Bahrain Test II Day 2: Perez on top again

Sergio Perez Force India VJM07

Force India’s new boy Sergio Perez did the double by topping the timing screens for the second consecutive day, on the second day of the final Formula 1 pre-season test at Bahrain International Circuit, while Daniel Ricciardo enjoyed Red Bull’s best showing in the ten days of testing thus far.
Perez’s best time of 1.35.570 was slightly slower than his best 24 hours earlier, and still off Rosberg’s pace a week earlier. Nevertheless the VJM07 gobbled up the miles on the way to racking up 108 laps. The next time the Mexican drives will be when he drives out of the pits in Melbourne for the first practice of the Australian GP weekend.
Perez said,  ”It feels very good to have another full day and to do so many laps. It’s my last time in the car until we arrive in Melbourne and I’m feeling positive about how things are going. The set-up work today was very useful because we tried some different things to have a better direction for the first race. Everything went to plan and we managed to complete all the long runs in the afternoon.”
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso ended the day second fastest by a mere 0.064 of a second, in the F14T and with 122 laps ticked off he managed more mileage than anyone else on the day. The Maranello outfit is again looking solid, after Kimi Raikkonen’s niggle packed Thursday.

Fernando Alonso Ferrari F14 T

Perhaps the biggest news of the day is that the Red Bull RB10 covered some meaningful laps for a change, with 66 completed, despite a late start to their day. Also importantly for the world champions, they are starting to squeeze some reasonable pace out of their problem child. They were considerably quicker than they have been during the five previous days at Sakhir, and way ahead of the next best Renault powered outfit.
Next time Ricciardo acquaints himself with the car will be at his home race in a couple of weeks, as his world champion teammate Sebastian Vettel takes over for the final two days.
Williams continued to go about their business without too much fuss, this time Felipe Massa was on duty in the FW33, ending fourth fastest and with 104 useful laps in the bag.
Jenson Button was fourth fastest in the McLaren MP4-29, but his day was hampered with a drivetrain issue which caused him to stop out on track. Thereafter the team spent a long while sorting out the problem, with Button re-emerging for a late run, but 52 laps were his reward for the day’s graft.

Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull RB10

Best of the Ferrari customer teams was Marussia, with Jules Bianchi in the cockpit of the MR03, albeit nearly 2.5 seconds adrift of Alonso’s best. Esteban Gutierrez was ninth fastest in the Ferrari powered Sauber C33. They racked up 75 laps and 106 laps respectively.
Seventh fastest was Lewis Hamilton, whose day started with an early morning visit to the gravel, which prompted the first stoppage of the day as the Mercedes W05 was retrieved. Although he did manage 89 laps, it was an early shower for the Briton as gearbox problems forced the team to bring an end to proceedings prematurely.
Toro Rosso’s Jean Eric Vergne ended with 61 laps, almost matching their sister Red Bull team with regards to mileage, but lagging nearly four seconds down on Ricciardo’s best lap time.

Jenson Button’s McLaren MP4-29 stops on track

Lotus’s day was cut short when the Renault engine blew up and the E22 caught fire with Pastor Maldonado in the cockpit. The team explained on Twitter: “Sufficient char-grilling to render us out for the rest of today.”
They managed only 31 laps, way off the pace, and the decision to miss out on Jerez may have appeared good at the time, but right now it is clear that they are behind their rivals with their programme.
Final stoppage of the day came when Marcus Ericsson’s Caterham CT05 also caught fire, as he came to a stop in Turn 4, with less than an hour to go. The Danish rookie managed 55 laps, but as with Maldonado, the he was way off the pace.

F1: Mercedes Teams Lead The Way In Bahrain Test — Day One Recap

Sergio Perez of Mexico and Force India drives during day one of Formula One Winter Testing in Bahrain.

Testing action resumed in Bahrain today with the first day of the third and final session of the winter. It’s the final chance for the teams to gain some knowledge before the cars hit the track in Australia in 15 days.
Overall times meant little today as no one approached the best laps recorded last week, but there was a familiar pattern as the Mercedes teams were at the top of the table, and the Renault teams at the bottom – both in terms of times and laps completed.
Three Mercedes teams managed to complete over 100 laps today, with Valtteri Bottas and Williams managing 128, McLaren 109, and Force India 105. At the other extreme it was a bad day for Caterham, with Kamui Kobayashi running only 19 laps.
Sergio Perez topped the times after a good day for Force India, the Mexican outpacing Bottas by 0.9s as both cars ran without major dramas.
“We really needed a good day to start this week and today we had it,” said Perez. “We managed to do a lot of laps, try several different compounds and mappings, and it’s been a fantastic day in terms of learning about the car. Tomorrow is my last day in the car before the season starts so hopefully we can have another solid day to be in good shape for Melbourne.”
“It’s been another good day for us,” said Bottas. “It was nice to get the whole run plan done. We didn’t have any issues all day so well done to all the team for getting the car running so well. We have a lot of data to analyse tonight after doing some aero work this morning and a race distance and set-up work this afternoon. We did some very interesting tests and there are still plenty of things to improve so we’ll keep pushing.”
Meanwhile Kimi Raikkonen was third fastest for Ferrari after losing a lot of track time early in the day.
“We had a small problem today, which limited the number of laps but still managed to learn some new things about the car,” said Raikkonen. “You always want to do better, but every team has unexpected things happen and we are still trying to do all we can to be ready for Melbourne. During the race weekends there will be little time to try different things in terms of set-up, so it was important today to keep on this track to find out what’s the best direction to go in. On the final day of the test, we will put everything together that we have learned so far, and will concentrate on the conditions we will encounter in the races.”
Mercedes completed 89 laps despite stopping early due to a series of problems after Rosberg set the fourth fastest time of the day.
“That was not a fantastic day for us,” said Rosberg. “We tried some new parts on the car and you find out a lot through doing that. But unfortunately we did not only discover good things today. I managed to do a couple of good laps before lunch but in the afternoon we had a few small problems which ended my running a bit earlier than planned. This shows that we are pushing everything to the limit and we still have a massive challenge in front of us during the last three days of testing. We need to maximise our time here to be prepared for Melbourne. But after a difficult day overall we are on the right path.”
The Mercedes mileage was matched exactly by Adrian Sutil and Sauber after a better day for the Swiss team.
“We did a lot of mileage today,” said Sutil. “However, we have to work on our performance. We still had a few issues. Nevertheless, we were able to do qualifying runs and almost a complete race simulation. We have collected a lot of valuable information, and we know we still have to make further progress. Also I was able to gain experience on all dry tyre compounds. Generally they are all a bit harder than last year, but I have no concern about them as they should last well over the race distance.”
Kevin Magnussen was a modest sixth fastest today, but the team said that a lot was achieved: “Without any new parts to evaluate, the first two days of running will focus on mileage and reliability. Kevin spent the morning in Bahrain undertaking a series of short, set-up runs. After the lunch break, he completed a full-race distance, and fitted in some further set-up work.”
Daniel Ricciardo ran a modest 39 laps after an exhaust problem kept him the garage for most of the afternoon. He set the seventh fastest time, although he was only a few tenths faster than the Marussia of Max Chilton. However, the RB10 was the quickest of the four Renault engined cars.
“The morning was much better for us with a few longer runs,” said Ricciardo. “Behind the wheel, that’s the best I’ve felt so far. The package seems to be coming together better. We still had a few issues today, but at least when the car was on track it was much more useful running and we made progress in the morning. It’s getting there. I’d love to keep going, but at least Seb has two days after me in the car, so I think we’ll be looking pretty good for the next three days.”
Toro Rosso lost most of the afternoon to what the team simply termed a ‘technical failure.’
“It was nice to be in the car,” said Daniil Kvyat, “even if we didn’t get through the entire programme we had planned for today. However, I feel we have made some progress. We ran the Hard Pirelli most of the time, as we were definitely not chasing performance today. I hope Jev manages to get a full day’s running tomorrow, before I drive again on Saturday.”
Lotus had the 10^th best time, ahead of only Caterham both on speed and laps completed. Pastor Maldonado tried a new exhaust that failed and led to damage which kept the car off track. The older exhaust will be run tomorrow.
“For sure it wasn’t what we wanted today,” said Maldonado. “But we are all working very hard to make progress and I’m sure we’ll have solutions quite soon as a team, and it’s clear we have good potential and the car is not bad. We have had some problems but we are fixing them and we are making improvements with electronics and software every day we run.”

Pos.	Driver	Car	Time	Laps
1	Sergio Pérez	Force India	1:35.290	105
2	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	1:36.184	128
3	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:36.432	54
4	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:36.624	89
5	Adrian Sutil	Sauber	1:37.700	89
6	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren	1:37.825	109
7	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	1:37.908	39
8	Max Chilton	Marussia	1:38.242	44
9	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	1:39.242	55
10	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus	1:40.599	31
11	Kamui Kobyashi	Caterham	1:42.285	19

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The Birth Of Lotus To The Caterham Seven 160: A Muddy Family Tree - XCAR

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Villeneuve officially returning to IndyCars for Indianapolis 500

Jacques Villeneuve is ready to make an IndyCar comeback.

Check out our latest Facebook updates, tweets and photos.

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports said Wednesday it has hired Villeneuve to race in this year's Indianapolis 500, 19 years after the Canadian driver first drank the milk in Victory Lane.

''IndyCar is growing again, and that's why last year when I started watching races again, every time I watched I felt almost angry I wasn't there,'' the 1995 race winner said on a satellite hookup from France during a news conference held at the team's Indy headquarters.
At age 42, Villeneuve seemed content being a television analyst, musician and RallyCross driver. But when Schmidt and co-owner Rick Peterson, also from Canada, made a serious offer, he couldn't refuse. The 500 is scheduled for May 25.

Tesla's Elon Musk made $1.1 billion yesterday, how about you?

Thanks to skyrocketing share prices, yesterday was a very big payday for Tesla founder Elon Musk. The already wealthy businessman added another $1.1 billion, ten percent of his net worth, to his overflowing wallet yesterday after Tesla's shares hit $248. This time last year, TSLA was trading at roughly $34 per share.

Tesla's latest jump in a year that has already seen share prices climb 65 percent is thanks to positive reports from Consumer Reports on the company's Model S electric sedan, and some kind words from Morgan Stanley about the brand's plans for a battery factory.

Despite all the good news for Tesla yesterday, not all of the $1.1 billion Musk earned came from his automotive pursuits. SolarCity, which Musk is also the largest shareholder in, saw its share prices jump 3.1 percent, as part of a 43-percent jump in 2014.

According to Bloomberg, Musk's latest stock earning makes him the second largest wealth earner among US billionaires this year, behind Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg.

Tech Talk: Who nose if the Twin Tusk concept will work for Lotus?

Romain Grosjean in the Twin Tusk Lotus E22

The Lotus team caused somewhat of a furore when they released a teaser render of the car ahead of the actual unveiling of the E22. The furore centered around their twin-tusk asymmetric nose, as for many it seemed to defy the regulations.
I had however proposed a similar solution several weeks before the car was launched having re-visited my notes made when the regulations had been released some time ago. Although the nose tip is required to be set at 185 mm from the reference plane and must contain a horizontal projection of 900 mm 250mm behind this it does not go as far to say that at 50.01 mm behind this you may not create another structure.
This is where we find Lotus carving an advantage, with the right hand (left as you view the image) tusk just over 50mm longer than the other. Whereas the rest of the field has converged on either the ‘Finger’ or ‘Anteater’ style noses the Lotus variant offers the opportunity to condition more airflow centrally.

Odd nose for an F1 car

You’ll also undoubtedly note that the E22′s nose seems longitudinally shorter than some of it’s counterparts at that, to leverage an advantage in terms of how much height can be retained between the tusks. The height retention is one of the main advantages of using this style of nose as it allows more airflow to pass under the chassis and onward to the floor.
It does however come with the drawbacks associated with asymmetry and will likely lead to some eratic airflow behaviour in yaw, the loss is probably deemed negligible enough though to warrant the better mass flow.
In terms of other teams using this idea, it could prove difficult unless they’ve already been working on it. This is due to the fact that most teams conduct their initial test phase in CFD, which is usually only done with half the car (from the centre-line outward).

Nick Chester (middle) during Bahrain testing

Lotus must have completed their CFD runs modelling the whole car, to take in account the inconsistencies that asymmetry can produce and is further echoed by the teams use of asymmetric parts further downstream.
The regulations going forward put a much heavier restriction on the use of both CFD and Wind Tunnel testing to offset the return of in-season testing. This will undoubtedly hinder any teams wanting to assess the twin tusk concept as the computing power to process the whole car vs half of it is more than double.
Lotus are expecting other teams to ask the FIA for clarification on their nose design when the competition begins in Melbourne but thus far it has stood up to the test of the FIA’s regulations. Lotus are reportedly working on a more aggressive version of the nose for future development as well.

Who nose?

Lotus Technical Director Nick Chester said of the concept, ”Some teams have had the luck to have visibility [of the E22] quite early and I thought one or two teams might have tried it or maybe developed it. I think one of things that’s difficult with that nose is that it’s quite hard to structurally develop it and crash test it. It might be that they were already on a path where it was too late to develop that kind of nose.
“Obviously it’s a very different structure to a standard nose and it took quite a lot of iteration to get it to a point where we were happy and it got through the crash test.”
“From the aero numbers we are getting back from the car it does seem to be performing. I’m not going to give you a number on how much better we thought it was than a standard low nose, but we did see what we thought was a significant benefit, which is why we chased it,” added Chester.

Ayrton Senna Tribute 1994-2014 to be celebrated during four day event at Imola

The Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, the classic Italian racetrack that sits on the outskirts of the sleepy town of Imola, is arguably the most appropriate place to commemorate the life and times of the great Ayrton Senna, exactly 20 years after his death – over the weekend of 1 to 4 May.
The circuit will always be remembered as the circuit that claimed the life of Senna, on May 1 1994. And while that’s a difficult legacy to shed, the announcement of the ‘Ayrton Senna Tribute 1994-2014’, a celebration of the life and times of the great Brazilian, will rekindle memories of a racing legend and a track that quietly slipped from the grand prix canon almost a decade ago.

Imola in early spring was one of motorsport’s great joys: the leafy, triangular paddock, the blossom in the air, the bark of V10 echoing off concrete barriers, and the constant stream of thick, syrupy espresso.
This year, it will see a return of Formula 1 – of sorts – after announcing a four-day event at which Ayrton’s most famous car, the McLaren MP4/4, will be the centrepiece to a festival that carries official support from the Instituto Ayrton Senna, and which will showcase a series of films, unpublished photographs and exhibits that celebrate Ayrton’s life.
While the loss of arguably Formula 1’s greatest star may have cast an indelible shadow over the Imola autodromo, it’s worth remembering that the venue has a flow and character that’s rarely seen in modern racetracks.

Corners such as Piratella, a plunging, downhill, blind, double-apex left-hander, the Variante Alta, the slingshot chicane at the back of the track, and Rivazza, another double-apex left-hander that always caught out the late-brakers, are as timeless today as they were in the track’s heyday.
Senna scored some great wins at Imola, and visited the top step of the podium at the venue no fewer than three times: 1988, 1989 and 1991 – all victories as a McLaren driver. (GP247-McLaren)

Lotus confident that E22 is really fast, now they need Renault to deliver

Pastor Maldonado ion the Lotus E22

Lotus is pinning its hopes for the 2014 Formula 1 season on troubled engine supplier Renault getting its act together, as they believe they have a very good car in the E22.
Technical boss Nick Chester is confident the Enstone team has produced a winning car, with respected Auto Motor und Sport correspondent Michael Schmidt agreeing that the double-tusked E22 is the most “courageous” in the field.
“The wind tunnel numbers are incredible,” Chester is quoted by the German magazine. ”Our measurements at the test in Bahrain have confirmed that we have a really fast car.”
He said Lotus’ biggest concern is that Renault might be unable to resolve its obvious technical crisis with the new French-made V6 Power Unit.

Nick Chester during Bahrain testing

“It would be a pity,” said Chester, “if the engine is what determines the order on the track.”
The most noticeable innovation aboard the E22 is the asymmetrical, tuning fork-style double-tusk nose, which has attracted envious glances up and down pitlane.
Chester said: “The other teams could copy it, but that alone won’t help them much.
“If they want to take advantage of the [double] nose then they’d also have to change the rear of the car. And that would take them a lot of time,” he warned.
“Some engineers left us last year taking the knowledge of the benefits (of the nose) to our competitors, but I imagine that they had difficulty passing the crash tests,” said Chester.


Read more http://grandprix247.com/2014/02/26/lotus-confident-e22-is-really-fast-now-they-need-renault-to-deliver/

Tech Talk: Keeping V6 turbo cool is a key challenge for Mercedes

Mercedes W05 with wider outlets (left) at the expense of the ‘shark fin’

It is no secret that keeping the new era V6 turbo engine, and related appendages run extremely hot. Keeping things cool is one of the biggest challenges facing Formula 1 teams this season.
Cooling is thus a paramount design consideration for this season, as not only does it have an impact on the thermal efficiency of the Power Unit, but also impacts aerodynamic performance.
Mercedes, who by all accounts, have the edge at this stage of the season, ran several bodywork configurations at the Jerez test and continued to try more components in Bahrain – providing an indication of how seriously they are taking the issue.

Shark fin and Mercedes W05

The decision to test at Bahrain for the last two pre-season tests was taken by the teams due to the increased track temperatures when compared to Jerez.
The most signifant cooling alteration tested by Mercedes in Bahrain came in the form of an engine cover similar to the one being used by McLaren.
Two large outlets either side of the exhaust allow the hot air to escape but will also change the airflow at that location, especially as it comes at the loss of the ‘shark fin.’
Furthemore as we can see in the photos herewith, the cooling outlets next to the cockpit were changed several times, dependant on the other cooling options being used.

Cooling fins on the Mercedes W05 beside the cockpit

Mercedes Formula 1 Technical Director, Paddy Lowe explained how the chassis team had to adapt to the change in regulations, “The Power Unit (PU) has a completely different shape and requirements to its predecessor and it is the biggest change in packaging in F1 for many years.”
“There is a lot more equipment to cool: more Hybrid systems plus the intercooler for the charge air from the turbocharger. That has both a packaging and an aerodynamic dimension.”
“Yet another aspect is the thermal challenge. With the introduction of a turbocharger, managing the heat around the exhaust system is important for both car integrity and also for performance. If losses can be minimised in the primaries between the engine block and turbo, that is energy that can be recovered and used for car performance.”
“So there is a big insulation and heat management challenge for both integrity and performance reasons,” added Lowe.

Who was Elisabeth Junek, and why is Bugatti giving her a special Veyron?

Bugatti is in the habit of recalling names from its storied history on the nameplates of its new models. The Veyron, after all, was named after Pierre, one of its most accomplished racing and test drivers. So, too, was the concept that preceded it named after Louis Chiron, another Bugatti racing driver of yore. And lately, the Alsatian marque has been reviving other names from its history with a series of special editions.


The "Légendes de Bugatti" series kicked off with the Jean-Pierre Wimille edition last year, which was followed by the Jean Bugatti edition and the Meo Costatini edition (pictured above) just a few months ago. We would have expected that the next one would honor Jean's brother Rembrandt Bugatti – the artist behind the rearing elephant hood ornament that adorned the legendary Bugatti Royale – but the word on the street is that the next special-edition Vitesse will pay tribute to one Elisabeth Junek.

Also known as Eliška Junková, she was one of the earliest and most renowned of female racing drivers at the dawn of motorsport. She would often accompany her banker/gentleman-racer husband Cenek Junek on his motoring exploits in their Bugatti Type 35B and would sometimes take the wheel herself. Her most famous race was the 1928 Targa Florio, which she led until the final lap before mechanical troubles dropped her down to fifth place – but still ahead of Tazio Nuvolari.

The fourth of six Legend editions is likely to draw inspiration for its livery from the T35B that Junek drove, but isn't expect to carry any mechanical changes over the Vitesse roadster on which it will be based. But then, with 1,200 horsepower on tap, just what would Bugatti need to change?

Hennessey Venom GT is world's fastest car at 270.49 mph

Hennessey has done it again, improving the claimed record-holding top speed of its Venom GT to 270.49 miles per hour. The record run was made on February 14 on the 3.22-mile landing runway at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The speed was confirmed by a Racelogic Vbox telemetry system, but for a variety of reasons, it will not make it into the Guinness Book of World Records. However, it narrowly beat out the record-holding top speed of the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport at 267.81 mph.

Amazingly, the 1,244-horsepower Venom GT was still accelerating even as it reached 270 mph, but the length of the runway limited how far the coupe could be pushed. Driver Brian Smith only had about 2.6 miles to complete his run because it took nearly a kilometer (0.62 miles) to slow the car to 70 mph. "It was still pulling. If we could run on an eight-mile oval, we could go faster than that," said Smith to Top Gear.




Even if the hypercar had gone faster, Guinness would not have certified it as a record. To qualify, a car must complete two runs in opposite directions with the average speed serving as the record time. The Venom was only able to complete one because that is all NASA would allow, and even that took two years of negotiations according to founder John Hennessey. It still wouldn't matter, though, because Guinness now stipulates that 30 examples are required to certify a car as a "production vehicle." Hennessey is only building 29 Venoms and has sold 11.

Still, the Venom GT is already Guinness-certified as the world's quickest car to 300 kilometers per hour (186 mph) at 13.63 seconds, and the company says that its next goal is to begin setting lap records with it at tracks around the world.

F1 Bahrain Day 4: Mercedes on a high as Rosberg ends test fastest of all

 If there were any doubts that Mercedes have a significant edge over their rivals, after the final day of testing in Bahrain, those doubts will surely have been swept aside as Nico Rosberg scorched around the desert venue to comfortably set the fastest time of all, in this second, penultimate stanza of Formula 1 tests before the start of the season.

Rosberg’s time of 1.33.283 was a full second up on teammate Lewis Hamilton’s best of 24 hours earlier, and 1.6 seconds up on the next best on the final day, which was set by Jenson Button in the McLaren.

Last year in FP3 at the same venue Fernando Alonso was quickest with a best time of 1:33.247 at the wheel of the V8 normally aspirated Ferrari, which is a tad up on Rosberg’s best of the day in the V6 turbo. Pole last year was 1:32.330, set by Rosberg.

 

Second fastest was Button, and McLaren could probably lay claim to being next up in the pecking order as both the 2009 World Champion and rookie Kevin Magnussen have appeared comfortable, and fast all week, in the MP4-29. 

Kimi Raikkonen enjoyed a fruitful day at the wheel of the Ferrari, setting the third best time of the day with 82 laps on his board. But with five minutes to go in the day’s proceedings it all went pear shaped as he crashed into the barriers, damaging the front end of his F14T. A glance at the final lap times will show that the Finn was 3.4 seconds down on Rosberg’s best.
Not long after Williams announced that Felipe Nasr was appointed Test and Reserve Driver, the Brazilian found himself on duty in the cockpit of the FW36 and gave a good account of himself on the way to racking up 87 laps. He set the fourth best time, in what was a hasty debut no doubt ushered along by the Banco do Brasil sponsorship deal which was announced at the same time as Nasr’s confirmation.

Lotus had their best day of all thus far with Pastor Maldonado on duty in the E22, setting the fifth best time and doing 58 laps during the course of the day, and ending the test easily the fastest of the Renault powered contingent, albeit 5.4 seconds slower than Rosberg’s best.
Drive train problems severely curtailed Sergio Perez’s time in the cockpit of the Force India VJM07. He was slowest of the Mercedes powered brigade, only managing 15 laps altogether.
Red Bull’s problems with he RB10 continued. Daniel Ricciardo only managed 15 laps, the best of which was 6.5 seconds adrift of the top pace – in total the likable Australian only managed 43 laps during the course of his two days in the cockpit as a variety of issues continue to plague the World Champions, who are enduring what must be described as a nightmare start to their season.

Sister team Toro Rosso were also hampered by technical problems, Jean Eric Vergne managing only 19 laps on his way to setting the eighth best time.

Fiat to build Maserati SUV in Turin, Alfa Romeo version possible

Automotive News Europe reports Fiat will build its new Maserati Levante SUV in Turin, Italy. CEO Sergio Marchionne confirmed in an interview that the luxury utility will be manufactured at Fiat's flagship plant, and that the Mirafiori facility may build an Alfa Romeo SUV variant as well. Reports as far back as 2011 originally suggested the Italian-branded luxury SUV would be built in Detroit alongside its Jeep Grand Cherokee relative. Marchionne now says Fiat will construct both Maserati and Alfa Romeo vehicles in Turin, but has thus far declined to comment on exactly which models will be manufactured at the plant.

 

Right now, the factory is only running a few days per month, but Fiat has committed to investing around $1.63 billion to relaunch Maserati, and a fair slice of those funds could go toward revamping the Turin plant.



Marchionne also made it clear that the Chrysler dealer network in the US will play a large role in the future success of the Alfa Romeo brand.

F1: WILLIAMS TO REVEAL MARTINI LIVERY IN BAHRAIN

Earlier, with the iconic Italian drinks brand set to return to formula one in 2014, it was believed the once-great British team would only officially unveil its new title sponsor and much-anticipated Martini livery ahead of the season opener in Australia.

But, actually, Williams – having tested its new Mercedes-powered FW36 in all-blue colors so far – said only that it would launch its race livery in time “for” Australia, not necessarily “in” Australia.

The McLaren P1 Test. On Road and Track - /CHRIS HARRIS ON CARS

Coolest New Motorcycles design by Lotus

When we first laid eyes on leaked images of the Lotus Motorcycles C-01, we wondered if its laid-back, sport cruiser shape was really appropriate for a motorcycle bearing any connection with Colin Chapman and the company's famous "add lightness" mantra. We've now seen official pictures of the bike in multiple color schemes, including classic black and gold, British racing green and even a variant that resembles Martini livery, and while we think it looks pretty cool, our opinion hasn't really changed.

Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that the C-01 isn't an embodiment of the Lotus ethos, as the company that intends to build it isn't really Lotus at all, its builders – German racing firm Kodewa and tuner Holzer Group – merely having licensed the name of the British sportscar maker. It was designed by Daniel Simon, who once worked for Volkswagen and consulted for Bugatti and is the man credited with creating the reborn Tron Light Cycles. Still, looking past its questionable heritage, the C-01 looks pretty darn awesome, and there are some interesting bits that have us looking forward to the production version that's reportedly due within the next two months.



As expected, power comes in at 200 horsepower, courtesy of a modified version of KTM's 1,195-cc V-twin engine. The chassis is made up of steel, titanium and carbon fiber, with a seat height of about 28 inches. Its wheelbase, at about 65 inches, is a full 10 inches longer than a real street-legal superbike, and its front end is raked way out in front with a 19-inch wheel. Those dimensions mean we shouldn't expect much racetrack prowess, unless its rider is only planning on going in a straight line. Indeed, with a claimed dry weight of under 400 pounds, the Lotus Motorcycles C-01 ought to be mighty quick down the quarter mile.

Porsche tells 2014 911 GT3 owners to park their cars pending inspection

Porsche may have have a serious problem on its hands. After a rumored five 2014 911 GT3 coupes caught fire in recent weeks, Porsche launched an investigation and stopped delivering its road-ready racecar until it could diagnose the problem. Now, it has issued a press release asking all 2014 911 GT3 owners to immediately stop driving their cars until they can be inspected. Porsche is offering to pick up the cars from owners' homes and take them to the nearest dealer.

Porsche confirms that the at least two 911 GT3 coupes them have caught fire in Europe, and it has elected to inspect all 785 2014 GT3s worldwide. However, it claims no drivers have been injured in the fires. Unfortunately, Porsche says, "Internal studies to determine the cause of the engine damage have not been completed yet," so owners might have a bit of a wait before they are able to drive Porsche's ultimate 911 again. Scroll down to read the entire press release.

Bahrain Day 3: Hamilton quickest as Red Bull and Renault troubles continue

Lewis Hamilton marked his return to the Mercedes cockpit on day three of Bahrain Formula 1 pres-eason testing by going faster than anyone so far this week, and driving home the fact that Mercedes power has the edge for now with both McLaren and Williams faring well on the day.
Lap times continued to tumble with Hamilton’s best of 1.34.263 well over half a second up on the previous day’s best, on the Soft Pirelli tyres as opposed to the Super-soft used by Kevin Magnussen for his best time on Wednesday. Hamilton was also quickest with the Medium compounds, doing 1:34s with those bolted on.

A “small hydraulic problem” on the W05 cost the Briton track time, but he nevertheless managed 67 tours of the Sakhir circuit. The Silver Arrows appear to be top of the pecking order at this very early stage of the season.

The troubles at Lotus continued with Pastor Maldonado having his first official run for the team. Things started well, before problems struck. As a result he only managed 26 laps in the E22. On the bright side the Venezuelan was the first Renault powered driver to dip below 100 seconds around the grand prix venue on the day.

World Champions Red Bull were forced to wrap up their day early – an hour or so before the end of the day, they wheeled the RB10 into the garage and brought a premature end to Daniel Ricciardo’s first outing in Bahrain. He was eighth fastest, with 28 laps on the chart and 6.5 seconds down on the day’s best lap time.

Lexus RC F - True Performance - In Sports Illustrated Swimsuit

Lexus has been desperate to
break out of its decidedly boring image for years. There is no doubt
that it has made quality cars, but many of them have lacked for
excitement. But with the new RC in 2014, especially the M4-fighting RC F version, it might finally turn some heads.

If the car doesn't turn heads, Lexus can at least be sure that Sports Illustrated
swimsuit model Lisalla Montenegro will, in its latest video. Of course,
phrases like, "Hair by over 383 pound-feet of torque," and, "Goosebumps
by an aggressively tuned exhaust note," don't really mean anything, but

most of the people watching the video aren't going to be reading the copy, anyway. Instead, they will either be focused on the attractive woman or the cool car. Maybe both.

KEN BLOCK EXPLAINS HIS RALLY AMERICA CHAMPIONSHIP ENDING CRASH AT LSPR 2013

Ken Block became famous for his series of Gymkhana
videos, but he's a real racer in his own right. Block has competed many
rounds in the FIA World Rally Championship and also rallied in the 2013
Rally America series. He nearly won that latter title last year – if
not for a massive crash in the final event of the season.

Block and his co-driver Alex Gelsomino went into the Lake Superior
Performance Rally needing a win to take the championship. However,
missing a clump of dirt on the side of the road and one little word in
the pace notes was all it took to catapult Block's Fiesta off the road
and into a tumbling accident. Block says his initial reaction was anger
because the crash came out of nowhere.

Tesla sold 6,892 Model S EVs in Q4

Quarterly shareholder letters, with accompanying financial results, are an opportunity for companies to crow about their recent progress and instill excitement about future expectations. Tesla Motor's latest such release reveals it's coop is rife with roosters in full song. And for good reason.

The California automaker announced today it earned $46 million in 4th quarter of 2013 on a non-GAAP basis – under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), which calculates leasing and stock-based employee remuneration differently, it actually lost $16 million – selling 6,892 very lovely Model S electric sedans in the process. Further, it passed its predicted 25 percent gross profit margin on its cars, hitting 25.8 percent on a non-GAAP basis. This means, for the fiscal year of 2013 it sold 22,477 vehicles in total and had over 2.5 billion in (non-GAAP) sales, which includes, of course, supply and development deals with Toyota and Daimler.

TSLA has jumped to a record high in the $217 neighborhood.

That's pretty durned good, and the stock market would seem to agree. With the financials results dropping just after the NASDAQ's close, the price for TSLA has jump around 12 percent – over $23 as of this writing – to a record high in the $217 neighborhood. Those share price increases aren't just based on past performance, though. The info drop also included plenty of things to indicate the future bodes well. The company expects both sales and production to continue to rise throughout 2014, with a new assembly line expected to help churn out 1,000 cars per week in the 3rd quarter and profit margins projected to hit 28 percent by the end of the year.





On the demand side, Tesla's CEO Elon Musk stated during the conference call that he doesn't expect the company to be able to meet the demand that's coming from China. Its new Beijing store is now the company's biggest and busiest and deliveries don't even begin until spring. While European sales are a little slower than anticipated, the exec said he believes it will improve as soon as the company irons out a few technical difficulties that have arisen with charging amongst the different territories there. Apparently, not all power grids operate in exactly the same way.

Porsche suspends 911 GT3 deliveries amidst fears of spontaneous combustion

Seeing pictures of Italian supercars burst into flames by the side of the road, as our compatriots at Axis of Oversteer point out, has become something of a usual sight. But a Porsche? Surely those meticulous German engineers have got that taken care of, right?

Not necessarily. Reports coming in from Europe indicate that no fewer than five 911 GT3 coupes have "spontaneously combusted" in the past few weeks, prompting Porsche to launch an investigation. In the meantime, they've reportedly ceased deliveries of the new GT3 while they try to determine what the problem is and work to rectify it.

We wouldn't be surprised to see a recall issued once the problem is resolved, but for now, we'd encourage existing owners to be extra vigilant behind the wheel – or better yet, leave their cars in the garage for the time being. You wouldn't want to drive a 475-horsepower rear-drive sports car through a Polar Vortex, anyway, right?