Auto News 5

From press release

The 2014 DTM season came to an end with an overwhelming victory for Audi.

The brand from Ingolstadt had a clean sweep of the first three places in the season finale at Hockenheim and secured the manufacturers' title in the most popular international touring car series.

Victory in the race went to Mattias Ekström, who concludes the season as the runner-up in the drivers' standings.

Mattias Ekström, Audis RS 5 DTM (Photo: DTM.com)

“Winning the race in front of such a great crowd is fantastic. After such an eventful year, bowing out of the season with a success is a good feeling. Over the year, we had many ups and downs. Today, once again, it was hard, but fair. That is simply a part of the DTM,” the Swede said after his second consecutive victory.

Mike Rockenfeller and Jamie Green rounded out the podium after finishing second and third respectively.

Mattias Ekström (Photo: DTM.com)

Marco Wittmann had already secured himself the championship title in the Lausitzring round. After a successful season, the German had a rather patchy final race meeting.

Fifth place for the BMW driver in the season finale at Hockenheim was the result of a race with plenty of progress for the BMW driver. After a disappointing qualifying, the German only started 13th into the race.

Marco Wittmann, BMW M4 DTM (Photo: WRI2)

“I reckon I got the maximum out of it. My starting grid position for this race wasn't the best. In the DTM, things are so close that it is difficult to make progress. As a result, I can be all the more happy with my fifth place,” the four times' race winner looks back upon the season.

DTM finale in Hockenheim (Photo: DTM.com)

Race results* - Hockenheim (round 10 of 10)
1 - Mattias Ekstrom (Audi RS5) - Abt - 42 laps in 1.08'37"604
2 - Mike Rockenfeller (Audi RS5) - Phoenix - 2"402
3 - Jamie Green (Audi RS5) - Rosberg - 3"914
4 - Paul Di Resta (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 4"163
5 - Marco Wittmann (BMW M4) - RMG - 4"962
6 - Timo Scheider (Audi RS5) - Phoenix - 6"540
7 - Martin Tomczyk (BMW M4) - Schnitzer - 7"526
8 - Robert Wickens (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 10"344
9 - Miguel Molina (Audi RS5) - Abt - 11"104
10 - Antonio Felix Da Costa (BMW M4) - MTEK - 12"198
11 - Gary Paffett (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 14"781
12 - Timo Glock (BMW M4) - MTEK - 15"179
13 - Bruno Spengler (BMW M4) - Schnitzer - 15"838
14 - Nico Muller (Audi RS5) - Rosberg - 15"973
15 - Christian Vietoris (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 17"497
16 - Joey Hand (BMW M4) - RBM - 17"769
17 - Augusto Farfus (BMW M4) - RBM - 23"024

Antonio Felix da Costa, BMW M4 DTM (Photo: WRI2)

Retirements
Vitaly Petrov
Adrien Tambay
Pascal Wehrlein
Daniel Juncadella
Edoardo Mortara
Maxime Martin

*Unofficial results

Robert Kubica is still making progress, nearly four years after his horrific rally crash.

With only two rallies left in the WRC season, many are wondering how the Pole's right hand is doing after nearly a full season at the highest level in rallying.

"The arm and hand are OK," Kubica is quoted saying by the BBC.

"From a mobility point of view, there have been some improvements. From a limitation point of view, it's pretty much the same."

The biggest question of course is whether or not Kubica's condition is improving enough for the former Renault and BMW driver to consider a return in F1.

It's been a long time since we've seen Robert Kubica race in F1 (Photo: WRI2)

"Once the season is over I will look at everything," he added, also saying that: "Formula 1 would be a dream to come back but we have to stay realistic."

"If I decide to try and come back I will have more surgery this winter and maybe with the help of the doctors, and with some luck, it will be possible."

Manufacturing problems with Takata airbags go beyond what the supplier has disclosed to federal safety regulators about why the devices are at risk of exploding with dangerous force, according to internal company documents reviewed by Reuters.

UAW and political leaders plan to gather Monday in a community-wide effort to keep Jeep Wrangler production in its original home of Toledo, Ohio.

The EPA is preparing to tighten its oversight of fuel economy testing and reporting this year in an effort to align the ratings on vehicles' stickers more closely with their real-world capability.

Fifteen years after taking over Nissan's global design leadership, Shiro Nakamura has come full circle. Nissan will launch its third-generation Murano crossover late this year.

It's always assumed that Bob Lutz got his job as GM's product czar in 2001, coming out of retirement at age 69, because of the spectacular failure of the Pontiac Aztek.

Renault, a latecomer to China, could sell up to 800,000 vehicles annually in the country, CEO Carlos Ghosn said. Renault has a 4 percent market share globally and it is a "reasonable" objective to reproduce this in China, Ghosn said.

Volkswagen said it is recalling more than 1.1 million cars in North America and China to correct a potential problem with rear suspension parts.

From press release

Audi's Miguel Molina snatched the last pole of the DTM season, Saturday in Hockenheim, with the manufacturers' title still up for grabs.

BMW currently leads Audi by 382 to 341 points. But Ingolstadt has good chances of flipping the order around, Molina's teammates Mattias Ekström and Edoardo Mortara having qualified second and third.

"I am overjoyed," said Molina.

Mattias Ekström, Miguel Molina, Edoardo Mortara (Photo: DTM.com)

"The entire team worked so hard in the past months. I hope that everything fits together during the race. After a difficult season, I finally want to score my maiden race win in the DTM."

The best-placed BMW driver is Augusto Farfus, who sits fourth on the grid.

"Fourth place is making me feel well," the 31-year-old commented.

"The season hasn't been always easy for me. Even in practice, things didn't go really well here, but then we made some changes on the car. As a result, I am now quite far up the ranks. It would be great if I can end the season with a good result."

Augusto Farfus, BMW M4 DTM (Photo: DTM.com)

Qualifying results* - Hockenheim (round 10 of 10)
1.Miguel Molina (Audi RS5) - Abt - 1'33"316 - Q3
2.Mattias Ekstrom (Audi RS5) - Abt - 1'33"332 - Q3
3.Edoardo Mortara (Audi RS5) - Abt - 1'33"406 - Q3
4.Augusto Farfus (BMW M4) - RBM - 1'33"460 - Q3
5.Jamie Green (Audi RS5) - Rosberg - 1'33"480 - Q3
6.Pascal Wehrlein (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 1'33"483 - Q3
7.Mike Rockenfeller (Audi RS5) - Phoenix - 1'33"588 - Q3
8.Timo Scheider (Audi RS5) - Phoenix - 1'33"650 - Q3
9.Antonio Felix Da Costa (BMW M4) - MTEK - 1'33"381 - Q2
10.Paul Di Resta (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 1'33"468 - Q2
11.Adrien Tambay (Audi RS5) - Abt - 1'33"498 - Q2
12.Robert Wickens (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 1'33"525 - Q2
13.Marco Wittmann (BMW M4) - RMG - 1'33"642 - Q2
14.Bruno Spengler (BMW M4) - Schnitzer - 1'33"643 - Q2
15.Maxime Martin (BMW M4) - RMG - 1'33"664 - Q2
16.Gary Paffett (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 1'33"708 - Q2
17.Daniel Juncadella (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 1'33"721 - Q2
18.Nico Muller (Audi RS5) - Rosberg - 1'33"864 - Q2
19.Timo Glock (BMW M4) - MTEK - 1'33"775 - Q1
20.Martin Tomczyk (BMW M4) - Schnitzer - 1'33"827 - Q1
21.Joey Hand (BMW M4) - RBM - 1'33"939 - Q1
22.Christian Vietoris (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 1'34"066 - Q1
23.Vitaly Petrov (Mercedes C-Coupe) - Mucke - 1'34"443 - Q1
*Unofficial results

Marco Wittmann, BMW M4 DTM (Photo: DTM.com)

2014 could be the last season of the British Formula 3 championship, British magazine Autosport has revealed.

The series was set to merge with the German F3 championship, but negotiations came to a dead end.

"SRO (British F3's promoter) and the teams have done everything they possibly can to try and make both national series continue successfully in the future," Peter Briggs, who represents the teams, told Autosport.

"But opposition from the German end has made this impossible."

Photo: British Formula 3 Championship

"You would hope that it'll be a short-term stopping of the British championship and that it can be rekindled in some form," added team boss Trevor Carlin.

"But at the moment there's not the desire from people to do it."

Over the years, the British Formula 3 championship helped many up and coming drivers reach F1, including multiple world champions Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna and Mika Hakkinen.

From NASCAR.com

Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson are not the only pre-Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup favourites in danger of missing the eight-driver Eliminator Round.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is also in a near must-win situation as he enters Sunday's Geico 500 cutoff race at Talladega (2 p.m. ET on ESPN) ranking 12th (of 12), 26 points behind his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne for the final advancing spot.

Barring epic collapses from the drivers ahead of him, Earnhardt has to win on Sunday to move onward in the Chase. NASCAR fans thumbing through the record books might see Earnhardt has won five times at Talladega and think he should be a heavy favorite this weekend.

Upon further review, they will notice he hasn't seen victory lane at 'Dega in more than a decade (Oct. 3, 2004).

Dale Earnhardt Jr (Photo: Sarah Glenn/Getty Images)

During his 19-race 'Dega drought, Earnhardt has recorded a respectable six top-10 finishes, including two runner-ups, the most recent in last fall's Talladega tussle.

The stretch pales in comparison to his three-year, seven-race run (2001-04) at Talladega when he notched a track-record four consecutive victories, followed by two straight runner-up finishes and a fifth checkered flag.

Earnhardt will attempt to rekindle some of his old Talladega magic to make up for a pair of tough-luck performances in the first two races of the Eliminator Round. He was leading the opener at Kansas for 45 laps until he hit the wall on the 122nd go-around, causing him to finish 39th.

In the second event at Charlotte, Earnhardt could not overcome an issue with his shifter as he took 20th-place.

A rejuvenated Earnhardt has notched three victories this year, as many as he has accumulated in his last eight seasons combined. His highest Chase finish was a third-place result in 2003.

From press release

Carlos Sainz Jr became the youngest ever Formula Renault 3.5 champion, this week-end.

Sainz clinched the title despite not scoring any points, Saturday in Jerez, his lead with only one race left being too big for Roberto Mehri.

It's the first time a member of Red Bull's driver development program is crowned in the series.

"Thanks to the entire team for what we've achieved," commented Sainz, who now hopes to secure a seat in F1 with Toro Rosso.

Photo: WRI2

"If someone told me last December that I would experience a year so rich in victories and excellent moments, I wouldn't have believed it! Looking back, we have gotten some great results.

"Things became a bit complicated during the summer, but I scored the two most important wins of my career in France.

"I hope now to get some news, good or bad, about my future, but I can't wait to find out."

From NASCAR

Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson failed to make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, but they may have impacted its results at Charlotte last week.

McMurray and Larson took precious points away from championship-qualifying drivers by posting respective finishes of third and sixth.

Both members of the Ganassi duo will attempt to play spoiler again and notch their first victories of the season in Sunday's GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway (2 p.m. ET on ESPN).

Last year's fall race winner at Talladega, McMurray also notched a victory in 2009 at the 2.66-mile course. The No. 1 McDonald's Monopoly Chevrolet boasts four career wins at restrictor plate tracks.

Jamie McMurray (Photo: Action Sports Photography)

Larson has performed almost as well as anyone in the Chase since it began. If he qualified for NASCAR's playoffs, the Sunoco Rookie of the Year frontrunner would be second to Joey Logano in points. He rides a streak of five consecutive top-six finishes into Talladega where he placed ninth in the spring.

"Kyle and I, when we sit in our team meetings and talk, it's just about trying to win," McMurray said. "We have a completely different type of pressure on us than what Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon and these guys (have).

"They're kind of having their own little race, and Kyle and I are just going out every week and trying to win."

From press release

For the first eight years of its existence, the Canadian Motorsports Expo (CME) was a standalone, racing-only show catering to motorsports fans and the industry.

The CME usually took place in early February, when Canadian winters can make it challenging for even the most hearty racers, exhibitors and enthusiasts to participate.

For 2015, the CME will once again take place at Toronto's International Centre, but with several exciting changes.

The Canadian Motorsports Expo Powered by Inside Track Motorsport News will return for a ninth year as an intact component of the new Motorama Custom Car & Motorsports Expo.

The new show takes place March 13, 14 & 15, 2015 at the newly refurbished International Centre, across from Toronto's Pearson International Airport.

The 2014 edition of the CME filled 80,000 square feet. Motorama, which continues the almost four-decade tradition of the mid-March custom car and racing shows at the International Centre - will fill at least 250,000 square feet at the well known venue.

The Canadian Motorsports Expo at Motorama will offer all of the same features that racing fans appreciated about the former standalone CME, including displays by tracks, series, racing equipment manufacturers and dealers, collectibles vendors, and more.

It will also continue to celebrate Canadian racing with high-profile events like the Short Track Night of Champions, the Drag Racing Night of Champions, celebrity racer appearances and Q&As, autograph sessions, racing-themed forums, seminars and industry press conferences and announcements.

And by being part of a much larger show that appeals to a broader base of automotive enthusiasts, CME 2015 exhibitors and sponsors will be exposed to tens of thousands of potential new customers and fans, many of whom may not have attended a ‘racing only' show in the past.

Exhibitor and sponsorship package pricing for the new show remains at 2014 CME levels. And by being part of a bigger, unified show attracting significantly larger crowds, the show's promoters anticipate that the participation of the racing industry will be greater than ever before.

The response to the changes from the vast majority of the show's previous exhibitors and sponsors has been very positive.

“We are extremely excited about the Canadian Motorsports Expo being part of the inauguralMotorama Custom Car & Motorsports Expo,” said co-promoter David Weber.

“The CME has always been very well supported by the industry and racing fans. It was a team effort to promote the sport in Canada and we thank everyone for that. But being able to move the show back a month to a time when the weather is better, schedules are set, and more racing vehicles are ready, will be greatly appreciated by the motorsports community.

From GMM

Las Vegas could be the next new F1 destination, Bernie Ecclestone has revealed.

"Vegas say they are ready to go and it would be on The Strip for sure," the F1 chief executive told business journalist Christian Sylt, in the Independent.

Perhaps the world's most famous resort city renowned for gambling and nightlife, Las Vegas hosted two unpopular F1 races in 1981 and 1982, in the car park of the Caesars Palace hotel.

Nelson Piquet, Brabham BT 49 C-Cosworth. Caesars Palace Hotel (Photo: WRI2)

Sylt quoted a source as saying renowned F1 circuit designer Hermann Tilke has already visited the city, located in the Mojave Desert, several times already.

"I knew that if he had gone along there must be something to it," said the source.

F1 already has one race in the United States, in Austin, and another amid the fabled New York skyline has also been touted.

A Swiss father and his son who gained millions of Facebook followers through their Ferrari fan pages sued the social media company and the carmaker claiming they teamed up to illegally seize control of the websites.

Construction to fill the massive sinkhole that in February swallowed eight Corvettes at the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky is scheduled to begin November 10, the museum said.

Tesla says it's getting a 'raw deal' in Michigan and is speaking out on a bill that would block its direct-sales model in the state -- and prevent it from operating a gallery.

The 2015 Mercedes-Benz S-class coupe embodies the automaker's new design philosophy of modern luxury, says Gorden Wagener, the brand's design chief.