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President Barack Obama sought on Saturday to sustain momentum from Vice President Joe Biden's strong debate showing by touting the benefits of one of his signature actions, the rescue of the U.S.

News 13 Oct, 2012

Mark Webber qualifies on pole for the Korean GP, ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton

A Japan government fund is expected to partner with about 10 companies in hopes of buying the struggling chipmaker Renesas Electronics in a 200 billion yen ($2.55 billion) deal, the Nikkei business daily said.

Honda President Takanobu Ito said the company isn't changing any of its investment plans for China, where sales of Japanese auto brands tumbled 41 percent last month amid a territorial dispute over a group of islands.

The Toyota TS030 hybrid set pole position ahead of Fuji Six Hours, thanks to local hero Kazuki Nakajima, quickest in qualifying.

The Japanese driver set his best lap in 1'27''499, which was enough to beat the Audi R18 e-tron driven by championship leaders Treluyer, Lotterer and Fassler.

The second row of the grid is shared by the second Audi R18 e-tron driven by Tom Kristensen and Alan McNish, and the Rebellion's Lola-Toyota driven by Nicolas Prost and Neel Jani, first of the independent cars.

After they clinched LMP2 victory in Bahrain, Potolicchio, Daziel and Sarrazin set the best performance of the class aboard their Starworks' HPD-Honda. Felbermayr Proton's Porsche 997 was quickest in the GTE Pro class, while Larbre's Chevrolet Corvette C6 dominated the GTE Am class.

Fuji Six Hours - Qualifying :
1. Wurz-Lapierre-Nakajima (Toyota TS030 Hybrid) - Toyota - 1'27"499 (1st LMP1)

2. Fassler-Lotterer-Treluyer (Audi R18 e-tron) - Audi - 1'27"639

3. Kristensen-McNish (Audi R18 e-tron) - Audi - 1'28"370
4. Prost-Jani (Lola B12/60-Toyota) - Rebellion - 1'29"871
5. Leventis-Watts-Kane (HPD ARX3a-Honda) - Strakka - 1'30"051
6. Brabham-Chandhok-Dumbreck (HPD ARX3a-Honda) - JRM - 1'30"410
7. Belicchi-Primat (Lola B12/80-Toyota) - Rebellion - 1m30"682

8. Baguette-Kraihamer-Sato (Morgan-Nissan) - Oak - 1'30"912

9. Potolicchio- Dalziel-Sarrazin (HPD ARX3a-Honda) - Starworks - 1'32"367 (1st LMP2)

10. Martin-Graves-Nakano (Oreca 03-Nissan) - ADR Delta - 1'32"548

(...)
19. Lieb-Lietz (Porsche 997) - Felbermayr - Proton - 1'40"289 (1st GTE Pro)
(...)
23. Belloc-Bourret-Gibon (Chevrolet Corvette C6) - Larbre - 1'41"386 (1st GTE Am)

etc.

History/Description: Selection, uniqueness and Scandinavian design were the largest draws to the quirky Saab 9-3 lineup. Available in sedan, wagon or convertible variants, and with a whack of turbocharged powerplant options, there was a model suited to nearly any shopper.

Front or all-wheel drive were available, depending on the model. Powerplant choices included a number of boosted mills including 4-cylinder units with 175 or 210 horsepower. A turbocharged 2.8L V6 with 250 or 280 horsepower was also available.

The Saab 9-3's styling is unique yet it ages well. (Photo: Luc Gagné)

Look for manual and automatic transmission options, depending on the model selected. Note that "XWD" is Saab-speak for All-Wheel Drive, and that "SportCombi" is Saab-speak for station wagon. Higher-performing models wore Vector or Aero badges.

Feature content included navigation, OnStar (a result of GM's ownership of the brand), heated leather, automatic climate control, cruise control, keyless access, Bluetooth, power seats, and more.

What Owners Like: Ride quality, handling, and a "solid" and safe feel combined with the understated uniqueness of the 9-3 were the most common owner-stated positives. Performance, trunk space and fuel mileage on models with smaller engines were also highly rated. Many owners report great seats, too.

What Owners Dislike: The flimsy cupholder, rear seat space, turbo-lag and higher-than-expected noise levels were the more common complaints.

Common Issues: Start your test drive with a check for signs of a worn turbocharger, which may give itself away in a number of ways. Ensure the engine hasn't been pre-warmed ahead of your testdrive, insist that you want to watch it start up "cold." Look for smoke from the tailpipes during idle or acceleration, and have a mechanic look for heavy oil deposits in the charge pipes or the intercooler. Assume the seller is trying to pass an expensive turbo replacement onto you until you have reason to believe otherwise.

A long list of features was one of the strong points of Saab's lineup. (Photo: Luc Gagné)

Continue reading 2003-2012 Saab 9-3 Pre-Owned

Mark Webber (Red Bull) had the better of teammate Sebastian Vettel during qualifying of the Korean Grand Prix, as they both bid to catch up championship leader Fernando Alonso.

Vettel has had the upper had for the most part of the weekend so far, and was tipped to take pole at the Yeongam circuit, but was powerless to Webber's last offensive in the dying moments of Q3.

The pair upstaged a resurgent Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), who seems to have found his way back to top despite all the talks surrounding his coming move to Mercedes. The Briton easily disposed of his teammate Jenson Button, only 11th on the grid  because of a mistake during his last Q2 lap.

Alonso (Ferrari) also had a better day's work compared to his performance in Suzuka. He lines up on the second row of the grid, just beside Hamilton.

The two Lotus drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean managed to split Alonso from Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa by taking fifth and seventh. Grosjean, who after coming back from his one-race ban caused yet another lap one pile-up, will be closely watched by the stewards.

Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) managed to beat both Mercedes drivers, Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher, who complete the top 10.

Only India driver Narain Karthikeyan (HRT) failed to set a lap, as he was held captive in the pits by brake problems.



Qualifying results* - Korean Grand Prix (Yeongam)
1.Mark Webber (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 1'37"242 - Q3
2.Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 1'37"316 - Q3
3.Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 1'37"469 - Q3
4.Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F2012) - 1'37"534 - Q3
5.Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E20-Renault) - 1'37"625 - Q3
6.Felipe Massa (Ferrari F2012) - 1'37"884 - Q3
7.Romain Grosjean (Lotus E20-Renault) - 1'37"934 - Q3
8.Nico Hulkenberg (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) - 1'38"266 - Q3
9.Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP W03) - 1'38"361 - Q3
10.Michael Schumacher (Mercedes MGP W03) - 1'38"513 - Q3
11.Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 1'38"441 - Q2
12.Sergio Perez (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 1'38"460 - Q2
13.Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 1'38"594 - Q2
14.Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) - 1'38"643 - Q2
15.Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW34-Renault) - 1'38"725 - Q2
16.Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 1'39"084 - Q2
17.Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 1'39"340 - Q2
18.Bruno Senna (Williams FW34-Renault) - 1'39"443 - Q1
19.Vitaly Petrov (Caterham CT01-Renault) - 1'40"207 - Q1
20.Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham CT01-Renault) - 1'40"333 - Q1
21.Timo Glock (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) - 1'41"371 - Q1
22.Pedro De La Rosa (HRT F112-Cosworth) - 1'42"881 - Q1
23.Narain Karthikeyan (HRT F112-Cosworth) - no time - Q1
24.Charles Pic (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) - 1'41"317 - Q1 **

*Unofficial results
**Penalized for engine change

From GMM

Championship lead-chaser Sebastian Vettel hit out at his engineer 'Rocky' on Saturday after missing pole in Korea.

It was his Red Bull teammate Mark Webber trumping qualifying instead, with Vettel hitting out at his race engineer Guillaume 'Rocky' Rocquelin after crossing the chequered flag.

"Why did you not tell me about Massa?" the German, who is 4 points behind Ferrari's championship leader Fernando Alonso after winning in Singapore and Suzuka, shouted on the radio after the 'Q3' session.

Rocky hit back: "What was I supposed to say?"

Vettel told reporters afterwards that Q1 and Q2 went well and that he is "generally happy".

"The last run (in Q3) ... I don't want to blame it on Felipe," said the reigning world champion.

"I thought he was coming in but he wasn't and I caught him in the last sector so I had to back off.  It's not ideal."

And according to the Express newspaper, Vettel is sparing no expense in his bid to join greats Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher as the winner of a triple-consecutive drivers' title.

Journalist Bob McKenzie has revealed that, at a cost of almost EUR 250,000, the Red Bull driver has commissioned a private Challenger jet to carry him to the final crucial races of the 2012 championship.

From GMM

Mercedes could push to have Bernie Ecclestone removed as F1's chief executive, the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reports on Saturday.

The report said that even though the German carmaker has signed up for the 2013 Concorde Agreement, it is still concerned about the investigation into Ecclestone's alleged involvement in the bribery of jailed banker Gerhard Gribkowsky.

If the 81-year-old Briton is prosecuted, Mercedes would apparently push fellow teams and sponsors to band together and demand that Ecclestone step down.

"We would not wait for a months-long process, but would act," a Mercedes source is quoted as saying.

But an official Mercedes spokesman replied: "Please understand that we do not comment on speculation."

Another rumour is that in the event Ecclestone is formally charged, he would travel to the 2012 finale in Sao Paulo with his new Brazilian wife, and then not return to Europe where he could be arrested.

A friend of Ecclestone's is quoted as responding: "Nonsense."

From GMM

Michael Schumacher has backed Mercedes' decision to replace him for 2013 and beyond with Lewis Hamilton.

The seven time world champion told SID news agency the perception that he was 'ousted' by the German marque is wrong.

"The people in charge repeatedly emphasised that they wanted me to continue working even after the season," the 43-year-old said in Korea.

"And not for one year, but for two more years.

"I thought about it, but it would have been difficult -- even for one year," said the German great, who explained that his motivation is waning after a three-year comeback.

Schumacher therefore backed Mercedes' decision to poach Briton Hamilton from McLaren.

"If you can get Lewis Hamilton, you should," he smiled.  "I would have done the same; he is the right choice."

From GMM

Red Bull is confident it has got to the bottom of its recent alternator problems.

The team has had several problems with the Magneti Marelli units supplied by engine partner Renault in 2012.

But Germany's Auto Motor und Sport says Renault recently reverted to a 2011-specification alternator that helped Sebastian Vettel to reliably win the last Suzuka and Singapore grands prix.

"We are using a model now that has proved itself over two months," Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko is quoted by the German broadcaster RTL.

From GMM

Jules Bianchi has revealed he expects to stay with the Force India team in 2013.

Managed by Nicolas Todt, the Frenchman is a member of Ferrari's driver development 'academy' and this season has been the reserve and Friday driver for Mercedes-powered Force India.

Asked in Korea about his future, the 23-year-old told RMC Sport: "I am already in a good team with Force India, so the goal is to stay with them.

"I want to grow with the team and who knows (what will happen) if one of the two incumbents moves place," he said in the Yeongam paddock.

"There are several options but the most practical is Force India," added Bianchi.

Force India racer Nico Hulkenberg is hotly tipped to switch to Sauber for 2013.

The controversially styled Acura ZDX crossover will receive numerous upgrades for 2013, which will be its final year on the market, the Japanese automaker announced yesterday.

Priced at $56,690, the 2013 Acura ZDX features Forward Collision Warning, front and rear parking sensors, power folding side mirrors, a 435-watt, 10-speaker Acura/ELS Surround sound system with a 15GB hard drive, as well as an 8'' high-resolution VGA display. Under the hood is a 3.7L V6 that produces 300 horsepower through a six-speed automatic transmission.

Originally introduced in 2009, the Acura ZDX is built in Alliston, Ontario, alongside the Acura MDX, which uses the same platform. With the ZDX being phased out, production of the MDX will move to the company's Lincoln, Alabama plant in early 2013.

Photo: Acura

Joey Logano notched his eighth Nationwide Series victory of the year thanks to a two tire call by his crew at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Friday evening.

"I should know better than to question Adam Stevens (crew chief) -- he's just amazing," said Logano in Victory Lane.  He's given me great cars every single weekend. We had to work really hard for this -- the 22 (Brad Keselowski) was pretty good the mid-part of the
race. He made some good adjustments -- I found a new line and was able to make this GameStop Toyota fast enough to win."

Logano who led a race-high 62-laps took the lead from Keselowski with eight laps to go, taking his 17th career win in NASCAR's junior series.

Keselowski's team failed to get enough fuel into his Dodge to challenge for win, he ended up 18th.

"We certainly had a car to win with the Discount Tire Dodge. Discount Tire does tires, not gas so they've got that part right (smiles). Just didn't have any gas there at the end and they won't run without that."

Kevin Harvick finished second, followed by fellow RCR team driver Elliot Sadler who had won the pole. The next two spots went to Sprint Cup drivers Kyle Busch, in a KBR car and finished fourth followed by Logano's JGR teammate, Denny Hamlin in the NASCAR teams' hometown event which featured a total of 11 Sprint Cup regulars.

Sadler padded his series lead to 13 points lead over Ricky Stenhouse Jr. - who finished seventh - with four races remaining in the season. Austin Dillon, who finished sixth, fell to 29 points behind the leader.

"We're not close enough to (Sadler)," Stenhouse said. "We're losing points, so that's not the way we need to be going."

"This was good because it was a mile-and-a-half track and we have three left in Kansas, Texas and Homestead, and we know we're going to run really well at Phoenix," Sadler added.

"For us to come in here and sit on the pole, lead some laps, run in the top-five all night long, says a lot about our program. I'm so proud of these guys.

"This is exactly what we needed."

Ken Stout Racing Inc. (KSR) Friday announced plans to race a Scion FR-S in the Pirelli World Challenge GTS class in 2013.

Also in this episode: Chevy orders more Sparks to meet rising demand, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

BMW AG, falling behind Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz in U.S. luxury auto sales, is introducing an incentive program through the end of this month that lets lease owners skip payments if they buy a new vehicle.

Just this past Wednesday, while strolling through Porsche's Panamera/

Chrysler Group's Mopar parts and service brand will take 23½ customized vehicles to the giant Specialty Equipment Market Association show in Las Vegas at the end of the month to try to capture more of the aftermarket accessory sales now going to...

Urban Outlaw is a documentary that, at its core, is about passion. Collector and builder Magnus Walker, his wife Karen and their Porsches play strong supporting roles.