AUTOS: Best Of The Web
Source: http://automotive.speedtv.com/article/autos-best-of-the-web107/
Johnny Boyd David Brabham Gary Brabham Jack Brabham† Bill Brack
Source: http://automotive.speedtv.com/article/autos-best-of-the-web107/
Johnny Boyd David Brabham Gary Brabham Jack Brabham† Bill Brack
Follow day nine of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya live is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.
Join us and follow the first day of the final test at the Circuit de Catalunya on F1 Fanatic Live.
Follow day nine of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya live is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/f1fanatic/~3/OORsV5Isb0s/
Sergio Mantovani Johnny Mantz Robert Manzon Onofre Marimón Helmut Marko
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Let it be known that we love ourselves some Dodge Charger. There’s something undeniably cool about the car that belies its undeniable performance capabilities.
Recently, we found out that a special 2012 Dodge Charger Pursuit, the very same one that patrols our streets as a police cruiser, will serve as the official pace car for both the NASCAR Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup Series races in Phoenix on March 3rd and 4th, 2012. Unlike some of the other pace cars we’ve seen in the past, the Charger Pursuit will be dressed in a matte black finish with matching white accents on the body and a full police livery.
We don’t expect the Charger Pursuit Pace Car to carry the full boat of law-enforcement technology that the police cars carry, but to see one actually taking serving as a pace car for a NASCAR race is beyond cooler words.
We don’t know if the Charger Pursuit Pace Car will carry a 3.6-liter V6 engine that has 292 horsepower or the more powerful 5.7-liter HEMI V8 engine that produces 370 ponies. Either way, it’s going to be a real treat to watch the Dodge sports car flex its muscles while leading the pack in Phoenix.
Dodge Charger Pursuit Pace Car originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 29 February 2012 18:00 EST.
Source: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/dodge/2012-dodge-charger-pursuit-pace-car-ar125544.html
Tim Parnell Johnnie Parsons Riccardo Patrese Al Pease Roger Penske
Felipe Massa Cristiano da Matta Michael May Timmy Mayer Francois Mazet
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/02/17/petrov-in-trulli-out-at-caterham/
Sebastien Bourdais Thierry Boutsen Johnny Boyd David Brabham Gary Brabham
Formula 1 always goes a little quiet over Christmas, but one team that has been making waves - both publicly and behind the scenes - are Williams.
The team that dominated F1 for much of the 1980s and 1990s are one of only two outfits still with an obvious vacancy in their driver line-up - the other being back-of-the-grid HRT.
And it seems that Rubens Barrichello, the veteran who has driven for the team for the last two seasons, is back in with a chance of staying with them for 2012.

Rubens Barrichello had been tipped to vacate his Williams seat. Photo: Getty
Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado is staying on in one of the cars after an up-and-down rookie season in 2011 - his position in the team is secure thanks to a multi-million sponsorship deal with his country's national oil company.
But the second seat is still up for grabs, and while Williams are not the attractive proposition they were in their glory days, they are the only decent choice for a whole host of drivers wishing to continue their F1 careers.
These include Barrichello, German Adrian Sutil, Brazilian Bruno Senna, Toro Rosso rejects Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi and Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi.
Sutil, who had an impressive second half of the season for Force India, has been the favourite for some time, but the situation appears to have shifted recently.
My sources tell me that Barrichello, who appeared to be out of the running as his 19th season in F1 drew to a close in November, has come back into the frame and now has a reasonable chance of a Williams drive in 2012.
Barrichello has been arguing for some time that, with the huge ructions going on at Williams through 2011 and over the winter, it would make sense to have a known reference in the drivers.
"With all the changes for next year on the engine side and engineers," he said at the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix, "it would be clever from the team to keep the drivers and keep on going. I'm not pushing them, I'm just trying to show them that is the way to do it."
You can see his point. The team are changing engine suppliers, replacing Cosworth with Renault, and have undergone a wholesale restructure of the design department, with a new technical director, head of aerodynamics and head of engineering.
New tech boss Mike Coughlan is admired as being very clever, but his last role as a technical director was with the now-defunct Arrows team, who collapsed in 2002. As chief designer of McLaren after that, he was involved in the spy-gate scandal that engulfed the team in 2007 and for which he was sacked.
The technical changes at Williams were made even more seismic when it emerged on New Year's Eve that not only was co-founder Patrick Head stepping down as director of engineering, he was also resigning his position on the F1 team's board, thereby cutting all his ties with the sport.
It had long been known that Head, one of the most respected engineers in the history of the sport, would no longer have an active role in the day-to-day F1 operation, but it was a surprise to hear he was not going to be on the board of directors.
Head has insisted that his decision to end his day-to-day F1 role was based on feeling his relevance in F1 was diminishing.
In Brazil, he said: "I certainly didn't have an ambition to stop my involvement in Formula One with a season like this last one we've had behind us.
"But when I have a look at what specifically I can do to assist Mike Coughlan and (chief operations officer) Mark Gillan and (head of aerodynamics) Jason Somerville, I came to the conclusion that it isn't really enough to justify me carrying on doing the same thing."
He will still be involved at Williams through their subsidiary company Williams Hybrid Power and remains close to team boss Sir Frank Williams, who will doubtless be turning to him for advice on a regular basis.
All the same, many will consider it unwise that a team in such flux, and with such a grave need to improve, will not have on their board the guidance and wisdom of a man who not only co-founded the company but who was directly responsible for seven drivers' championships and nine constructors' titles.
Why will he not be there? Williams and Head were both unavailable for comment on Monday. I'm told, though, that his difficult relationship with chief executive officer Adam Parr was a part of Head's decision to step down.
Ironically, Head's departure may ease Barrichello's path to a return.
Head is forthright character and I'm told he had grown tired of the Brazilian's complaints about the team's difficulties.
With the 65-year-old no longer involved, that on the face of it is one less barrier to Barrichello being in the car again.
It seems, though, that all the driver hopefuls will have to wait. Williams are in the process of sponsorship negotiations with the Gulf state of Qatar, and they take primacy over a final decision on drivers.
With more than a month until the start of pre-season testing on 7 February, there is plenty of time to sort out drivers. After all, it's not as if Williams are struggling for choice.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/01/barrichello_back_in_williams_f.html
Duncan Hamilton Lewis Hamilton David Hampshire Sam Hanks Walt Hansgen
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French automaker, Citroen, is probably most famous in the auto and racing circles for its dominance in the world of rally racing and in particular, it’s tie-up with 8-time WRC champ, Sebastien Loeb. So it only made sense that Citroen is bringing a special edition model of their DS3 Racing model to the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. The DS3 Sebastien Loeb SE model will be made available after Geneva at a still undisclosed price and will be limited to only 200 units.
On the aesthetic front, Citroen gave the car a special matte black paint finish - always a positive thing - with matching red graphics on the roof that pay homage to Loeb and all his career accomplishments in WRC. Likewise, the mirror caps, the grill rush, the fascia panel, and the base of the gear lever have all been decked in a red Arden finish.
Finally, the interior of the car gets a special numbered plaque signed by both Loeb and Daniel Elena celebrating their 8 championships in WRC with a corresponding numerical assignment on what model number the car is in relation to all 200 units.
You can expect to see the DS3 Racing Sebastien Loeb Special Edition at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show where it will be on hand together with the rest of Citroen’s contingent.
Citroen DS3 Racing Sebastien Loeb Special Edition originally appeared on topspeed.com on Tuesday, 28 February 2012 18:00 EST.
Gimax Richie Ginther Yves GiraudCabantous Ignazio Giunti Timo Glock
Jamey Price’s best Barcelona F1 testing pictures is an original article from F1 Fanatic If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.
A bumper gallery of Jamey Price's fantastic photographs of F1 testing in Barcelona this week, most of which haven't been published here before.
Jamey Price’s best Barcelona F1 testing pictures is an original article from F1 Fanatic If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/f1fanatic/~3/0xFfGDdsIls/
Cliff Griffith Georges Grignard Bobby Grim Romain Grosjean Olivier Grouillard