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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 press release

A thrilling qualifying session for the 6 Hours of Shanghai saw the No. 14 Porsche 919 of Romain Dumas and Neel Jani and the No. 8 Toyota TS040 of Anthony Davidson and Sebastien Buemi set the exact same time of 1m48.300 after an average of the four best laps for each car.

Dumas and Jani set their time early in the session and decided to park the car in the pitlane as Davidson and Buemi tried to beat their time.

After setting a time just 0.01 seconds behind the Porsche, Buemi's next lap meant the average of the four laps matched their rivals exactly with just 50 seconds remaining on the cloc.

Because Dumas and Jani set the time first, they claimed their second pole position of the season.

The No. 20 Porsche 919 of Mark Webber and Brendon Hartley were third but just 0.024 seconds adrift of the front two cars and 0.210s ahead of the No. 7 Toyota TS040 of Alex Wurz and Kazuki Nakajima.

The two Audi R18 etron quattros will line up on row 3 tomorrow morning, with the No. 1 Audi of Andre Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer 0.6 seconds ahead of Loic Duval and Lucas di Grassi but 1.1 seconds behind the pole position time.

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

Lewis Hamilton is "scaling back" his deal with Simon Fuller, the entertainment manager famed for his involvement with American Idol and the Spice Girls.

In Fuller's XIX Entertainment stable, Hamilton lucratively switched from McLaren to Mercedes following the split from his manager-father Anthony, announcing at the time he wanted to expand his profile beyond F1 and into the world of film and music.

But as he approaches the business end of his 2014 title assault and mere weeks before starting negotiations for a new Mercedes deal beyond next year, The Times reports that Hamilton has "decided to play an increasing role in his own management".

Lewis Hamilton (Photo: WRI2)

Hamilton's girlfriend is the pop star Nicole Scherzinger, he counts rappers among his personal friends and on Thursday he appeared in the official FIA press conference wearing a huge gold replica of an Andy Warhol artwork around his neck.

At the same time, "XIX have faded from the F1 scene", said Times correspondent Kevin Eason.

Another British newspaper, the Daily Mail, agrees that 29-year-old Hamilton's contract with XIX "recently expired".

An insider said: "Lewis is concentrating on the world championship for now and will assess how to progress with his management around New Year.

"He has been muttering for a year or so about changing his relationship with Fuller. He wants to stand on his own two feet -- and cut down on commission fees."

Swiss engineer Mario Illien has been hired by Renault Sport F1 to help improve its V6 turbo hybrid power unit for 2015.

Illien and the late Paul Morgan were the masterminds of Ilmor Engineering, the company that produced engines for Mercedes in the '90s.

Mario Illien left the Formula 1 world several years ago, but remained active in the motorsport business.

Germany's Auto Motor und Sport revealed Friday that Illien will now be a member of the French Renault Sport F1 team.

The Renault power unit proved to be troublesome early in the season, especially for Red Bull Racing.

Auto Motor und Sport claims Illien may be a last roll of the dice for Renault, whose current 1.6-litre litre turbo hybrid engine is said to be missing between 40-60 bhp to the dominant Mercedes.

From GMM

Like his 2014 teammate Marcus Ericsson, Kamui Kobayashi has travelled to Austin without a formula one car to drive.

But unlike the Swedish rookie Ericsson, who reportedly carries up to $20 million in personal backing, Japanese Kobayashi looks less likely to secure a race seat elsewhere for 2015, following the collapse of the Caterham team.

Leafield based Caterham is in the death throes, even though the insolvency administrator says the green team came close to joining its drivers in the trek to America.

"One of the parties interested in buying the team offered to cover the costs," administrator Finbarr O'Connell told the F1 business journalist Christian Sylt, "but, unfortunately, having only been in control of the team since Friday it is not logistically possible to get there."

Writing in Autoweek, Sylt revealed that O'Connell is now making his way to Austin, as he aims to keep the F1 world abreast of developments.

Kamui Kobayashi is in Austin as a spectator (Photo: WRI2)

One man approached to buy the embattled Caterham or Marussia was the former BAR chief David Richards, but he said he is not interested.

"As you can imagine, at Prodrive, we always keep a careful watching brief on the situation in formula one," he said, "but the predicament of Caterham, Marussia and I believe one other team speaks for itself."

Assisting O'Connell in Caterham's administration is Henry Shinners, who is also travelling to Austin.

He told British television Sky that time is running out.

"We feel that if a buyer doesn't come forward in the next two weeks then we'll probably have to wind it down," said Shinners.

Hundreds of hopeful staff are hanging on the latest developments, with even Kobayashi admitting he is relying on the press to keep him up to date.

"No one told me," the Japanese told Speed Week, when asked about Caterham having to miss the Austin-Brazil double header.

"I read about it on the internet," he exclaimed. "I guess the bosses were too busy to call me or my management.

"Now I'm trying to secure my future as a formula one driver," Kobayashi, who is believed to be open to a reserve driver role for 2015, added in Austin.

From press release

The popular ChumpCar World Series is expanding.

ChumpCar International inc. CEO John Condren has decided to create an independent ChumpCar "club" to organize and promote racing events in Canada.

"I realized that migrating ChumpCar to a new legal entity - moving from the "for-profit" LLC to the "non-profit" and club-based INC - would create an issue for on-going events in Canada," said Condren.

"Legal and financial restrictions are clearly spelled-out by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regarding international revenue streams."

Photo: Facebook

Therefore, starting January 1^st, 2015, ChumpCar Canada will be in charge of everything north of the border.

Canadian members will have pay to dues to support ChumpCar Canada, but their ChumpCar memberships will still be valid at all US-based events.

Similarly, US members will be allowed receive access to all Canadian race meetings.

To improve safety under yellow flag conditions, the FIA has run two tests of the news “virtual safety car” at Circuit of the Americas in Austin.

This test comes after Jules Bianchi's terrible accident at Suzuka where he crashed into a heavy recovery vehicle under double waved yellow flags.

Here at Austin, a sector of the track was deemed to be yellow and drivers were asked to drive to a specific delta time through it.

The objective of the concept is to slow drivers down without recourse to the presence of the actual safety car.

Although all drivers and the FIA agree that adjustments will be needed before the system can be introduced, all were happy with how the first tests had gone.

The Federation Internationale de l'Automobile will assess the feedback from Austin and will probably continue testing the system over the final two Grands Prix of this year in Brazil and Abu Dhabi.

From GMM

Susie Wolff will extend her deal with Williams into the 2015 season, according to the German newspaper Bild.

The 31-year-old female Briton was the Grove team's test driver this year, even appearing on a couple of Friday mornings.

"The contract for 2015 is close to being signed," said the newspaper's correspondents Nicola Pohl and Helmut Uhl.

A former DTM and F3 driver, whose maiden name is Stoddart, Wolff's husband is Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team boss and still a significant Williams shareholder.

Bild said her 2015 programme will involve two test days and two further outings during Friday morning practice sessions.

Father and daughter Sir Frank Williams and Claire will miss the United States Formula 1 Grand prix this weekend at Circuit of the Americas in Austin.

Williams' team principal Sir Frank Williams is in hospital for treatment on a pressure sore on his back, says the BBC.

Claire and Frank Williams (Photo: WRI2)

The 72-year-old Sir Frank Williams, a quadriplegic since a road accident in southern France in 1986, is receiving what is described as routine treatment and is said to be responding well.

Claire Williams, the deputy team principal, is also missing this weekend's American race to be with her father.

However, she plans to attend next weekend's Grand Prix in Brazil.

German Nico Rosberg was all smiles after he set the fastest time and clinched pole position for Sunday's United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin.

Q1
Lewis Hamilton immediately set the pace in Q1, with Valtteri Bottas second in the Williams. Then, Rosberg, in the second Mercedes AMG, moved to first place.

With a minute to go, Hamilton set a fast time of 1m37.196 to take first place. Felipe Massa in his Williams took second place ahead of Bottas, Nico Rosberg, Fernando Alonso in the first Ferrari and Kevin Magnussen in the fastest McLaren.

Out of Q1 were Jean-Eric Vergne, Esteban Gutierrez, Sebastian Vettel and Romain Grosjean.

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG (Photo: Rene Fagnan)

Q2
Nico Rosberg immediately set a fast time in 1m37.099 to take first pace ahead of Hamilton. Alonso was a surprising third.

In the final moments, Massa jumped into third place behind the Mercedes duo. Bottas was fourth and Alonso was fifth.

Out of Q2 were Pastor Maldonado, Sergio Perez, Nico Hulkenberg and Daniil Kvyat.

Valtteri Bottas, Williams (Photo: Rene Fagnan)

Q3
Rosberg was again quickest of all at the beginning of Q3, ahead of Hamilton and the Williams duo of Bottas and Massa.

Drivers came in for their second set of yellow Pirellis.

On his second set of tires, Rosberg managed to go even quicker, setting a time of 1m36.067. Hamilton took second place, almost four tenths of a second slower than Rosberg. The Briton locked up his left front tires under braking and lost a bit of time. He later admitted that his Mercedes W05 is still suffering from brake problems.

Teammates Bottas and Massa qualified on the second row.

Daniel Ricciardo took fifth place in his Red Bull ahead of Alonso (Ferrari), Button and Magnussen (McLaren), Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari and Adrian Sutil in the Sauber.

Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing (Photo: Rene Fagnan)