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From press release

Antoine L'Estage and Alan Ockwell of the Yokohama Canada Rally Team won the Rocky Mountain Rally, a two-day competition on the sinuous roads of eastern British Columbia. The two day event forced competitors to race in varied conditions including wet and slippery roads on the final day of action.

“It was a tough day today,” said L'Estage, who struggled with a flat tire and power steering problems throughout the second day of the rally. “We only had one good stage today. I tried to push as hard as I could to compensate for the problems and it paid off with another victory.”

L'Estage clinched the 2014 driver's championship at the Pacific Forest Rally in October. Ockwell needs just two more points to clinch the co-driver title, having joined L'Estage part way through the season.

Antoine L'Estage, Alan Ockwell (Photo: Andrew Snucins)

Martin Rowe and Nathalie Richard have been working hard to increase the pace of the new 2015 Subaru WRX STI rally car. The Rocky Mountain Rally marks the car's third event and Subaru Rally Team Canada have shown considerable improvement.

The team won three of the stages on the second day and closed the gap to L'Estage and Ockwell.

“We're in a good place and the car has been 100% reliable,” said Rowe. “There are still improvements to be made, but we can focus more on driving the car faster with fewer changes to the setup. The car is really starting to show its potential.”

Following a frustrating start on Friday, Hardy Schmidtkeand John Hall were able to fend off challengers to take the final spot on the podium. The team arrived at the first stage of the rally already suffering from a mysterious oil leak. The car was eventually repaired allowing the team to return to a faster pace.

Rocky Mountain Rally Final Results
1. Antoine L'Estage - Alan Ockwell - one hour, 44 minutes, 57.1 seconds
2. Martin Rowe - Nathalie Richard - 1:45:58.8
3. Hardy Schmidtke - John Hall - 1:55:36.0
4. Alex Kozlov - Martin Matas - 1:58:29.0
5. Boris Djordjevic - Chris Kremer - 2:02:51.3
6. Josh Shewchuk - Keith Morison - 2:08:12.4
7. Nicholas Spencer - John Kesslar - 2:09:30.2
8. Mattiew Perron - Robin Chapelski - 2:10:33:3
9. Graham Bruce - Martin Burnley - 2:13:38.8
10. John Munroe - Spencer Armstrong - 2:16:27.1

From GMM

The smell of crisis is in the air in Austin, as Bernie Ecclestone scrabbles to end a boycott threat and put failing teams back on track.

With Caterham and Marussia absent from the US grand prix garages, the next set of struggling privateers - Lotus, Force India and Sauber - have reportedly threatened to also sit out Sunday's race in protest of the sport's income distribution model.

"I think we're going to race," Frenchman Romain Grosjean, racing for Lotus, said on Saturday. "I'm sure we're going to race."

But Bob Fernley, the increasingly furious deputy principal at Force India, has a different view. "Nothing is off the table at this point," he insisted.

"Everything and anything is possible."

Many observers believe the boycott threat is an empty one, including F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, who told reporters it was "crap".

"I promise they will be racing. I give you a guarantee," he said. "But I worry if they will be racing next year."

Indeed, in a incredibly rare show of mea culpa for the 84-year-old Briton, he admitted his income distribution tables - giving the most to the rich and the least to the poor - may in fact be the cause of the current problem.

"The problem is there is too much money being distributed badly - probably my fault - but, like lots of agreements people make, they seemed a good idea at the time," he said.

Bernie Ecclestone (Photo: WRI2)

Ecclestone said there is no easy way to undo the situation now.

"If one team is given 10,000, everyone has to have 10,000," he revealed.

He said his ideal solution would be to get some of the bigger teams to agree to give up some of their bonus income to give to the "three or four teams we know are in trouble".

"Then I would put in the same amount of money," said Ecclestone. "But there would not be one (big) team that would think it was a bloody good idea."

He said he will therefore have to go over the heads of team employees like Ferrari boss Marco Mattiacci and Mercedes' Niki Lauda, and speak directly to the carmaker parents.

"I think it's probably what will have to happen," said Ecclestone, but he suddenly ruled out the idea that three-car teams is the best solution.

"I'm not happy," he concluded. "We'll have to do something about it."

From press release

Toyota Racing took its second consecutive FIA World Endurance Championship 1-2 finish at Shanghai today with the #8 Toyota TS 040 Hybrid heading home the #7 car, to further extend its championship lead.

Anthony Davidson and Sebastien Buemi finished the race 1m12s ahead of their stable mates Alex Wurz, Stephane Sarrazin and Kazuki Nakajima after another dominant display by the Japanese manufacturer.

Completing the podium today was the pole sitting #14 Porsche 919 Hybrid driven by Romain Dumas, Marc Lieb and Neel Jani.

In the LMP1-L class the #12 Rebellion Racing entry of Nick Heidfeld, Nicolas Prost and Mathias Beche took a fifth victory of the 2014 season.

G-Drive Racing scored a conclusive victory in LMP2 with Olivier Pla, Roman Rusinov and Julien Canal further reducing the point deficit to Sergey Zlobin, who finished third in the #27 SMP Racing Oreca-Nissan along with team mates Nicolas Minassian and Maurizio Mediani.

In LMGTE Pro it was the Porsche Team Manthey squad celebrating a 1-2 finish, with the #92 crew of Frederic Makowiecki and Patrick Pilet heading their #91 team mates Jorg Bergmeister and Richar Lietz.

LMGTE Am also saw a 1-2, with Aston Martin Racing enjoying a formation finish. The #98 Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8 took the victory ahead of the championship leading #95 car.

From GMM

Sauber looks set to field an all-new driver lineup next year, after confirming Caterham refugee Marcus Ericsson is joining the Swiss team in 2015.

Supposedly caught up in the boycott threat ahead of Sunday's US grand prix, Sauber has already admitted that either Adrian Sutil or Esteban Gutierrez will definitely be leaving at the end of the year.

It is rumoured Swede Ericsson, in Austin this weekend despite the absence of his current team Caterham, was announced by Sauber for 2015 only after his sponsors made a pre-payment.

Reports have estimated his personal backing at as much as $20 million.

"It is unfortunately the case that we must see the drivers as a source of income," team boss Monisha Kaltenborn is quoted by Germany's Sport Bild. "A lot of the teams are in the same position."

Giedo van der Garde, Sauber C33 (Photo: WRI2)

It is rumoured both German Sutil and Mexican Gutierrez, despite the latter's close links to billionaire Carlos Slim, will be ousted following next month's Abu Dhabi finale.

That is despite Sutil having a signed 2015 contract.

"That should not be a problem for Sauber," predicted former F1 driver and pundit for German television Sky, Marc Surer. "Sauber can easily pay him off."

Sutil's manager Manfred Zimmermann, however, insisted: "For us, nothing has changed."

But respected media sources including the specialist Auto Motor und Sport and Switzerland's Blick claim Dutchman Giedo van der Garde, who like Ericsson is heavily sponsored, will be the second Sauber race driver next season.

"There is a lot of speculation," Sutil said, referring to rumours Sauber will have no option but to run pay-drivers in 2015.

"Of course the situation in the team is not easy, but I hope they will be in a better way soon."

Takata, adding to questions about the scope of defects in its products, made another 30,687 inflators with an incorrect part that can lead to damaging airbag ruptures in newer vehicles, U.S. regulators disclosed Saturday.

News 3 Nov, 2014

Sunderland-built Nissan Qashqai crossover reaches British production milestone faster than Mini or Ford Fiesta

VW Group was told by China's quality watchdog to submit supporting documents after the carmaker's handling of a recall triggered consumer protests.

A safety flaw in Takata airbags prompted a new automobile recall even as U.S. regulators questioned whether the company is moving quickly enough to produce replacement parts to repair previously recalled cars.

Toyota's new hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle broke cover at a Japan rally race this weekend with speed demon Akio Toyoda behind the wheel to prove that the green car is also a mean one.

BMW is among a group of carmakers investing in Brazil as a growing middle class fuels a surge in car sales, but high costs, poor infrastructure and few trade agreements mean Brazil can't compete with rival Mexico.

Jaguar Land Rover dealers struggling because of acute shortages of key products likely will see relief toward the end of the year and in early 2015.

General Motors has launched a cutting-edge digital marketing tool to reach customers on Facebook and other popular websites. It assigned one of its top marketing executives to the effort.

The EU's new 2030 climate and energy targets create uncertainty for automakers because they let member states decide whether to include transport pollution in the EU's carbon emissions trading system.

BorgWarner CEO James Verrier is working to double the size of the powertrain parts specialist to $15 billion by 2022. As fuel economy standards tighten, BorgWarner expects to see revenues increase despite tougher competition.

The EU's new 2030 climate and energy targets create uncertainty for automakers because they let member states decide whether to include transport pollution in the EU's carbon emissions trading system.

Aston Martin has been granted a temporary exemption to new U.S. safety rules that would have stopped it from selling hundreds of cars in one of its key markets, regulators said.

Ferrari's $3.5 million fine by the U.S. government is the largest ever imposed on an automaker for failing to quickly report customer complaints, injuries and alleged defects to regulators.

Not long ago, the styling of China's domestic brands was a laughingstock. Not anymore. Chinese automakers are hiring experienced foreign designers to mentor their fledgling programs.

From NASCAR.com

For the first time in NASCAR history a driver topped 200 mph in a qualifying lap on a 1.5-mile track, and it was Tony Stewart who did the honours in the second of three rounds of qualifying on Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway.

Stewart set the track qualifying record with a lap of 200.111 mph, breaking the previous record of 198.282 mph set by Kevin Harvick in April of 2014.

The man known as 'Smoke' lit up the leaderboard with the lap of 26.985 seconds and gained the attention of Chase drivers such as Coors Light Pole Award winner Matt Kenseth.

"I never dreamed we'd see a lap time like that around here unless they paved it," Kenseth said. "It's incredibly fast."

For Stewart it was a highlight in a difficult season, and it came on the heels of a top-five finish at Martinsville. That was Stewart's first top-five since March at Auto Club Speedway, and combined with the good qualifying run gives Stewart something to build on as he looks towards the 2015 season.

Stewart was surprised when he broke the 200-mph barrier, saying over the radio, "Didn't look that fast."

Although he set the record in the second round, Stewart ended up qualifying sixth and will share Row 3 with teammate Kevin Harvick for the start of Sunday's AAA Texas 500. He expressed some regret about not being able to hit the top speed in the third round of qualifying but was still pleased with the record.

"It is always cool to be the first guy to be able to do anything," Stewart said.

From GMM

Sebastian Vettel will make a brief appearance during qualifying on Saturday ahead of the US grand prix in Austin.

Earlier, team figures suggested the reigning world champion would sit out the session because penalties for running his sixth 'power unit' of 2014 means he will start the race from pitlane.

Red Bull has now confirmed Vettel's pitlane start, but it appears the 27-year-old will no longer simply sit out the qualifying action.

Rumours suggest the FIA was unimpressed with Vettel and the team's vocal criticisms of the long-life engine rules and the associated penalties.

It might mean stewards are less inclined to give the German driver an exemption from the 107 per cent qualifying rule and force him to also sit out the race.

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull RB10 (Photo: WRI2)

Another rumour is that Bernie Ecclestone put pressure on Red Bull to at least send Vettel onto the circuit during the 'Q1' session, to appease the locals and television audience.

"Out of respect for the audience," confirmed the German newspaper Bild, "Red Bull decided late on Friday afternoon to let Vettel drive at least in the first session of qualifying, although he will start the race from pitlane."

Meanwhile, American F1 legend and 1978 world champion Mario Andretti has tipped Vettel to emulate Michael Schumacher's success once he switches to Ferrari from 2015.

"Michael knew exactly what he was doing," the 74-year-old told the German newspaper Die Welt ahead of the US grand prix.

"He took the men who he succeeded with at Benetton to Ferrari and after a few years they were unbeatable.

"I would advise Sebastian to do the same -- maybe he will even persuade Adrian Newey to go with him.

"That would certainly be the ideal situation, because - for sure - Ferrari needs more than just a new driver," Andretti added.