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Johnson Controls will spin off its $3 billion interiors unit into a joint venture with Yanfeng Automotive Trim Systems of Shanghai. JCI may retain control of a few plants if customers request it, CEO Alex Molinaroli said.

Federal safety regulators upgraded an investigation involving 65,347 Kia Sorento SUVs after receiving consumer complaints that the optional glass sunroof had shattered.

Hyundai is recalling more than 140,000 Tucson crossover models because the air bag assembly may come loose from its mounting on the steering wheel, according to documents filed with U.S. auto safety regulators.

BMW plans to announce in July that it will build its first assembly plant in Mexico and has earmarked two regions where the site could be built, Automobilwoche reported on Sunday, without citing the source of the information.

BMW will announce in July that it will build its first assembly plant in Mexico and has earmarked two regions where the site could be built, a report said.

BMW will announce in July that it will build its first assembly plant in Mexico and has earmarked two regions where the site could be built, a report said.

The Lincoln MKC is expected to arrive in dealerships in June, not a moment too soon for some long-suffering Lincoln dealers. The MKC will give Lincoln an entry in the luxury market's hottest segment: compact crossovers.

With new engines, new technologies and new vehicles, Volvo Cars of North America wants to have 1 percent of the U.S. automotive market in five years. That means sales of 150,000 to 160,000 units annually, significantly higher than today.

From press release

Race 1 of the F1600 Duals presented by Juniper Networks is in the books and it was an intense battle involving several young superstars. The Super Series format of bringing together the best racers in the region several times a year is proving to be just what the sport needed.

DeGrand brought us to the green as the pole sitter and quickly jumped out to a bit of a lead over the battling Chase Pelletier, Zacharie Robichon and Max Hanratty.

DeGrand was in control of most of the event but in the latter stages did fall back into the sights of Robichon who managed to slip by with two to go but got passed back the next lap. The two staged a great battle over the closing laps with aggressive but clean back and forth moves.

Robichon made one last effort for a pass in the very last corner but had the door closed and the two would cross the line in first and second respectively. Hanratty overcame several back and forth episodes, once falling back as far as fifth to take the final spot on the podium.

Podium (Photo: Michael Haley)

“I'm really happy with the result, obviously you are happy when you win but the racing was clean and hard and really fun,” said DeGrand. “The team worked really hard this week, it was a good result for them as well and I can't wait to do it again tomorrow.”

Robichon commented, “It was a hard fight with Tristan but we both respected each other and gave just enough room to avoid contact. I was just missing a little bit to get the final pass but I know the BGR guys will work hard to give us just an extra little bit to try and make that final pass stick.

Day two at the Castrol Victoria Day SpeedFest will see the F1600's take to the track at 10am for qualifying with the race getting the green flag at 5.

From press release

Rain, tire gambles and risky overtaking manoeuvres - the second DTM round of the year in the etropolis Motorsport Arena Oschersleben had plenty of action.

After a strategic and driving masterpiece, Christian Vietoris emerged as the surprising winner with his DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé. With a margin of 0.6 seconds from defending champion Mike Rockenfeller (Audi) after 44 laps, the 25-year-old Mercedes-Benz driver crossed the finish line as the winner of the race for the first time in his DTM career.

Christian Vietoris (Photo: DTM.com)

“As we currently aren't among the front runners in normal conditions, I obviously hoped for rain. Perfect that it turned out that way. We wanted to use these chances and so we did. We had an ideal strategy. I am overjoyed. What a race,” said Vietoris, who already changed to rain tires after the formation lap, then chased the field from the pit lane and eventually made it through as the only driver with just one pit stop.

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

With his second place, Rockenfeller took over the lead in the drivers' standings. Driving another Audi RS 5 DTM, Edoardo Mortara finished third in the action-packed race. Behind Paul Di Resta (Mercedes-Benz), last year's winner Augusto Farfus came fifth as the best-placed driver of a BMW M4 DTM.

In total, 65,000 fans attended the race weekend in the Magdeburg region.

(Photo: DTM.com)

Race results* - Oschersleben (round 2 of 10)
1 - Christian Vietoris (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 44 laps 1.15'28"785
2 - Mike Rockenfeller (Audi RS5) - Phoenix - 0"674
3 - Edoardo Mortara (Audi RS5) - Abt - 7"769
4 - Paul Di Resta (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 8"906
5 - Augusto Farfus (BMW M4) - RBM - 9"326
6 - Miguel Molina (Audi RS5) - Abt - 13"051
7 - Timo Scheider (Audi RS5) - Phoenix - 20"503
8 - Gary Paffett (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 20"597
9 - Martin Tomczyk (BMW M4) - Schnitzer - 23"079
10 - Adrien Tambay (Audi RS5) - Abt - 24"340
11 - Antonio Felix Da Costa (BMW M4) - MTEK - 24"620
12 - Bruno Spengler (BMW M4) - Schnitzer - 26"892
13 - Mattias Ekstrom (Audi RS5) - Abt - 27"201
14 - Maxime Martin (BMW M4) - RMG - 31"032
15 - Joey Hand (BMW M4) - RBM - 39"802
16 - Nico Muller (Audi RS5) - Rosberg - 44"324
17 - Vitaly Petrov (Mercedes C-Coupe) - Mucke - 55"493
18 - Jamie Green (Audi RS5) - Rosberg - 1 lap
19 - Marco Wittmann (BMW M4) - RMG - 1 lap

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

Retirements
Lap 27 - Pascal Wehrlein
Lap 22 - Daniel Juncadella
Lap 14 - Timo Glock
Lap 7 - Robert Wickens

Championship
1.Rockenfeller 30 points; 2.Vietoris 25; 3.Wittmann 25; 4.Ekstrom 18; 5.Tambay 16; 6.Mortara 15; 7.Farfus 14; 8.Di Resta 12; 9.Glock 10; 10.Molina 8.

*Unofficial scoring

(Photo: DTM.com)

From press release

It's a good day at the office when you earn $1 million dollar.

The driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet SS beat Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth to the checkered flag, Saturday night, to win the 2014 Sprint All-Star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

On top of the win, which was his third at CMS, McMurray also earned the $1 million dollar prize.

Jamie McMurray celebrates in victory lane (Photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

The 37-year-old Earnhardt Ganassi Racing driver led three times for 31 laps throughout the five segments that made-up the 2014 Sprint All-Star race, taking the lead for the final time 9 laps from the end.

"This is just a really awesome moment," he said.

"It's so much different than winning the Daytona 500 or the Brickyard because there are no points, and I think the mentality going into that last segment is just all or nothing, and that was my thought process.

"I am like, I don't really care if we wreck, I don't care what happens, I'm racing for a million dollars, I get to start on the front row and I'm going to make the very most out of the restart and everything that goes with this."

(Photo: Jonathan Moore/Getty Images)

From press release

He was revered as one of the best Japanese Grand Prix riders of the modern era, a rider from whom big things were expected after finishing the 1997 500cc Motorcycle Grand Prix season in fifth position for Repsol Honda.

Sadly Aoki suffered a spinal injury during a pre-season test at the Honda test course in Japan which paralyzed him from the waist down abruptly bringing his racing career to a halt.

Years of rehabilitation did little to stem his competitive urge. He became involved with the Honda factory as Assistant Director of Honda Racing but still retained that competitive urge and desire to race.

Photo: Asian Festival of Speed

An opportunity to realize a childhood dream and compete in the 2009 Dakar Rally came as part of an Isuzu team however Aoki retired early from the event. He continued to rally in the FIA Cross Country Rally series with some level of success, but was unable to experience the highs of his circuit racing career again until his debut in the 2014 GT Asia Series in Korea.

Campaigning a 550 horsepower V10 Lamborghini Gallardo LP520, Aoki joined former Asian champion and one-time 125/250 Grand Prix motorcycle rider Dilantha Malagamuwa in a two-car assault on the 2014 series, Aoki driving a specially modified GTM class car.

With inspiration from former F1 world champion Clay Regazzoni and former Indycar champion Alex Zanardi - both now wheelchair bound, Aoki met the challenge of competing against some of the regions best drivers head on.

Typically modest he explained that he had no great expectations going into the event, but would ‘do his best'.

Despite no laps in the car prior to the first unofficial session at Korea International, Aoki was quickly up to speed, showing many of the signs that had marked him as one of the best during his time on bikes.

By qualifying his speed was clear. Third in the opening session despite just 15-minutes to post a time on the 5.6-kilometre Grand Prix circuit, Aoki improved to set the pole time for the GTM class in the second 15-minute session, but as an experienced racer, he wasn't getting too excited.

“The car is very easy to drive and I have a very good feel for it, so I will just keep practicing and see if we can make the podium in race one.”

Aoki,Lamborghini Gallardo LP520 (Photo: Asian Festival of Speed)

And podium he did.

The look of elation on his face as he rolled onto the podium and was hauled onto the top step of the rostrum was priceless.

The were tears in the pit lane as the competing teams and fans were hit by the realization that Aoki had completed the one-hour race - his first in a GT3-specification car - with hand controls, in the process beating some very experienced drivers with years of GT competition under their belts.

“I'm very happy because this is my first international [circuit] race since my accident. I did not expect to win my first race, but I just kept pushing, pushing to do my best, and when the race is over I have come through for the win. I can still find more speed in myself, I just need to do more practice, but so far, I am very happy with the result.”

Red Bull Racing's Christian Horner seems unfazed by the recent rumours swirling around Adrian Newey, which have linked the coveted designer to Ferrari.

"It is almost an annual thing that there is speculation about his future," the Milton Keynes based team' boss is quoted saying by British magazine Autosport.

"But he has always made it clear his feeling towards the team, the paternal feeling he has for Red Bull," added the Brit.

So Horner is confident Newey will stay put at Red Bull.

"He enjoys the environment that he is working in, so I think the speculation is purely that."

Horner is also confident his star driver Sebastian Vettel is back to his usual self, after a couple of disappointing performances, as the championship heads to Monaco.

"I think [in Barcelona], you could see in the race the recovery drive that he had, with the fastest lap and the way he hunted down the Ferraris it looked like he got his mojo back," Crash.net quotes hims as saying.

Chrysler Group began producing new fuel-saving transmissions last month at a 782,000-square-foot plant about an hour north of Indianapolis that it once abandoned.

Audi is applying an unusual level of scrutiny to its supply base, even working directly with raw-material vendors, as it gears up to open the first European luxury auto assembly plant in Mexico.

U.S. regulators concluded a 2-month probe of GM with a broad condemnation of its ability and willingness to fix dangerous defects. Now GM's autonomy in evaluating safety matters will be restricted for at least the next year.

McLaren turned a profit in 2013 and plans to remain in the black while adding models over the next three years. The carmaker aims to achieve margins closer to those of Ferrari or Porsche, CEO Mike Flewitt told Automotive News Europe.

From press release

Romain Grosjean scored his first points of the season, last weekend in Spain. He is now looking forward to the Monaco Grand Prix, which he considers to be his "unofficial" home race.

Grosjean finished eighth in Barcelona, behind the wheel of the upgraded Lotus E22. Last Wednesday, his teammate Pastor Maldonado topped the timing sheets, during a collective test.

So the Enstone team is definitely showing sings of improvements after a rocky start to the 2014 campaign. The Monaco track, however, may not suit the E22.

Still, Grosjean always liked racing there, and this year is no exception.

Romain Grosjean, Lotus E22 (Photo: WRi2)

"The emphasis at Monaco is on low speed corners, which is not our greatest strength," noted Grosjean.

"But the team worked with Monaco in mind during the Barcelona test. Bumpy straights and a low grip surface are the other main Monaco characteristics and how well you adapt to them can make or break your weekend. We'll do our best with set-up.

"It was great to see so much French support last year, with all the flags and banners. Then there are the unique challenges of such a special circuit.

"It's a crazy week with all the focus and attention, but everyone loves Monaco."

From press release

After earning 2 victories in the final 4 races of the 2013 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series schedule, Jason Hathaway was regarded by many within the NCATS community as the hottest driver on the roster at the closing of the season.

Now, after months of reflection, Hathaway and his Team 3 Red/Ed Hakonson Racing team are ready to get back to business, and get back to victory lane.

"This whole team was incredible at the tail end of the season", says Hathaway. "It felt like everything was going our way. We didn't want the schedule to end. We would've raced until November if they'd let us!"

After enjoying a 2013 campaign that kept his team at the forefront of championship contention, Hathaway is quick to note it all started with a podium finish at last year's season opener at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

"We started 2013 off strong with a podium finish, and it really gave our whole program a shot in the arm", states Hathaway. "That confidence followed us all season long"

"My team is one of the most dedicated and underestimated in the business", continues the amiable veteran. "We just go out and get the job done, week in and week out"

"I love flying under the radar and getting results"

Hathaway will also enter the Pinty's presents the Clarington 200 with some added motivation for success, after inking a deal with Roto-Static Carpet Cleaning just prior to the event's test session.

"Opening the season with Roto-Static on our quarter panel is huge", explains Hathaway. "I appreciate their support more than I could explain. And the best way to thank them would be to put this #3 Rockstar Energy Drink/Roto-Static Chevrolet in Victory Lane!"

From press release

Miguel Molina in the Audi Sport Audi RS 5 DTM of Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline achieved a record lap and a possibly record-breaking advantage in qualifying for the DTM race at Oschersleben.

The Spaniard outperformed the second-placed BMW of Hockenheim winner Marco Wittmann by more than half a second.

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

At 1m 20.007s, Molina set a new track record and was the first DTM driver ever to have nearly broken the magic ‘sound barrier' of 1m 20s at the Motorsport Arena. The Spaniard had immediately presented himself in top form at Oschersleben on Saturday.

He was the fastest driver in the free practice session and the fastest one in two of three qualifying sections. Right at the beginning of the decisive third segment (Q3), he managed to set the record lap that all of his competitors were subsequently unable to match.

Edoardo Mortara, Audi RS 5 DTM (Photo: DTM.com)

“Today, we again saw ‘Magic Molina,' as Miguel used to be nicknamed in his team,” said Dieter Gass, Head of DTM at Audi Sport.

“Taking grid position one with an advantage of half a second is a very rare occurrence in the DTM. This achievement and this lap deserve respect! Miguel was immediately strong here and, as before at Hockenheim, our RS 5 DTM is running really well too. Two qualifying sessions and two pole positions in succession - you can't wish for more than that. With four cars on the first three rows we've got a very good starting base. But we're not going to underestimate the competition - and the weather could also be making for additional suspense tomorrow.”

Daniel Juncadella, Mercedes C-Coupe (Photo: DTM.com)

“My third pole position in the DTM, my third one with Audi and Abt: I'm overjoyed,” beamed the 25-year-old Catalonian.

“Everybody knows how difficult the DTM is. That makes us even happier. Audi Sport and Team Abt Sportsline did an outstanding job and gave me a fantastic car. My RS 5 DTM was perfect on each lap and very easy to drive - as a result, this lap time and the unusually large advantage almost happened automatically. I'd like to thank everyone who worked so hard for this.”

(Photo: DTM.com)

Qualifying results* - Oschersleben (round 2 of 10)
1.Miguel Molina (Audi RS5) - Abt - 1'20"007 - Q3
2.Marco Wittmann (BMW M4) - RMG - 1'20"516 - Q3
3.Adrien Tambay (Audi RS5) - Abt - 1'20"519 - Q3
4.Antonio Felix Da Costa (BMW M4) - MTEK - 1'20"582 - Q3
5.Timo Scheider (Audi RS5) - Phoenix - 1'20"668 - Q3
6.Mike Rockenfeller (Audi RS5) - Phoenix - 1'20"676 - Q3
7.Bruno Spengler (BMW M4) - Schnitzer - 1'20"703 - Q3
8.Edoardo Mortara (Audi RS5) - Abt - 1'21"113 - Q3
9.Augusto Farfus (BMW M4) - RBM - 1'20"663 - Q2
10.Pascal Wehrlein (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 1'20"668 - Q2
11.Jamie Green (Audi RS5) - Rosberg - 1'20"767 - Q2
12.Mattias Ekstrom (Audi RS5) - Abt - 1'20"788 - Q2
13.Martin Tomczyk (BMW M4) - Schnitzer - 1:20"801 - Q2
14.Maxime Martin (BMW M4) - RMG - 1:20"904 - Q2
15.Nico Muller (Audi RS5) - Rosberg - 1:20"957 - Q2
16.Joey Hand (BMW M4) - RBM - 1:20"973 - Q2
17.Christian Vietoris (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 1'21"082 - Q2
18.Gary Paffett (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 1'21"322 - Q2
19.Timo Glock (BMW M4) - MTEK - 1'21"439 - Q1
20.Robert Wickens (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 1'21"595 - Q1
21.Paul Di Resta (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 1'21"795 - Q1
22.Daniel Juncadella (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 1'21"915 - Q1
23.Vitaly Petrov (Mercedes C-Coupe) - Mucke - 1'22"132 - Q1
*Unofficial results

Paul di Resta (Photo: DTM.com)