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From press release

Race 2 of the F1600 Duals presented by Juniper Networks was a hard fought battle throughout the field and contained a little more drama than Race 1.

The sun was shining and thousands of fans lined the fences around Canadian Tire Motorsport Park near Bowmanville, Ontario to witness some of North America's finest young racers taking on a deep field of veteran talent.

Chase Pelletier had finally broken Tristan DeGrand's string of successive pole positions with a convincing lap in his Britain West ride earlier in the day and was very confident heading into the race that he would have something for the Exclusive Autosport driver.

Connor Wagland continued his dominance over the “B” Class field in qualifying with his sweep of the pole positions.

Pelletier took the field to the green but was squeezed slightly by DeGrand who finished the pass for the lead on the exit of corner one. Zacharie Robichon attempted to follow DeGrand through and he and Pelletier would be side-by-side heading into two, allowing DeGrand to start to eek out a lead.

Much like race one on Saturday, DeGrand was able to put his head down and turn very quick laps while second through ninth were engaged in a ferocious battle to the delight of the fans.

On lap seven the race was slowed due to a full-course caution for an incident involving Shane Jantzi, Max Hanratty and Zacharie Robichon.

The three drivers were putting on an incredible display of racing skill, trading positions several times per lap. As they powered up the back straightaway they went three wide just before corner eight. Hanratty and Jantzi touched, sending Hanratty up against the outside wall and Jantzi into Robichon.

Robichon would continue, but was slowed with the rear toe knocked out of alignment and started to drop through the field. Jantzi would bring his car to pit lane to the attention of his crew and retired from the race. Hanratty's car was too damaged to continue and ended his day on the flatbed.

DeGrand took the green for the restart and never looked back. Pelletier and Jeffrey Kingsley waged a good battle for several laps for the second step on the podium, with Pelletier eventually prevailing.

Young Quebec standout Olivier Bedard had a very good performance in his debut at the challenging circuit, finishing in an impressive performance ahead of Jayson Clunie and hard charging Caitlin Johnston. Craig Willis, impressive rookie Reid Arnold, the damaged Zacharie Robichon and Michel Legrand would round out the top ten.

Next up on the Super Series calendar is the F1 Grand Prix of Canada. Over 35 cars are expected to take to the historic track in front of tens of thousands of racing fans.

Gerard Lopez, co-owner of the Lotus Formula 1 team, underlined the sharp upward career trajectory of Frenchman Romain Grosjean.

In fact, Grosjean has out qualified his teammate, Pastor Maldonado five times in a row since the start of the 2014 season.

Talking to Sky Sports F1, Lopez said proper tutelage have transformed the former GP2 series' champion into one of F1's most consistent drivers.

Some people are seeing similarities between the accident-prone Maldonado and the early crash filled career of Grosjean.

"We've lived partially the same thing with Romain (Grosjean), and people wrote him off, but now...we've people knocking on our door to see if he can be in their team”, said Lopez.

"Romain's drives last year meant there were a couple of teams knocking on the door to find out what he was doing, and now we've the same this year," said Lopez after Grosjean opened Lotus's 2014 points account at the Grand Prix of Spain.

"I'm not saying Romain is going, but what I am saying is that here is a driver who was criticised, and now suddenly people are saying he is a driver who could pretty much drive for any team,” Lopez mentioned.

From GMM

Amid the F1 paddock's usual scepticism, the sport's newest team is pushing ahead with its plans.

Gene Haas - a top Nascar team co-owner and boss of Haas Automation, a world-leading machine tool maker - has secured a two-year license to make his F1 debut either in 2015 or 2016.

After a visit to Haas' North Carolina headquarters, Auto Motor und Sport correspondent Michael Schmidt says the Gunther Steiner-led team's "plan A" is to race next year.

Schmidt said Steiner, who has worked with Jaguar and Red Bull, is now rapidly building a workforce, with many experienced F1 people showing interest because Haas can offer new challenges and high-ranking positions.

"There are many interested parties, but we can only hire people when we know who our engine partner is," a source said.

Stewart-Haas' factory. (Photo: Stewart-Haas Racing)

The front-runner is Ferrari, who are also keen to supply a lot of other components to Haas.

Mercedes has already ruled itself out of the running to fill Haas' needs.

"We can only offer engines and transmission," said team chairman Niki Lauda.

The Haas car will almost certainly be built by Dallara.

Schmidt reports: "A 200-strong staff is under construction. In September, the factory in Mooresville will be ready."

At the same time, Haas is also looking for somewhere to base itself in England, the report added.

The Formula 1 Grand Prix of Monaco is the most prestigious race of the season; it features great history, difficulty and prestige, as well as massive media attention and glamour.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen is no exception and is eager to get on track for what is a truly unique event on the calendar.

“This season especially, with the new generation cars, we can expect it to be particularly exciting,” said Raikkonen on Ferrari's official web site.

“These new cars tend to slide easily and in Monaco there's not much room to drift off line.”

Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari F14 T, in Barcelona. (Photo: WRi2)

As always, the car plays an important role, but Monaco also highlights a driver's ability. Raikkonen knows what he's talking about since he won that race in 2005 behind the wheel of a Mercedes-powered McLaren.

“This track is unique, as you have to give your all from the first to the 78th lap,” Raikkonen explained.

“Qualifying can have a big effect on the outcome, an area on which we are doing our utmost to improve. After the last race, we stayed on in Barcelona for the test, which was reasonably positive: we had problems at the start, but by the end, I can say I was pleased with the work we managed to get through. The F14 T is improving and I am sure that, step by step, the results will come, but we must push harder to get them.”

“The Monaco race is very complicated right from Thursday morning,” the Finn explained.

“It will be vital not to lose any time in free practice, trying to do as many laps as possible to quickly get a feel for things in between the barriers. It's difficult to do well here, but it's enormously satisfying when you get it right,” Raikkonen said.

Scott Monty, the architect and face of Ford's pioneering social media efforts, has left the company after nearly six years.

Nissan ran its

Automotive safety technology supplier TRW Automotive today named Colleen Hanley director of global communications.

McLaren Automotive turned a profit in 2013 -- which was ahead of schedule -- and plans to remain in the black while aggressively adding models and dealers over the next three years.

We may be powerless to stop the discontinuation of the SLS AMG, but Mercedes really wants us to know that the car's indirect replacement is on the way.

Ford, one of the few automakers to routinely open an assembly line to the general public, is renovating its Rouge factory tour and renovating the Dearborn Truck Plant's body shop at the end of the summer in anticipation of the 2015 Ford F-150.

The Volkswagen Group is planning to spend an additional US$130m to expand its business in India including the launch of new models and further localisation of parts, Volkswagen India president and managing director Mahesh Kodumudi told reporters.

If we were to make a list of fun cars from the last 30 years that North America never received, that list would be pretty long and it would be littered with Italian and French machinery.

One of the biggest challenges for the automotive chain in Brazil under the Inovar-Auto programme is to understand, execute and obtain incentives laid down for Research&Development&Engineering (P&D&E, the acronym in Portuguese).

When it comes to off-brand GTs, the less-than-discriminating buyer has no shortage of unholy hybrids to choose from. But

The biggest crisis for the new General Motors might still be a secret buried in the debris of old GM, if not for persistent digging by a Georgia lawyer, a Mississippi auto mechanic and a Florida engineer.

General Motors has rehired a second former PR professional, on Monday naming Tony Cervone senior vice president of GM global communications, effective immediately. He will report to CEO Mary Barra and rejoins GM after serving as executive vice president of group communications for Volkswagen Group of America.

General Motors, in the thick of a recall crisis that prompted a $35 million fine from the federal government last week, said today that it rehired public-relations executive Tony Cervone, who served as one of GM's top spokesmen as the company veered...

The 2015 Subaru Legacy will start at $22,490 when it hits dealer lots this summer. The top-of-the-line 3.6R Limited will start at $30,390.

ASSOCIATE EDITOR GRAHAM KOZAK: You know how when you accidentally shrink a sweater in the wash, it's not always a proportional downsizing? The Sonic sedan is a little bit like that.

News 20 May, 2014

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