the Telefonica-owned Spanish mobile operator Movistar, which may "open a door for Carlos Sainz jr as the second driver".

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

One prominent Spanish motor racing figure, the former F1 manager and Epsilon Euskadi chief Joan Villadelprat, is tipping success for Alonso and McLaren in the years ahead.

"I have no doubt the Honda will be a powerful engine, because they have had time to do things well rather than repeat the errors of Renault and Ferrari," he told El Confidencial.

"And I see the marriage of Alonso and McLaren as more fruitful than the first (in 2007)," Villadelprat insisted.

"To start, this time Fernando is the undisputed number 1. Secondly, I think they (Alonso and McLaren) are both very intelligent and have both learned from the past and forgotten it.

"Fernando needed somewhere to go, Ferrari was not going anywhere, the relationship with Marco Mattiacci is zero.

"The McLaren option is good because they have taken every experience this year with the Mercedes engines, Honda will have learned from it and with their resources I am convinced it will be a tremendous engine," he added.

From wrc.com

Sebastien Ogier held a slender lead over Jari-Matti Latvala after the Volkswagen duo dominated Friday's slippery opening leg at Wales Rally GB.

Both claimed four stage wins and although Ogier was never headed, he was unable to shake off his Polo R colleague and led by 6.6sec after eight muddy forest speed tests covering 145km in mid-Wales.

The newly crowned world champion won three of the four morning tests to lead by 9.5sec at the mid-leg service in Newtown, but Latvala took the afternoon honours as the polished surface made conditions even more slippery.

Jari-Matti Latvala, Volkswagen Polo-R WRC (Photo: VW)

“It was difficult to drive this morning but I really enjoyed the stages,” said Ogier. “This afternoon was just a question of surviving. Conditions were slippery and I was fighting the car all the way,” he said.

Ogier misjudged a hairpin on the afternoon's opening stage while Latvala admitted he was lucky not to roll after hitting a hole in the first test.

Mads Østberg and Mikko Hirvonen, tackling his last rally before retirement, fought over third for most of the day. The Norwegian held the advantage this morning but Hirvonen moved ahead to finish 1min 07.2sec off the lead in his Ford Fiesta RS.

Østberg became increasingly frustrated with the handling of his Citroen DS3, and dropped to fifth in the final stage. Kris Meeke benefited from his team-mate's struggles to climb to fourth, despite a 10sec penalty for a jump start in the opening stage.

He was 7.7sec behind Hirvonen and 0.7sec ahead of Østberg, despite twice making a mistake at the same hairpin.
Juho Hänninen - crashed out

Thierry Neuville was sixth in a Hyundai i20, the Belgian one of many drivers to lose time at a tight hairpin in the final stage. Elfyn Evans, Ott Tänak, Henning Solberg and Martin Prokop completed the leaderboard, all in Fiesta RS cars.

Solberg lost time with a morning misfire while Prokop spun into a ditch in the final stage.

Andreas Mikkelsen retired his Polo R with broken suspension after hitting a bank while in second and Juho Hänninen went out after going off.

Robert Kubica survived a brush with a bank, a spin and an overshoot to lie 11th, while power steering problems and front differential issues delayed Hayden Paddon's i20 in 12th.

Tomorrow's second leg comprises nine more stages covering 113.74km. There are two identical loops of four tests in north Wales, split by a short fan-friendly stage at Chirk Castle.

From GMM

Felipe Massa's manager says the Brazilian has rarely been happier in formula one.

That is despite being ousted by the iconic team Ferrari at the end of last season, after an eight-year tenure that almost netted him the 2008 title.

But Massa's place had appeared increasingly tenuous and uncomfortable in the latter years, notably struggling alongside Fernando Alonso and being seen as the clear 'number 2' driver.

Nicolas Todt, Massa's manager, says the 33-year-old's move to Williams this year revitalised him.

"You know if you have attention and are wanted, your life changes," the Frenchman is quoted by Auto Hebdo.

"This was not always the case at Ferrari," Todt, the son of FIA president and former Ferrari boss Jean Todt, added.

Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes. (Photo: WRi2)

At Williams this year, Massa has often grappled with bad luck and the appearance that his young teammate, Valtteri Bottas, is a man of the future.

But an emotional Massa had a strong weekend in his native Brazil last weekend, finishing on the podium for the second time in 2014.

"Having the opportunity to take revenge on a situation he could not control was an impetus," Jean Todt explained. "To finally have a good machine in his hands gave him even more motivation.

"Circumstances were such that points were not always easy -- I talk not of bad luck but adverse circumstances. In contrast, the second half of the season has been very good.

"He also was not disappointed by the results of Bottas -- quite the opposite," Todt continued. "It was proof of a good car and a good team," he added.

"His (Massa's) commitment is total in all areas. He also knows that he is no longer 20 and has not so many seasons ahead of him, hence his desire not to give up.

"I have rarely seen him happier. Williams is definitely a British super team, but paradoxically I also see that it is more at ease, without pressure, without politics," said Jean Todt.

From GMM

Toto Wolff has hit back at claims F1 is heading into a spending war because of Mercedes' attitude amid the engine 'unfreeze' debate.

Christian Horner, the boss at Renault works team Red Bull, said in Brazil that because dominant Mercedes is not helping F1's struggling suppliers to catch up, the entire cost-limiting freeze could be ended altogether beyond 2015.

"With a majority vote, 2016/17/18 can be opened, which is ridiculous because we will all end up spending a lot more money over a longer period of time," he said.

Horner's Mercedes counterpart Wolff, however, clearly suspects Horner is applying pressure and making threats that are not likely to be carried through.

"No serious company would allow that to happen and none of the current engine suppliers could allow that to happen because costs would escalate totally out of control," he said.

Toto Wolff, Mercedes AMG. (Photo: WRi2)

Wolff even claimed he knows that Red Bull's works supplier, Renault, does not want the engine 'freeze' to be totally relaxed.

"Where Mercedes and Renault are currently 100 per cent aligned is that with the current V6 technology it is state of the art, road relevant and is the future," he insisted.

Wolff suggested Horner's other threat - that F1 might be better off reverting to cheaper and more performance-equalised V8 engines - is also empty.

His comments follow Niki Lauda's warning that if the V8s do return, "Mercedes will be gone".

"If we drop the current format," Toto Wolff confirmed, "I can assure you certain manufacturers like Renault and Mercedes would not be interested in supplying any other power unit."

McLaren test driver, Oliver Turvey shookdown the interim McLaren-Honda Formula 1 car Friday at Silverstone.

A current MP4-29 chassis was modified to accept Honda's new V6 turbo hybrid power unit.

McLaren-Honda MP4-29H (Photo: Honda F1)

Although the test session - designated as a private filming day - was held behind closed doors, Honda published these snapshots of its return to F1 on its Twitter account.

Due to the Sporting Regulations, the car, listed by the team as a MP4-29H, could not cover more than 100km today.

The car is expected to run again the upcoming Abu Dhabi test at the end of the month.

McLaren-Honda MP4-29H (Photo: Honda F1)

From wec.com

The No.14 Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1-H car took a second consecutive pole position in Bahrain Friday evening.

Neel Jani and Romain Dumas split their qualifying duties in the 25-minutes session to combine an overall four lap average time of 1m43.145, some 0.264s clear of title leaders Sebastien Buemi and Anthony Davidson in the No.8 Toyota Racing TS 040 Hybrid.

Jani, who set a clear fastest time in FP2 and FP3 at the Bahrain International Circuit started the early run in the Porsche 919 Hybrid rapidly, peaking with a 1m41.897 to set the best ever LMP1 lap at Bahrain International Circuit.

Romain Dumas then took over the cockpit after 11 minutes of the session and contributed a succession of quick laps to lower the average time and ultimately seal the overall pole position and the extra point.

The Porsche Team is confident that some small but significant mechanical changes to the 919 Hybrid since Shanghai will contribute a sustained challenge to Toyota Racing in the race tomorrow, as they aim to score their first race victory in their return to the premier class of endurance racing.

Davidson and Buemi, minds fixed firmly on their 2014 World Endurance Championship title quest, will line up alongside the #8 Toyota TS 040 Hybrid on the rolling front-row tomorrow afternoon. The pair need to finish fifth or higher in the LMP1-H class to seal the 2014 FIA WEC crown.

The first row of the grid is mirrored by the second row, as the No. 20 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley and Marc Lieb head the No. 7 Toyota Racing entry of Alex Wurz, Stephane Sarrazin and Mike Conway.

The No. 1 Audi driven by Andre Lotterer and Marcel Fassler in qualifying today will start in fifth place on the starting grid. As the closest challengers to Davidson and Buemi for the FIA World Endurance Championship for Drivers', the #2 Audi crew have a mountain to climb if they are to pull off an unlikely late title challenge.

In the LMP1-L class, the in-house Rebellion Racing qualifying battle was won by the No. 12 Rebellion R-One Toyota, as Nick Heidfeld and Nicolas Prost bettered the sister No. 13 Rebellion R-One driven by Fabio Leimer and Dominik Kraihamer by six-tenths of a second.

Competing in this weekend's WEC 6 Hours of Bahrain, Audi is hopeful that it has solved the issue that's caused chassis damage to three of its R18 e-tron quattros over the past two weekends in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

The German car manufacturer was forced to replace the tubs of both the Nos. 1 and 2 R18s, while its No. 1 car underwent a second tub change due to damage sustained in Thursday's practice session.

The team explained that the problem is happening after running over certain type of kerbs.

“It looks like it's a central hit taken with the way the design of the floor,” said Ralf Jüttner, technical director, Audi Sport Team Joest.

Car No. 1 of Tom Kristensen, Loic Duval and Lucas Di Grassi missed qualifying due to the tub change.

With no warm-up session prior to Saturday's 6-hour race, the rebuilt No. 1 car will head into the event without any track time.

Adapted from GMM

Friday's deadline looks set to come and go without Caterham Formula Team raising the $3.7 million it needs through crowdfunding.

The small team, in administration and fighting to keep its official entry alive by making the Abu Dhabi grid, has raised only just over $2 million within hours of its self-imposed deadline expiring.

Gerard Lopez, who as owner of Genii and Lotus is frustrated that F1's income model and high costs are threatening the survival of small teams, said it is "sad" Caterham even had to revert to the controversial use of fans' hard-earned money.

"Formula 1, which is a $1.6 billion business, and distributes over $900 million, and we're being asked if crowdfunding is a good idea to bring a team back. Seriously?" he is quoted by the Telegraph.

"Then it's even more disastrous than I think it is, in terms of ethics."

But even though Caterham may miss its crowdfunding target, the team's administrator and interim boss Finbarr O'Connell is still sounding confident.

He is quoted by the Times newspaper as saying the shortfall could be made up elsewhere.

"We are talking to a number of parties, who could make a substantial investment," said O'Connell.

In that case, he said the fan-sourced funding would only have to raise slightly more and "then we could make an executive decision to go" to Abu Dhabi.

"I still strongly believe we will be racing," said O'Connell.

Others think Caterham would be better off quietly closing its doors, as even if it does make Abu Dhabi, questions remain over its ability to produce a reasonable car for 2015.

"I have been talking to the administrator regularly," said Bernie Ecclestone.

"I wonder even if they can stay in, then what shape are they going to be in after such a layoff?" Ecclestone added.

In an interview with Campaign Asia-Pacific magazine, Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone declared the sport does not need to chase a younger audience.

The 84-year-old Briton believes it is difficult to ascertain what exactly the youth market wants and that in any case they are the wrong target audience for many of F1's big sponsors such as Rolex, UBS, Mercedes, Ferrari and others.

“I don't know what the so-called ‘young generation' of today really wants,” the controversial Ecclestone told reporter Atifa Silk.

“You ask a 15 or 16-year-old kid, ‘What do you want?' and they don't know. The challenge is getting the audience in the first place.”

Bernie Ecclestone (Photo: René Fagnan)

Ecclestone continued: “You have a brand that you want to put in front of a few hundred million people, I can do that easily for you on television. Now, you're telling me I need to find a channel to get this 15-year-old to watch F1 because somebody wants to put out a new brand in front of him? They are not going to be interested in the slightest bit.

“Young kids will see the Rolex brand, but are they going to go and buy one? They can't afford it. Or our other sponsor, UBS - these kids don't care about banking. They haven't got enough money to put in the bloody banks anyway. Most of these kids haven't got any money. I'd rather get to the 70-year-old guy who's got plenty of cash. That's what I think,” the billionaire explained.

The owner of the F1 commercial rights admitted that the sport needs to make better use of social media to promote itself.

He also conceded that today people have a bigger range of activities to spend their free time on.

“You're right that we should use social media to promote Formula One. I just don't know how,” Benie Ecclestone said.

“They say the kids watch things on [tablets and phones], but it doesn't mean they're watching F1. And even if they are today, will they still watch it when they are 40?

“The world has changed so much in the last few years, and I doubt that's going to stop. But with all the technology out there are limits to what we can do and the amount of time people can watch something,” the Briton said.

Under heavy pressure to boost output of replacement inflators for airbags amid a recall crisis, Takata is preparing to build two new production lines at its plant in Monclova, Mexico.

Delphi Automotive agreed to give thousands of documents to lawyers suing General Motors over faulty ignition switches and to let the lawyers speak with the supplier's employees in exchange for being dropped as a defendant.

Mazda Motor Corp. will offer an unlimited mileage warranty to consumers who buy or lease a vehicle in Canada beginning with the 2015 model year, the automaker said today.

Local Motors, the company that 3-D printed and assembled a drivable car in just five days, is at it again -- this time with one less day and several more ambitious plans for 2015.

Features 15 Nov, 2014

We're at the 2014 Wales Rally GB bringing to an alternative access-all-areas view of the action

Mercedes-Benz ranked highest in sales satisfaction among luxury brands in the J.D. Power 2014 U.S. Sales Satisfaction Index Study released today. For a fifth consecutive year, Mini ranks highest among mass-market brands, with a score of 727.