Bajaj Pulsar 200 NS


One of the newest models launched by Bajaj is the 2012 Bajaj Pulsar 200 NS. The new generation was launched in April 2012 and features a modern design language combined with a host of fresh technologies.

One of the news features available for the 2012 Bajaj Pulsar 200 NS is the new headlamp which is fitted with a 55 watt lamp.

Power comes from a 4-valve 200cc, SOHC engine which features three sparkplug technology. The Bajaj Pulsar 200 NS engine delivers a peak power of 23,17 HP at 9500 RPM and a maximum torque of 18,3 Nm at 8000 RPM. Thanks to its strong engine the Bajaj Pulsar 200 NS is able to hit the 60 kmph mark in 3.61 seconds, while the 100 kmph speed is reached in 9.83 seconds. The company says that the maximum speed is rated at 9.82 seconds.

Hit the jump for more information on the 2012 Bajaj Pulsar 200 NS.

Bajaj Pulsar 200 NS originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 21 December 2012 22:57 EST.

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Source: http://www.topspeed.com/motorcycles/motorcycle-reviews/bajaj/2012-bajaj-pulsar-200-ns-ar128277.html

Jimmy Davies Colin Davis Jimmy Daywalt JeanDenis Deletraz Patrick Depailler

Arnoux Vs Vileneuve ? Dijon 1979 (Video)

One of the criticisms levelled at Formula One today is the pure level of help drivers receive on track. From increased levels of downforce to traction control systems, modern day racers have certainly been in a stronger position than their predecessors. That makes this video even more spectacular, as Gilles Vileneuve and Rene Arnoux battle [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Formula1Fancast/~3/JiQNGUi-MN0/arnoux-vs-vileneuve-dijon-1979-video-2

Ivor Bueb Sebastien Buemi Luiz Bueno Ian Burgess Luciano Burti

Hulkenberg Insists Inexperience Is Not A Problem

Nico Hulkenberg insists that a lack of experience will not hamper Sauber in 2013. The Swiss team will line up the German alongside rookie Esteban Gutierrez, who will be making his F1 debut. Hulkenberg is also relative new to the sport, but believes that there will be no issues: ?I am bringing my bag of [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Formula1Fancast/~3/TcdHvFkU11Q/hulkenberg-insists-inexperience-is-not-a-problem

Colin Chapman Dave Charlton Pedro Matos Chaves Bill Cheesbourg Eddie Cheever

Never forget how great Michael Schumacher was

Michael Schumacher was given a round of applause by the assembled media after he finished the prepared statement with which he announced his second retirement from Formula 1 at the Japanese Grand Prix on Thursday.

It was a mark of the respect still held for Schumacher and a reflection of the appreciation for what was clearly an emotional moment for the man whose seven world titles re-wrote the sport's history books.

Schumacher stumbled a couple of times as he read off the paper in front of him and once, as he mentioned the support of his wife Corinna, his voice almost cracked.

Once through the statement and on to a question-and-answer session with the journalists, he was more comfortable, relaxed in a way he has so often been since his comeback, and so rarely was in the first stint of his career.

Michael Schumacher after the crash with Jean-Eric Vergne in Singapore

Schumacher's retirement from the Singapore Grand Prix had a familiar look to it. Photo: Getty

The Schumacher who returned to Formula 1 in 2010 with Mercedes was quite different from the one who finished his first career with Ferrari in 2006.

The new Schumacher was more human, more open and more likeable.

As he put it himself on Thursday: "In the past six years I have learned a lot about myself, for example that you can open yourself without losing focus, that losing can be both more difficult and more instructive than winning. Sometimes I lost this out of sight in the earlier years."

Most importantly, though, the new Schumacher was nowhere near as good.

In every way possible, there is no other way to view his return to F1 than as a failure.

When he announced his comeback back in December 2009, he talked about winning the world title. Instead, he has scored one podium in three years, and in that period as a whole he has been trounced by team-mate Nico Rosberg in terms of raw pace. In their 52 races together, Schumacher has out-qualified his younger compatriot only 15 times.

It is ironic, then, that there have been marked signs of improvement from Schumacher this season. In 14 races so far, he has actually out-qualified Rosberg eight-six.

And although Rosberg has taken the team's only win - in China earlier this year, when he was demonstrably superior all weekend - arguably Schumacher has been the better Mercedes driver this year.

Schumacher has suffered by far the worst of the team's frankly unacceptable reliability record and would almost certainly have been ahead of Rosberg in the championship had that not been the case. And he might even have won in Monaco had not a five-place grid penalty demoted him from pole position.

That penalty, though, was given to Schumacher for an accident he caused at the previous race in Spain, when he rammed into the back of Williams driver Bruno Senna having misjudged his rival's actions.

That was only one of four similar incidents in the last 18 months that have crystallised the impression that the time was approaching where Schumacher should call it a day.

It is unfortunate timing, to say the least, that the last of those incidents happened less than two weeks ago in Singapore, almost as if it was the straw that broke the camel's back.

That was not the case, of course. Schumacher has been vacillating on his future for months and in the end his hand was forced. Mercedes signed Lewis Hamilton and Schumacher was left with the decision of trying to get a drive with a lesser team or quitting. He made the right call.

His struggles since his return have had an unfortunate effect on Schumacher's legacy. People within F1 - people with the highest regard for his achievements - have begun to question what went before.

There have always been question marks over his first title with Benetton in 1994, given the highly controversial nature of that year. Illegal driver aids were found in the car, but Benetton were not punished because governing body the FIA said they could find no proof they had been used.

But since 2010 people have begun to look back at the dominant Ferrari era of the early 2000s, when Schumacher won five titles in a row, and begun to wonder aloud just how much of an advantage he had.

It was the richest team, they had unlimited testing and bespoke tyres. Did this, people have said, mean Schumacher was not as good as he had looked?

If you watched him during his first career, though, you know how ridiculous an assertion this is. Schumacher in his pomp was undoubtedly one of the very greatest racing drivers there has ever been, a man who was routinely, on every lap, able to dance on a limit accessible to almost no-one else.

Sure, the competition in his heyday was not as deep as it is now, but Schumacher performed miracles with a racing car that stands comparison with the greatest drives of any era.

Victories such as his wet-weather domination of Spain in 1996, his incredible fightback in Hungary in 1998, his on-the-limit battle with Mika Hakkinen at Suzuka that clinched his first title in 2000 were tours de force. And there were many more among that astonishing total of 91 victories.

So too, as has been well documented, was there a dark side to Schumacher, and it was never far away through his first career.

Most notoriously, he won his first world title after driving Damon Hill off the road. He failed to pull off a similar stunt in 1997 with Jacques Villeneuve. And perhaps most pernicious of all, he deliberately parked his car in Monaco qualifying in 2006 to stop Fernando Alonso taking pole position from him.

Those were just the most extreme examples of a modus operandi in which Schumacher seemed often to act without morals, a man who was prepared to do literally anything to win, the sporting personification of Machiavelli's prince, for whom the ends justified the means.

Those acts continue to haunt Schumacher today, and even now he still refuses to discuss them, won't entertain the prospect of saying sorry.

"We are all humans and we all make mistakes," he said at Suzuka on Thursday. "And with hindsight you would probably do it differently if you had a second opportunity, but that's life."

He was given a second opportunity at F1, and he took it because in three years he had found nothing to replace it in his life.

His self-belief persuaded him that he could come back as good as he had been when he went away, but he learnt that time stands still for no man.

He has finally been washed aside by the tide of youth that with the arrival of Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen towards the end of his first career already seemed to be replacing one generation with the next.

It seems appropriate in many ways that the agent for that was Hamilton, the man who many regard as the fastest driver of his generation.

That, after all, is what Schumacher was, as well as one of the very greatest there has ever been. And nothing that has happened in the last three years can take that away.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/10/never_forget_how_great_schumac.html

Fred Agabashian Kurt Ahrens Jr Christijan Albers Michele Alboreto Jean Alesi

Adrian Newey: ?The level of sniping at us just got silly?

Adrian Newey has emphasised how frustrated he is by suggestions that Red Bull Racing has overstepped the limits of the technical regulations. Newey was speaking in a superb new documentary made by Red Bull and available on the team?s website … Continue reading

Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/12/15/adrian-newey-the-level-of-sniping-at-us-just-got-silly/

Bertil Roos Pedro de la Rosa Keke Rosberg† Nico Rosberg Mauri Rose

A thought for Christmas

As everyone signs off for the Christmas break, I found myself with a minute or two to spare and went for a wander in motor racing art. I stumbled upon a “Geo Ham” painting that I had not seen before and I like it very much. I have long been a fan of the French [...]

Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2012/12/21/a-thought-for-christmas-2/

Keith Andrews Elio de Angelis Marco Apicella Mário de Araújo Cabral Frank Armi

Time running out for Alonso

As Sebastian Vettel headed down the pit lane after winning the Indian Grand Prix, team-mate Mark Webber's Red Bull behind gave him a couple of little nudges as they headed to their correct parking places.

"I switched off the car," Vettel said. "I was told to park the car under the podium and I couldn't remember where it was from last year and Mark gave me a little bit of a push."

He added that he thought it was his "only mistake" of the day, which sounds about right.

The victory was his fourth in a row, a new achievement for the German despite his domination on the way to the world championship last year, and he has now led every racing lap since Lewis Hamilton's McLaren retired from the lead of the Singapore Grand Prix four races ago.

It also moves Vettel to one win short of the tally of Sir Jackie Stewart. At this rate, Vettel will not only pass the Scot's number of victories before the end of the year but join him as a three-time world champion as well.

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Vettel is still only 13 points ahead of his only remaining realistic rival, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, which is less than a driver earns for a third place, but it is the scale of Red Bull's current superiority that has led many to suspect the battle is already effectively over.

Vettel was fastest in every practice session in India and took yet another pole position. After the German's crushing wins in Japan and Korea, the only surprise at the Buddh International Circuit was that Red Bull's margin over the rest of the field was smaller than expected in qualifying.

In the race, though, Vettel was completely untouchable.

In the first 20 laps, he was not that much faster than team-mate Mark Webber in second place, and the Australian was being pretty much matched by Alonso.

But then Vettel cut loose, suddenly lapping 0.5 seconds faster than before. Team boss Christian Horner admitted that, not sure about tyre wear, Vettel had simply been measuring his pace in the opening third of the race.

Ferrari and McLaren both appeared to be in better shape after the single pit stops, more comfortable on the 'hard' tyre than the 'soft', but even then it was clear Vettel was in total control.

For the dispassionate observer wanting to see close racing, Red Bull's current form may be depressing, but it is hard not to admire what they have achieved this season.

For the first time in two years, they started the championship without a dominant car, and although they had strong race pace they were struggling to qualify at the front - the position from which they used to crush their opposition in 2011.

But they have worked away diligently at a series of upgrades aimed at allowing them to run the car as they did last year, and the breakthrough came in Singapore.

Further modifications came on stream in Japan and Korea and now Red Bull have a car that on pure pace is out of reach of their rivals.

It is the qualifying pace that is the key - start at the front and you can run in clear air, dictate the pace of the race, and are not affected by the turbulence of other cars. In this position, Vettel is close to unbeatable.

The start of the season, when there were seven different winners in seven races, seems a very long time ago.

Red Bull are a brilliant team, managed without compromise by Christian Horner and led by a genius designer in Adrian Newey, working in perfect harmony with a great driver. In many ways, it is similar to the way Lotus boss Colin Chapman and Jim Clark dominated the mid-1960s.

How they have done it, BBC F1 technical analyst Gary Anderson has expanded on in his column. For now, the problem for their rivals is what to do about it.

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Alonso was as impressive in India as he has been all season, aggressive and inch perfect in the opening laps as he fought past both McLaren drivers, and relentless in his pursuit of Webber for second place.

The fact that the Spaniard passed the Australian was down to a degree of luck, it has to be said. Webber's Kers power-boost system was working only intermittently, and crucially he got held up behind some backmarkers, allowing Alonso to close to within one second - which meant he was within the margin that allows use of the DRS overtaking aid.

Once there, it took only two laps for Alonso to pass Webber, who without Kers, was defenceless on the long straight against a Ferrari with better straight-line speed anyway, and also employing Kers and DRS.

Nevertheless, to even keep the Red Bulls honest was quite an achievement by Alonso - no-one else was even close.

If there is such a thing as a driver 'deserving' the world title more than another, most people in F1 would say Alonso has been the stand-out competitor of the year.

As Lewis Hamilton put it in India: "Fernando unfortunately doesn't have as quick a car as Sebastian; it's nothing to do with his driving skills, that's for sure."

F1, though, is not purely a drivers' championship - he has to have a car, and at the moment Alonso is fighting an unequal battle with inferior equipment.

And in any case, Alonso himself would undoubtedly say that the driver who ends the season with the most points is the deserving champion.

Red Bull are now virtually certain to clinch a third consecutive constructors' title - indeed they seem likely to do so in Abu Dhabi next weekend.

For all Vettel's recent domination, though, in purely mathematical terms the drivers' championship remains wide open.

Thirteen points sounds a decent amount but the margin between Vettel and Alonso is, in F1's old scoring system abandoned only at the end of 2009, the equivalent of less than four points.

One retirement by Vettel, or a marginal improvement in the performance of Ferrari in the final three races, could tip the balance back in Alonso's favour. Time, though, is running out.

Alonso said on Sunday that the team did have improvements due in the next three races, and there was a hint in some of the other things he said over the weekend that the team expect them to amount to something more substantial than Ferrari have introduced for a while.

McLaren sporting director Sam Michael said on Sunday evening: "The performance can swing from one track to the other by a couple of tenths, and that's all there is in it at the moment - 0.2-0.3secs in terms of qualifying.

"And if you can have that performance, from the front row you have a better chance. So even if no-one upgraded their cars there would still be a reasonable chance that people could have a go at them.

"If Ferrari have a competitive car, then obviously Alonso can still do it."

In the context of the overpowering brilliance of Red Bull, though, that is a big if.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/10/time_running_out_for_alonso_in.html

Carel Godin de Beaufort Christian Goethals Paul Goldsmith Jose Froilán González Oscar González

Video: 2013 NASCAR Ford Fusion tested on the track

The 2013 Daytona 500 is getting closer so Ford Racing is putting their 2013 NASCAR Ford Fusion under hard testings. The latest test made by the company was very impressive, for many reasons: it was first chance for Penske Racing to rev up the new Fusion, along side back-to-back NASCAR Nationwide champion, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who also got his first extended seat time in the car.

The 2013 Fusion NASCAR is featuring a very aggressive stance from the outside and the inside, but keeps the proportions found in the production Fusion. Everyone will imediately recognize it as a Ford thanks to its exclusive design elements on the side of the vehicle and the identifiable front end grill.

Watch this Talladega Superspeedway testing session and see if the 2013 Fusion NASCAR is ready for its racing debut on February 2013. Do you think it can bring another Daytona win for Ford?

Video: 2013 NASCAR Ford Fusion tested on the track originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 20 December 2012 19:00 EST.

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Source: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-news/video-2013-nascar-ford-fusion-tested-on-the-track-ar140479.html

Fred Agabashian Kurt Ahrens Jr Christijan Albers Michele Alboreto Jean Alesi