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The damage to consumer confidence in Russia from a plunge in the value of the ruble could be offset for local carmakers as they become more competitive against foreign brands.

The side-view mirror of a Chevrolet Silverado contains this warning: "Objects may be closer than they appear."

General Motors isn't the only automaker to have a problem with ignition switches that could shut off the engine at highway speeds.

About 3,400 people die each year in frontal crashes with no airbag deployment in their vehicle, according to federal data analyzed by Automotive News.

In case you missed Moto123.com's coverage of the 2014 Daytona Bike Week, which wrapped up on March 16th, here's your chance to catch up with all of our Top-5 articles.

Enjoy!

For years the worst name you could give a driver in NASCAR was a “points racer.”

That meant a driver who wouldn't go hell for leather for victories. He'd be content to take it a little easier and record a fourth of fifth place finish.

And it was easy to tell. Especially when, after a race, a driver would say, “it was a good points day,” describing his inability to win.

This year NASCAR officials announced a new regulation, which virtually guaranteed a starting spot in the 16-driver, 10-race playoffs known as the Chase for the Sprint Cup. All a driver has to do is win race and finish in the top-30 in points. And the points leader will qualify up till the finale at Homestead.

With six Sprint Cup Championships and 66 victories in the 12 full seasons until this year the very last person you would call a points racer is Jimmie Johnson.

Or is he?

Jimmie Johnson (Photo: Hendrick Motorsports)

When your humble correspondent asked the reigning champ about if he was concerned about getting his first win of the year to “lock-in,” to the Chase he gave the following answer:

“When you look at the stats and you have 16 different winners in a year it's a pretty rare occurrence,” Johnson said.

“I still think that points are every bit as important as they have been until you get to Homestead. Even when you get into the Chase itself the top guy in points will advance in pretty much every scenario to race at Homestead.

“So points are still the focus in what I'm looking at. We have been able to win multiple races a year with a certain mindset. I am not going to chase home runs. I'm looking at a smooth and consistent 26 races and when we get a look at a home run we are going to swing for it. But we are not stepping up to the plate every time trying to hit it out (of the park for the home run).”

Kind of ironic eh?

Now I'm not calling Johnson names because, likely, he and crew chief, Chad Knaus have crunched the numbers/run the scenarios and figured out that the best strategy, which would earn the hallowed seventh championship in NASCAR's premier series will likely be won by the driver who earns the most points up until the finale at Homestead Miami Speedway.

Of course at this point, the new NASCAR rules state the driver in the final top four in the standings who finishes highest in the finale will be declared the champion. And that is sort of a wild card.

And this plays into the reigning champ's hands. He has been aggressive when it pays off and restrained it was required. That is the formula for winning championships.

Still you have to admit it does sound ironic when he talks about points.

From GMM

Lotus needs to recruit staff following a disastrous start to the 2014 season, team driver Romain Grosjean says.

Although competitive, the Enstone based team had a dire end to the 2013 season amid obvious financial difficulties, losing Kimi Raikkonen to Ferrari and later boss Eric Boullier to McLaren.

But there are no longer any reports of financial difficulty, after Pastor Maldonado and his PDVSA millions arrived, and reportedly 100 staff were shed.

Frenchman Grosjean said he supports the changes.

Lotus F1 Team crew at work (Photo: WRi2)

"Things have stabilized and the atmosphere in the team is pretty good," he told the French-language F1i.

"All of the problems of last year are now behind us," Grosjean added.

Technically, however, Lotus is in the midst of a disastrous early 2014, as although the Renault-powered E22 is innovative, it is severely lacking in pace and reliability.

Grosjean thinks the team needs some more staff.

"We definitely need to recruit some people to support the smaller team," he said, "but overall things are positive."

From CTCC


Canadian Touring Car Championship (CTCC) competitors gear up for the 2014 season as series officials unveil the 2014 schedule.

As has become the tradition, the CTCC season will kick off in Bowmanville, Ontario, at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, where reigning champion Scott Nicol took back-to-back victories last year.

“It always pays to have a good start to the season. With our schedule, it's really hard to play catch-up if something goes wrong early,” explains Nicol. “The speed is the challenge at Mosport (CTMP). It's all about momentum, maintaining a high speed, especially through the corners. That's when having confidence in your car is important.”

The championship will then cross the border into Quebec to share a weekend with F1 at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Also scheduled are a return to the four-kilometre Shannonville Motorsports Park and stops at Calabogie and ICAR.

“We haven't raced at Shannonville since May 2009. It will be something completely new for a lot of our drivers,” explains Bondar. “Shannonville is a very technical track, so it's going to present some new and different challenges for the teams.”

Finally, the CTCC will race in Trois-Rivières for the anticipated GP3R before returning to CTMP for the season finale.

CTCC's provisional 2014 schedule
May 17-18 Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Super
June 6-8 Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
June 21-22 Calabogie Motorsports Park*
July 5-6 Circuit ICAR*
July 26-27 Shannonville Motorsports Park*
August 7-10 Grand Prix du Trois-Rivières
August 30-31 Canadian Tire Motorsport Park
*B-Spec car will not race

From GMM

Red Bull's appeal against the Daniel Ricciardo disqualification will take place in Paris a week after the Bahrain grand prix, the FIA announced late on Friday.

"The decision will be published as soon as possible after the (April 14) hearing," said the governing body in a statement.

The hearing is an important one not only for Red Bull - pushing to recover from a disastrous 2014 pre-season - but also for the FIA as it governs the sport's revolutionary regulations change.

Ricciardo was excluded by the stewards because a mandatory flow sensor fitted to his car showed that its Renault engine broke the new rule limiting fuel consumption.

Daniel Ricciardo led Kevin Magnussen (behind) to the line, but was soon disqualified (Photo: WRi2)

Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko told Auto Bild: "The sensors are not accurate enough and we will prove it."

The FIA warned not only Red Bull but also other teams - including Mercedes - that although their own data may have shown their fuel flow complying with the rules, the sensors needed to be recalibrated and obeyed.

Mercedes' Toto Wolff, adding that he backs the FIA, said that complying with the FIA in Australia cost the W05 "between half a second and a second" of additional laptime.

If Red Bull wins the appeal, it might limit the FIA's ability to effectively govern the fuel flow rules in 2014.

From Red Bull

Red Bull Racing driver Daniel Ricciardo admits he was a little bit disappointed by the Australian Grand Prix stewards' decision to disqualify him last week.

"The (disqualification) put a bit of a downer on what had been a brilliant day," he says on his team's website.

"It's not how I imagined celebrating after my first F1 podium."

But the Australian also added he preferred his faith to Sebastian Vettel's. In the sister Red Bull, the quadruple world champion managed only three laps before "power unit" problems sidelined him.

Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull RB10 (Photo: Red Bull Racing)

"I'd rather it went down like this (being disqualified) than have retired from the race with a mechanical problem," he admits.

"I'll take a podium and a subsequent disqualification over that any day of the week."

On the back of his encouraging performance in Melbourne, the former Toro Rosso driver is looking forward to next week's Malaysian Grand Prix.

"Albert Park's made me hungry to get on the podium again," he explains.

"The work we did in the winter targeted reliability rather than performance. It was only in Melbourne that we got the opportunity to start working on a set-up.

"The RB10 surprised us by being pretty competitive in the dry and very competitive in the wet. It's going to get much better as we dial it in over the next few races and catch up with those teams that did more miles pre-season."

From WTCC

Citroën's six-months of preparation for its first season in the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) resulted in a superior pace during the championship's official test at Valencia.

Sébastien Loeb and his C-Elysée car set the pace yesterday on the Ricardo Tormo circuit, well ahead of the two factory Honda Civic cars of Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro.

Sébastien Loeb (Photo: Citroën Racing)

The test was also the first occasion to see the brand new Chevrolet RML Cruze in action. Tom Chilton and Hugo Valente took the wheel of the cars run by ROAL Motorsport and Campos Racing respectively.


Despite an early problem with the mounting of the rear wing, that was soon solved by the teams with the help of the RML technicians, the Cruze impressed for speed and consistency considered that this was its very first test after last week's shakedown.


It is worth noticing that the Citroën and Monteiro's Honda were the first race cars built by the teams for the season. While Tarquini was still driving the Civic test car.


Yesterday Campos Racing young new comer John Filippi took also part in the test at the wheel of the TC2 SEAT León, while Citroën's Ma Qing Hua tested on Thursday before handing the car to Loeb.

GM earlier this month sent a letter to Ohio Gov. John Kasich expressing concerns into whether the state was going to permit electric-vehicle maker Tesla Motors Inc. to expand beyond its two Ohio storefronts.

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has asked the agency's internal watchdog to investigate whether federal auto safety officials properly looked into complaints about the 1.

Factory Five made its bones selling simple Shelby Cobra replicas designed to take advantage of plentiful Ford Fox-body Mustang components.

The congressional investigation into General Motors auto defects will bring aggressive scrutiny to a company with powerful lobbying clout and strong ties on Capitol Hill. GM's recall of 1.

With an ensemble of acoustically harmonious supercars roaring, the scene looking fresh out and#8220;Need for Speed,and#8221; this annual gathering is simply amazing with all of the exotic rides preening in every color of the spectrum.

General Motors and CEO Mary Barra were sued by an investor over delays in addressing ignition-switch defects and other flaws that prompted recalls of more than 3 million vehicles.

General Motors is lining dealer inventories with rental cars as customers begin turning in Chevrolet Cobalts, Saturn Ions and other recalled models with faulty ignition switches for repair.

Mercedes-Benz, following the unveiling of the S550 Coupe at the Geneva Motor Show, is set to take the wraps off the even more powerful S-class two-door: The 2015 S63 AMG Coupe.