Auto News 5

Blue Drive, Hyundai's eco-initiative, will move into high gear at the 2009 IAA in Frankfurt. The company has created a special Blue Drive Zone where it will exhibit a wide array of its new eco-friendly technologies and products demonstrating its commitment to lowering emissions and improving the fuel economy of its vehicles. Full story...

After a tenth of a second standing in front of the new Mazda 3, you'll notice that it looks very happy about something. Unlike that creepy person on the subway, the 3 actually has a valid reason to smile: the original car was a smash-hit, and Mazda's just updated the new one to do it all over again. Full story...

The last leg of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship was held this week-end in Shanonville and Moto123.com made sure we had that covered for you. McCormick might have won the race but it's Szoke who came out on top with his sixth championship title, his fourth in a row. And how about Moto123.com's own Pascal Bastien who took his first ever start in the CBR125R Challenge series as an invited media finishing in the top ten. You can see all of this and more in our photo gallery from our special collaborator Leon T Switzer. Make sure to visit Moto123.com for a complete race report of this action-packed week-end. Full story...

Scottish driver Paul Di Resta made the best use of his home advantage at the British circuit of Brands Hatch, driving home a dominant lights-to-flag victory for Mercedes-Benz. For the 23-year old, this was the first win of the season and the third victory in his DTM career. Full story...

Andy Soucek extended his overall points advantage, taking his fourth victory of the season in race one and clinching second in race two. Full story...

IndyCar favorite, Danica Patrick tweeted she's interested in NASCAR, but, says it's not a different stance than before. On Saturday morning Tony Stewart opened up reporter' eyes when he said - following Patrick's shop of Newman-Haas Racing on Monday - he was confident that the diminutive open wheeler would be in NASCAR sometime. Full story...

Bernie Ecclestone has indicated that F1's prices both for race promoters and ticket buyers will come down with shrinking expenditure by the teams. Full story...

If winner Fernando Alonso is disqualified from the 2008 Singapore grand prix, Nico Rosberg will retrospectively record his first formula one victory. To the Berliner Zeitung newspaper in Germany, the Williams driver - who like Alonso also benefitted from the safety car shake-up prompted by Nelson Piquet's crash and finished second - revealed that "there were rumours" about the incident at the time. Full story...

The boss of multiple champion Sebastien Loeb's world rally team has said he will not prevent the 35-year-old from making his formula one debut later this year. Full story...

Luca Badoer has claimed that negative press coverage of his two races substituting for Felipe Massa encouraged Ferrari to drop him in favour of Giancarlo Fisichella. Full story...

In a shock development late on Sunday night, BP Ford Abu Dhabi Team driver Mikko Hirvonen has been named the new winner of Repco Rally Australia after Stewards handed Sebastien Loeb, Dani Sordo and Sebastien Ogier time penalties for a technical infringement. Full story...

It's Felipe Massa's seat, Michael Schumacher was Ferrari's first choice to replace the injured Brazilian, Luca Badoer got the initial nod, and now Giancarlo Fisichella will complete 2009 in car number 3. But Valentino Rossi, perpetually at the centre of 'will he, won't he' speculation in F1 circles, claims he could have been the occupant of the F60 racer. Full story...

A case in point: The Taurus' predecessor, the Ford Five Hundred, was judged by automotive critics as a solid, capable vehicle. Its shortcoming was a lack of head-snapping curb appeal. Full story...

Dreieich, Germany - Power and wildness stand for the successful Tiguan. The Volkswagen Accessories products for this model also reflect these characteristics. Volkswagen Accessories now offers the practical and visually enhancing underride guard set for the front and rear ends of the series Tiguan. An underride guard variant is also available for those who have already selected aerodynamics products or the R-Line for their Tiguan. Full story...

(TORONTO) - Toyota is committed to continuous improvement and in bringing cutting edge innovation to society, spending over $1 million an hour in global R&D efforts. Toyota's extensive in-house safety research boasts the Higashi-Fuji Technical Center in Japan, one of the world's largest experimental facilities in creating situations close to that of actual driving scenarios, and the recently opened Toyota Technical Center's (TTC) new R&D facility in York Township, Michigan. This new campus handles TTC's product planning and engineering design operations, and serves as TMC's first collision-safety testing facility outside Japan. Full story...

Hybrid-powered vehicles are most commonly associated with owners seeking to reduce their automotive-related impact on Mother Earth while saving a few bucks at the pump; all laudable attributes. Lexus is now extending those virtues to the executive-class purchaser in the form of their technologically extraordinary LS 600h L. Full story...

The series has come to an end. After six pole positions for Audi in the 2009 DTM season, Scot Paul Di Resta became the first Mercedes-Benz driver to post a fastest qualifying time in 2009. Full story...

Tony Stewart said Danica Patrick's move to NASCAR is not a matter of if but when. Earlier this year tongues wagged when IndyCar's most visible driver showed up at the Stewart-Haas Racing's NASCAR Sprint Car race shop. Sure, pundits said "it's just a negotiation tactic to raise her salary." Full story...

The second full day of Repco Rally Australia came to an end tonight with the top three drivers, Dani Sordo, Sebastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen separated by an almost unbelievable margin of one-tenth of a second. Full story...

Renault said it will be making no comment after acknowledging its summons to an extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council later this month. Full story...