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Jaguar's first crossover, the F-Pace, will be a rival to the Porsche Macan. The UK sports car brand released a teaser picture and some details of the model ahead of the crossover's sales launch next year.

Jaguar will launch its first crossover next year. It will be called the F-Pace. The all-wheel-drive car will be a rival to models such as the BMW X3 and Audi Q5.

Toyota's electric car-sharing experiment in Grenoble, France, hit problems after several of the carmaker's i-Road vehicles were vandalized.

Buick is getting its first convertible since the Reatta 25 years ago, an effort to inject some fun into a lineup that's been rebuilt with a stable of core models.

From GMM

Jean-Eric Vergne has admitted he has set his sights on Kimi Raikkonen's 2016 race seat at Ferrari.

The Frenchman, developed and groomed by Red Bull, was dropped by the energy drink company's second team Toro Rosso at the end of last year.

He has rescued his F1 career with a test driver role at the sport's grandee team Ferrari, although the top reserve seat was already filled by the heavily Mexican-backed Esteban Gutierrez.

"Honestly," Vergne told Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport, "I prefer having the job of working on the simulator and doing something useful, rather than being the reserve.

"Today, the role of a third driver is to be at the track without doing anything special. Not being able to help to the team would be frustrating, so I feel that mine is an important task," he added.

Vergne insists he has "no disappointment" at having been dropped by Red Bull, as his new challenge at Ferrari awaits and he heads to Maranello this week to visit the factory for the first time.

Jean-Eric Vergne is now Kimi Raikkonen's teammate at Ferrari (Photo: WRI2)

It is suggested Finn Raikkonen could vacate his Ferrari race seat at the end of this year.

"I know I gave my best and that's why I have no regrets," said Vergne, referring to his lost Toro Rosso seat. "And now I'm at Ferrari which is also a great opportunity for 2016.

"If I was not able to race this year, I think what I have is better than being at Caterham or Marussia and always being last."

He admits that the arrival at Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, the highest-profile Red Bull-groomed F1 star, may have helped him secure the job in red.

"I've known him since I was working on the Red Bull simulator when I was in F3," said Vergne. "I've always had a great relationship with him, as I do as well with Kimi.

"Surely the fact that he (Vettel) went to Ferrari did help, but I also know that my name was mentioned by others - I talked a lot with Massimo Rivola, for example," he added.

Former Williams, McLaren and Red Bull driver David Coulthard thinks the new points system regarding superlicence regulations is a good idea.

Indeed, under the new scheme, young drivers must accumulate 40 points in order to obtain a superlicense and race in F1. This must be done over a three-year period, with points being allocated according to which motorsport series they have participated in and how they performed.

Although he agrees with this idea, Coulthard thinks the system must be flexible, and not favour some series over others.

"I haven't looked closely at how the points situation plays out but it seems to me that they have created a league that favours some of the lower formulas over others," he said during Autosport's motorsport show.

Young drivers can no longer simply by their way into F1 (Photo: WRI2)

"Personally, having been to a few of the undercard race series, I am not sure the actual points are how I would lay them out.

"Some of those championships deserve more than they have been given.

"That said, you are not going to please everybody so you have to create a system which at least makes it that someone has to achieve a level of success to be given the opportunity to move up to the big time beyond just turning up with a big cheque.

"So the basis of the concept of it, I agree with."

Overall leader of the 2015 Dakar, Nasser Al-Attiyah lost some ground on Saturday.

The Qatari driver suffered from altitude sickness during the seventh stage of the event, which is partially run some 3,500 metres above sea level.

"I suffered from rather bad headache that made me feel every single hole and bump," he said after finishing only in seventh place. "Now I need to recover (...)."

It will be difficult for Al-Attiyah to recover on Sunday, as competitors complete a gruelling two-day, 830-kilometre marathon with no help from the assistance crew, and again altitudes of over 3,500 metres.

Overall standings (after day 7):

1 Nasser Al-Attiyah, MINI, 23h11m50
2 Giniel de Villiers, Toyota, +8m14
3 Yazeed Al-Rajhi, Toyota, +21m16
4 Krzysztof Holowczyc, MINI, +54m02
5 Bernhard Ten Brinke, Toyota, +57m03

From Dakar.com

Two-time 24 Hours of le Mans winner, Romain Dumas is entering his first Dakar in 2015, behind the wheel of a buggy.

After six relatively easy stages, the Frenchman and his co-driver François Borsotto were 37^th in the overall standings. Then the problems started.

On their way to Uyuni, Bolivia, Dumas and Borsotto were slowed down by electrical problems, which came as a result of a lenghty river-crossing.

"There is no other way to put it. My car became boat," said the endurance driver.

"First, the windshield washer mecanism broke, making our lives difficult. We couldn't see anything with the windshield fogging up. Then we hit a pothole, which almost broke our spines.

"A little further down the road, we had to cross a river. We were doing quite well, even though I had water up to my seat. Then I got stuck on some rocks I had failed to notice. We took so much water in, the whole electrical system went kaputt."

Luckily, the pair got out with the help of a Bolivian group and, after many hours of work, even managed to repair the damages the water had caused.

The youngest ever F1 superlicence holder is getting closer to obtaining his regular driver's licence.

Max Verstappen passed his driving theory test last Friday, and scored 47 out of 50, which means he is now allowed to drive on the public roads, but only under supervision. He will have to wait until he turns 18, on September 17, 2015, to pass his practical test.

"It wasn't as tough as I thought," he commented. "I studied for about seven hours and because I'm a quick learner it wasn't all that hard."

So far this winter, Verstappen has also been working on his stamina and strength, to be ready for his first season of grand prix racing.

"Since the start of January, me and my personal trainer have been working out hard," he revealed.

"Every day we do two sessions of two hours in the gym. It's tough but it's really benefiting my neck muscles, arms, core and back. At this moment in time, it's all about developing strength. It's a challenge but I'm more than happy to do this."

Antonio Felix da Costa clinched victory in an action-packed Buenos Aires ePrix ahead of e.dams-Renault's Nicolas Prost and China Racing's Nelson Piquet Jr.

The Amlin Aguri driver kept clear of trouble and slowly made his way into the lead as his rivals fell by the wayside. Both polesitter Sebastien Buemi and championship leader Lucas di Grassi retired with suspension failures at the fast Turn 8 and 9 chicane.

Antonio Felix da Costa, Buenos Aires (Photo: WRI2)

Venturi's Nick Heidfeld looked favourite to win in the closing stages but a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pitlane scuppered his chances.

Da Costa, who missed the opening round in Beijing, progressed up the field from eighth on the grid to collect the full 25 points.

Prost managed to steer clear of the battle between Daniel Abt and Jaime Alguersuari in the closing stages, an over-optimistic move by the Audi Sport ABT driver sent the Spaniard into a spin. Abt was out on the spot, but Alguersuari managed to limp his car home in fourth.

Piquet picked up his second consecutive podium despite being held behind the red light and losing a lap in the pitlane during the safety car period.

Bruno Senna, who was one of the FanBoost winners, finished fifth ahead of a feisty Jean-Eric Vergne who damaged his nosecone in the fight for the final podium spot.

Before the race all the drivers, teams and the Formula E Championship together with the City of Buenos Aires, Argentinean authorities and the FIA President Jean Todt gathered on the grid for a minute silence to pay respect to the victims of the dramatic terrorist attack which happened in Paris earlier this week.

Nicolas Prost, Antonio Felix da Costa, Nelson Piquet Jr (Photo: WRI2)

Race results - Buenos Aires ePrix (round 4)
1. Antonio Felix da Costa, Amlin Aguri, 48:52.100
2. Nicolas Prost, e.dams-Renault, +5.354s
3. Nelson Piquet Jr, China Racing, +8.552s
4. Jaime Alguersuari, Virgin Racing, +11.148s
5. Bruno Senna, Mahindra Racing, +11.535s
6. Jean-Eric Vergne, Andretti, +11.535s
7. Sam Bird, Virgin Racing, +13.617s
8. Nick Heidfeld, Venturi, +15.464s
9. Oriol Servia, Dragon Racing, +19.334s
10. Stephane Sarrazin, Venturi, +28.973s
11. Ho-Pin Tung, China Racing, +37.858s
12. Marco Andretti, Andretti,+1 lap
13. Daniel Abt, Audi Sport ABT, +2 laps
14. Jerome d'Ambrosio, Dragon Racing, +2 laps
15. Jarno Trulli, Trulli, DNF
16. Lucas di Grassi, Audi Sport ABT, DNF
17. Sebastien Buemi, e.dams-Renault, DNF
18. Michela Cerruti, Trulli, DNF
19. Karun Chandhok, Mahindra Racing, DNF
Salvador Duran, Amlin Aguri, Excluded

Audi will kick off one of the most aggressive two-year model expansions in the luxury-car industry at the Detroit auto show as the German marque closes in on BMW, which sold a record of more than 2 million cars last year.

Tammy Darvish, the well-known face of DARCARS Automotive Group, is suing her father, John Darvish Sr., and the company he founded, after being left out of the dealership group's ownership team.

The new Fabia five-door hatchback, on sale this month in Britain, is shorter but roomier and weighs an average 65kg less, boasts the largest boot in its segment and is competitively priced (from GBP10,600). But gone, sadly, is the vRS.

Dodge, recast as a performance brand, plans to use three high-powered halo vehicles and new advertising aimed at younger buyers to keep sales steady in 2015. In May, Dodge gave up to the Chrysler brand its previous role as FCA US's full-range brand.

Silicon Valley's blistering pace of product development has prompted some very large, very traditional automotive suppliers to try to reinvent themselves as technology startups.

Renault hopes its new Espace will appeal to business customers as family buyers increasingly shun minivans. With the latest Espace, the automaker has opted for sleeker crossover styling and now offers an upscale Initiale Paris badged version.

Honda President Takanobu Ito will be a notable no-show in Detroit next week when he sends company deputies to unveil a new version of the high-end supercar that helped catapult him into the top job.

General Motors plans to introduce by 2017 an electric car that will travel about 200 miles on a single charge, a person with knowledge of GM's plans said.

Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1 team has spent several millions of dollars for making the acquisition of several dynamic test benches.

According to Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, Ferrari has purchased and will install four dynamic test benches provided by Austrian company AVL for a total cost of $40 millions.

A dynamic test bench allows testing of the complete car as if it was running on a race track, but in a closed environment.

It is generally destined to validate hardware and software running of the V6 turbo hybrid power unit in conditions close to reality, including heat and vibrations.

Last year, Red Bull Racing tested his troublesome RB10-Renault at AVL's facility in Graz.

An Audi road car running on an AVL test bench. (Photo: AVL)

Veteran Formula 1 driver, German Adrian Sutil is likely to compete in endurance racing this season in an attempt to return in Formula 1 in 2016.

Sutil is apparently ready to compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship this season before trying to return to Grand Prix racing with the new Haas F1 Team the following year.

Some motorsport web sites insist that Haas F1 Team director, Gunther Steiner, is a fan of Sutil, especially because of his huge experience of the Ferrari engines.

Rumour has it that Sutil recently travelled to Stuttgart, Germany to pay visit to the Porsche Motorsport directors.

Sutil may join his fellow countryman Nico Hulkenberg in the third Porsche 919 Hybrid at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and the 24 Hours of Le Mans this spring.