Source: http://www.skirtsandscuffs.com/2013/02/lanigan-emerges-as-runaway-favorite-in.html
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Lanigan Emerges As Runaway Favorite In Sixth Annual World of Outlaws Late Model Series Pre-Season Media Poll
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Report: Ailing Peugeot writes-down over $5.5B in assets
Filed under: Europe, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, GM, Earnings/Financials, Peugeot
As Europe’s economy continues to suffer, so do automakers. One of the latest pieces of bad news comes from French carmaker Peugeot which says it will write down its assets by $5.53 billion. The figure represents almost 29-percent of the company’s property, valued at $19.4 billion in June. Peugeot says it will also take a second-half charge of $325 million for “onerous contracts.” Speaking of onerous, The Detroit News notes the “write-downs are more than double Peugeot’s current market value.” Yipes.
“This calculus results from cautious assumptions about the European economic environment,” Chief Financial Officer Jean-Baptiste de Chatillon is quoted as saying in the article. “We think that this European car market will remain affected by the crisis for a long time.”
With European auto sales falling the most in almost 20 years, Peugeot executives see little chance of improvement. Peugeot’s sales dropped 13 percent in 2012 and Chatillon said markets could fall another 5 percent this year.
Efforts to right the ship include cutting 17 percent of its French workforce, closing a factory near Paris and selling off assets. The French government has offered $9.3 billion in bond guarantees that await European Union review. In addition, an alliance between General Motors and Peugeot authored last year was meant to save the two companies $2 billion in annual cost savings and sales improvements over 5 years, but it’s currently under review.
Ailing Peugeot writes-down over $5.5B in assets originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2013/02/11/ailing-peugeot-writes-down-over-5-5b-in-assets/
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Draco retains Muller for 2013
Nico Muller will stay with Draco Racing for a second season in Formula Renault 3.5.
The Swiss driver, a race winner in GP3 in 2010-2011, stepped up to the Renault category with Draco last year, taking ninth in the standings in a year plagued by reliability problems.
Muller was a frontrunner when the car reached the finish though, scoring points in nine of the 11 races he finished. And he believes he can build on that form in his second year.
“I’m very happy to stay with Draco for my second year in FR3.5,” he said. “Our target has to be a top three finish in the final standings.
“I think we had a reasonable first year in the series, although we lost a lot of points in the second half of the season.
“I completely believe in this team and go into 2013 very confidently. We can build on our experience from 2012 and learn from our mistakes.”
Team manager Simone Giglio added: “Having Nico with us again obviously is a big boost for the whole team.
“The team has shown what it can do in previous years and we are convinced we will have a very strong 2013 season.”
Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/real-world-racing/3rdparty/draco-retains-muller-for-2013
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Eyes on the Street: How About a Slow Zone for Prince Street?
Photo: Doug Gordon
Brooklyn Spoke’s Doug Gordon tweeted this photo Wednesday morning. This crash happened at the intersection of Prince and Crosby in Soho, which gets a ton of foot traffic and sees some of the highest bike counts in the city. It’s only random chance that someone didn’t get hit.
One change that would help regulate drivers’ speeds on Prince Street would be to re-time traffic signals to synch up with a more bike- and pedestrian-friendly 10-15 mph. In December, Manhattan Community Board 2 passed a resolution asking DOT to study “Green Wave” signal timing on Prince.
Source: http://www.streetsblog.org/2013/02/08/eyes-on-the-street-how-about-a-slow-zone-for-prince-street/
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Chevrolet’s aim to regain title
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Video: Helicopter crashes on Top Gear Korea set while chasing Corvette ZR1
Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Chevrolet, South Korea, TV/Movies
The formula of Top Gear Korea is seemingly about the same as it is everywhere else in the world, including the flagship British original: involve interesting cars in fantastical situations with charismatic hosts. That prescription has proved to be pretty reliable over the years, and has lead to some truly memorable and exciting pieces of television.
Something like that was undoubtedly what the Korean producers were after when they lined up this segment – a drag race between a Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 and an AH1 Cobra military helicopter. The planners almost certainly did not expect the filming of the segment to go quite as wrong as it actually did, with the helicopter actually crashing into the dirt after the “drag race” had been completed. Thankfully, we’re told that no one was seriously injured in the crash, but the footage, in the video below, is pretty damn chilling to watch, nevertheless.
Continue reading Helicopter crashes on Top Gear Korea set while chasing Corvette ZR1
Helicopter crashes on Top Gear Korea set while chasing Corvette ZR1 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 11 Feb 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2013/02/11/helicopter-crashes-on-top-gear-korea-set-while-chasing-co/
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Lotus: No fears of test drama repeat
Lotus is heading to next week’s second pre-season Formula 1 test at Barcelona confident there will be no repeat of the suspension dramas that forced it to withdraw last year.
After once again showing promising form in the first test at Jerez, Lotus needs no reminding that its pre-season preparations in 2012 suffered a major setback when it had to quit running at Barcelona because of suspension failure.
Technical director James Allison says that lessons have been taken on board about what happened last year to ensure that there is prospect for it to suffer the same dramas again.
“We had a problem last year because we designed a single joint poorly,” Allison said in an interview with the official Lotus website.
“We had created a suspension mounting which was capable of withstanding the loads if it had been made absolutely perfectly. However, that style of joint was very difficult to make accurately enough to get repeatable performance from each chassis.
“We ran chassis #01 at Jerez and the suspension joint in this chassis was good enough to cope with the loads. We ran chassis #02 at Barcelona and the joint in this one was made just a whisker differently; it was not capable of taking the loads and so failed instantly.
“Once we realised our error we redesigned the joint so that the glue lines were capable of delivering the required strength without any scatter from chassis to chassis.
“On the E21 we’ve paid particular attention to this area so we’re not expecting any repeat dramas.”
Both Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean showed the potential of the E21 when they set pace-setting time during last week’s Jerez test.
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Shank not giving up on IndyCar
Michael Shank insists his team’s IndyCar ambitions remain alive, despite his eponymous squad selling its unused DW12 chassis to Schmidt Peterson Motorsport.
MSR attempted to enter the series last year with driver Paul Tracy, but could not secure an engine deal.
The team sold its chassis to SPM, which recently expanded to two cars to accommodate rookie Tristan Vautier, but Shank says that he hopes to collaborate with another team on an Indianapolis 500 entry.
“There are a lot of teams that are focused on the Indianapolis 500, and this group [MSR] could be a way for some of these teams to partner up and support that effort while not having to commit to that kind of infrastructure for the full season,” said Shank.
“We’ve moved on from car ownership at this point, but we are working to continue to do what is right for my guys and try to find the right opportunity in the future.”
Shank, whose Grand-Am squad was recently penalised for a technical infraction after finishing third at the Daytona 24 Hours with AJ Allmendinger, Marcos Ambrose, Oswaldo Negri Jr, Justin Wilson and John Pew, said that the decision to not pursue a full-time IndyCar entry had been difficult, but that it was in the best interests of his team.
“I can’t tell you how much blood, sweat, and tears went into building this team to even be in a position to try to go IndyCar racing,” he said.
“But we also have to make some tough decisions along the way to make sure we have the footing we need to continue to grow, and this was just another of those decisions.
“I don’t see this as the end [of our IndyCar aspirations] at all. You simply can’t be in my position and not be completely driven to want to compete in the Indianapolis 500, so we will just have to keep working and exploring all the options and see what happens.”
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Raikkonen: Lotus pace encouraging
Kimi Raikkonen believes Lotus is already in better shape than it was last year after completing his first day of running in the new E21.
The Finn was only able to complete 40 laps at Jerez on Thursday, after problems with his seating position and other minor electronic niggles restricted his time in the car.
Yet he said he had seen enough to be convinced about the step forward his team had taken.
“It feels better than last year at this time,” said Raikkonen, when asked by AUTOSPORT for his general feelings on the new Lotus.
“I think we have a good car, but how good it is this year we will only see it during the races and during the season. But it is not a bad start.”
Team-mate Romain Grosjean had been positive about the good feeling from the car in all areas, but Raikkonen felt that he had not yet explored its full potential.
“The changes are not massive but it feels better,” he said. “We are missing some parts but there is no bad point on it. It is a normal first day.
“We did one change and used only the hard tyres.
“We still don’t have all the parts that we will run in the races and we had last year, so it only can get better. It is not too bad.”
Raikkonen says work undertaken on his seat position over Thursday, which included revising the location of his seatbelts, had improved matters considerably, and should allow him to get on with a full programme on the final day.
“We did some work on the seat, like is normal for the first test,” he said.
“You make the seat at the factory and then it feels OK, but you can only tell when you drive. It is OK now for tomorrow and we can start the day properly.”
AUTOSPORT special testing coverage:
Gallery Testing blog Technical blog Live commentary Trackside analysis
Carl Michael Edwards III William Clyde Elliott Jeffrey Michael Gordon
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AUTOSPORT launches Russian site
AUTOSPORT has launched a Russian version of its website – autosport.com.ru.
With interest in Formula 1 and other motor racing categories at an all-time high in the country ahead of the inaugural Russian Grand Prix at Sochi in 2014, the new website has all the latest news and features from AUTOSPORT.com.
There will also be added content that focuses on Russian motorsport, with the website carrying extra coverage of major events, drivers and teams that are of more local interest.
Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/real-world-racing/3rdparty/autosport-launches-russian-site
Kevin Harvick Armour Vienna Sausage Kroger Chevrolet Clint Bowyer
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