Auto News 5

As other U.S. brands struggle in Japan, Jeep is forging ahead to its fifth straight year of sales increases and a solidified, if unlikely, spot as the No. 1 American brand here.

In moving its U.S. headquarters out of California, Toyota hopes to avoid some of the problems that Nissan encountered when it did the same thing in 2006.

Toyota's move to north Texas almost certainly will put some of its senior managerial and executive talent in play.

From press release

At the start of the DTM season, Adrien Tambay has secured the first pole position of the year. In qualifying at the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg, the Frenchman was fastest with his Audi RS 5 DTM and will be starting from first place on the grid for the first time in his DTM career on Sunday.

Marco Wittmann, Adrien Tambay, Antonio Felix da Costa (Photo: DTM.com)

The 23-year old completed the 4.574 kilometres long lap in 1:32.272 minutes and thus ended up ahead of BMW drivers Marco Wittmann and Bruno Spengler, who were second and third respectively.

“I finally made it,” Tambay said after his pole-winning drive.

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

“As always in the DTM, it was incredibly close. It was almost over for me after the first qualifying heat and eventually, I got pole position - incredible. I am really happy that it finally worked out. The mechanics have been working really hard. There wouldn't have been a better way for me to thank them than by claiming pole position. I am overjoyed.”

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

Rookie driver António Félix da Costa (BMW) showed an impressive performance. The best of the four novices in the field, the 22-year old Portuguese made it into the third qualifying heat and will be starting the first race of the season from fourth place.

“I don't know whether I had expected this,” the BMW driver said.

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

“From the very moment I put my helmet on, I always want to give my best. The fast that it was enough for fourth place is just great.” Initially, Félix da Costa was even in third place. Then, however, the race director declared the BMW driver's best lap void, because the latter had exceeded the track limits during this lap.

Qualifying results* - Hockenheim (round 1 of 10)
1.Adrien Tambay (Audi RS5) - Abt - 1'32"272 - Q3
2.Marco Wittmann (BMW M4) - RMG - 1'32"419 - Q3
3.Bruno Spengler (BMW M4) - Schnitzer - 1'32"600 - Q3
4.Antonio Felix da Costa (BMW M4) - MTEK - 1'32"608 - Q3
5.Mattias Ekstrom (Audi RS5) - Abt - 1'32"624 - Q3
6.Miguel Molina (Audi RS5) - Abt - 1'32"787 - Q3
7.Edoardo Mortara (Audi RS5) - Abt - 1'32"898 - Q3
8.Martin Tomczyk (BMW M4) - Schnitzer - 1'33"113 - Q3
9.Timo Glock (BMW M4) - MTEK - 1'32"603 - Q2
10.Timo Scheider (Audi RS5) - Phoenix - 1'32"706 - Q2
11.Mike Rockenfeller (Audi RS5) - Phoenix - 1'32"717 - Q2
12.Augusto Farfus (BMW M4) - RBM - 1'32"739 - Q2
13.Nico Muller (Audi RS5) - Rosberg - 1'32"756 - Q2
14.Maxime Martin (BMW M4) - RMG - 1'32"792 - Q2
15.Gary Paffett (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 1'32"834 - Q2
16.Pascal Wehrlein (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 1'32"840 - Q2
17.Joey Hand (BMW M4) - RBM - 1'32"885 - Q2
18.Jamie Green (Audi RS5) - Rosberg - 1'32"986 - Q2
19.Paul Di Resta (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 1'33"639 - Q1
20.Daniel Juncadella (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 1'33"746 - Q
21.Robert Wickens (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 1'33"875 - Q1
22.Christian Vietoris (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 1'34"242 - Q
23.Vitaly Petrov (Mercedes C-Coupe) - Mucke - 1'34"367 - Q1
*Unofficial results

Pascal Wehrlein, Mercedes C-Coupe (Photo: DTM.com)

From GMM

Bernie Ecclestone's blackmail defence came under attack on Friday, as the F1 chief executive returned to court in Munich.

Ecclestone has claimed he made the disputed $44 million payment to Gerhard Gribkoswky only because the jailed F1 banker was threatening to release information to the British tax authorities.

Prosecutors, however, allege 83-year-old Ecclestone bribed Gribkowsky in order to influence the sale of the sport's commercial rights and remain in charge.

On the witness stand on Friday was an investigator who interviewed Ecclestone during the Gribkowsky affair three years ago.

Public prosecutor Martin Bauer suggested Ecclestone's explanation of blackmail lacked detail.

"It was never really clear what form this threat (from Gribkowsky) could have taken," he is quoted by the Telegraph newspaper.

"(It was) like a vanilla pudding that you can't nail to the wall," he added.

From press release

Two-time Canadian F1600 champion Nathan Block is stepping up to the American F2000 championship.

The 20-year-old will be racing a John Cummiskey Racing Mazda-powered Van Diemen car, next weekend on the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway's revamped 2.434-mile road course, for rounds 4 and 5 of the championship.

"I'm really excited about joining the USF2000 Series, especially at such a historic track," said Blok, who is from Beachburg, Ontario.

"Joining the series at this point in the season I won't likely be in contention for the championship. Obviously my goal is to win each race, but I would be satisfied to get a top 5 finish and attract some attention for myself and my new team."

Nathan Blok (Photo: Nathan Blok Racing)

"It's the teams and driver's first race so the goals for this event are to run all day and finish in the top 10," added team boss John Cummiskey. "Nathan is a great person and driver so we need to maximize our track time to gain some experience.

"We have a great crew group and want to have some fun. Our long-term goal is to run a multi-car team in a full season effort and to compete for the championship."

So far in his career, Blok has already won back to back championships in the Formula Tour 1600 series, in 2011 and 2012. Last year, he also competed in the Canadian Touring Car Championship (CTCC).

From press release

The No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team will “Join the Nation” in 2015 thanks to a new three-year partnership that will pair Nationwide Insurance, a leading insurance and financial services organization, with driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

As the exclusive insurance and retirement planning sponsor of Earnhardt's No. 88 Chevrolet SS team, Nationwide Insurance will be a primary partner for 12 Sprint Cup races in 2015 and 13 events in both 2016 and 2017. The company also will be an associate-level sponsor of the No. 88 race cars throughout all three seasons.

“The Earnhardt family has trusted Nationwide for their insurance needs for more than 35 years, and Dale Jr. has a positive impact on our brand's reputation and brings pride to Nationwide members and our associates,” said Matt Jauchius, chief marketing officer for Nationwide Insurance. “Expanding that relationship to incorporate the prestigious operations at Hendrick Motorsports and collaborating with Rick Hendrick and his team is a great fit for Nationwide Insurance.”

Hendrick Motorsports will work with Nationwide Insurance to support consumer, business and employee offerings in the auto, home, life and classic car insurance and retirement categories. NASCAR fans can immediately benefit through insurance discounts offered via the free JR Nation fan club.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Photo: Facebook)

“Nationwide is always top of mind when you think of companies that truly leverage the power of NASCAR,” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. “We're proud to welcome them to the No. 88 team and grow their relationship with Dale Jr. Working together, we'll build another program that moves the needle for their business. The opportunities are endless.”

Earnhardt, 39, is a two-time Nationwide Series champion and has 20 career points-paying victories in the elite Sprint Cup Series. The Kannapolis, N.C., native has earned three consecutive Chase for the Sprint Cup berths and is NASCAR's 11-time most popular driver as voted by fans. In 2014, he won his second Daytona 500 and currently is fifth in the standings.

“I've always enjoyed working with Nationwide and really believe in their products and services,” said Earnhardt, who Nationwide Insurance has featured in national advertising since 2009.

“It'll be fun to work with them in a new way, and I know everyone on the team is looking forward to the partnership. They've invested in our sport and built a strong reputation with NASCAR fans, and this opens up doors to do even more great things.”

From GMM

A $25 million termination payment from Pastor Maldonado's sponsor helped Williams to drive back into profit.

The publicly-listed British team released its 2013 financial results on Friday, showing a $20m operating profit despite a poor season on track.

The Telegraph newspaper said the result was helped by a one-off termination payment made by the Venezuelan oil company PDVSA, who wanted to move their backing of driver Maldonado to the Lotus team for 2014.

Pastor Maldonado, Lotus E22 (Photo: WRi2)

The report said the payment "is believed to be in the region of $25m", in the wake of a more than $8 million loss recorded by Williams just a year ago.

"We made good progress commercially through the winter months and Williams continues to attract an enthusiastic and very loyal group of partners and fans," team boss Sir Frank Williams said in Friday's statement.

"These annual results demonstrate that we continue to manage our business in a fiscally responsible way and provide the foundation from which we can continue to grow.

"We have started the 2014 formula one season well and hope we can continue to improve our performance," he added.

Formula One is not just a bit better than IndyCar.

That is the claim of Swiss driver Simona de Silvestro, who drove an F1 car for the first time of her career, last weekend, during a two-day test with Sauber in Fiorano, Italy.

"The car is just amazing," the 25-year-old, who was behind the wheel of a 2012-spec C31, told Racer magazine.

"You prepare yourself, thinking, OK, it's going to be a little bit faster, braking is going to be better and the high-speed is going to be better than the Indy car," she added.

"But it's much, much better than anything than I've been used to."

Throughout her career, de Silvestro raced mostly Indy cars, but she also competed in Formula Atlantic and Formula BMW in the US, and Formula Renault 2.0 as well, before moving to America.

Simona De Silvestro, Sauber C31 (Photo: Sauber F1 Team)

Regarding training, de Silvestro says her fitness regime since she became an affiliated driver for Sauber has not necessarily been harder. But it is different.

"For an Indy car, I used to spend a lot of time in the weight room and lifting a lot of weights, especially for my shoulders and my arms because those cars don't have power steering, so that really was important," she is also quoted saying by Racer.

"In the Formula 1 program, it's hard physical training also, but it's different. There is a lot of cardio. Your core is really important. I really felt that in the racecar. Also the neck - I've been training my neck every day for three months.

"But in the car I can feel it. That's how extreme the difference is between the cars. It's just a totally different type of training, and both are really hard."

From press release

The Toyo Tires F1600 Championship Series gets rolling at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park this weekend for the BEMC Spring Trophy Races, rounds 1 and 2 of the Championship.

25 competitors from all across Canada and the United States have come to take part in what will be one of the strongest seasons in Canadian formula car racing in years.

The Series will crown a new Champion as 2013 title-holder Jack Mitchell, Jr. will compete in the Pro F1600 Championship south of the border.

Several of the larger teams in the Championship, BGR Team Grote, Exclusive Autosport and Britain West are joined by newcomers AVR Motorsports in “A” Class competition.

Photo: Michael Haley

The “B” Class, for cars produced before 1994 will be a hotly contested affair with several of last year's top runners returning fulltime. Last year's class Champion, Craig Willis, has moved up to the “A” Class paving the way for another new winner.

“We are so excited to get this new season started,” said Jason Sharpe, promoter for the series. “We have new teams, new cars, a very impressive rookie class and some incredible events on our calendar. Formula car racing in Canada is very healthy right now” he added.

Cars will hit the track on Friday for a full day of testing and the racing will begin with Round 1 on Saturday and Round 2 on Sunday afternoon.

GM is limiting dealer orders on many popular models of its pickups and freshly redesigned big SUVs because of short supplies of four-wheel-drive systems, V-8 engines and other components.

American Axle and Manufacturing today reported its strongest quarterly earnings in more than a year, crediting strong sales from the new Jeep Cherokee and Ram pickup.

Creditors of the former Fisker Automotive Holdings are seeking permission to file their own liquidation plan for the defunct maker of luxury plug-in hybrids cars, saying the company is insisting on terms that would harm unsecured creditors and put...

The attorney hired by GM to explore compensating victims of crashes linked to a faulty ignition switch met Friday with a plaintiffs' lawyer to discuss a potential settlement for claims, regardless of when accidents happened.

To borrow a line from The Blues Brothers movie a few decades ago, Chrysler Group is 'getting the band back together' on Tuesday to reveal its next five-year business plan. So I wonder: Is it too late to put in a request?

AutoNation said today its U.S. new-vehicle retail sales rose 14 percent in April from a year earlier to 25,669 units, driven by a strong growth in company's premium luxury segment.

Dean Evans, who pushed Subaru of America into the world of digital marketing while its sales soared in the United States, has left after fewer than three years at the automaker.

Rolls-Royce will be celebrating the 110th anniversary of the meeting between its two founders this very weekend, on Sunday, May 4 to be precise.

News 2 May, 2014

Jean-Marc Gales has been named as the new Chief Executive Officer of Group Lotus plc

With the passage of time, Bridgehampton Race Circuit looks more and more like any one of our innumerable lost raceways -- just another 2.85 miles of roadway laid down in America's postwar racing boom before fading into obscurity.