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When we think of the provincial highway system, long ribbons of single or double-lane tarmac come to mind with breathtaking vistas around every corner. Okay, the vistas may not be around every corner, nor breathtaking, but you get the picture.

We probably don't think of large marine vessels as part of the highway system, but in British Columbia, they certainly are, and they're a part of the highway network that I enjoy immensely. BC Ferry Services Inc. is one of the world's largest ferry operators, providing year-round transportation on Canada's West Coast.

Photo: BC Ferry Inc.

The system consists of 36 vessels and 47 terminals, moving 20 million passengers and 8 million vehicles per year. One of those 8 million vehicles is mine. I rely upon the ferry system to get me to vacation destinations on the Gulf Islands of British Columbia. Once there, my driving is limited to quaint island roads with nary a traffic light anywhere.

I'm approximately 30 minutes from the terminal and the ferry ride to the Gulf Islands takes around 90 minutes depending on which island one wishes to disembark on. The larger ferries, such as those servicing the Gulf Islands and Vancouver Island, have restaurants, cafes, gift shops and such on-board. Ferries servicing BC's North Coast even have private cabins for overnight trips.

The most recent ferries added to the fleet are the Super C-Class vessels that ply the waters between Vancouver and Victoria. These two ships - the Coastal Renaissance and Coastal Inspiration - are the world's largest double-ended ferries. They were built in Germany, arriving here in 2008, and can each carry 370 cars and 1,600 passengers.

Breathtaking vistas may not exist around every corner of tarmac, but they accompany every nautical mile sailed on the provincial highway system rather than driven. There's no sense fighting a congested freeway to get out of town when you can sail the open seas, taking in breathtaking vistas rather than choking emissions.

Further information on BC Ferries can be found at www.bcferries.com.

For the first time, a NASCAR event has been presented on an oval track in Europe, on the Tours Speedway, which was specially prepared for the event.

The track, which was 600 meters long, and 30 meters wide, presented a great fight between the usual championship contenders, who were joined by guest drivers.

Among them, American Ben Kennedy (a NASCAR K&N Pro Series East regular), great grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr, moved up from his seventh position on the grid to take the lead, and eventually the win in the first round ahead of Dimitri Enjalbert and Romain Thievin.

Europe's first ever oval track (Photo: Stéphane Azemard / EURO-RACECAR)

WTCC reigning champion Yvan Muller, who qualified in fourth position, suffered a puncture after a contact in the race.

Ben Kennedy was tipped for victory in the second round presented on Sunday. But, finally, it was Euroracecar reigning champion Eric Helary, who was back at the wheel for the event, who won, after he avoided all troubles during the race, which featured a lot of accidents.

Helary took win ahead of championship leader Ander Villarino and Yvan Muller, who had a great comeback from his 15th position on the grid.

From GMM

This weekend's British grand prix debacle could cost Silverstone millions, track boss Richard Phillips has admitted.

Organisers have vowed full refunds for thousands of spectators who heeded the circuit's plea to stay away from the mud and traffic chaos on Saturday.

"It's going to cost us a lot of money," he told the Guardian. "I honestly don't know the figure, but it could be a lot more than hundreds of thousands (of pounds)."

Photo: WRi2

Richard Phillips did, however, hail the patience and perseverance of the Silverstone crowd, after an ordeal that was recognised even from within the F1 paddock.

"I saw fathers with their sons and daughters, old ladies with backpacks and teenagers, all covered in mud and wearing their coats and hats," said O Estado de S.Paulo correspondent Livio Oricchio.

"I have never seen anything like in this country. They are the best fans," said the Brazilian correspondent.

Mercedes' Norbert Haug agreed.

"They are the best fans in the world," said the German. "They have taken everything - the rain, the cold - and they still came in their thousands."

From GMM

Bernie Ecclestone has backed Michael Schumacher to extend his formula one comeback.

The seven time world champion's existing three year contract, following his ultra-successful first career that spanned a record-smashing 91 race wins, ends this season.

43-year-old Schumacher has faced criticism since returning from retirement in 2010, but at Monaco this year he was back on pole position, and at Valencia last time out he finished on the podium.

Michael Schumacher, Mercedes AMG, in Montreal. (Photo: WRi2)

And on Sunday, when the great German started the British grand prix from third place, F1 chief executive Ecclestone said: "He's doing a good job; he's third on the grid here -- you can't ask for much more.

"Why shouldn't he stay another ten years?" wondered the diminutive Briton, who thinks the presence on the grid of an F1 living legend is a good thing for his sport.

"If it was up to me, he would stay forever," Ecclestone is quoted by the German news agency SID.

Major Chinese cities are increasingly resorting to new-vehicle sales caps to curb vehicle emissions and ease traffic congestion, prompting a rush on dealerships but threatening to slow the country's rapidly growing auto market.

News 8 Jul, 2012

Latest pictures from race day at Silverstone, following Mark Webber's sensational victory in the British Grand Prix

Latest pictures from race day at Silverstone, following Mark Webber's sensational victory in the British Grand Prix

News 8 Jul, 2012

Mark Webber takes his second victory of the year, following a late move on Fernando Alonso to win the British Grand Prix

Mark Webber takes his second victory of the year, following a late move on Fernando Alonso to win the British Grand Prix

Audi aims to become the world's largest maker of premium cars no later than 2020, CEO Rupert Stadler was quoted telling the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper in an interview published on Saturday. Asked when Audi expected to become No.

Mark Webber (Red Bull) overtook Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) in the late stages of the British Grand Prix to take both the win and seven points back on the championship leader.

Alonso and Webber were on different strategies - because of the wet qualifying session, they both had the freedom to choose whichever compound to start on -, but as the race was coming to an end, they were neck and neck. Alonso started on the hard rubber, and Webber on the soft, the compound the two-time world champion saved for last.

The Ferrari driver pulled an early lead, but struggled on that last stint, and fell pray to a charging Webber. He almost even lost second place to Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), who completed the podium.

Fourth, Felipe Massa (Ferrari) had another strong showing, coming home only 9 seconds adrift his highly rated teammate. He was closely followed by Lotus' Kimi Räikkönen, and then by Romain Grosjean who, in the second Lotus, came back from last at one point after a first lap accident with Paul di Resta (Force India).

Michael Schumacher (Mercedes), third in the rain of qualifying, lost ground from his starting spot, but nevertheless managed to salvage seventh spot's points.

In eighth and tenth spots respectively, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button (McLaren) had a tough day. Bruno Senna (Williams) however, did well to slot between the two Brits.

Notable incidents included yet another crash for Pastor Maldonado (Williams), who connected with a furious Sergio Perez (Sauber). Maldonado went on to finish 16th, but the Mexican stayed on the sidelines.

His teammate Kamui Kobayashi experienced a difficult pitstop where he rammed his mechanics. After having rejoined, he crossed the finish line in 11th. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) also had a difficult pitstop, which clouded only a mediocre race for the German, who finished down in 15th place.



Race results* - British Grand Prix (Silverstone)

1 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 52 laps in 1hour25min11.288s

2 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F2012) - 3.0s

3 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 4.8s
4 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F2012) - 9.5s

5 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E20-Renault) - 10.3s

6 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus E20-Renault) - 17.1s
7 - Michael Schumacher (Mercedes MGP W03) - 29.1s

8 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 36.4s
9 - Bruno Senna (Williams FW34-Renault) - 43.3s

10 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 44.4s
11 - Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 45.3s

12 - Nico Hulkenberg (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) - 47.8s

13 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 51.2s

14 - Jean Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 53.3s

15 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP W03) - 57.3s

16 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW34-Renault) - 1 lap

17 - Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham CT01-Renault) - 1 lap
18 - Timo Glock (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) - 1 lap

19 - Charles Pic (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) - 1 lap

20 - Pedro De La Rosa (HRT F112-Cosworth) - 2 laps
21 - Narain Karthikeyan (HRT F112-Cosworth) - 2 laps

Fastest lap by Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) in 1min34.661s


Retirements

Lap 1 - Vitaly Petrov

Lap 2 - Paul Di Resta

Lap 11 - Sergio Perez

Drivers' championship
1. Alonso 129; 2.Webber 116; 3.Vettel 100; 4.Hamilton 92; 5.Raikkonen 83; 6.Rosberg 75; 7.Grosjean 61; 8.Button 50; 9.Perez 39; 10.Maldonado 29; 11.Di Resta 27; 12.Schumacher, Massa 23; 14.Kobayashi 21; 15.Senna 18; 16.Hulkenberg 17; 17.Vergne 4; 18.Ricciardo 2.



Constructors' championship
1.Red Bull-Renault 216; 2.Ferrari 152; 3.Lotus-Renault 144; 4.McLaren-Mercedes 142; 5.Mercedes 98; 6.Sauber-Ferrari 60; 7.Williams-Renault 47; 8.Force India-Mercedes 44; 9.Toro Rosso-Ferrari 9.

*Unofficial scoring

Wayne Taylor and Max Angelelli aboard their SunTrust Racing Corvette DP have topped a two-day test held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway ahead of the next Rolex series' round held there on July 27.

Round nine of the Grand-Am season will also be the third and final round of the North American Endurance Championship (NAEC), a series within the series that included the Rolex 24 and last week's 6 Hours of the Glen.

“The track was ‘rubbering up' a good bit, and the speeds kept getting faster even though the temperatures were climbing,” said Taylor, who co-drives with Angelelli. “This means a lot to us, especially with our team being based in Indy. We're really looking forward to coming back for the race.”

Another Corvette topped the GT time sheets: Eric Curran's No. 31 Whelen Engineering.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway will extend the two-day on Monday, to offer teams competing in other series a chance to test at the famous oval. Chip Ganassi Racing for example were busy in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series, down in Daytona.



DP Top 3
1. Ricky Taylor, Corvette DP, 108.649 mph/1min23.962s
2. Ozz Negri, Ford/Riley, 108.348 mph/1min24.195s
3. Scott Pruett, BMW/Riley, 108.343/1min24.199s

GT Top 3
1. Eric Curran, Corvette, 99.857 mph/1min31.355s
2. Eric Foss, Porsche GT3, 99.788/1min31.418s
3. Jonathan Bomarito, Mazda RX-8. 99.695/1min31.503s

From GMM

Formula one drivers can forget any hopes of winning an Olympic medal.

When International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge entered the Silverstone paddock on Sunday, some suggested it could be the first step to adding motor racing to the Games' roster of sports.

Not so. Although admitting grand prix drivers are "very courageous", Rogge - a guest of F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone - insisted the Olympics is for "athletes, not for equipment".

"While having a lot of respect, (motor sport) will not be included into the Olympic programme," he is quoted by the Daily Mail.

The 2012 Summer Games kick off in the British capital later this month.

Adapted from GMM

Marussia team boss John Booth on Sunday said that the team's test driver, who lost her right eye after an horror testing crash at Duxford airfield on Tuesday, is now awake and "talking with her family".

He said that is "great news".

Furthermore, Charlie Whiting, the FIA's top F1 official, has described de Villota's crash earlier this week as a "one in five million" freak accident.

"It was so incredibly unfortunate," the race director, starter and technical and safety delegate told the Spanish sports newspaper Marca at Silverstone.

"I think that if Felipe (Massa)'s accident (in 2009) was one in a million, then Maria's was one in five million," Briton Whiting added.

"The circumstances were just so unique that it was just incredible bad luck," he said.

Whiting said that, even at the time of de Villota's incident, the FIA was already looking at ways to better protect the drivers' heads.

"We're looking more at the case of an impact with a wheel, because this can happen several times in a year. Maria's circumstances may never occur again," added Whiting.

"In Maria's case, yes it (head protection) would have worked, but perhaps in many other cases the problems would be worse, like extraction or visibility.

"We have to make sure we aren't making something better for one type of accident but worse for three more."

I've experimented with adaptive cruise control systems, but never to the extent that I dared push Volvo's Queue Assist setup. Apparently, this system will bring the S60 to a complete halt if that's what traffic ahead is doing. It will then allow the vehicle to follow stop-and-go traffic, all without requiring the driver to touch the brake or gas.

Sure, I thought.


On a freeway run, I set the adaptive cruise control to well above the posted limit, then allowed my tester to follow slower traffic for several kilometres, which it did flawlessly. I exited onto another highway in which there was no nearby traffic.

The 2012 Volvo S60 smoothly accelerated until reaching my set speed. All was good. As we neared slower traffic, I knew that the car would decelerate to match the speed of those ahead in my lane; what I wasn't so sure of was whether it would successfully stop behind vehicles, without effort from me, as we approached a red light.

Exercising nerves of steel, I resisted the urge to settle my foot on the brake. With breath held tight, my Swedish chariot smoothly applied braking while maintaining a safe but diminishing distance from the car ahead. We came to a full stop one car length from the vehicle ahead.

When the traffic began moving, I hit the reset button with my left thumb and the S60 played along. It followed the traffic around a left turn and maintained a consistent speed with the cars ahead. We stopped at several more traffic lights and proceeded through a business district - all without my assistance on the brake or accelerator. Was I impressed? You bet.

But that's not all that impressed me with Volvo's upscale midsize sedan.

When the traffic began moving, I hit the reset button with my left thumb and the S60 played along. It followed the traffic around a left turn and maintained a consistent speed with the cars ahead. (Photo: Rob Rothwell)

S60 setting new direction for Volvo
The sleek lines of the S60 are quite un-Volvo-like, and that's the point. Volvo is working hard to shed its conservative image, and the S60 is the latest in that effort. This vehicle is aimed at the sort of customer that may also be considering a BMW 3 Series as their next purchase.

Although my tester was pulled along by its front wheels, all-wheel drive is an option, and one that I would seriously consider if I were in this sort of market. Nonetheless, the front-wheel-drive configuration served me well during my test period, and presented only minimal torque steer when acceleration was pushed to the max.

The engine delivering that get-up-and-go is somewhat unique.

The sleek lines of the S60 are quite un-Volvo-like, and that's the point. (Photo: Rob Rothwell)

5 cylinders run smooth
My tester was the T5 model, in reference to its turbocharged 2.5L 5-cylinder powerplant. While not as turbine smooth as some 6-cylinder engines, Volvo's 5-banger is delightfully peppy and suitably refined for this upscale application. It produces 250 hp @ 5,500 rpm and 266 lb-ft of torque from 1,800 to 4,000 rpm.

A small annoyance for me was the abruptness of throttle tip-in. Touching the gas a little too aggressively when setting off tends to produce unintended wheelspin, especially on wet roads. Again, a most un-Volvo-like characteristic. More in tune was the 6-speed automatic transmission hooked to the engine.

The autobox favoured fuel economy over performance but functioned well nonetheless. When fully tasked, the S60 T5 can climb from zip to 100 km/h in well under 7 seconds. Thanks to turbocharging, power comes on early and is sustained through the majority of the rev band.

The transmission's contribution to squeezing the most out of a litre is evident in the fuel economy rating for the S60 T5, which stands at 10.5L/100km and 6.6L/100km, city and highway driving respectively. My real-world about-town driving netted me a reasonable 10.8L/100km, but the S60's about a lot more than decent performance and economy.

My tester was the T5 model, in reference to its turbocharged 2.5L 5-cylinder powerplant. (Photo: Rob Rothwell)

Beautiful surroundings
I've always found Volvo cabins, especially those of late, to be well thought-out and highly attractive. My tester's interior real estate was just that, with leather upholstery and wood inlays that nicely fulfilled expectations.

Head and leg room up front is expansive and most controls are logically presented. I say most, because I was largely confounded by the cluster of buttons on the centre stack. Of particular challenge was determining how to make audio adjustments and tune in stations.

After some putzing about, I figured out the audio controls and also how to program the navigation system, which is not all that intuitive unless using the voice command interface. Interestingly, I found Volvo's voice command system to perhaps be the easiest I've ever used.

I've always found Volvo cabins, especially those of late, to be well thought-out and highly attractive. (Photo: Rob Rothwell)

Wrapping the Swede
While the S60 T5 has what it takes performance-wise to compete with upscale sports sedans, it has in many ways more than its competitors. Much of what sets the S60 apart from other Euro sedans is its commitment to safety and occupant protection.

Volvo is on the cutting edge when it comes to preventing collisions, and reducing damage and injury should one occur. It would take a full-length feature to properly cover these aspects of Volvo design and engineering; trust that no one does it better.

In addition to safety and protection, Volvo has clearly chosen to emphasize sportiness in its S60, giving this attractive sedan driving dynamics to match its avantgarde styling. Buyers seeking a sporty upscale sedan with a strong commitment to keeping the family safe and secure will find those attributes in the 2012 S60 T5, but should be prepared to pay.

Although the base S60 T5 begins at $38,300, my loaded tester crested the $50K mark.

Ganassi's Dario Franchitti earned the pole for this Sunday's IndyCar event in the streets of Toronto with a last ditch effort at the end of the qualifying session to take top spot from Penske's Will Power.

In the last moment of the Fast-Six shootout it had looked as though Power was very much in control but an ultimate flying lap by the reigning champion was clocked at 59.3510s, putting him ahead of Power by just 0.02 seconds.

Justin Wilson (Dale Coyne Racing), another pretender to the pole, ended up third while Sebastian Bourdais (Dragon) was fourth.

Ganassi's Scott Dixon was fifth while a superb performance from BHA's Alex Tagliani was rewarded with a sixth although the Canadian will join Andretti's James Hinchcliffe and HVM's Simona de Silvestro in facing a 10-place grid penalty for an engine change.

Gustavo Yacaman (Team Moore) battled it out thru much of the latter part of the race with Sebastian Saavedra (AFS/Andretti) but ultimately won the Indy Lights event at the Honda Indy of Toronto.

Yacaman and Saavedra had both passed pole-sitter Victor Carbone (Sam Schmidt) on lap 13 of the 50-lap race after which their battle was on for the lead, although Yacaman was able to open a gap over his pursuer in the final stages of the race to win with a 2.2s advantage.

Carbone was the last driver on the podium at the end of the race in which his teammates and championship rivals Esteban Guerrieri and Tristan Vautier collided on the opening lap.

Vautier, who severely damaged his car had to retire a couple laps later while Guerrieri, after having his front wing replaced, was able to finish in sixth.

Local hero, Canadian Davis Ostella (Team Moore) finished in seventh place.

Esteban Gutierrez and Luiz Razia secured win in the two GP2 rounds presented at Silverstone, Razia moving up to first position in provisional championship classification.

After he started from pole position, Fabio Leimer pulled away in front before the safety car came in to remove James Calado's car, which was blocked in the middle of the track with gear box issues.

But, while all his rivals decided to stop for their mandatory pit stop, Leimer remained on track, and when the Swiss driver decided to stop for his own pit stop, the safety car was already out, and he was back on track in the middle of the field.

Meanwhile, Esteban Gutierrez inherited the lead, to take his second victory this season.

The second race presented a great fight between the leading drivers, among them championship contenders Davide Valsecchi and Luiz Razia. Razia overtook Valsecchi for third, then both moved up to first and second after they got by pole man and early leader Giedo Van der Garde.

Luiz Razia took victory ahead of Valsecchi and Felipe Nasr, which allowed the Razia driver to move up to first position in provisional standings.



Race 1 results - GP2 (Silversone)
1 - Esteban Gutierrez - Lotus - 25 laps in 1h00min22.657s
2 - Johnny Cecotto - Addax - 1.700s
3 - Jolyon Palmer - iSport - 5.257s
4 - Nigel Melker - Ocean - 6.368s
5 - Luiz Razia - Arden - 6.523s
Etc.

Race 2 results
1 - Luiz Razia - Arden - 21 laps in 37min28.656s

2 - Davide Valsecchi - Dams - 5.642s
3 - Felipe Nasr - Dams - 17.775s
4 - Esteban Gutierrez - Lotus - 19.969s
5 - Jolyon Palmer - iSport - 25.869s
Etc.

Championship :
1. Razia 165 points, 2. Valsecchi 159, 3. Gutierrez 122, 4. Calado et Chilton 95, etc.

Although he had a bit of a problem explaining how he did it Tony Stewart notched his fourth Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

The reigning and three time Sprint Cup champ negotiated his way to through traffic to overtake the previously dominant and defending Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth for what would be his third win of the season.

“I wish I could explain it,” said Stewart, who has five restrictor-plate victories in Sprint Cup, with four coming at Daytona. “The great thing about restrictor-plate racing is that 43 cars all have the same shot at winning the race, but that's also part of what makes it frustrating, too.

“It's just being at the right place at the right time, and when those last two big wrecks happened, we were in the right spot. We were ahead of them both times.”

Stewart, driving a Chevrolet, took the lead on lap 131 of the 160-lap after a multi-car accident in turn four and led for 21 laps before relinquishing the spot to the Ford duo of Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle on lap 152. The second of three multi-car crash set the stage for a two-lap shootout.

Stewart regained the lead on the final lap with an impressive drive around Biffle and Kenseth off turn two and down the backstretch. The key was breaking up the Kenseth and Biffle drafting team.

“The biggest challenge was the ‘17' (Kenseth) and ‘16' (Biffle) cars, and when they hooked up, I don't think there was anybody that could beat them,” Stewart said.

“But we were able to stay in touch with them, and I got a great restart with Kasey Kahne helping me. I'm not sure how he got shuffled back there in (turns) one and two, but we just had to try to separate the ‘17' and ‘16' there.

“And once we got them pulled apart, I think Matt tried to reconnect with Greg, and we carried enough momentum to get back around in front of him and get down on that bottom line. I tried to back up to Matt to make sure they didn't get a huge run on us.

“They were coming on the outside in (turns) three and four and the last wreck happened, and we were just fortunate enough to be leading still.”

“I'm really disappointed,” said Kenseth who fell to third. “My team deserved to be down there holding the hardware and I let them down. Daytona has been wonderful to us this year... Obviously, I had a really good Speedweeks and then came down here and sat on the pole and led the most laps.

“We had one of the fastest cars and had a good finish. It's hard to be disappointed with that, but the racer in you, when you have a car like that, you certainly want to figure out how to try to win with it.”

Jeff Burton, who survived in a Chevrolet to finish seoncd, said “Kevin (Harvick) and I had a good run going and just had nowhere to go. I did my little thing in turn one, saved it and then they wrecked off turn four and ended up with a good finish. Anytime you can leave here with a car not torn up you probably ought to be happy.”

Biffle ended up 21st.

First seen in concept form at the 2010 Geneva Auto Show, the Lotus Evora Range Extender Hybrid Electric Vehicle has now begun road testing.

The two electric motors drive each rear wheel independently. They combine to generate 408 horsepower and accelerate from 0 to 60 mph (96 km/h) in under four seconds while emitting only 55 grams of CO2 per kilometre.

The Lotus Evora 414E Hybrid also uses energy recuperation, a seven-speed transmission with paddle shifters, a three-cylinder engine driving an electric generator that can directly power the two traction motors, and finally a 17 kWh lithium-polymer battery that can be charged through a standard power outlet. The car can run solely on electricity for up to 48 kilometres.

Will the car ever get the green light? Lotus executives are staying mum on the subject.

Photo: Lotus

Photo: Lotus