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From GMM

Porsche chief executive Matthias Muller has now added his confirmation to reports the German marque is not interested in entering formula one.

Already this week, the fabled Volkswagen-owned sports car company's research and development chief Wolfgang Hatz said F1 "has never been an issue for us and won't be.

"Le Mans is a more attractive environment for us -- there are more and more competitors and we learn more about the production of road cars," he told Auto Motor und Sport.

Now, Hatz's boss Muller has nailed the lid on the total rejection of formula one by Porsche, who in 2015 will field drivers including Mark Webber and Nico Hulkenberg in the premier LMP1 prototype category at fabled Le Mans.

Referring to the three-year decision to enter Le Mans in 2014 rather than another top category like F1, he told DPA news agency: "We have not looked back once and we are perfectly happy.

"We think LMP1 is the future", Muller said, adding that in contrast F1 appears to be "in more and more difficulty".

Russian Vladimir Vasilyev took his maiden stage victory in the 2015 Dakar Rally while Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah still leads the overall standings.

MINI X-raid driver Vasilyev set the pace from the start of the stage and had a trouble-free run to give MINI its fifth win in as many stages of the event.

The Russian, who finished 10th overall in last year's Dakar, completed the 285-mile special 20 seconds ahead of Yazeed Al-Rajhi's Toyota.

American Robby Gordon was third quickest in his truck, 1m25s behind the stage winner, while rally leader Nasser Al-Attiyah finished in fourth, two places ahead of his main rival Giniel de Villiers, who saw the Qatari's lead increase to over 10 minutes after Thursday's stage.

However, former FIA World Rally champion Carlos Sainz rolled five times his Peugeot 2008 DKR and retired after five days of competition.

Carlos Sainz' Peugeot 2008 DKR. (Photo: Dakar.com)

Overall standings (after Stage 5)
1 Nasser Al-Attiyah,  MINI,  16h53m26
2 Giniel de Villiers,  Toyota,  +10m35
3 Yazeed Al-Rajhi,  Toyota,  +20m29
4 Krzysztof Holowczyc,  MINI,  +48m55
5 Erik van Loon,  MINI,  +53m25

Adapted from press release

Friday at 2pm local, the field of 89 cars took the start of the 2015 Hankook 24 Hours of Dubai.

The Fach Auto Tech Porsche team of Otto Klohs, Martin Ragginger, Jens Richter and Sven Muller started the race from pole position and led early on, but within the first three hours Mercedes took control hogging the top four positions with the Black Falcon cars first and second.

24 Hours of Dubaï 2015. (Photo: Dubai Autodrome)

The number two car of Abdulaziz Al Faisal, Hubert Haupt, Yelmer Buurman and Oliver Webb leading from the sister Abu Dhabi Racing backed car in the hands of UAE's Khaled Al Qubaisi, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Bernd Schneider and Andreas Simonsen.

In third place was the GT Russia Mercedes with multiple UAE champion Karim Al Azhari sharing the cockpit with Alexey Vasilyev, Marko Asmer, Karim Al Azhari and Kevin Korjus with the SPS Automotive Performance Mercedes in fourth.

UAE based teams and drivers were battling it out a the sharp end of their respective classes, with the Memac Ogilvy Duel Racing SEAT leading the A3T class and the Lap57 Honda slugging it out among the top three in the A2 Class.

From Formula1.com

Formula 1 racing's governing body, the FIA, has formally confirmed how the new virtual safety car (VSC) system will work ahead of the 2015 season.

The concept was introduced in the wake of Jules Bianchi's crash in last year's Japanese Grand Prix, and was trialled during practice at the last three races of 2014.

The procedures have now been agreed and set out as part of the 2015 sporting regulations, which state the VSC may be used to neutralise a race, and will "normally be used when double waved yellow flags are needed on any section of track and competitors or officials may be in danger, but the circumstances are not such as to warrant the use of the safety car itself".

Once the virtual safety car has been called, all electronic marshal panels around the track will display 'VSC', while teams will be notified via the official messaging system.

Drivers will not be allowed to enter the pits, unless changing tires, and must stay above the minimum time set by the FIA at least once in each marshalling sector.

Cars may not be driven "unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in a manner which could be deemed potentially dangerous," with those who fail to stay above the minimum time to be sanctioned by the stewards.

When the clerk of the course is satisfied it is safe to resume racing, teams will be notified via the official messaging system.

Then, "at any time between 10 and 15 seconds later, 'VSC' on the FIA light panels will change to green and drivers may continue racing immediately". After 30 seconds, the green lights will be extinguished.

From GMM

Fernando Alonso's former teammate doubts the Spaniard's high-profile switch from Ferrari to McLaren will result in instant success.

But Jarno Trulli, who was Alonso's teammate at Renault over a decade ago, does think the end of the five-year partnership with Ferrari was inevitable.

"I think after five years of marriage with Ferrari, when it did not result in a world championship, which is what Fernando expected, it is normal that the end came," the 40-year-old Italian said.

"For both sides. For Fernando and for Ferrari, who both want to win races and titles," said Trulli.

Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda, at Woking. (Photo: McLaren F1 Team)

A former Monaco winner, Jarno Trulli was speaking to Spain's EFE news agency from Buenos Aires, where as a team owner and driver he is preparing for the next Formula E race.

"It was the natural end of a relationship," he added, referring again to Alonso's Ferrari split.

"But now Fernando is at McLaren and, unfortunately, it doesn't look to be a better option for Alonso than Ferrari. At the moment, there is nowhere better to be if not at Mercedes.

"There are very few options, because the quality of formula one has suffered a dramatic decline in performance. There are only a few teams that can afford to develop engines and cars, because budgets are very high and the economic situation is not helping.

"That leaves you with very few options, and that's the situation Fernando is in now.

"It is a difficult situation," Trulli explained, "and hard to accept, even for him, because he obviously wants to fight for victory. But I think it's going to be another tough season this year with McLaren.

"I don't wish that for him, but it does not look good."

Trulli admitted that the political situation for McLaren's new works engine supplier Honda, who have been left out of the controversial development 'unfreeze', is yet another problem.

"For now," said the former Toyota driver, "I think the only good thing is that Fernando is going to be paid well. But on the technical side, I do not see McLaren being able to match the two or three best teams."

But one positive for Alonso, Trulli explained, is that he will likely not overly regret his decision to leave Ferrari.

"It has been difficult times for them (Ferrari)," he said, "changing people, taking wrong decisions. They did not benefit from the rule changes and lag behind technically, and - until recently - also politically.

"Now at least they succeeded politically with opening the engine freeze, but the main problem is that they need to turn the technical side around completely. You don't do that in a day. Not even in a year -- it takes a long time."

Jarno Trulli therefore tips Mercedes to dominate yet again in 2015.

"They have an enormous advantage," he said, "and the others are not going to catch up yet because I think last year they (Mercedes) still had something in their sleeve."

Paul Hembery, director of motorsport at Pirelli, told Sky Sports that the Italian tire manufacturer would adopt a more aggressive approach for the 2015 Formula 1 season.

Pirelli adopted a safe approach in 2014 as the sport introduced the new turbo hybrid V6 Power Units.

The suppliers have developed their engines during the winter months and we can expect this year's V6 to produce more top end power and torque.

“Last year people said we were a little bit too conservative and maybe a little bit boring, but I think it is more a case of we went into a year with new technology and there is a little bit of that this year,” Hembery told Sky Sports Online.

“We've seen some initial data that suggests the cars are going to make another good step in performance compared to last season and what might have been a conservative choice last season might become quite an aggressive one in 2015,” he explained.

The British engineer added that most tire compounds remain unchanged. “Just one change really, the supersoft is having a little bit of a tweak to it to improve its working range with the temperature ranges,” he added.

From GMM

Former Mercedes tester Sam Bird says F1 teams no longer scour the world's top racing categories in search of the best possible drivers.

28 today, the Briton was until recently a Mercedes simulator driver and a GP2 winner -- a resume that in decades past would have seen him knocking loudly on the door of the grand prix grid.

Instead, he is a frontrunner in the new Formula E series, on a grid filled with former F1 stars like Jarno Trulli and Jean-Eric Vergne, and F1 nearlymen like Bird and Antonio Felix da Costa.

Sam Bird, Virgin Racing. (Photo: FIA Formula E)

Bird is currently third in the standings, having won in Malaysia, but ahead of the forthcoming race in Buenos Aires he is not expecting the eyes of formula one to be on him.

"Formula one won't look at this and think 'Gosh he's a good driver, I've got to have him'," he told The Times. "Unless you've got a bottomless pit of money, they don't really look at you anymore."

Sam Bird, however, thinks that although the F1 teams are being forced to weigh money with talent, the strategy could ultimate backfire for the sport.

"Formula one needs youth in the long run because there's only so many years that Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button are going to be around and when they're gone, who are we going to end up with?" he said.

"The big teams spend so much money to get the points to get the prize money that makes them richer. It's just an endless circle in favour of the big teams, so the small teams don't have any choice but to take on drivers who have 15 to 20 million euros.

"There are some drivers, whether it's myself or drivers in GP2 or world endurance series, who have had potential or results required to warrant a chance but haven't even had a sniff of it due to lack of funding," Bird added.

"It's very frustrating but that's the way it is and it's not going to change."

Nissan and NASA formed a five-year pact to develop the technologies that will enable autonomous driving.

Mexico's light-vehicle output in 2014 rose 10 percent from 2013 to a record 3.22 million units, while exports increased 9 percent to an all-time high of 2.64 million vehicles, a trade group said.

Features 9 Jan, 2015

We attended the opening of London's first major classic car show and here's our gallery of the highlights

Vehicles that drive themselves on the freeway or take over in traffic jams may be on the road in large numbers by 2017 and autonomous cars might create a $42 billion market for the technology by 2025, Boston Consulting Group said.

J. Stuart Perkins, who steered Volkswagen to a US sales record that has held for 45 years, will be remembered at a memorial service in Florida on Saturday. Perkins died in Sarasota on Dec. 25. He was 86.

With 32,369 units sold, American Honda's CR-V was the market's best selling SUV in December. Another upset: the Toyota Camry was toppled as the No. 1 car. And, the BMW 3/4 Series made it into the top ten best selling cars list, outselling two Hyundais and the Chevy Cruze. It's looking like being an unusual 2015 in the US.

Renault and PSA/Peugeot-Citroen stopped production lines during a nationwide minute's silence in remembrance of the victims of a terror attack on a Paris-based newspaper.

Renault and PSA/Peugeot-Citroen stopped production lines during a nationwide minute's silence in remembrance of the victims of a terror attack on a Paris-based newspaper, a media report said.

KAR Auction Services, parent of ADESA, has named Peter Kelly president of its new Digital Services Group, effective immediately. Kelly, 46, co-founded Openlane in 1999 and has been KAR's chief technology officer since 2013.

Honda agreed to pay a record $70 million in fines and submit to stricter oversight for failing to tell the US government about warranty claims and more than 1,700 injuries and deaths linked to potential defects in its cars.

Hoegh Autoliners says it will require around 30h to pump out up to 3,000t of water which has poured into its Osaka vessel carrying 1,300 cars and ahead of severe storms expected to batter southern Britain tomorrow (9 January).

Articles 26 Jan, 2015

Design your dream Aston Martin and win a behind-the-scenes trip to the factory

Volvo will debut the S60 Cross Country at the Detroit auto show next week. Volvo has increased the sedan's ride height by 2.5 inches and added all-wheel drive. The S60 Cross Country will go on sale in the United States this summer.