A number of our readers pointed out the Lincoln Continental concept bears a passing resemblance to the Bentley Flying Spur and it appears Bentley chief designer Luc Donckerwolke agrees as he has expressed his disgust on Facebook.Phil Cade Alex Caffi John CampbellJones Adrián Campos John Cannon
AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Barring an unforeseen scheduling hiccup, two-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart and 2008 Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton will swap race cars in an exhibition later this year, Stewart-Haas Racing spokesman Mike Arning confirmed Saturday. Hamilton Stewart The seat swap comes at the hands of Mobil 1, a mutual sponsor for the two drivers, and is expected to take place at Watkins Glen International sometime during the summer.The cars involved will not be show cars. Related posts:Source: http://doxcar.com/nascars-tony-stewart-f1s-lewis-hamilton-to-swap-cars/
JeanLouis Schlesser Jo Schlesser Bernd Schneider Rudolf Schoeller Rob Schroeder
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Formula1Fancast/~3/4FWxBg23sjY/
Jimmy Davies Colin Davis Jimmy Daywalt JeanDenis Deletraz Patrick Depailler
Unveiled at Tesla’s design studios as a concept car in February 2012, the Model X is being prepared as a production model for the 2015 model year. Tesla’s first SUV, the Model X has been developed on the Model S platform as a vehicle capable of seating up to seven people. It was initially scheduled to go into production by the end of 2013, but was postponed as Tesla wanted to focus on selling more than 20,000 Model S cars that year. Production was yet again rescheduled from 2014 to 2015, and with several prototypes already seen testing in California, a 2015 launch is more than likely.
The Model X will hit showrooms as Tesla’s third production model. Tesla began making automobiles back 2008 with the Lotus Elise-based Roadster and continued with the Model S in 2012. Unlike the Roadster, the Model S was designed by Tesla from the ground up. Besides being a more practical version of the Model S, the Model X will also help Tesla increase sales and profitability. The company’s production target for the Model X is between 10,000 to 15,000 units a year.
Continue reading to find out more about the 2016 Tesla Model X.
Tesla Model X originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 30 March 2015 16:00 EST.
Source: http://feeds.topspeed.com/~r/topspeed/~3/5EtM91Efipo/2016-tesla-model-x-ar164262.html
Archie Scott Brown Piero Scotti Wolfgang Seidel Gunther Seiffert Ayrton Senna†
AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Kyle Busch became the first driver in a national NASCAR race to win wire-to-wire in nearly eight years. [+] Enlarge Tom Pennington/Getty Images Kyle Busch performs a burnout after winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series Bashas' Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix International Raceway on Saturday Related posts:Source: http://doxcar.com/kyle-busch-goes-wire-to-wire-in-nwide-phoenix-win/
Tony Trimmer Maurice Trintignant Wolfgang von Trips Jarno Trulli Esteban Tuero
In a collaborative project codenamed ?Silk Road,? Toyota and BMW are teaming up to build the next-generation Supra and Z4. Much like the Toyota/Subaru partnership that birthed the FR-S and BRZ, this new effort will see contributions from both automakers, with the Germans responsible for the turbocharged inline-six cylinder engine and rear-drive chassis, and the Japanese penning the exterior body and throwing in a boatload of money.
Originally, rumors spread that the new Supra would bear a BMW-sourced 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder blessed with electrification thanks to Toyota?s extensive experience with hybrids. Output was placed somewhere north of 400 horsepower.
Now, however, CarAndDriver is shooting down that possibility, saying that while Toyota will let Bimmer in on some of its cheap hybrid technology, ?there?s currently no indication that the Silk Road cars will offer hybrid options.?
Instead, the publication is reporting that BMW will develop a four-banger for the Z4, while Toyota will stick to the larger boosted straight six. It also says that leaks from Germany hint that the new Supra will be released in just two years time as a 2018 model, with the platform offering enough flexibility for additional BMW variants and even possibly a Lexus model.
Continue reading to learn more about the next Toyota Supra.
Toyota's New Sports Car Might Not Go Hybrid originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 30 March 2015 06:00 EST.
Johnny Boyd David Brabham Gary Brabham Jack Brabham† Bill Brack
Mazda has announced the 2016 Mazda MX-5 will be priced from $24,950 in the United States.Helm Glöckler Paco Godia Carel Godin de Beaufort Christian Goethals Paul Goldsmith
The 2015 Caterham Seven 360 R takes all that is good in the standard 360 and turns the dial up a bit. Sure, there are no massive drivetrain updates, but Caterham worked hard in other areas to make the 360 R a more track-ready machine. The best (or possibly the worst, depending on how you look at it) part about the 360 R is that it is almost a secret, because the updates are quite subtle and require a careful eye to spot.
The Seven can trace its roots all the way back to 1957, which is when the Lotus Seven kit car debuted. The Lotus Seven continued its production run through 1972, and Caterham quickly snatched up the design rights when Lotus discontinued it. With the exception of new drivetrains and electronics, the Seven hasn?t seen much change in the past four decades. For 2015, Caterham has simplified its lineup to just five core models, and added a new R and S packages to its mid-range Seven 360 model.
Continue reading to learn more about the 2015 Caterham Seven 360 R.
Caterham Seven 360 R originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 30 March 2015 08:48 EST.
Source: http://feeds.topspeed.com/~r/topspeed/~3/uLyDksO1LOg/2015-caterham-seven-360-r-ar168363.html
Mark Blundell Raul Boesel Menato Boffa Bob Bondurant Felice Bonetto
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Formula1Fancast/~3/4FWxBg23sjY/
Andre Pilette Teddy Pilette Luigi Piotti David Piper Nelson Piquet†
Fernando Alonso insists his first race with McLaren-Honda went better than expected.Earlier in Malaysia, the Spaniard told reporters he would prefer not to let the world know what his real thoughts weTony Settember Hap Sharp Brian ShaweTaylor Carroll Shelby Tony Shelly
Jeff Gordon Ends Drought Jeff Gordon snaps 66-race winless streak by taking the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at PhoenixJeff Gordon Ends Drought AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Just before peeling off what he called a lame burnout near the finish line, Jeff Gordon screamed into his radio, the emotion pouring out with his voice. [+] Enlarge Jared C. Related posts:Source: http://doxcar.com/jeff-gordon-wins-at-phoenix-to-snap-66-race-drought/
Jac Nelleman Patrick Neve John Nicholson Cal Niday Helmut Niedermayr
Dennis Poore Alfonso de Portago Sam Posey Charles Pozzi Jackie Pretorius
Source: https://f1fanatics.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/formula-one-goes-high-definition/
Theo Helfrich Mack Hellings Brian Henton Johnny Herbert Al Herman
Source: https://joesaward.wordpress.com/2015/03/19/thoughts-on-the-van-der-garde-case/
Gary Hocking Ingo Hoffmann Bill Holland Jackie Holmes Bill Homeier
California-based Rezvani Motors has sent us a teaser image with their 2016 Beast production version.Brian Henton Johnny Herbert Al Herman Hans Herrmann Francois Hesnault
To celebrate 30 years of its mid-size sport sedan, BMW introduced the BMW M5 ?30 Jahre M5? special edition last year with just 300 units planned for production globally. Of those, only 30 of those would be making it to the U.S., and only 29 planned for customers; the 30th would remain with BMW for now, with the possibility of being sold off in the future.
Speaking of being sold off, the duPont Registry is listing a 30 Jahre M5 in Heathrow, Florida for $325,000 with 200 miles on the odometer. If you?re wondering, these cars sold brand new for $138,275, and that price included an exclusive M Driving School designed specifically for 30 Jahre M5 buyers, which took place last fall.
While that is something the secondhand buyer definitely won?t be able to experience, the car itself should make up for that. The limited-edition M5 gets unique 20-inch alloy wheels, a Frozen Dark Silver Metallic matte paint job and plenty of ?30 Jahre M5? badges, including those embossed onto the seats. This M5 also squeezes an extra 25 horsepower from the 4.4-liter twin-turbo V-8. increasing output to 600 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque.
Continue reading to learn more about the 2015 BMW M5 Special 30 Jahre Edition.
2015 BMW M5 30 Jahre Special Edition Can Be Yours For $325K originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 27 March 2015 16:00 EST.
John Watson Spider Webb Mark Webber Volker Weidler Wayne Weiler
Jeff Gordon Ends Drought Jeff Gordon snaps 66-race winless streak by taking the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at PhoenixJeff Gordon Ends Drought AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Just before peeling off what he called a lame burnout near the finish line, Jeff Gordon screamed into his radio, the emotion pouring out with his voice. [+] Enlarge Jared C. Related posts:Source: http://doxcar.com/jeff-gordon-wins-at-phoenix-to-snap-66-race-drought/
Andre Pilette Teddy Pilette Luigi Piotti David Piper Nelson Piquet†
McLaren and Honda are working hard to make their new works collaboration gel.Back together in 2015 after more than two decades apart, the British team hailed Honda\'s return as simply the next chapterCharles de Tornaco Tony Trimmer Maurice Trintignant Wolfgang von Trips Jarno Trulli
At the circuit widely regarded as the greatest test of a racing driver in the world, Jenson Button took a victory in the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday that was probably the most dominant this season.
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, who finished second to Button after an impressive performance of his own, had an even bigger margin of superiority in Valencia but he was unable to make it count because his car failed.
Button had no such trouble. He stamped his authority on the weekend from the start of qualifying and never looked back, as all hell broke loose behind his McLaren.
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The frightening first-corner pile-up helped him in that it took out a potential threat in world championship leader Fernando Alonso's Ferrari. The Spaniard was up to third place from fifth on the grid before being assaulted by the flying Lotus of Romain Grosjean, who had collided with the other McLaren of Lewis Hamilton.
But before the race Alonso had entertained no prospect of battling for victory, and while he would almost certainly have finished on the podium, there is no reason to believe he would have troubled Button.
The Englishman also comfortably saw off in the opening laps the challenge of Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen, hotly tipped before the weekend.
Raikkonen was left to battle entertainingly with rivals including Vettel and Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher, on whom the Finn pulled an astoundingly brave pass into the 180mph swerves of Eau Rouge which was almost a carbon copy of Red Bull driver Mark Webber's move on Alonso last year.
Button, meanwhile, was serene out front, never looking under the remotest threat.
For Button, this was a far cry from the struggles he has encountered in what has not overall been one of his better seasons.
A strong start included a dominant victory in the opening race in Australia and second place in China.
But after that he tailed off badly, struggling with this year's big Formula 1 quandary - getting the temperamental Pirelli tyres into the right operating window.
The 32-year-old had a sequence of weak races and even at other times has generally been firmly in Hamilton's shade.
Those struggles were ultimately solved by some head-scratching on set-up at McLaren, but they were undoubtedly influenced by Button's smooth, unflustered driving style.
Button's weakness - one of which he is well aware - is that he struggles when the car is not to his liking. Unlike Alonso and Hamilton, he finds it difficult to adapt his style to different circumstances.
The flip side of that is that when he gets the car's balance right, he is close to unbeatable. It is a similar situation to that of two former McLaren drivers - Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.
Senna, like Hamilton, was usually faster, but when Prost, whose style was similar to Button's, got his car in the sweet spot he was matchless.
"I obviously have a style where it's quite difficult to find a car that works for me in qualifying," Button said on Saturday, "but when it does we can get pole position."
Perhaps an elegant style that does not upset the car or over-work the tyres was exactly what was needed through the demanding corners of Spa's challenging middle sector.
That was McLaren technical director Paddy Lowe's view, certainly.
"It could well be," Lowe said, "because it's made up of these longer flowing corners rather than the short, stop-start ones. So that may well be something he can work with well, just tucking it all up and smooth lines."
Was this the secret to Button's performance in qualifying, when he was a remarkable 0.8 seconds quicker than team-mate Lewis Hamilton?
In a well-publicised series of tweets after qualifying, Hamilton blamed this on the team's collective decision - with which he agreed when it was made - to run his car on a set-up with higher downforce.
This is a perfectly valid decision at Spa -it was a route that Raikkonen also took - and in pure lap time the two differing approaches should balance themselves out. But for them to do so, the driver with the higher downforce set-up has to make up in the middle sector the time he has lost on the straights.
As the McLaren telemetry of which Hamilton so unwisely tweeted a picture on race morning proved, however, that was not the case. Hamilton was not fast enough through sector two - indeed his time through there on his final qualifying lap was 0.3secs slower than his best in the session.
Hamilton tweeted a photo of the McLaren telemetry, prompting a rebuke from his team.
That was the real reason why he was slower than Button in Spa qualifying - not the fact he was down on straight-line speed, which was always going to be the case once he went with the set-up he did.
It's worth pointing out in this context that Hamilton was also significantly slower than Button in final practice - a fact that led him to take the gamble on the different set-up.
How Hamilton would have fared in the race will never be known, because of the accident with Grosjean.
It was a scary moment - Grosjean's flying Lotus narrowly missed Alonso's head - and the incident underlined once again why F1 bosses are so keen to introduce some kind of more effective driver head protection in the future.
From the point of view of a disinterested observer, the only plus point of the accident, which also took out the two impressive Saubers, was that it has narrowed Alonso's lead in the championship. Vettel is now within a race victory of the Spaniard.
Despite this, to his immense credit, Alonso was a picture of measured calm after the race.
Invited to criticise Grosjean, he refused. Although, being the wise owl he is, he not only had at his fingertips the statistics of Grosjean's first-lap crashes this season, but slipped them into his answer.
"I am not angry [at Grosjean]," he said. "No-one did this on purpose, they were fighting, two aggressive drivers on the start, Lewis and Romain and this time it was us in the wrong place at the wrong time and we were hit.
"It's true also that in 12 races, Romain had seven crashes at the start, so..."
It was, Alonso pointed out, a good opportunity for governing body the FIA to make a point about driving standards this season, which Williams's Pastor Maldonado has also seemed to be waging a campaign to lower.
It was an opportunity the stewards did not decline.
Grosjean will now watch next weekend's Italian Grand Prix from the sidelines after being given a one-race suspension, the first time a driver has been banned since Michael Schumacher in 1994. Maldonado has a 10-place grid penalty for jumping the start and causing his own, independent, accident.
Earlier this year, triple world champion Jackie Stewart, who is an advisor to Lotus, offered to sit down with Grosjean and give him some advice about the way he approached his races.
Stewart is famous not only for his campaign for safety in F1 but also for his impeccable driving standards during his career. He has helped many drivers in his time, but Grosjean turned him down.
On Sunday evening, I was contacted by an old friend, the two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 and former IndyCar champion Gil de Ferran, who was involved in F1 a few years ago as a senior figure in the Honda team.
That coaching, De Ferran said, "seems like a great idea".
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/09/smooth_button_masters_f1_great.html
Carl Scarborough Ludovico Scarfiotti Giorgio Scarlatti Ian Scheckter Jody Scheckter
