Source: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/11/27/2508953/nascar-champions-week-activities.html
Jason Leffler David Carl Allison Gregory Jack Biffle David Lee Blaney Michael Duane Bliss
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Red Bull feared Vettel would retire
Red Bull feared that Sebastian Vettel would be forced out of the Brazilian Grand Prix as the result of his opening lap clash with Bruno Senna.
The German was spun after colliding with Senna on the entry to Turn 4, and he was hit again by the Brazilian when his Red Bull was facing the wrong way.
The contact badly damaged the rear bodywork of Vettel’s Red Bull car, and left team chiefs on the pit wall worrying that their title chances were about to be derailed.
When asked if there was concern that the damage was big enough to cause Vettel to retire, team principal Christian Horner said: “Absolutely.
“There was quite a lot of damage to the exhaust and they’re sensitive bits of equipment. So for them to receive an impact like that, of course, it was massively concerning.”
Red Bull technical chief Adrian Newey believed that the damage to the car was at the absolute limit of what it could take.
“It’s probably about as bad as you can possibly have and still finish the race,” he told AUTOSPORT.
Newey was seen studying close-up images of Vettel’s damaged car on the pit wall in the early stages of the race. He revealed that the team had to react at various stages of the race to ensure that the damage did not get worse.
“We monitor the loads through the pushrods, as I’m sure all teams do, so we could see that we had lost downforce, particularly at the rear,” he added.
“At the first stop, we adjusted the front wing slightly.
“But you’re carrying that lack of downforce because there’s nothing you can do about that.
“Then the other big concern was the crease that we could see in the exhaust system.
“If the exhaust breaks, which there has to be a high probability of with that sort of damage, it would probably catch the bodywork on fire at that point and your race is over.
“So we changed the engine mapping to try and minimise the exhaust temperature. We lost a bit of performance in the process and just tried to get it home.”
Despite the damage, Vettel secured a sixth place finish in the Brazilian GP that was good enough for him to secure his third straight title.
Jean Pierre Jarier Max Jean Stefan Johansson Eddie Johnson Leslie Johnson
Can Chicago Build a Bike-Share System That Works for Everyone?
It’s an exciting time in Chicago, as the city gears up for a major bike-share launch this spring that will make 4,000 bikes at 400 stations available to the public.
The city of Chicago has been hosting public meetings to determine the best locations for bike-share stations. Photo: Grid Chicago
City officials are thinking ahead, trying to avoid a problem that has plagued other systems: namely, the failure to make bike-share useful to residents from every walk of life. John Greenfield at Grid Chicago describes how local officials are trying to ensure that it’s not just the affluent who reap the benefits of bike-share in the Windy City:
While bike sharing has great potential, the credit-card requirement and other factors have been obstacles to attracting a diverse membership in other cities. In Denver, where roughly fifty percent of residents are people of color, almost ninety percent of bike-share users are non-Hispanic whites, according to a member survey. “Our demographic profile is nothing to be proud of, and we know that,” acknowledged Parry Burnap, head of Denver’s program, at a recent urban planning conference. “We are mostly male, mostly white, mostly wealthy, mostly well educated.”
CDOT deputy commissioner Scott Kubly helped launch Capital Bikeshare in Washington, D.C., and he’s managing Chicago’s new system. When I called to ask how he’ll ensure bike-share membership here mirrors our city’s ethnic and economic mix, he acknowledged this was also an issue in D.C. “Growing bike share will be easy in some parts of Chicago,” he says. “So I’m really focused on building membership in parts of town where it will be hardest.”
“The big challenge is how do we handle liability for folks who are unbanked,” Kubly adds. In D.C. this issue was addressed via the Bank on D.C. initiative, in which low-income residents received a free Capital Bikeshare membership after completing a financial literacy course. Liability for the membership was shared by the individual, the city, a bank and Alta Bicycle Share, the Portland, Oregon-based company that runs the D.C. system and will be operating Chicago’s as well. He’s currently looking into partnering with community organizations and churches here to provide bike share access for people who don’t have credit cards.
Chicago is also making efforts to supply a broad spectrum of neighborhoods with plenty of bike-share stations, Greenfield reports. In addition, the city has developed a program to train low-income youth for some of the 150 jobs the new system is expected to create.
Elsewhere on the Network today: Spacing Toronto says that erstwhile Mayor Rob Ford’s undoing was simply his inability to follow the rules. The Greater Marin advises readers to just avoid walking in Sonoma County, where not only are the roads dangerous but the police department policy seems to blame cyclists and pedestrians in the event of a collision. And the Political Environment shares an example of what passes for an air quality program in too many government agencies around the country.
Source: http://streetsblog.net/2012/11/27/can-chicago-build-a-bike-share-system-that-works-for-everyone/
Los Angeles: BMW i3 Coupe Concept is the newest in LifeDrive "stream flow" design
Filed under: Concept Cars, LA Auto Show, Coupe, BMW, Electric
This is the BMW i3 Coupe Concept, a sharpened take on all of the acronymous innovations wrought by four-door BMW i3 Concept: "stream flow" design wrapping its LifeDrive architecture and Life Module cabin. Presenting an evolved future beyond the already-futuristic four-door i3 Concept, the i3 Coupe Concept is a case of meticulous design and technological detail, hitting notes like anthracite-coloured kenaf fiber for the door support panels, three modes of sustainable driving and more advanced ways to calculate its route and range.
Its range is 100 miles, and for the BMW purists, the i3 Coupe Concept pushes its 170 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque to the rear wheels. It awaits your scrutiny in the high-res gallery above.
Continue reading BMW i3 Coupe Concept is the newest in LifeDrive "stream flow" design
BMW i3 Coupe Concept is the newest in LifeDrive "stream flow" design originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 28 Nov 2012 18:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.autoblog.com/2012/11/28/bmw-i3-coupe-concept-la-2012/
David Carl Allison Gregory Jack Biffle David Lee Blaney Michael Duane Bliss Kurt Thomas Busch
NYU Report: NYC’s Exclusive Busways Shouldn’t Be for Emergencies Only
The city and state need to shift gears to create a more resilient transportation network in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, a group of New York University transportation researchers argue in a report released this morning. Chief among their recommendations: New York must get serious about Bus Rapid Transit and create permanent, physically-separated transit lanes to keep bus riders from getting stuck in traffic.
Bus lanes that are truly separate from car traffic can play a bigger role in NYC. Photo: Stephen Miller
With the subways unable to cross the East River due to power outages and flooding, “the exceedingly intense traffic gridlock that the city experienced was reminiscent of scenes from Sao Paulo and Jakarta: emerging megacities that struggle to provide adequate capacity,” write authors Sarah Kaufman, Carson Qing, Nolan Levenson, and Melinda Hanson of NYU’s Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management.
A wide variety of transportation options picked up the slack in the storm’s wake. Privately-owned commuter vans filled gaps in transit service, the East River Ferry doubled its typical fall weekday ridership to more than 7,400, and 30,000 bike commuters — more than double the average — crossed the East River bridges.
A make-shift system of express buses served the most people, with subway passengers transferring to buses at three locations in Downtown Brooklyn and Williamsburg. At the two transfer points in Downtown Brooklyn, the MTA loaded 3,700 passengers per hour onto the Manhattan-bound “bus bridge,” which the report hails as “New York’s first truly exclusive busways.” The report lauds interagency cooperation after the storm, noting that NYPD’s bus lane and HOV-3 enforcement played a critical role in keeping the way clear for bus riders.
While the long lines waiting for buses showed that “impromptu Bus Rapid Transit” can’t replace full subway service, the authors say the post-Sandy transport plan also illustrated how real BRT routes could enhance the city’s transportation options. As Capital New York noted last week, NYC’s Select Bus Service is a solid upgrade over conventional buses, but doesn’t perform well enough to qualify as Bus Rapid Transit.
The NYU report recommends that the MTA work with the city to implement dedicated bus lanes as a permanent part of the city’s transit mix. ”If buses continued to have priority on bridges” and other busy corridors, the authors write, “large numbers of people could move through the city more efficiently.”
The report also makes other recommendations, including:
- Continued expansion of dedicated bicycle lanes, which are not as vulnerable to weather-related shutdowns, including on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, which would have allowed Staten Islanders to more easily access transit connections in Brooklyn during the gas shortage;
- Increased federal and state investment in the MTA, both for storm recovery and long-term upgrades; and
- Expanded use of the MTA’s adaptable maps and real-time data feeds to inform riders of outages and service changes.
Cliff Griffith Georges Grignard Bobby Grim Romain Grosjean Olivier Grouillard
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Carella's 2011 World Title Turns a New Page in F1 H2O Series!
F1 H2O / F1 Powerboat News
ABU DHABI - January 2, 2012
The young 26 year-old racer from Piacenza, Italy while trailing his teammate for most of the season, ran a smart and steady campaign, winning twice from pole position in both Kazan at the Grand Prix of Russia and along the corniche in Abu Dhabi.
Carella virtually locked his title away, when on the first lap of the final Grand Prix in Sharjah, he was able to out duel his teammate into second place. The two of them went into the left hand corner with Price making a desperate move that didn't work taking both drivers out of the race and handing Alex the title even before both DAC boats stopped barrel rolling in turn three.
"It was a very fulfilling season and we had success when we needed too," said Alex. "Jay was an excellent teammate all season and its too bad it ended the way it did on the very first lap in Sharjah. I was looking forward to going toe to toe with him for all 37 laps but I'll take the championship and am thankful to my whole team for making this a truly dream season for me."
The 2011 campaign started out as if the Qatar Team was going to run away and hide from the competition throughout the full ten month schedule. Jay won the opening two events. First, at the Qatar Teams home event in Doha in the month of March, and again at the next Grand Prix in Portimao, Portugal in May passing Alex for his 11th career win.
The string Qatar Team success continued at the third event of the season. Alex, won easily from pole position. Meanwhile, Jay, racing what many thought was the drive of the season, charged all the way up from 15th on the grid to finish third giving the Qatar organization their third straight Grand Prix where both drivers finished on the podium at days end.
Alex finished the season with 84 points on the strength of two wins, two second places and a pair of fifth's and only failing to finish crashing out with his teammate at the final event.
The final standings differential Jay had with Alex and how he lost on the title, was his disqualification at the Grand Prix of China in Liuzhou.
On the very last lap, Jay misjudged the right hand buoy with three corners to go and lost out on a third place finish giving him no points and opening the door for his teammate Alex to have a chance to chase him down for the title. Alex did just that in Abu Dhabi out qualifying him and winning. Jay was third that day and finished second in the championship for the second straight year with 79 points.
"The difference between a great pass in a race and a miscalculation and disaster is a millisecond and that's what happened in Sharjah," said Jay.
"I thought I had an avenue and it closed and before I knew it, the season was finished. Alex is a great teammate and I couldn't have asked for a better team to work with this season. It was great to lead the championship for over 36 weeks I just wished I could have finished it the way I wanted to for myself and my team."
While Jay was racking up five straight podiums in every race he finished in 2011 another team that started slowly came on and dominated most of the last half of the season when their drivers caught fire themselves.
Team Abu Dhabi, which welcomed their two talented drivers Thani Al Qamzi and Ahmed Al Hameli back together for the fifth straight season, had no answer for their rivals from Doha in the first half of the year.
However, once both Thani and Ahmed hit their stride in their BABA boats at the mid-season mark, they became almost unbeatable, with Ahmed winning two of the final four events including a dominating one-two finish on the podium in Sharjah.
Thani, finished third in the championship with 75 points. He completed all seven races winning at Liuzhou in October and being a late season player for the championship with his four podium performances throughout the year.
Ahmed set the water on fire in qualifying in the second half of the season. He took three pole's in his last four starts. Ahmed, like Jay Price, finished on the podium in every race he finished this season with a pair of wins and two second place finishes coming home fourth in the championship with 70 points.
The 33 year-old driver from Abu Dhabi could have had even more points had he not crashed out in Portugal and was disqualified from running the next race in Kiev by the officials for his actions on the race course on the Arade River.
This opened the door for a special treat for all race fans of the UIM F1 H2O world tour. For Team Abu Dhabi Team Manager and four-time World Champion Scott Gillman came out of semi-retirement to race for the first time since 2007 for Team Abu Dhabi replacing the suspended Ahmed Al Hameli.
Despite never running in the BABA boat before this weekend, Scott qualified a respectable eighth and just missed taking his 56th career podium when fellow American Jay Price passed him with just a few laps to go in Kazan to capture third with Scott settling for a fine fourth.
While the Qatar Team held off Team Abu Dhabi for the Team Championship 172-154, finishing strongly as well was the CTIC China Team with 63 points. Led by French veteran pilot Philippe Chiappe who was fifth in the championship with 47 points and gaining confidence throughout the season.
Chiappe, driving a new French built "Moore" hull had three podium third place finishes (Doha, Liuzhou and Sharjah) combined with one other top five performance in Kazan. The driver from Rouen was penalized in Portimao and failed to finish only in Abu Dhabi to complete a solid year and bigger hopes for 2012.
Teammate Pierre Lundin of Sweden had all sorts of gremlins early on. The driver from Eskilstuna, started with three straight failures to finish, then he turned it around, going three straight finishes before dropping out at the last race in Sharjah. His best performance of the season came in Abu Dhabi when he qualified 10th and finished fourth. He finished the year tied for 10th in the drivers table with 16 points.
The Singha F1 Team was fourth in the championship with 44 points mostly delivered by the veteran number one driver Francesco Cantando who was sixth in the drivers championship with 42 points.
For this two time runner-up in the title chase back in 2000 and 2001, Francesco's best events were a pair of fourth's at the Grand Prix of Ukraine in Kiev and Sharjah in the UAE driving his own newly designed BLAZE boat.
The driver from Milan finished his 16th season in F1 and now in 134 starts has 12 victories and is third all time with 41 podiums and 79 top-10 finishes in his career.
Fellow Italian Stefano Paoletti joined him for the first race of the season in Doha finishing 13th in his first ever F1 Grand Prix.
Another young Italian star Ivan Brigada joined the team for one race in Portugal qualifying 12th and finishing a respectable 10th in the Grand Prix.
Italian veteran Valerio Lagiannella was at Francesco's side for the remaining races of the season picking up his first point of the season at the very last event in Sharjah for the Lecco driver who expects to be back for 2012.
Coming into the season the defending World Champion Mad Croc F1 Team looked to be solid with two time World Titlist Sami Selio back leading the team along with his new teammate Davide Padovan from Italy.
The Finnish superstar, Selio, never really got into the groove all year long except for the opening event in Doha where he earned pole position and led, until, breaking down. This opened the floodgates to a season where Sami would play catch up throughout the campaign finally finishing tied for seventh with his teammate with 21 points.
Sami, had one podium in Kiev and then had his year shortened after a horrendous accident at the Grand Prix of China. While at full speed, he crashed the boat, going in nose first and stopping immediately on the front straight while traveling at over 200 kilometers per hour. The driver from Helsinki sat out the rest of the year to rest and recover hoping to start back in Doha this March chasing a third title.
The young Italian Padovan, who was runner-up to rookie of the year honors in 2010, finished all four of his races in the top ten with his best day being in Liuzhou where he finished fourth. His learning curve will continue and he's looking more comfortable in the BABA boat all the time as he chases his first career podium in 2012.
Also joining the team late in the season was the first ever driver from Kuwait to race in F1 Yousef Al Rubayan. The talented driver from Holi, came over from F2 and earned his first two points in his first ever event in Abu Dhabi. His 11th place in Sharjah saw his tied for 18th in title with two points in the ledger books for a driver who has a great future.
Team Sweden started the season in Doha with a solid line-up of Swedish driver Jonas Andersson and USA rookie Shaun Torrente hoping to make a statement before seasons end. The two-time North American champ Torrente, captured a fine fourth place just ahead of his veteran teammate in Qatar. This sadly was a mirage as both drivers fell from a bis of exuberance followed by disappointment and back again as the season marched along.
Andersson, a winner of four victories during his six year career on the tour, finished the season a disappointing ninth in the drivers championship with 19 points and just one top five performance in four finishes. His switch to a MOLGAARD hull late in the year seemed to help his confidence.
Meanwhile, for the Peters & May sponsored Torrente, after his brilliant fourth place finish in Doha, battled for the lead of the race at the next Grand Prix in Portugal only to crash out on the restart after qualifying sixth. Now, forced to drive a new boat in Kazan for the first time, Shaun qualified a fine second place only to crash while pushing for a podium finish for the second straight event. His luck didn't change at the next event as he had a technical problem forcing him to drop out in Kiev on the opening lap.
The Miami driver missed China, only to rejoin the series with the Qatar Team in December. Shipping his own GRAN PRIX short boat from California to the series, Shaun's bad luck continued, crashing out on the opening lap in Abu Dhabi. The 33 year-old finished the season strongly in Sharjah taking a fine fifth place. His performance earned him Rookie-of-the-Year honors in the process capturing 10th in the championship with 16 points.
Also joining Team Sweden was the talented driver from "down under" Rhys Coles. The likeable Aussie who has a couple Australian titles to his resume, joined the team in China and played out the year. In his three races his seventh at the final round in Sharjah was his best. Overall, Rhys did rather well with two top 10's in his three finishes for the driver from Sydney.
Also on board was Swedish F2 veteran and part time ace mechanic Tommy Wahlsten, who, in his only appearance of the season, took a well earned ninth place in Liuzhou after starting 14th for the driver from Nora.
F1 Team Atlantic was four points behind Team Sweden in the team championship with 21 points. Led by their long time Portuguese veteran driver Duarte Benavente, who in his 15th year of racing, was tied for 10th in the drivers table with 16 points.
Duarte, who has 105 starts in his career, had five race finishes in the top-10. His best result, being at the final Grand Prix in Sharjah, where he finished sixth in his DRAGON boat built in Wales. He only failed to finish one event all year so he'll try to keep the consistency alive once again as he goes after his first Grand Prix win in 2012.
Philippe Tourre of France was Duarte's teammate for another year. The likeable driver from Paris, who enjoys a summer house off an island on the West Coast of France, struggled with just three finishes in his six starts. His best day was an eighth in Portugal followed by a ninth in Russia for five points overall and tied for 15th in the drivers championship.
The American Team Nautica organization enjoyed a three boat group of racers led by Norwegian women Marit Stromoy. The Oslo driver, had a breakthrough season, with a tremendous pole position at the Grand Prix of Portugal in May and later in the year with a second place starting spot in Abu Dhabi.
The multi-talented driver lost out on her first ever Grand Prix win when she and Shaun Torrente got together on a re-start in Portugal eliminating both drivers. This was followed by a season best sixth place in Kazan for her last finishing result of the season. Marit closed out 2011 with nine points tied for 13th but with a lot of confidence for the upcoming season as well.
Swiss driver Rinaldo "Rini" Osculati raced in six of seven events. He earned a championship point with a 10th place finish in Kazan. Rini's luck ran out failing to finish his last two starts for the native of Monza, Italy.
Joining Rini was another rookie in Polish driver Bartek Marszalek. His promising first season in F1 was abruptly ended in Abu Dhabi when he and Shaun Torrente got together at the first corner and never finished the first lap. Bartek's best day came in Kiev when he qualified 15th and climbed up to 10th earning his first point in F1 tied for 20th in the standings.
Russian pilot Stanislav Kourtsenovsky raced twice in Kazan and Kiev for his Jetech Tool F1 Racing Team. The veteran from St. Petersburg earning a fine seventh place after charging all the way from 16th on the grid at his home Grand Prix. This talented driver is hoping to fill his calendar for the upcoming campaign and run a full season.
In total, 2011 saw 24 drivers from 13 different countries travel throughout Europe, Asia and the Middle East on their 10 month journey for a World Title. In the end, a young, new generation Italian in only 15 starts joined the elite list of person's who can be called World Champion. Alex Carella give the Qatar Team their second title in four years and moves them in a tie with Team Abu Dhabi and the Mad Croc Teams for most drivers titles of current F1 organizations.
Is 2012 going to be the year that Team's Abu Dhabi or Mad Croc shoot for revenge? Or will the Qatar Team
make it a rare back to back success for one Alex Carella? Time is short, there is only 10 weeks before the start of the new campaign on the ninth and tenth of March at the Grand Prix of Qatar in Doha.
Stay tuned, new drivers to new teams and new boats. It's already shaping up to something special for 2012!
Be In The Know - With F1 H2O!
Source: http://www.motorsportsjournal.com/archives/2012/01/carellas_2011_world_title.php
Mike Hawthorn Boy Hayje Willi Heeks Nick Heidfeld Theo Helfrich
Today’s Headlines
- MTA Seeking FEMA Aid to Rebuild, Toughen, and Modernize the System (NYT)
- Still… $600 Million to Restore South Ferry Station? (2nd Ave Sagas, WSJ)
- Millions of NYC Residents Don’t Own a Car, But the Mayoral Contenders Aren’t Wooing Them (CapNY)
- On WNYC, NY Mag’s Bob Kolker Spends More Time Slagging Bike Lanes Than Critiquing NYPD
- Nassau Bus Careens Off Hempstead Street, Killing Boy in His Own Home (News, Post)
- Jury Begins Deliberating Case of Speeding Bus Driver Whose Passengers Died in 2011 Crash (NYT)
- More From NYU Post-Sandy Transpo Report: Bike/Walk Commuters Had It Best (Gothamist)
- Dems in Charge of the State Senate? Looking Like a Longshot (NYT)
- State DOT Increasingly Receptive to Downtown Buffalo Highway Removal (Buff News)
- The Post Never Passes Up a Chance to Go Nuclear on Human-Powered Transport
More headlines at Streetsblog Capitol Hill
Source: http://www.streetsblog.org/2012/11/28/todays-headlines-1525/
Kerry Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr Carl Michael Edwards III William Clyde Elliott
Vettel is champion, Button wins thriller
Vettel’s title rival Fernando Alonso battled to second in the wet/dry event, which was led for a long time by Nico Hulkenberg until the Force India clashed with Lewis Hamilton.
Despite Vettel getting involved in a first-lap crash and suffering a pit delay, he still managed to recover sufficiently to ensure that even Alonso’s runner-up finish could not deny the Red Bull driver the title at the end of an epic season. Alonso’s Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa took third.
Vettel’s afternoon had immediately become more complicated as a tentative start and first corner in drizzly conditions dropped him to seventh, while Alonso swept around the outside to move up to fifth.
Then as the pack jostled into the Descida do Lago, Vettel made heavy contact with Bruno Senna, spinning the Red Bull and also collecting Sergio Perez.
While the Sauber and Williams were both out, Vettel was amazingly able to continue despite several wounds to his Red Bull. He then tore through the field and was up to seventh place from 22nd by lap eight.
Meanwhile Alonso charged into a potentially title-clinching third by diving past Felipe Massa and Mark Webber in a single move as they battled into the Senna S.
But an error at the same point two laps later meant Alonso lost a place to Hulkenberg, who had quickly dismissed Webber and Massa in a blistering early charge.
The McLarens still led at this stage, with Button all over Hamilton as the rain steadily increased.
The worsening conditions prompted everyone bar Button and Hulkenberg to dive to the pits for intermediates.
That initially put Alonso and Vettel down to 12th and 17th respectively, although they were both back in the top five within five laps via a mix of bold passes and others pitting.
Up front, Force India’s incredible performance continued as Hulkenberg edged up behind Button before passing down the outside into the Senna S on lap 19.
By that time the pair were in a class of their own. They had been left 45s clear once the rest of the field went for intermediates, and with the shower passing, their rivals were all now having to stop.
Hulkenberg began to pull away, but debris was littering various corners from earlier incidents, and when Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes picked up a puncture the decision was taken to call out the safety car.
At the restart on lap 29, Hulkenberg led Button, Hamilton, Alonso, Vettel, Kobayashi and Webber. Kobayashi and Webber immediately pounced on Vettel, although Webber ran out of space at the Senna S and shot over the run-off.
Kobayashi’s charge soon took him past Alonso to fourth, although the Ferrari did not take long to regain the place, whereas Vettel had no answer to the Sauber.
Massa, who lost a lot of ground by staying on slicks too long and going to intermediates far too late, completed a recovery charge by passing both Vettel and Kobayashi to slot into fifth behind team-mate Alonso, who could not stay with the top three.
Hamilton overtook Button for second shortly after the restart, but Hulkenberg appeared comfortable in the lead until lap 49, when a half-spin at the Bico do Pato let the McLaren through.
Hulkenberg did not let the McLaren escape, and as they jostled through traffic on lap 54, the Force India slipped ahead into the Senna S, only to slide into a spin and hit Hamilton.
Despite bouncing onto two wheels, Hulkenberg was able to continue in second behind Button, although he did pick up a drive-through penalty for causing the clash. Hamilton had to retire from his McLaren farewell.
The return of the rain was a factor in the incident, and as the track became slippery again, everyone opted for intermediates. Vettel was among the first to pit, but Red Bull was not ready, leading to a long delay.
He was rapidly able to get back up to sixth, which was sufficient even with Alonso getting up to second thanks to the Hulkenberg/Hamilton tangle and some assistance from Massa, whose well-timed intermediate switch had got him ahead of his team-mate.
The race then came to a slightly underwhelming conclusion as Paul di Resta crashed heavily on the pits straight kink and brought out the safety car with a lap to go.
That clinched the win for Button, and meant that despite Ferrari’s double podium finish, Vettel’s sixth place gave him championship number three by a three-point margin.
Webber recovered from a variety of adventures, including an early clash with Kobayashi, to take fourth ahead of Hulkenberg and Vettel.
Michael Schumacher claimed seventh in the final race of his F1 career, despite a late brush of wheels with Kobayashi, who consequently spun to ninth behind Jean-Eric Vergne.
Superb underdog performances in the treacherous early laps led to Caterhams, Marussias and HRTs all appearing in the top 10, with Heikki Kovalainen and Timo Glock as high as sixth and seventh.
The battle ultimately came down to Charles Pic versus Vitaly Petrov for 12th place, with the Russian battling past the Frenchman to give Caterham 10th in the championship in what became 11th place when di Resta crashed.
But for that incident, Daniel Ricciardo was set to pass both Pic and Petrov, which would have given Marussia 10th place back again.
Raikkonen had a wild afternoon, starting when he nearly wiped out Vettel moments before the Senna tangle, and also including a long excursion at Juncao where the Lotus driver tried to use an access road to rejoin only to encounter a closed gate. He finished 10th.
Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado’s eventful years came to messy ends with both crashing in the opening laps.
PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTSThe Brazilian Grand Prix
Interlagos, Brazil;
71 laps; 305.909km;
Weather: Mixed conditions.Classified:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1h45:22.656
2. Alonso Ferrari + 2.754
3. Massa Ferrari + 3.615
4. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 4.936
5. Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes + 5.708
6. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 9.453
7. Schumacher Mercedes + 11.900
8. Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 28.600
9. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 31.200
10. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault + 1 lap
11. Petrov Caterham-Renault + 1 lap
12. Pic Marussia-Cosworth + 1 lap
13. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
14. Kovalainen Caterham-Renault + 1 lap
15. Rosberg Mercedes + 1 lap
16. Glock Marussia-Cosworth + 2 laps
17. De la Rosa HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps
18. Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps
19. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 3 lapsFastest lap: Hamilton, 1:18.069
Not classified/retirements:
Driver Team On lap
Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 55
Grosjean Lotus-Renault 6
Maldonado Williams-Renault 2
Senna Williams-Renault 1
Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1World Championship standings, round 20:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. Vettel 281 1. Red Bull-Renault 460
2. Alonso 278 2. Ferrari 400
3. Raikkonen 207 3. McLaren-Mercedes 378
4. Hamilton 190 4. Lotus-Renault 303
5. Button 188 5. Mercedes 142
6. Webber 179 6. Sauber-Ferrari 126
7. Massa 122 7. Force India-Mercedes 109
8. Grosjean 96 8. Williams-Renault 76
9. Rosberg 93 9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 26
10. Perez 66
11. Hulkenberg 63
12. Kobayashi 60
13. Schumacher 49
14. Di Resta 46
15. Maldonado 45
16. Senna 31
17. Vergne 16
18. Ricciardo 10All timing unofficial
Emmanuel de Graffenried Lucas di Grassi Cecil Green Keith Greene Masten Gregory
2014 U.S.-Spec Fiat 500L: It’s This Or a Quattroporte
Maserati’s Quattroporte is about to lose its monopoly as the only Italian four-door in America. The challenge comes not from Lamborghini or Ferrari, but Fiat, which will launch the 500L next summer. A little economy hatchback will not, of course, pose any threat to the new Quattroporte—except maybe as a service loaner—but will compete with the Kia Soul, the Nissan Juke, the Scion xB, and the Mini Countryman. READ MORE ››
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/caranddriver/blog/~3/fCiIRSfe6UY/
Jeremy Allan Mayfield James Christopher McMurray Casey James Mears Juan Pablo Montoya Joseph Francis Nemechek III
Vettel: Comebacks prove critics wrong
The Red Bull driver started from the pitlane in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix but went on to finish in third position.
In Brazil, he spun on the opening lap after contact with Bruno Senna but came through the field with a damaged car to secure sixth position and with it the 2012 championship.
Vettel believes it is funny to think of the comments from doubters who thought he could only be strong when he was starting from pole position.
“It’s actually a little bit of comedy to look back now and you were the driver who can’t overtake,” said Vettel during a media event at the Red Bull factory.
“Now after just two races people have changed their mind.
“To win from the front and to come through the field is the same. You still do your best, and people credit you have overtaken.
“You have come through the field, more than you pulling away and pulling lead of 8s or something. They don’t maybe understand what it is worth to pull that gap.
“Last year we always started from a great position and, yeah, we didn’t have to overtake, and then you get criticised for not overtaking.”
Vettel won last year’s title commandingly, taking 11 wins and scoring over 100 points more than his closest rival. This year, however, he beat Fernando Alonso by just three points.
The Red Bull driver admitted the pressure to win back-to-back titles increased, but he reckons that focusing on each race individually is one of the keys to his success.
“It’s not easy to stay focussed in that regard – it’s very, very hard but I think for me I always try to go step by step,” he said. “I said on Sunday after the race that the hardest thing is to win again after you have won.
“You get the attention and the pressure and you are very likely to focus on how to win again, rather than focus on small steps to win in the first place. Obviously we won the championship last year and this year again, so I don’t want to praise ourselves, but I think we have done a couple of things right.”
The three-time champion reiterated that the Brazilian Grand Prix had been extremely hard for him after his car was damaged at the start.
“It’s not a miracle, there’s an explanation,” he said. “Obviously it didn’t make our life easier the fact the car was quite damaged after that. I was just not competitive.
“We lost a lot of power due to damage on the exhaust and we lost lot of performance due to damage on floor.”
Dave Kennedy Loris Kessel Bruce Kessler Nicolas Kiesa Leo Kinnunen
Rossi hopes rally win a good omen
Driving a Ford Fiesta WRC, Rossi defeated former Le Mans driver Dindo Capello’s Citroen by 2.8 seconds after nine stages. Rossi had previously won the event in 2006 and ’07.
Fellow MotoGP stars Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo finished fifth and 10th.
Rossi also won the Masters Show contest in a final shoot-out with Capello.
Having only secured three podium finishes in two tough MotoGP seasons with Ducati, Rossi is counting on his return to Yamaha to help him recapture the form that brought four titles and 46 race wins in his previous seven-year stint with the team.
His last victory came in 2010′s Malaysian Grand Prix, and he hopes the Monza success is a good omen.
“This is more than a normal victory,” Rossi told Gazzetta dello Sport.
“When you climb on the top step of the podium it’s always special, but most of all I hope this is the turning point after two difficult seasons, unfortunately difficult beyond any prediction.
“Let’s hope this is the beginning of a new era.
“We need to return to winning ways in MotoGP too.”
Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/other-news/motorcycles/motogp/rossi-hopes-rally-win-a-good-omen
Z Line Toyota Kyle Busch Toyota Kimmy Z Line Designs Toyota Parker Kligerman
Button: Race extraordinarily tough
The McLaren driver, starting from second behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton, first fought with his compatriot and then with Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg as the weather made the conditions very tricky on track.
Button’s path towards victory was cleared when Hulkenberg and Hamilton collided, the Briton retiring and the German getting a penalty.
The win was Button’s third of the 2012 season and it means he finished just two points behind Hamilton.
“One of the toughest races I have ever had,” said Button. “The conditions were very tricky and at that point many times where you think inters are the right tyre.
“You are locking up the tyres here and there. You just have to push to the limit and wait for the team to give you the info. It is not just about driving the car, you need all the info out there.
“It was a really good race, and things were made difficult with the first safety car. The race was between me and Nico then, so it was made a lot more difficult and when I came in I struggled.”
Button admitted he was sorry Hamilton had to retire from the race, as he was enjoying the battle with him.
“It’s sad that Lewis isn’t here to enjoy his last race with the team but that is racing and these things happen.
“I would like to bid him farewell. We had a good time together that last three years and we proved it in the first 10 laps when we had a good fight.”
The McLaren racer also praised Hulkenberg’s effort.
“I don’t think we expected to see a Force India today,” he said. “F1 is closer in terms of regulations. Not having many regulation changes brings the field very close and we will see that next year.”
Lucas di Grassi Cecil Green Keith Greene Masten Gregory Cliff Griffith
Auctions: Be an excellent driver and buy the 1949 Buick Roadmaster from Rain Man
Filed under: Classics, Convertible, Auctions, Buick
Heritage Auctions has gotten its hands on an interesting piece of automotive cinema history. Bidders can now vie for the 1949 Buick Roadmaster Convertible from the 1988 film Rain Man featuring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. The straight-eight powered convertible is one of two used in filming and features an upgraded rear suspension to cope with the weight of a cameraman and camera equipment. The seller has included several bits of documentation showing where the big Buick was rented by MGM for filming, including insurance receipts and loan agreements.
As it sits, the Roadmaster has an opening bid of $40,000 and is located in Sacramento, California, though we suspect the seller may have a much higher reserve. The auction won't reveal that figure until December 7. You can find out more and see additional photography by heading over to the Heritage Auctions site.
Be an excellent driver and buy the 1949 Buick Roadmaster from Rain Man originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 27 Nov 2012 14:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.autoblog.com/2012/11/27/be-an-excellent-driver-and-buy-the-1949-buick-roadmaster-from-i/
Kazuyoshi Hoshino Jerry Hoyt Nico Hülkenberg Denny Hulme James Hunt
The Continental: Boutique Cars, Exotics, and the Grim Reality of Our Favorite Cars
Each week, our German correspondent slices and dices the latest rumblings, news, and quick-hit driving impressions from the other side of the pond. His byline may say Jens Meiners, but we simply call him . . . the Continental.
Congratulations to the Fiat 500. Produced in Poland and in Mexico, it has just has broken the 1-million-produced barrier. That is a fantastic number, keeping in mind this minicar was not designed with maximum practicality and mass appeal in mind. Instead, it is focused on design, being fun to drive, and enjoying a healthy dose of luxury for a small car. In terms of sales numbers, the retro-styled 500 now has almost caught up with the rather basic Cinquecento that was produced in the 1990s as the successor of the 126. However, it still lags far behind the original post-war 500, of which 3.7 million units were sold. But that was a car for the humble masses, not for the boutique crowd.
Another boutique minicar that has just been launched could be having too much fun already. The Opel Adam, designed primarily for Europe, now is being shown as a rally car; the Astra OPC also will be offered as a base model for rally racing. Opel Motorsport won’t have its own team, but it’s a good move, nevertheless. Opel has a rich history of rally and race cars, including the first-generation Commodore, the second-generation Manta and the second-gen Ascona. Later, Opel raced in the DTM series, but left in 2005. I hope the Adam does well; the rally package certainly endears Opel’s youngest family member to me.
Piece by piece, Mercedes-Benz is releasing information on the new S-class, which needs to reassert the brand’s superiority. The latest news concerns lighting. Full LEDs will be standard on every S-class, and they can be upgraded with adaptive light functions, such as bending light, and a high-beam assistant that will cover the light beam in certein spots when oncoming traffic is detected. Surprisingly, even the interior of the S-class gets LEDs only. There are altogether more than 190 of them—and that includes the vanity mirrors. Other carmakers have avoided LEDs and stuck with conventional bulbs for this particular application, as the warm glow of a conventional bulb makes you look more pleasant in the mirror.
True Exotics
German sports-car maker Gumpert has sold another car. That’s great news as the company went into insolvency just last month. The optimistic company already identifies “strong demand,” and company founder Roland Gumpert expects “to sell four to five cars” in the next quarter. The Apollo is his own child, a hand-built supercar that puts speed over refinement. While all sports-car enthusiasts wish that Gumpert will find the strength—and customers—to pull himself out of insolvency, it would perhaps be appropriate for him to refrain from lashing out at competitors who find themselves in a similar situation. “Compared to other small series producers which face insolvency (Melkus, Artega), the Apollo comes with self-contained technical developments on the highest level,” Gumpert boasts in a press release.
Things are not going well for Suzuki. The brand is leaving the U.S. market; in Europe, it’s still present, but it’s not truly successful. Its lineup there features some interesting cars but is lacking in novelty. Beyond the models being wheeled off U.S. showroom floors, Europe gets the short-wheelbase Grand Vitara; several minicars, such as the Alto and the Splash; and a mini SUV called the Jimny. Shown here is an oversized Alto in one of the worst photoshops ever.
The Chinese know how to trigger a good laugh. I just stumbled across the Yema F12, a crossover SUV that looks like a previous-generation Subaru Forester with a Kia Sorento front fascia grafted onto it. There are grounds for the suspicion that there’s still technology from the 1980s Austin Maestro under the skin.
What We Want
Here’s a great car from Europe that you can’t get: The Renault Mégane Estate GT 220, a limited-edition compact station wagon that is powered by a 217-hp, 2.0-liter turbo four and fitted with a six-speed manual transmission. Top speed is 158 mph, and the suspension is based on the sport chassis available on the high-performance Mégane RS.
- Comparison Test: 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth vs. Mini John Cooper Works
- Instrumented Test: 2013 Mercedes-Benz GL450
- Long-Term Road Test Wrap-Up: 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Wagon
This Renault, by the way, is the prime example of a car that a lot of colleagues and myself enjoy. Over lunch with a couple of PR executives in New York last week, the topic of station wagons invariably came up. My wish list was an old hat to them: station wagons and diesels. I was interrupted by one of them before I could finish my sentence: “with a manual transmission.” The problem? These cars don’t sell. If nobody goes out and buys awesome wagons, they’ll go away. The Cadillac CTS wagon comes to mind. We wanted it, we got it, and now Cadillac can’t get them off dealer lots. With the next generation, I have learned, it will sadly be history. Read full story »
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/caranddriver/blog/~3/-vJBeMn3smw/
Alan Dennis Kulwicki Travis Wade Kvapil Robert Allen Labonte Terrence Lee Labonte Randy Joseph Lajoie
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Domenicali hails Ferrari, Alonso
Despite heading into the campaign fearing the worst due to the F2012 being uncompetitive, Ferrari and Alonso made the most of their opportunities to become eventual champion Sebastian Vettel’s main challenger.
Domenicali has no doubts that Alonso delivered the best driving of his career this campaign.
“I think he did the best season, and I said that before this grand prix,” he explained.
“He was always at the limit, not only from the technical point of view because you can expect this from a world champion like him, but also the way he was working with the team.
“He was always with the team and this is is a privilege. Unfortunately in the last three years we lost two times [the title] in the last race.
“So we need to make sure at that the start of next year we don’t have a last race like here.”
Domenicali also felt that the efforts of the staff at the race track deserved praise, because they worked tirelessly to fight at the front despite not having the fastest car.
He believes that the fact Ferrari was able to overhaul McLaren – which had the quickest car at various stages of the season – for second in the constructors’ championship was proof of just how good a job his outfit had done.
“This championship, the best car was McLaren at the beginning and maybe at the end,” he explained.
“To win the championship, you need to have the best car, the best reliability, the best team, the best strategy and so on. And McLaren are third. So this is something for us to remember.
“We know we have a good basis in other areas and we need to improve what is the weakest point. And that is the approach that we have to have.
“As I said to our guys, in a very difficult emotional moment, let’s stay with our heads up, proud for the job we have done.
“It is something we have to remember, that this is sport and it hurts a lot because they [Red Bull] are celebrating.
“I am looking forward for the next moment where I hope it will be the other way around, so they can understand a bit better what is the bitter spirit that we are living now.”
Tom Jones Juan Jover Oswald Karch Narain Karthikeyan Ukyo Katayama
WSBK: Aprilia Reloads For Post-Biaggi Era
Max Biaggi retired from racing after scoring a second World Superbike crown, but even in his absence the cupboards aren't bare at Aprilia.
Source: http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/wsbk-aprilia-reloads-for-post-biaggi-era/
Chris Irwin Jean Pierre Jabouille Jimmy Jackson Joe James John James
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