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After an eight-year run in which he spearheaded the salvation of Ford, Alan Mulally hands the CEO job to Mark Fields on Tuesday, July 1. But, like all great leaders, Mulally did not succeed in everything he tackled.

The F-Type two-door sports cars are allowing Jaguar to re-create its image and history as it prepares for a new compact sedan due in 2016, says the brand's North America vice president, Jeff Curry.

GM is betting on the latest installment of the alien-robot Transformers saga to help jump-start Chevrolet sales in China.

From press release

Albatec Racing's Jacques Villeneuve is well placed to qualify for tomorrow's World RX event of Finland after another strong pace in the opening two heats puts him joint 12th in the intermediate standings.

The fourth round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, held at the stunning Kouvola track, saw the former F1 World Champion power his two-litre, 16v Albatec Peugeot 208 to second place and the 13th fastest overall race time in heat one.

In the second round of heats held in changeable conditions, the Canadian took fourth, and a respectable race time, however as track conditions improved the subsequent heat times tumbled, pushing the Indy 500 winner back to 14th.

The joint results are enough to see him in joint 12th place though, with the results of tomorrow's two final heats helping to determine the final grid line-up for the two six-car semi finals.



Jacques Villeneuve (Photo: Toni Ollikainen / Tonigraphs.com)

"This Kouvola track is great," said Villeneuve.

"Unfortunately we didn't get the best results from the two heats and so that's a little frustrating. The car is good, there are no major problems there, we just need to get better starts and find an easier way to get past the slower cars out there.



"Lying joints 12th overnight means we need another two clean, strong races tomorrow, but the car is quick, so I'm confident we can move up the order and progress to the finals."

On the same day that Columbia won its FIFA World Cup knockout match, Columbians Carlos Huertas, Juan Pablo Montoya and Carlos Munoz swept the podium of race 1 at the Grand Prix of Houston.

It was obviously a special result for all three of them, but especially for 23-year-old Huertas, who scored his first win in the IndyCar series.

It was also a special race for Montoya, who enjoyed his best result since coming back to the championship after 13 years in F1 and NASCAR.

Juan Pablo Montoya, Carlos Huertas and Carlos Munoz (Photo: Chris Jones)

Munoz was simply happy to be on the podium with a childhood hero: "I grew up looking at Juan Pablo how to be a professional race car driver," he said.

"He's always been an example for me and also for a lot of drivers growing up, and all the time I remember always you saying you have to be a team, you have to arrive into Formula One.

"It was nice to have when I was small as an example, and right now competing against him at the track, he's very good."

The future looks gloomy at Caterham, but driver Kamui Kobayashi is looking at the bright side of things.

"The season so far? Perfect!" he was recently quoted saying by Sky Sports.

Kobayashi, who returned to F1 in 2014 after losing his drive at Sauber, and his teammate Marcus Ericson are spending most of their time this season at the back of the pack, even behind Marussia.

Rumours say the team is about to be sold, yet the Japanese seems happy just to be back in F1.

Kamui Kobayashi, Caterham CT05 (Photo: Caterham F1 Team)

"I'm not really looking at (the rumours)," he says.

"Of course, I'm not wishing these stories. I'm here for driving - me, I can't change anything, you know? I cannot bring any money or stuff.

"Financially, I think we're in a very difficult situation but I cannot do anything so I just focus on my job. That's part of my job actually: I'll just try for a better result as much as I can.

"I just hope that somebody can help this team. This is the only thing I can say."

Quaker State 400 winner Brad Keselowski seemed on top of everything this weekend at the Kentucky Speedway. That is, until he climbed on the podium.

The 2012 Sprint Cup champion picked up seven positions over the final 47 laps, on his way to a second win this season. Then, in Victory Lane, he picked put a bottle of champagne and cut his right hand with it.

Keselowski before his injury (Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)

"There was blood flying everywhere," he remembers.

"I think I hit (the bottle) on the corner of the podium and then it broke. I don't know, I was trying to get the top off and shaking it at the same time, and people were spraying me and I couldn't really see all that well.  It was just one of them deals."

He had to rush to the infield care centre, where he received four stitches before he could go back to celebrating his dominant victory.

The 30-year-old doesn't expect to miss too much action: "The last time I had stitches it was seven days or so, and we're going to Daytona, which is probably the easiest track you could ask for. 

"I didn't break any bones or any of that stuff.  I just put a big gash, so I don't think it'll be an issue."

From press release

Sergey Sirotkin won his first career Formula Renault 3.5 race this weekend, as the championship raced in his home country, Russia.

From pole, the Sauber reserve driver got the best of Zoel Amberg and Pietro Fantin at the start.

Despite Amberg's offensive on lap 7, Sirotkin maintained the lead, and on lap 29, crossed the finish line to win at the Moscow Raceway, which is set to host the first ever Russian Grand Prix later this season.

(Photo: World Series by Renault)

"It's incredible!" said the Russian teen.

"It's the best moment of my life. The season started so rough, but the team took advantage of the short break to come back stronger. There was not better place to do it!

"Free practice went well and it continued in the race. It wasn't easy managing the back tire temperature, but we made it.

"A huge thank you to the whole team!"

From press release

Mercedes-Benz driver Robert Wickens crowned a perfect weekend of racing at Norisring with his first victory of the season.

Robert Wickens, Mercedes AMG C-Coupé (Photo: DTM.com)

In slippery conditions at the 2.3 kilometres long street circuit, the Canadian converted his pole position in an undisputed lights-to-flag victory: "I am overjoyed. I was able to fully concentrate on driving my own race and extend my lead," he said.

"So far, it has been a crazy season for us and because of that, this victory is all the more beautiful for me and my team. The Norisring has always been good to us," added the 25-year-old said after scoring the twelfth Norisring victory in a row for Mercedes-Benz.

Robert Wickens (Photo: DTM.com)

British driver Jamie Green, who already scored four DTM race wins at Norisring, crossed the finish line in second place. Fellow Audi driver Mattias Ekström completed the good performance by the team from Ingolstadt after making his way up from twelfth on the grid to finish third.

Unfortunately for Canadian fans, Bruno Spengler completed a difficult weekend at the Norisring in 11th place, 1 lap down on his countryman Wickens.

In total, 121,000 spectators attended the fourth race weekend of the most popular international touring car series in Nuremberg.

Robert Wickens, Antonio Felix da Costa, Jamie Green (Photo: DTM.com)

Race results - Norisring
1 - Robert Wickens (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 82 laps in 1.15'21"118
2 - Jamie Green (Audi RS5) - Rosberg - 23"906
3 - Mattias Ekstrom (Audi RS5) - Abt - 25"922
4 - Edoardo Mortara (Audi RS5) - Abt - 32"875
5 - Adrien Tambay (Audi RS5) - Abt - 44"661
6 - Pascal Wehrlein (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 44"788
7 - Marco Wittmann (BMW M4) - RMG - 46"050
8 - Joey Hand (BMW M4) - RBM - 47"991
9 - Mike Rockenfeller (Audi RS5) - Phoenix - 48"803
10 - Timo Scheider (Audi RS5) - Phoenix - 1 lap
11 - Bruno Spengler (BMW M4) - Schnitzer - 1 lap
12 - Gary Paffett (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 1 lap
13 - Daniel Juncadella (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 1 lap
14 - Augusto Farfus (BMW M4) - RBM - 1 lap
15 - Paul Di Resta (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 1 lap
16 - Timo Glock (BMW M4) - MTEK - 2 laps
17 - Antonio Felix Da Costa (BMW M4) - MTEK - 2 laps
18 - Maxime Martin (BMW M4) - RMG - 2 laps
19 - Nico Muller (Audi RS5) - Rosberg - 2 laps
20 - Vitaly Petrov (Mercedes C-Coupe) - Mucke - 2 laps

Fastest lap of the race: 48"610 by Mattias Ekstrom

Retirements
Christian Vietoris
Miguel Molina
Martin Tomczyk

Drivers' championship
1.Wittmann 56 points; 2.Mortara 39; 3.Tambay 36; 4.Ekstrom 35; 5.Rockenfeller 33; 6.Molina 26; 7.Vietoris e Wickens 25; 9.Green 24; 10.Spengler 23.

U.S. safety regulators are investigating complaints that a carpet cover trim panel is causing unwanted acceleration in Nissan Versa cars and preventing drivers from braking.

NHTSA is investigating complaints that rear axles on some 260,000 Dodge Ram pickups have locked up without warning while driving, causing vehicles to spin out at high speeds in some cases.

We're back for day three of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, and live coverage starts at 3:25 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, June 28 right here on Autoweek.

Kenneth Feinberg, who's creating a fund to compensate victims of GM's faulty ignition switch, is expected to offer payments for all drivers, passengers and bystanders killed or hurt in collisions related to the defect, according to a lawyer who said...

Suzuki's investors are becoming increasingly concerned over who will succeed the carmaker's 84-year-old boss, Osamu Suzuki, who has spent almost three decades as head of the company.

Honda was so confident the new Accord would be a superstar in China last year that it released an exclusive 3-liter version with a flashy grille and a price tag to rival Audi's A4. The results weren't so stellar.

Suzuki's investors are becoming increasingly concerned over who will succeed the carmaker's 84-year-old boss, Osamu Suzuki, who has spent almost three decades as head of the company.

The massive recall of airbags made by Japan's Takata presents a global fix-it fiasco. With millions of cars needing new airbag inflators, it will take months to remedy all the vehicles on the road.

Gary Convis called it a career when he turned 65 in 2007 as head of Toyota engineering and manufacturing in North America in Erlanger, Ky. A couple of failed retirements later, Convis is still at it.

From press release

Canadian Robert Wickens will start from pole this Sunday at the Norisring, for round 4 of the DTM season.

Robert WIckens, Mercedes C-Coupe (Photo: DTM.com)

The Mercedes driver clocked a lap time of 47.883 seconds aboard his C-Coupé to claim his second career pole: "I simply like this track," said the 25-year-old.

"Like last year, I am on pole position here. I can't thank Mercedes-Benz enough for the fact that we are in first place. The team has put in many night shifts to make this happen. For me, this is a special moment because my father is on site to support me for the first time in a long while."

(Photo: DTM.com)

His fellow Mercedes-Benz driver and former F1 driver Paul Di Resta was only 0.093 seconds slower and will be starting from the front row alongside Wickens.

2012 DTM champion Bruno Spengler is a disappointing 16th on the Norisring grid. Actually, it was a disappointing session for BMW, with only one diver (Marco Wittmann) in the top 10.

Bruno Spengler, BMW M4 DTM (Photo: DTM.com)

Qualifying results - Norisring
1.Robert Wickens (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 47"883 - Q3
2.Paul Di Resta (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 47"976 - Q3
3.Jamie Green (Audi RS5) - Rosberg - 47"995 - Q3
4.Pascal Wehrlein (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 48"008 - Q3
5.Gary Paffett (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 48"033 - Q3
6.Christian Vietoris (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 48"033 - Q3
7.Mattias Ekstrom (Audi RS5) - Abt - 48"079 - Q3
8.Marco Wittmann (BMW M4) - RMG - 48"210 - Q3
9.Adrien Tambay (Audi RS5) - Abt - 48"223 - Q2
10.Nico Muller (Audi RS5) - Rosberg - 48"235 - Q2
11.Maxime Martin (BMW M4) - RMG - 48"267 - Q2
12.Mike Rockenfeller (Audi RS5) - Phoenix - 48"292 - Q2
13.Timo Glock (BMW M4) - MTEK - 48"316 - Q2
14.Joey Hand (BMW M4) - RBM - 48"320 - Q2
15.Augusto Farfus (BMW M4) - RBM - 48"329 - Q2
16,Bruno Spengler (BMW M4) - Schnitzer - 48"329 - Q2
17.Daniel Juncadella (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 48"375 - Q2
18.Miguel Molina (Audi RS5) - Abt - 48"434 - Q2
19.Martin Tomczyk (BMW M4) - Schnitzer - 48"417 - Q1
20.Edoardo Mortara (Audi RS5) - Abt - 48"439 - Q1
21.Timo Scheider (Audi RS5) - Phoenix - 48"480 - Q1
22.Antonio Felix Da Costa (BMW M4) - MTEK - 48"488 - Q1
23.Vitaly Petrov (Mercedes C-Coupe) - Mucke - 48"544 - Q1

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

Red Bull thinks it will be more competitive next weekend during the British Grand Prix at Silverstone than it was last weekend in Austria.

8 out of 11 F1 teams are based in the UK, so the British Grand Prix is considered as a "home" race by a lot of people. That means a lot of people want to do well at Silverstone.

Red Bull also wanted to do well last weekend, for F1's big return to Austria, at the newly renovated Red Bull Ring. But all the team had to celebrate was Daniel Ricciardo's eighth place. The RB10 didn't perform well on the Spielberg circuit.

But the Milton Keynes outfit hopes to do better at Silverstone.

Photo: GEPA Pictures

"All things being equal obviously the Mercedes have got such an advantage at the moment it's going to be tough to beat them, but as we saw in Montreal recently, anything can happen and we're going to be pushing hard, said team principal Christian Horner.

"Renault are working hard on their side and hopefully we can give (Mercedes) a bit of a run for their money."