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For the second time this year, a long-standing defect linked to deaths and injuries has triggered a mushrooming auto-safety crisis, lending more fuel to criticism that federal regulators haven't done enough to protect consumers from such dangers.

Audi driver Mattias Ekström scored two consecutive victories to end the DTM season on a positive note. He is now looking forward to doing absolutely nothing over the coming weeks.

Ekström visited the podium on a total of five occasions, last year during his 14th season in the German touring car series. He finished runner-up to the young BMW driver Marco Wittmann, who clinched his first career title.

"It was a great ending with two victories for me and the manufacturers' title for Audi that we clinched in a strong final sprint," said the Swede. "On the other hand, it's good that the clock's now being reset to zero."

Mattias Ekström, Audi RS 5 (Photo: WRI2)

Indeed, finishing second is always difficult for a racing driver. So Ekström's plan is to take a break now in order to start fresh in 2015.

Taking a break for the Swede means enjoying his longest ever winter vacation.

"For starters, I'm going to put my feet up on my sofa, doing nothing," he admits.

"(Then) I'm going to play in the snow with my family, relax in front of a fireplace at night and build lots of Lego cars in between."

From press release

José María López became the first Argentinian driver to win a world championship since the great Juan Manuel Fangio, Sunday in Suzuka.

López secured his first WTCC title with a perfect Race 1, taking another win (the 9th, equalling Muller's record of most wins in a season set in 2012).

The Argentinian kept his cool in this crucial race and left no room to calculations. Making a perfect use of his pole position, he took a good start and made no mistake.

Photo: WTCC

Muller, the only one who could take the title away from López, stayed within striking distance during several laps. But an untimely puncture forced him to the pits.

The real battle therefore was for second, between the Chevrolet cars of Chilton and Valente, with the Frenchman passing the Brit in the early stages and bound to keep the position before being passed by Chilton, Sébastien Loeb, Norbert Michelisz in the penultimate lap.

The new champion was greeted in victory lane by Argentinian music and flags, with the mechanics also wearing the Argentine national soccer team's shirts.

From press release

It was yet another difficult outing for Canadian Leo Urlichich in the fifth and final round of the Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy, this week-end as part of the Rally Spain.

"Crazy Leo" misjudged his breaking point and smashed his Ford Fiesta R2 into a bridge on stage 10, forcing him to retire.

Enjoying better fortune, 22-year-old Estonian Sander Pärn and his Welsh co-driver James Morgan secured the title with a measured drive.

Their reward is a seven-round programme in the 2015 FIA WRC 2 championship driving a Ford Fiesta R5.

Pärn had taken a 29-point advantage into the final round which his championship rival Tom Cave was unable to overhaul.

Pärn said: "It's an incredible feeling. We came to this rally knowing we must finish so really it's been quite difficult to judge the pace. I must give a big thanks to all my supporters from Estonia and my family.

"James and myself have had a really great season, pushing when we could and backing off when we needed to. This prize is a great way to move forward from here."

From WRC.com

Frenchman Sébastien Ogier won by 11.3 seconds over his Volkswagen teammate Jari-Matti Latvala in Spain, to seal the championship with one round remaining.

Ogier built a comfortable lead on the first full day of the mixed-surface event. Latvala, who was disappointed with his speed on that gravel leg, attacked hard during the final two days on asphalt but an unflustered Ogier measured his pace perfectly.

His only scare came on Saturday afternoon when he drove 20km with a damaged tyre, fearful it would deflate and require him to stop and replace it.

Sébastien Ogier, VW Polo R WRC (Photo: WRI2)

"It's a great achievement to win one title but even better to take a second," said Ogier, after embracing his parents at the finish of the final stage. "It's a confirmation and proves the first title was not a one-off.

Ogier's victory was the 23rd of his career and Volkswagen's 11th of the season, equaling the record set by Citroen in 2005 and 2008.

From GMM

Marussia looks set to join Caterham in entering administration, the Daily Mail reports on Sunday.

After Bernie Ecclestone said he will allow the struggling backmarkers to sit out the next Austin-Brazil double header, F1 business journalist Christian Sylt now reveals Marussia's operating company has "filed a notice with the High Court saying that it intends to appoint an administrator".

It leaves F1 supremo Ecclestone in the awkward situation of no longer being able to guarantee race promoters a minimal grid of 20 cars.

The solution could be a rule written into teams' commercial contracts with Ecclestone that forces big teams to supply third cars to F1's most struggling outfits.

Max Chilton, Marussia MR03 (Photo: WRI2)

"So if, for example, Sauber disappeared, a team could do a deal with Sauber," Ecclestone told Sylt.

"Ferrari could say 'We will give you a car, all that goes with it, and we want you to put this sponsor on it. You have your own sponsors but we want you to include this one as well and we want you to take this driver'," he explained.

"The team wouldn't have to go under then would they? If Red Bull decided they would give a car to Caterham for example that could solve their problem."

But even though the grid looks set to fall to just 18 cars immediately, Ecclestone said the controversial measure will not necessarily come in now.

"We don't have to introduce a third car at this stage because they (Caterham and Marussia) can miss a couple of races.

"They lose any money they would have got for those races but they don't lose their position in the championship," he said.

Renault could sell the Eolab ultra fuel-efficient concept for a similar price to a diesel-powered Clio, if it decided to build the car, said Thierry Bollore, the company's chief competitive officer. The Clio DCi 90 costs 18,500 euros in France.

Porsche's experience of recovering from the brink of insolvency two decades ago to become a profit engine for VW Group has helped it with the development of a consultancy business that has a growing list of high-profile clients.

The owner of a Hyundai Genesis with a sunroof that repeatedly opened and closed on its own has won a new trial in his lawsuit against Hyundai Motor America and the California dealership from which he leased the car.

Despite slowing sales growth in China, General Motors is doubling down on the country with a bold expansion plan that could make it Cadillac's biggest market within six years.

Warren Buffett's entry into automotive retailing may mean more overall competition for acquisitions, but public dealership groups expect no interruptions to their growth plans.

Porsche's experience of recovering from the brink of insolvency two decades ago to become a profit engine for Volkswagen has helped it with the development of a consultancy business with a growing list of high-profile clients.

Russia may extend an incentive scheme for new-vehicle purchases beyond this year to help the car industry weather an economic downturn which has caused sales to plummet 13 percent so far this year.

PSA/Peugeot-Citroen's upscale DS brand is on track to be successful in China because of consumer demand for French luxury goods, but it is unlikely to be a serious rival to the popular German premium brands.

Renault could sell the Eolab ultra fuel-efficient concept for a similar price to a diesel-powered Clio if it decided to build the car, Thierry Bollore, the company's chief competitive officer, said. The Clio DCi 90 costs 18,500 euros in France.

From press release

Formula E fans can once again cast their vote for the "FanBoost".

Unique to the FIA Formula E championship, FanBoost allows the fans to indirectly participate to the race, as the three drivers who get the most votes receive a five-second power boost per car, per driver.

The three drivers can then use this speed burst, which increases the power of the car from around 200 horsepower to 243, to overtake or defend a position.

Who's your favourite Formula E driver? (Photo: WRI2)

"FanBoost is something that is not only unique to the FIA Formula E Championship but all sporting events as it allows fans to potentially influence the outcome of the race and to interact with the drivers rather than just watching at home," says Benoit Dupont, Formula E's sporting manager.

"For race two, we have introduced voting in Chinese and Japanese languages with more languages available soon."

Click here to vote.

From NASCAR.com

When the green flag waves to start the Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 on Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, it won't be a Chase driver who leads the field to the start/finish line.

Touring the .526-mile short track in 18.954 seconds (99.905 mph) in his No. 1 Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, Jamie McMurray upstaged the championship contenders on Friday in winning the pole for the first race in the Eliminator Round of the Chase.

In claiming his second Coors Light pole award of the season, his second at Martinsville and the 11th of his career, McMurray beat title contenders Joey Logano (99.605 mph) and Matt Kenseth (99.318 mph) for the top spot.

Jamie McMurray (Photo: Rainier Ehrhardt/NASCAR via Getty Images)

"We tested here a couple of weeks ago, and I thought we had one of the best tests that I've been a part of, really since I started racing," McMurray said. "Really well organized... We made the car better throughout the test and hit on a couple things that really had a lot of speed in it.

"So I was pretty excited about getting here this weekend. Our cars have been so quick the past two or three months—really all year, but more so in the past few months. This is a great track for me, and we had a really good test. When things are going well, you get excited to come back to the track.

"It was really great that we were able to take that test and use that toward earning the pole today."

Motorsport sensation Ken Block returned to stage rallying after an 8-month break, this week-end as he entered Rally Spain, round 12 of the WRC season.

The American has not been shining as much as he might be used to, behind the wheel of his Ford Fiesta RS WRC. But he is enjoying the mix tarmac and gravel stages in the Salou area.

At the end of Saturday, Block was sitting 12^th overall, over 10 minutes down on overall lead Sébastien Ogier.

"Incredible fun. I wish I had been a little faster and could commit to the corners, but it's been three years since I've raced on tarmac," commented Block.

"Perhaps we will turn it up a bit tomorrow - the car can do much more."

Ken Block, Ford Fiesta RS WRC (Photo: WRI2)

From GMM

Marussia will join fellow F1 straggler Caterham in not racing in Austin next weekend, Bernie Ecclestone has announced.

The news follows the sport's chief executive giving Caterham special dispensation to miss the US-Brazil double header as it enters administration.

But we had reported on Friday that the grid may in fact shrink from its usual 22 to just 18 cars in Austin, because Marussia - grief-stricken after the Jules Bianchi crash - was struggling to find a necessary cash injection to ship its cars and equipment from the UK for the trek to America.

"This is happening while the owner Andrey Cheglakov wants to sell," Auto Motor und Sport's Michael Schmidt had claimed.

Marussia will not be in Austin, according to Bernie Ecclestone (Photo: WRI2)

Referring on Saturday not only to Caterham but also Marussia, Ecclestone was quoted by the BBC: "Neither of those two teams are going to go to America."

With the grid dipping below 20 cars, the very real prospect of top teams having to field three-car teams has now emerged.

But reports indicate that with teams needing 60 days notice for the triggering of the third car provision, the FIA has ruled out the measure being introduced in the very short term.

Lotus Formula 1 Team cars will be powered by Mercedes V6 turbo hybrid power units starting next year.

The entire Enstone team is busy working on the new car.

“Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains has already made a positive impression and we believe that it will be a key ingredient for future success,” said Deputy Team Principal Federico Gastaldi in a team press release.

“It has become obvious this year that they have the most competitive package on the engine side. Their strengths, allied to ours, will form a potent combination in 2015 and create a special E23 Hybrid package. The partnership also forms a key ingredient for the long-term future of Lotus F1 Team,” Gastaldi explained.

Lotus has switched its focus to next year's car, the team's technical director, Nick Chester said (Photo: WRI2)

Lotus F1 Team Technical Director Nick Chester explained that almost all resources are put on the design and the fabrication of the new car.

“Nearly all of the resources are on the E23 now and a good chunk of them have been for some time,” said Chester.

“We are starting to laminate the first race chassis, which is on schedule. Gearboxes have been cast and will be machined shortly. We have pretty much finalised the cooling system. We have also been discussing various aspects with Mercedes while we finalise the power unit installation.

“Most of the suspension is designed now, so we are really a good way along,” Chester explained.