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News 6 Jan, 2015

Volkswagen's R Touch interior tech concept has premiered at the CES show in Las Vegas, featuring advanced gesture control

Plummeting petrol prices and rising consumer confidence helped automakers close out the 2014 sales year in impressive style.

BMW's mainstream models could soon benefit from technology offered in the i3 and i8, such as carbon fiber construction and high-performance low-CO2 powertrains, BMW brand sales boss Ian Robertson told Automotive News Europe.

Mercedes-Benz unveiled a concept car that illustrates its vision of luxury circa 2030, when self-driving vehicles would be sophisticated enough for drivers to be able to hand over control to a network of computer chips and sensors.

2014 is almost over, and that means it's time for the annual car company boasting ritual.

Former Formula 1 driver, Brazilian Rubens Barrichello will contest the 24 Hours of Daytona later in January.

Last year, Barrichello competed in that endurance race behind the wheel of a Porsche 911 GT3.

This time, the most experienced Grand Prix driver will be driving a Starworks Motorsports Dinan BMW Riley prototype alongside former IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, Porsche WEC driver Brendon Hartley, Tor Graves and Scott Mayer.

The Rolex 24 at Daytona is the opening round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.

From press release

The Race of Champions Asphalt Modified Series officially announced their 2015 racing schedule, with three dates reserved on Oswego Speedway's 65th anniversary slate, including the annual Sunoco Race of Champions Modified 200.

In what we will be a dramatic lid lifter to Oswego's 65th season, the Race of Champions Asphalt Modifieds will make their first trip to the Steel Palace in 2015 on Saturday, May 9, joining Oswego's Novelis Supermodifieds and Pathfinder Bank SBS for a three division show to open Oswego's season featuring the Richie Evans Memorial 75 for the ground pounders.

The Evans Memorial, won last season at Oswego by Matt Hirschman, will be the third event on the RoC calendar and will have a reserved rain date set for Saturday, May 16.

The RoC Modifieds will then make Oswego home during the month of September, returning for two of the biggest weekends in short track racing, the Budweiser International Classic Weekend and Sunoco Race of Champions Weekend.

The Modifieds will once again be the main racing attraction on Friday night of Oswego's Classic Weekend, with a 100-lap main event capping the first of three nights of action on September 4. The mighty Modifieds will join 'Fast 14' International Classic time trials for the Novelis Supermodifieds as well as time trials and heat racing for the Small Block Super Classic.

Just two weeks later, the Mods return to be featured in the most historic Modified event in the country, the Sunoco Race of Champions Modified 200.

The RoC 200 will return to a Saturday race date on September 19, and will again be paired with Oswego's Novelis Supermodified 75-lap championship main event to declare Oswego's coveted track championship.

In total the Race of Champions Asphalt Modified Series will turn 375-laps of green flag action at the Steel Palace in 2015, adding to what promises to be a star studded 65th anniversary campaign at Oswego Speedway.

2015 Oswego Speedway RoC Modified Schedule:
• Saturday, May 9 - 65th Opening Night: Richie Evans Memorial 75
• Friday, September 4 - Budweiser Classic Weekend: Modified Classic 100
• Saturday, September 19 - Sunoco Race of Champions Weekend: RoC Modified 200

From nascar.com

Daniel Knost will serve as crew chief for Danica Patrick in the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

A spokesperson for the Stewart-Haas Racing team confirmed to NASCAR.com on Monday afternoon that the interim tag had been removed from Knost's title.

Patrick, a former IndyCar driver, completed her second full Sprint Cup season last year with three top-10 finishes and a final rank of 28th in the driver standings.

She was paired with Tony Gibson for the bulk of her two seasons in the Stewart-Haas No. 10 Chevrolet until a late-season switch teamed her with Knost for the last three races of 2014.

"We worked together a little bit at the end of last season. I think that was a really good thing to do in preparation for 2015,” Danica Patrick told AL.com.

“Everybody at Stewart-Haas has been working very hard to make sure that every team is as good from top to bottom as possible, and we'll probably have some changes for next year within the team, but it's like I said, you never know what you can have until you dare to try something different. Daniel is a very smart guy and I'm excited to see what we can do."

From Corvette Racing press release

Corvette Racing will head into the opening round of the IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship with an impressive GTLM driver line-up for North America's premier endurance race.

Verizon IndyCar series competitor Ryan Briscoe returns to the Corvette Racing camp for the second straight year while another IndyCar driver, Simon Pagenaud will make his debut with the team at Daytona International Speedway.

Briscoe will share driving duties of the No. 3 Corvette C7.R with Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia, and Pagenaud will join Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner in the No. 4 C7.R at the annual Roar Before the 24 starting Jan. 9th.

The Roar serves as a three-day test ahead of the 53rd Rolex 24 At Daytona and the start of the TUDOR Championship.

In addition, Briscoe and Pagenaud will join the Corvette C7.R team at Sebring.

From GMM

Kevin Magnussen will not be making any Friday practice appearances in 2015.

As McLaren boss Ron Dennis explained last month, the 22-year-old Danish rookie's F1 race career has been put on "pause" for 2015.

That is because the Woking team selected his experienced teammate of last year, former world champion Jenson Button, to be Fernando Alonso's teammate as the new works Honda era kicks off.

Magnussen, whose father Jan similarly made his F1 debut for McLaren in 1995 before sitting out 1996 and returning a year later with Stewart, has instead been appointed the 2015 test and reserve driver.

Kevin Magnussen on the grid. (Photo: McLaren F1 Team)

Answering a question from one of his 157,000 Twitter followers on Tuesday, he said: "No Friday practices for me this year. I will be watching from the pitwall".

However, Magnussen sounded bullish about the future, adding the hashtag 'Never give up on the dream' to recent tweets.

Told by another fan that one race season in F1 is not enough, he replied: "I very much agree!"

Meanwhile, a McLaren spokesman confirmed reports the British team is in contact with the FIA after the governing body ruled that the only manufacturer not allowed to develop its engine this year is Honda.

"McLaren-Honda has already been in contact with the FIA with regard to this issue," he said, "but we do not wish to say anything further at this time."

Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah (MINI) regained the lead of the Dakar Rally, less than 24 hours after losing it with a time penalty on Day 1.

Day 2 started with Orlando Terranova (MINI) in the lead of the race, and American Robbie Gordon in second, but the American had trouble early on in Stage 2, leaving Giniel De Villiers (Toyota) to duke it out with the Argentine racer.

However, Terranova demonstrated just how easy it is to lose time on the Dakar, when he went off track, rolling several times. The incident cost him twenty minutes just as he was near the end of the stage.

De Villiers is now lying eight minutes behind in second place.

Nasser Al Attiyah, MINI. (Photo: Dakar.com)

Spaniard Carlos Sainz from Team Peugeot struggled with the extreme heat, but after starting eighth overnight managed to finish seventh in the stage and sixth in the overall rankings, despite colliding with a biker.

STANDINGS - Day 2
• Nasser Al-Attiyah, MINI  6h19:40
• Giniel De Villiers, Toyota  +7m42
• Ten Brinke, Toyota  +9m42
• Krzysztof Holowczyc, MINI  +10m28
• Vladimir Vasilyev, MINI  +17m23

The FIA has confirmed that reigning Formula 1 champion, Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton will continue to race using the number 44 this season.

The Briton has finally decided to race with number 44 instead of using the number 1 which is usually reserved for reigning world champions.

This means that the iconic number 1 can no longer readily identify the World Champion. This has been a dependable feature of Grand Prix racing for decades.

Starting grid in 2014. (Photo: WRi2)

Here is the shape of the Formula 1 grid (as of January 6th, 2015):

MERCEDES AMG
Chassis: W06
Engine: Mercedes
44 Lewis Hamilton
6 Nico Rosberg
Test/reserve/third driver: Pascal Wehrlein

INFINITI RED BULL RACING
Chassis: RB11
Engine: Renault
3 Daniel Ricciardo
26 Daniil Kvyat
Test/reserve/third driver: Sebastien Buemi

MARTINI WILLIAMS F1
Chassis: FW37
Engine: Mercedes
19 Felipe Massa
77 Valtteri Bottas
Test/reserve/third driver: Susie Wolff

SCUDERIA FERRARI
Chassis: TBA
Engine: Ferrari
5 Sebastian Vettel
7 Kimi Raikkonen
Test/reserve/third drivers: Esteban Gutierrez - Jean-Eric Vergne

McLAREN HONDA
Chassis: MP4-30
Engine: Honda
14 Fernando Alonso
22 Jenson Button
Test/reserve/third driver: Kevin Magnussen

SAHARA FORCE INDIA
Chassis: VJM08
Engine: Mercedes
27 Nico Hulkenberg
11 Sergio Perez
Test/reserve/third driver: TBA

SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO
Chassis: STR10
Engine: Renault
33 Max Verstappen
55 Carlos Sainz junior
Test/reserve/third driver: TBA

LOTUS F1 TEAM
Chassis: E23
Engine: Mercedes
8 Romain Grosjean
13 Pastor Maldonado
Test/reserve/third driver: TBA

MANOR GRAND PRIX RACING
Chassis: TBA
Engine: Ferrari
Drivers to be announced
Test/reserve/third drivers: TBA

SAUBER F1 TEAM
Chassis: C34
Engine: Ferrari
9 Marcus Ericsson
12 Felipe Nasr
Test/reserve/third driver: Raffaele Marciello

CATERHAM F1 TEAM
Chassis: CT05 (from 2014)
Engine: Renault
Drivers to be announced
Test/reserve/third driver: TBA

From press release

Williams Formula 1 team Tuesday announced a new technical IT partnership with Dtex Systems.

Dtex Systems is a global security software provider, and it will introduce its auditing software across Williams' range of business operations.
Williams has embarked on an ambitious transformation of its digital estate over the past 12 months to make sure that the company has the right software tools to remain at the pinnacle of Formula 1 and advanced engineering consultancy.

Since the establishment of Williams Advanced Engineering, the division of Williams that harnesses Formula 1 derived technology and know-how for commercial customers, it has become a business imperative to ensure that client data and intellectual property (IP) held by Williams is fully protected.

As an F1 team, Williams also places a premium on ensuring that its latest technological innovations for the race track are kept away from competitors.

A majority of drivers in the United States are willing to pay as much as $1,499 to have high-tech entertainment and safety devices in their vehicles as consumers demand more connectivity, according to a Harris Poll.

Tempting incentives and clearer roads pulled U.S. consumers into dealerships for a big December to close another strong sales year. Automakers sold 1.5 million light vehicles last month, up 11 percent.

We can all rattle off lots to celebrate: fifth straight year of U.S. sales growth, 13 brands setting records in 2014, volume that is 6 million-plus units higher than 2009 and more growth forecast for 2015.

American Honda Motor Co. notched another slim sales gain for December, riding heavily on crossovers and the Acura brand.

Toyota said today it won't enforce more than 5,600 patents it owns on hydrogen fuel-cell technology through 2020, allowing rivals to reap the fruits of its research royalty-free. The move mirrors a step last year by Tesla Motors.

Audi of America posted its fifth-straight annual sales record in 2014, while sibling brand Volkswagen took a step back in its quest to reach annual U.S. volume of 800,000 vehicles by 2018.

Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. said sales rose 13 percent to 215,057 units last month, as the automaker's light trucks set a December record, the Lexus division posted its best month ever and demand for the Corolla compact surged 34 percent.