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Oct
28th

F1: Promo video of the Mexican Formula 1 Grand Prix

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Mexico will return to the Formula 1 calendar in 2015 after a 23-year absence, and the race organisers have posted this promotional video of the event.

The Hermanos Rodriguez road course is currently being revamped under the guidance of Hermann Tilke, Bernie Ecclestone's right-hand man. The general layout of the track will remain unchanged.

The video shows what the circuit will look like when all the work will be finished.


Oct
28th

NASCAR: Kyle Busch pilots a Superboat in Miami

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From nascar.com

Kyle Busch has plenty of experience behind the wheel of fast machines -- notably his cars in the Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series as well as his truck in the Camping World Truck Series.

On Monday, Busch tried his hand behind the wheel of different speed machine, the Miss GEICO Superboat.

Homestead-Miami Speedway teamed up with the Miss GEICO Superboat team to teach Busch how to pilot one of the fastest boats in the world.

NASCAR Kyle Busch superboat Miami
Photo: Homestead-Miami Speedway

While behind the wheel of the (very fast) vessel, Busch hit speeds of nearly 150 miles per hour in the waters of the Biscayne Bay in Miami.

Busch drove with Miss GEICO Superboat throttleman Scott Begovich, an eight-time world champion.

"This is great. This thing drives nice," Kyle Busch said in a track release. "This turning right thing is a little out of the ordinary, but I could do this."

NASCAR Miami Kyle Busch superboat
Kyle Busch. (Photo: Homestead-Miami Speedway)



Oct
28th

F1: Haas F1 Team names Adam Jacobs CMO

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From press release

Haas F1 Team has made a key hire in its executive ranks, naming Adam Jacobs chief marketing officer.

Jacobs will lead brand strategy and partnership development for Haas F1 Team, which will make its debut in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship in 2016, becoming the first American-led F1 team in 30 years.

Jacobs comes to Haas F1 Team from Anheuser-Busch where he was the sports marketing manager for the company's Budweiser brand in NASCAR and the Bud Light brand in the NFL and college sports.

“Adam came highly recommended to Haas F1 Team and he brings a wealth of sports marketing experience to our organization,” said Joe Custer, chief operating officer, Haas F1 Team. “The projects Adam has overseen are global in scope, involving numerous partners and constituencies. He's built great relationships during his career and we're proud to have him at Haas F1 Team.”

Haas F1 Team is currently preparing for its on-track debut in 2016. Haas Automation, Inc., the CNC machine tool builder Haas F1 Team chairman Gene Haas founded in 1983, will serve as the team's primary sponsor. However, Jacobs is positioning the team to partner with other high-profile brands that desire to reach a global audience.


Oct
28th

F1: The challenges of the Austin Formula 1 circuit

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The beautiful but gruelling Circuit of the Americas, located near Austin, Texas will be the scene of the United States Formula Grand Prix this weekend.

Engineers at Renault Sport F1 detail here the several challenges of the 5.513km road course.

Altitude is an important consideration in Austin as the track rises and falls as it follows the contours of the landscape. This change of gradient means engine speeds and turbo rotation vary over the course of the lap, and settings must be constantly adjusted to give optimal performance.

The low ambient humidity of the Texan grasslands has a big effect on the Power Units. The air will contain more oxygen and the ICE will generate more power, but the aridity is very taxing on the internals. We will watch ignition timing very closely.

F1 Austin USA Circuit of the Americas

Austin can be quite chilly in November, which will increase fuel consumption over one lap. When this factor is added to the stop start character of the last sector, it makes the consumption per kilometre one of the highest of the season. The energy recovery systems will have ample chance to recharge the battery, however, so we will be able to manage the race on the 100kg permitted.

The back straight is 1,016m and the car will be at full throttle for almost 20 seconds. It will also spend over two seconds at maximum velocity at the end of the straight. The driver will brake heavily at the end of the straight for the hairpin so rear-end stability and stability under braking will be crucial.

Just under 60% of the lap is taken at wide open throttle, rising to over 60% in qualifying. After Spa, Monza and Suzuka, it's the fourth ‘power' track of the second part of the season. The average speed will be a touch under 200 km/h with top speed peaking at over 320 km/h.


Oct
28th

2015 Grand Prix of Trois-Rivieres to be held over two weekends

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Details about the 2015 Grand Prix of Trois-Rivieres have been released Tuesday during a press conference.

Organisers announced the return of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series and of the FIA World Rallycross Championship for its 2015 edition.

And to make sure that all GP3R fans can enjoy both series fully and completely, they will be held on separate weekends, respectively from July 31st to August 2nd and on August 7th and 8th.

The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series and all the others road racing series such as the NASCAR Whelan Autodrome St-Eustache Sportsman Series and the Formula Tour 1600 will be run from July 31st to August 2nd.

FIA rallycross GP3R 2014
Patrick Carpentier, VW Polo (Photo: Philippe Champoux)

Then, on Friday August 7th and Saturday August 8th, the GP3R will host the SuperCars of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, the RXLites as part of the second Canadian Intercontinental Cup, the brand-new-for-2015 SXSX Rallycross Challenge for side-by-side vehicles and a soon-to-be-announced drift competition.

Bringing the GP3R on two weekends for the first time ever was done with the important objective of limiting the impact on the citizens of Trois-Rivieres to a strict minimum. With the rallycross and drift competitions entirely enclosed on the grounds of the Exhibition Parc, the de Calonne and Papineau streets as well as the Boulevard du Carmel will be open for regular road traffic more than a week earlier than in 2014.

With the return of the FIA WorldRX Championship and the RXLites series, the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières will innovate by adding the SXSX (Side-by-Side Cross) Challenge, a new rallycross series for side-by-side vehicles, which will use the same GP3R rallycross circuit.

After the success of the presence of Vaughn Gittin Jr and his drift demos in 2014, it was natural to bring more of this sport to the GP3R fans. An official drift competition will be held during the rallycross weekend with more information on this will be released shortly.

The tickets for both weekends of activities of the GP3R are now on sale at www.gp3r.com.


Oct
28th

ROC: WTCC champion Jose Maria Lopez to race at ROC 2014

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From ROC

Newly-crowned FIA World Touring Car Champion Jose Maria ‘Pechito' Lopez has signed up to compete at the 2014 Race Of Champions, to be held at the Bushy Park Circuit in Barbados on December 13-14.

Lopez sealed the WTCC title with a dominant win in the first race at Japan's Suzuka circuit on Sunday. The result rounds off a dazzling year for the Argentine driver, who thus won the championship with three races to spare.

With a total of nine victories in 2014, that means he has prevailed over his world-famous Citroën teammates Yvan Muller and Sebastien Loeb, both Race Of Champions veterans.

WTCC Jose Maria Lopez Champion 2014 Race of Champions
Jose Maria Lopez, WTCC Champion 2014. (Photo: Race of Champions)

Lopez will be part of a ROC line-up featuring stars from all over the world: nine-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Tom Kristensen, Romain Grosjean, Susie Wolff, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Kurt Busch, Jamie Whincup and Petter Solberg are already confirmed.

The rest of the ROC 2014 field will be announced in the run-up to December's event.


Oct
28th

F1: With fewer cars FIA might tweak the qualifying format

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Adapted from GMM

Because F1 has shed almost 20 per cent of its grid in the space of mere weeks, the FIA looks set to tweak the knockout qualifying format for Austin and Brazil.

"It is thought that the FIA ... will have to reorder the three-session qualifying because of there not being enough cars - just 17 with (Sebastian) Vettel missing - to go through the usual knockout sequence," said Kevin Eason, the correspondent for the Times newspaper.

Red Bull's Vettel is expected to sit out qualifying as he takes a penalty for using his unscheduled sixth Renault engine of the 2014 season.

F1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing
Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing. (Photo: WRi2)



Oct
28th

F1: U.S. send serious warning to Formula 1

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The Guardian reports Tuesday that Formula 1 is facing serious crisis with two teams in administration and at least three others losing millions of dollars.

As just nine F1 teams are traveling to Austin, Texas Mario Andretti, the official ambassador for the race in Austin, and Bobby Epstein, the co-founder of the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), say that F1 needs to “loosen up a bit” and “make the sport about personalities”.

Andretti and Epstein both claim that Bernie Ecclestone - the commercial right owner of F1 - does not understand how to sell his sport to Americans who want a closer relationship between drivers and fans as well as greater use of social media.

“Formula 1 should loosen up a bit. I think they've gone slightly overboard with the technical side of the engine,” Andretti told the Guardian.

“I would love to see a team invite a third car for a special event. For the US Grand Prix, say, Mercedes could invite a third car, having groomed some well-known American driver in testing, to take part as a guest competitor. Can you imagine what that would do for the promotion of the event? Every newspaper in the country would write about it,” the 1978 F1 World Champion added.

F1 Lewis Hamilton 2012 McLaren Austin US Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton, winner of the inaugural US Grand Prix at Austin, in 2012, with McLaren. (Photo: WRi2)

“F1 has got to make the sport about personalities. That's what NASCAR does very well. F1 can learn a lot from NASCAR, from Hollywood. People connect with people. They don't connect with metal. I would encourage the teams to make a priority the accessibility that the fans have to the drivers,” Epstein declared.

“Look at Lewis Hamilton. F1 should get him out there as much as they can, because he's a great driver and a very good ambassador. The more Mercedes let him step out and be himself, the better. He's an incredibly marketable guy. F1 could look at the model of [US] PGA golfers, who have got really close to their fans,” the American added.


Oct
27th

Mazda to unveil CX-3 for small crossover market

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Mazda wants a piece of the market for miniaturized crossovers.
Oct
27th

Lincoln’s McConaughey ads get another parody, this time from SNL

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If the success of an ad campaign -- and the brand it touts -- was measured by the number of parodies it generated, Lincoln's moody ads featuring Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey would already be in the advertising Hall of Fame.
Oct
27th

U.S. safety regulators probe Chrysler process on Ram pickup recalls

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Federal safety regulators have opened an investigation of Chrysler Group's handling of two recalls for potential steering issues affecting nearly 1 million Dodge Ram pickup trucks in the United States.
Oct
27th

U.S. auto sales projected to rise 6% in Oct. to highest total in a decade

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New light-vehicle sales are expected to rise about 6 percent in the United States this month from last October to about 1.27 million vehicles, according to three forecasts. It would be the highest October sales volume since 2004.
Oct
27th

Infotainment glitches haunt automakers in Consumer Reports’ reliability survey

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Infotainment hiccups nagged the industry in the Consumer Reports 2014 Annual Auto Reliability Survey, while problems with the Q50 caused Infiniti's ranking to plummet.
Oct
27th

FRANCE: Michelin posts Q3 net sales down 4.6% to EUR4.9bn

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Michelin Group has posted third quarter net sales down 4.6% to EUR4.9bn (US$6.2bn).
Oct
27th

US: Under new Ford CEO, new life beckons for famous Lincoln brand

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Ford's new chief executive, Mark Fields, reportedly is giving the Lincoln brand a little love and a lot of cash.
Oct
27th

BRAZIL: VW launches Cross Up, will produce Jetta locally

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Media and car enthusiasts visiting the São Paulo Auto Show (media days were Tuesday 28 and Wednesday 29 October) will see evidence of Volkswagen's new strategy of playing the market more nimbly here in Brazil.
Oct
27th

Mercedes A-Class 2015 facelift spotted

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News 27 Oct, 2014

Spy shots show disguised Mercedes A-Class facelift, alongside CLA Shooting Brake. Both will appear at LA Motor Show

Oct
27th

Best new cars 2016: our road tests of the year

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Features 19 Dec, 2016

We take a look back at some of the best and most memorable cars we drove over the course of 2016

Oct
27th

Ghosn sees more recalls as carmakers fight for customers

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Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn says consumers can expect more recalls as automakers work to keep customers happy and ensure minimal fuss over quality issues.
Oct
27th

Continental eyes acquisition to reduce dependence on auto unit, report says

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Continental is said to be looking for an acquisition in the industrial sector as it seeks to boost its proportion of industrial sales to 40 percent from close to 30 percent now to reduce its dependence on volatile car markets.
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