Auto News 5

Harry Miller and Buckminster Fuller were two very different men of two slightly different eras.

The Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand delivered 2.41m (January - May 2012: 2.29; +5.3%) vehicles in the first five months of this year.

Volkswagen Group said that global sales of its core VW brand rose 5.5 percent in May to 503,100 vehicles, lifted by gains in China, which helped offset weak Europe sales and a slowdown in markets including the United States.

General Motors is considering moving part of the current production of the Opel Mokka to Spain from Korea, a German newspaper reported, citing sources within the U.S. carmaker.

General Motors is considering moving part of the current production of the Opel Mokka to Spain from Korea, a German newspaper reported, citing sources within the U.S. carmaker.

General Motors is considering moving part of the current production of the Opel Mokka from South Korea to Spain, a German newspaper reported, citing sources within the U.S. carmaker.

How does a Mazda MX-5 Miata beat a bevy of world-class sports convertibles off the line? Just add water. For the second week in a row, Mazda stormed the top 10 viral video castle and broke in at No.

Daimler says it is reviewing options for its battery-cell joint venture Li-Tec with Evonik Industries, including bringing in a new partner.

Automotive News Europe salutes the winners of the 2013 Rising Stars awards. Every day until June 12 one of the 18 winners will be featured.

Jerry Hardcastle is Nissan's first global chief marketability engineer, a job created for him in which he turns customer and market demands from around the world into technical solutions that improve the end users' driving experience and boost the...

Daimler says it is reviewing options for its battery-cell joint venture Li-Tec with Evonik Industries, including bringing in a new partner.

Canadians are catching on to the trend: today's sports models offer more value, higher efficiency and more striking looks than ever.

If you're planning to join the masses of new and experienced sports car owners on the road today, be sure to give our special sports car feature a look! We've taken this year's hottest and most important sports models and divvied them up into groups based on price, equipment and intentions.

Whether you're looking for a thrifty convertible, a rocket-propelled sedan, a rally-ready commuter or a crossover SUV with enough horsepower to make your grandmother curse, we've highlighted them all. We've also explained some of the most noteworthy features and characteristics of each machine, and integrated notes from our group of award-winning test drivers.

Of course, from any page within our sports car feature, you can use our extensive site tools to connect with more information on the models that interest you.

Its sports car time at auto123.com-- so buckle up and enjoy the ride!

All of our comparative reviews of the popular sports car models available in Canada.

	The Cheap and Cheerful Shoppers needn't spend big bucks on a sports car that delivers top-notch driving thrills, fuel efficiency and feature content... Read more
	The Sport-Ute For the shopper after maximum levels of performance, space and flexibility, there's the Sport-Ute... Read more
	The Hot Hatch Most of today's hot hatches are turbocharged. All are fun to drive, and ready to use every day.... Read more
	The Sport Sedan A look at a few sports sedans from a cross-section of the marketplace. Many more exist, so be sure to use our site tools to research... Read more

Red Bull Racing driver, Sebastian Vettel scored his third win of the season after finishing first at the Grand Prix of Canada held in Montreal last Sunday.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton kept the crowd entertained in a fierce late-race scrap for second place, but Vettel and Red Bull were in a class of their own as they finally broke their Montreal duck in dominant style.

Such was Vettel's initial pace that he seemed to be on a three-stop strategy, but it soon became clear that he wasn't and that nobody was going to be able to challenge him.

He was even able to brush a wall out on the back of the circuit on the 10th lap, and then make an uncharacteristic mistake in the first corner on the 52nd, without being even remotely threatened. That's a real domination.

Photos: Philippe Champoux

Ander Villarino took victory in the two European NASCAR races at Brands Hatch on Sunday, and extended his lead in the drivers' championship.

Frederic Gabillon took pole and was on his way to his first series career win in the first round, but was hit by Romain Ianetta, and lost him the opportunity to do so.

Following the incident, reigning champion Villarino inherited the position and cruised to another win.

He also won the second race after withstanding pressure from Gabillon in the closing laps. Despite missing out, Gabillion still secured his fourth consecutive second place finish.

As a result of his victory, Villarino has increased his lead on the points' table ahead of Yann Zimmer and Sweden's Freddy Nordström.

The next round will be held on a specially built oval circuit in the French city of Tours.

From GMM

Paul di Resta insists his relationship with Sahara Force India remains "good", despite two rounds of hefty criticism and rumours of a garage scuffle.

The Scot was not only heavily critical of the team's qualifying strategy in Monaco, but he said the way Force India left him in the Montreal pits with a minor problem during the best track conditions last Saturday was "clearly not acceptable".

After that, rumours of a scuffle between the 27-year-old's trainer and a team mechanic were not denied by the Silverstone based team.

Paul di Resta, Sahara Force India. (Photo: René Fagnan)

Still, di Resta insists that his angry criticism of Sahara Force India was "taken constructively" by the management.

"Everybody in the team felt the same," he is quoted by the BBC.

"The person who made the mistake apologised and I'm fully supportive of that. Looking back, I don't think I was too harsh. When you work with the team so closely, it's good to have that heat because you need to show your emotion," said di Resta.

"If I'd made a mistake twice, I'd be kicking myself and the team would come down hard on me -- and rightly so."

Di Resta moved on from his horror Montreal qualifying to finish a solid seventh on Sunday, on the occasion of Force India's 100th grand prix.

"We regrouped," he said, "showed we can do it and, as far as my relationship with the team is concerned, it's still good."

From GMM

Mark Webber has slammed Giedo van der Garde for being "a pay driver with no mirrors".

The insult is reminiscent of the Australian veteran's ridicule of "first lap nutcase" Romain Grosjean last year.

His angry jibe at Van der Garde, a rookie this year, follows an incident in the Canadian grand prix, when the Red Bull and Caterham collided while Webber was lapping the Dutchman.

Mark Webber was unimpressed with van der Garde's talents.

"We had a lot of blue flags as we approached the hairpin," he said. "Some guys maybe have too much concentration on (just) driving the cars."

Van der Garde, 28, was penalised five grid places for Silverstone, and apologised to Webber in the post-race team press release.

Photo: Philippe Champoux

From GMM

Felipe Massa says he is relaxed about his future at Ferrari because he remains the best candidate for the famous Italian team.

Team boss Stefano Domenicali told O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper last weekend that the 32-year-old Brazilian's form means he is likely to stay in 2014.

"If Felipe keeps going as he has been, I do not see any problem for the future," he said.

Photo: WRi2

Massa told Brazil's Totalrace that he is happy with his current situation.

"I am calm, I think the most important thing is to have good pace," he said, amid speculation his three recent crashes in Monaco and Canada might have hurt his bid for a new contract. I'm feeling good in the car. I'm very upset with what happened with the tires in Bahrain, and with the crashes I have had," Massa admitted.

"That has hurt my points a lot, but I'm happy with the car and with my driving, and that's what counts the most," he added.

Felipe Massa said he could only imagine Ferrari making a driver change if there was a clearly better candidate on the market.

"In my opinion, if there was someone so much better to put in my place, okay," he insisted. "But I think (there's) not."

From GMM

Lewis Hamilton has played down talk of a rift with Mercedes, insisting he simply has "stuff" on his mind.

The 2008 world champion was notably downbeat after the Canadian grand prix, where he finished on the podium, two places ahead of his on-form teammate, Monaco winner Nico Rosberg.

Podium of the 2013 Canadian Grand Prix. (Photo: WRi2)

But during the Montreal race, Hamilton snapped at his race engineer whilst receiving information about the wear of the tires.

"Please just let me drive, man," the Briton snapped.

Lewis Hamilton, however, said his reaction does not indicate tension within the team, but simply the tension of the moment as he raced to the chequered flag.

"Being hunted down by Fernando (Alonso) is like being chased by a bull and so I just didn't need anyone in my ear when I was already at the maximum I could go at," he said.

Photo: WRi2

Hamilton hinted that the main issue on his mind is his battle for superiority at Mercedes, in the recent wake of Rosberg's hat-trick of poles and Monaco win.

"I don't settle for anything but the best and wins; I still haven't got a win, Nico has won a race, so I need to get a win," he said. "What I'm projecting is not disappointment, I've just got stuff on my mind."

Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 Formula 1 World Champion will make a return behind the wheel of a NASCAR Sprint Cup car in a few weeks.

Monday, Villeneuve, who also won the Indy 500 in 1995, announced that he will contest the race of the NASCAR Canadian Tire series held at the Grand Prix of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec in August.

Today it appears almost certain that the Canadian's name will soon appear on the Chevrolet Impala of Phoenix Racing.

The team, headed by James Finch will race veteran Bobby Labonte in Michigan and will run Villeneuve when the Cup will visit Sonoma Raceway (a road course), June 23.

Villeneuve should be given a one-day test prior to the race.

Photo: Phoenix Racing