MotoX News

Sunday

Power Rankings: Through the first 10 races, the Biff is at the pinnacle

The race is done, and that means it's time for Power Rankings. Each week throughout the season, we'll size up who's rising and who's falling, based on current standings, behind-the-scenes changes, expected staying power, recent history and general gut feelings. It is not scientific, nor is it meant to be. And remember, whoever your favorite driver is, we're biased against him and like someone else better. We continue with a guy who is consistent at being consistent, which isn't what he was consistent at last year...

1. Greg Biffle: You got any other ideas here? The Biff was up near the front at Talladega, but it was d�j� vu all over again when he couldn't get to Matt Kenseth's bumper over the last two laps. But the consistency that he lacked last year is back this year. Will it be there for the final 10 races?. Last week: 4.

2. Matt Kenseth: Did Flatline just find out how it feels to lose when your car is too good? No one could get to his bumper all day on Sunday, and that was his undoing at the end. Or was it the fact that his car was falling apart like Best Buy's stock? Last week: 6.

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Here is where we will write another post saying that Junior is really, really, really, really close to winning. Honest. Promise. Swear it on his beard. What's that? His beard is gone? Well, we're standing by our word. Until we get tired and have to sit down. Last week: 3.

Carl Edwards 4. Brad Keselowski: Believe it or not, @Kes is 12^th in the points standings despite the two wins. And, perhaps even more surprising, he made it through an entire restrictor plate race without tweeting from the car. Of course, we didn't have any jet dryers explode either. Last week: NR.

5. Kyle Busch: Sunday was the perfect opportunity for Busch to do what Joey Logano did to him on Saturday. Thing is, Brad Keselowski knew it too. Next time, Kyle, make your move on Lap 1. No one will be expecting that. Last week: 10.

6. Tony Stewart: Maybe NASCAR will secretly fine Tony Stewart for his sarcastic comments about racing at Talladega. Alas, all fines are public knowledge. Maybe instead, NASCAR will force Stewart to race with a restrictor plate for the next five races. Or just fine him and not tell him about it, thus keeping it super-duper secret. Last week: 1.

7. Martin Truex Jr.: Looked like Other Junior's plan was to be just another driver for most of the race before coming to the front at the end. But he didn't make it to the end, getting caught up in The Big One 1.0. At least by being caught up in a big crash he made his race airtime roughly equivalent to that of his sponsor's commercials. Last week: 7.

8. Jimmie Johnson: Sunday was the second time that five-time has suffered an engine malfunction with oil copiously leaking from the car. This time, he didn't have a golden horseshoe of a red flag for rain to save him. Last week: 2.

9. Clint Bowyer. Clint rolled with the Tide all day at Talladega and finished sixth. Bowyer didn't have any conflict of interest running that Alabama paint scheme all weekend because, last we checked, the university that Bowyer usually cheers for doesn't have a football team. Last week: 12.

10. Kasey Kahne: Carnage! Crashes! Hendrick engines going sour! And Kahne wasn't involved in any of it. Maybe Talladega was the truest sign that Kahne's trend of bad luck is ending. Last week: 11.

11. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin had a strong car and was a staple at the front of the field until he went a lap down because of an extended green-flag pit stop. And then he got his lap back and got back to the front and got crashed. That's so Hamlin. Last week: 2.

12. Kevin Harvick: Cupcake was content to play the waiting game too, until the Spirits of Talladega struck and he had a mysterious fuel problem. Like Hamlin, he too was able to get back on the lead lap, but also got crashed. All this crash talk is making Tony Stewart excited.Last week: 9.

Dropping out: Carl Edwards

Lucky Dog: Danica Patrick. Yeah, she didn't race in the Sprint Cup Series last weekend but she escaped a post-race hauler visit after crashing Sam Hornish Jr. on the cool-down lap and is locked into the field for her first Cup start at Darlington on Saturday. Plus, we'd like to use this space to stop any and all "Lady in Black" references to Patrick's race at Darlington before they begin.

DNF: Poor, poor Jeff Gordon. This kind of feels like piling on at this point, but the dude started first, didn't lead a lap, saw his gauges start flashing all like Tom Cruise in "Top Gun" and then got crashed right as it looked like he was going to snake through the carnage. At this rate, Gordon could go win the last 13 races of the year and the Cup and we'd view it as progression back to the mean.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/power-rankings-first-10-races-biff-pinnacle-162245811.html

Jean Alesi Jaime Alguersuari Philippe Alliot Cliff Allison

Juan Pablo Montoya has a much better life than you

Juan Pablo Montoya was at Homestead Speedway a few months early, taking the nine contestants on Univision's Nuestra Belleza Latina for a spin around the track. Or, as the show's website puts it, "Las 9 finalistas estuvieron con el reconocido corredor de autos, el colombiano Juan Pablo Montoya, quien las dirigi� en una aventura de m�xima velocidad. Esto es un adelanto de lo que ver�n el pr�ximo domingo 22 de abril en la s�ptima gala." Whatever that means. A little translation help?

Taking nine beautiful women for a high-speed drive in Miami. Yeah, Montoya really doesn't much care what you think of his performance this season.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/juan-pablo-montoya-much-better-life-133031285.html

Jim Clark† Kevin Cogan Peter Collins Bernard Collomb

Ferrari 599XX Evolution

There’s no better way to mark the end of production for the most extreme Ferrari 599 ever built then to give it a kickass special edition, and Ferrari is doing just that with the 599XX Evolution. The new Evolution package boasts of aerodynamic advancements, as well as a boost in power, and will be available to clients participating in the track-based research and development program for the 2012-2013 seasons.

The new 599XX Evolution features improved chassis dynamics thanks to an active aerodynamic package integrated with the vehicles’ electronic control systems and the adoption of new Pirelli tires. The new aero package uses an active rear wing that features two flaps, with profiles similar to those used in Formula 1, which rotate electronically to adjust the downforce between the front and rear axles in function of vehicle speed and the maneuver being effected.

The most impressive feature, however, is the addition of an extra 50 HP for the 599XX’s 6.3L V12 engine. This addition brings the 599XX’s total power up to 750 HP at 7000 rpm and 516 lb-ft of torque. Helping the engine along is a weight reduction of 77 lbs compared to the standard model.

UPDATE 12/02/2011: Thanks to Marchettino, we now have a video of the 599XX Evo when it debuted at the 2011 Bologna Motor Show. Hit the jump to check it out!

UPDATE 05/11/2012: Ferrari has just dropped a new set of images featuring the 599XX at the opening round to the European Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli at Monza. Its next stop will be at California?s Laguna Seca circuit, a few miles from the attractions of Monterey, which will host the third Ferrari Racing Days of the season on May 20, 2012.

gallery: 2013 Ferrari F12 Berlinetta

Ferrari 599XX Evolution originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 2 December 2011 15:30 EST.

Source: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/ferrari/2012-ferrari-599xx-evolution-ar120799.html

David Clapham Jim Clark† Kevin Cogan Peter Collins

No Fenders on Formula 1 TV Strike...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nofenders/zbjv/~3/ewMLtI0sOlg/no-fenders-on-formula-1-tv-strike.html

Geoff Crossley Chuck Daigh Yannick Dalmas Derek Daly

Asphalt! Drivers talk track surfaces and impending Kansas repave

KANSAS CITY, Kan. ? With the track changes at Bristol Motor Speedway underway and the imminent repaving of Kansas Speedway scheduled to start moments after the conclusion of Sunday's STP 400, repaving and track surface discussion dominated Friday's driver media sessions at Kansas Speedway.

Here are the comments from some drivers about repaving. And spoiler alert: old pavement is preferred, though Jimmie Johnson says that he views track repaves as an opportunity for he and his team to gain an advantage.

"No, it might be that mindset for some drivers, but for me I look at it as an opportunity," Johnson said. "The tracks are going to change, and it's going to be different. Whoever figures it out first will have the advantage and win. So, I'm excited about the new surfaces that go down. Some of them are very challenging, and I hope people pay attention to the tracks that have instant success and the others that take a long time to come around, and we can learn from that as well. I'm excited for the opportunity, and I love to test. I love to be at the race track learning, and am excited to have testing at tracks we race at. We can really get data files on tracks other than Milwaukee or Nashville, and these tracks that we don't race at anymore. I'm happy we have some testing at the real tracks on the correct tire."

Jeff Gordon says that the track surface looks good from a driver's perspective. However, track officials and engineers say that the repave at Kansas is absolutely necessary because of a combination of weather and environmental factors.

"I don't really understand why they are paving this race track," Gordon said. "It looks great out there. This place is awesome. I wish they wouldn't touch it. I'm not the business person. I'm not an engineer that looks at the construction, foundation, all the things that they feel like why they need to do it. Whatever they put in front of us we will just go about it the best way that we can. I feel like ISC has gotten enough information and experience paving race tracks that I have faith they can do the right thing. I think Homestead is a perfect example. They did a great job at Homestead. That was one of the only race tracks I can remember being repaved where we came there and raced the first race and it was a fun race. Of course, what they had before was so bad, it was easy to improve. What they have here is going to be hard to improve."

Carl Edwards said he'd love to race on a track that would never be repaved.

"I would not resurface this track ever. I wouldn't resurface tracks ever if it were up to me," Edwards said. "I'd patch the holes and keep on running."

Kansas Speedway is moving to progressive banking, which is it what is currently installed at Homestead, Bristol and Las Vegas. Bristol is concrete, a surface that Dale Earnhardt Jr. says doesn't respond as well to progressive banking as asphalt does.

"When you're using concrete, concrete has a lot of limitations for our cars," Junior said. "We only have a few tracks that are concrete or have been concrete in the series or the sport. None of them truly became multi-groove race tracks. Dover is the closest thing that we have to a multi-groove track, but to be honest with you, the majority of the racing is done on the bottom of that race track as ell. In a perfect world, in m opinion, if I owned the race track and had all the money that [SMI president Bruton Smith] has or the technology that we have today, I would pave the track with the configuration that they currently have with the progressive banking with asphalt. But its not my decision and I think what they're doing is going to be fun and I like that they're making a change. Even though when you pave a race track, it typically doesn't put on the best races after a few years of weather and wear on the surface, it tends to work out okay and the track really comes into its own again. As much as we'd like to have a lot of the tracks stay with the older asphalt, it's just some of them are deteriorating so bad that it's just not an option.

"I think progressive banking has done wonders at a lot of race tracks and been a real plus at a lot of places. It's just the combination of progressive banking and the limitations of that concrete is what's challenging to Bristol."

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/asphalt-drivers-talk-track-surfaces-impending-kansas-repave-171517875.html

Frank Dochnal Jose Dolhem Martin Donnelly Carlo Abate

Jeff Gordon?s miserable luck continues at Darlington

Jeff Gordon's 2012 keeps getting more and more unbelievable.

Once again, Gordon had a competitive car during Saturday night's race at Darlington despite an early Darlington Stripe. And, fleetingly, anyway, there were glimmers of hope that the black cloud that has hovered over his season would start to lift. But those glimmers vanished as soon as his left-rear tire started to go flat on Lap 194.

As Gordon made his way to pit road, it looked like he would catch a relative break, no pun intended, as the caution flag flew for debris from his tire right as he entered the pits. That meant that instead of potentially two laps down under green, the four-time champion would be able to line up just one lap down.

Alas, when you're in Jeff Gordon's 2012, when things go south, they really go south. Just a few laps after the restart, his tire went down again, and the team was forced to take the car to the garage for repairs. He ended up 35th, 29 laps down.

A week after falling six spots in the standings to 23rd, Gordon's continued issues dropped him another spot to 24th, 170 points behind points leader Greg Biffle. The man that passed Gordon in the standings? Mark Martin, who did so despite running only eight of the season's 11 events. That's how crazy of a season it's been for Gordon. For the Chase, wins are now imperative. But so is getting into the top 20.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/jeff-gordon-miserable-luck-continues-darlington-044739923.html

Bobby Ball Marcel Balsa Lorenzo Bandini Henry Banks

2012 Donington World Superbikes QP1 - Smrz returns to form

Jakub Smrz returns to his familiar place at the top of the timing sheets ahead of Jonathan Rea and Carlos Checa. Rain threatened the session, but luckily didn't stay around for long enough to be too much of a problem.

Results:

Race Details

Round Number:

2012

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/8wImdhAkFGk/2012_donington_world_superbikes_qp1_smrz.html

JeanChristophe Boullion Sebastien Bourdais Thierry Boutsen Johnny Boyd

Saturday

Video: Do we have too many 1.5-mile tracks? (Spoiler: yes.)

NASCAR again returns to a 1.5-mile track this weekend at Kansas, and we must ask: does the sport have too many of these cookie-cutter tracks? We also consider similar head-scratching questions like: Is air good for you? and Is the sky blue? But what other options are there? Ah, there's the rub. Your favorite Yahoo! Sports Jays, Busbee and Hart, kick around the cookie-cutters ... for at least a mile and a half. Enjoy.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/video-too-many-1-5-mile-tracks-spoiler-115910145.html

Edgar Barth Giorgio Bassi Erwin Bauer Zsolt Baumgartner

Lotus gamble becomes scramble for desperate teams

Source: http://www.popoffvalve.com/2012/4/25/2975426/lotus-gamble-becomes-scramble-for-desperate-teams

Jim Clark† Kevin Cogan Peter Collins Bernard Collomb

Pastrana To Debut With RAB Racing?

When Travis Pastrana, who was in attendance at Texas Motor Speedway, makes his NASCAR debut next weekend at Richmond International Raceway, it may be in a car associated with RAB Racing. Pastrana’s Pastrana 199 Racing has an alliance with Michael Waltrip Racing, but the team hasn’t run it’s #99 Nationwide car since last season and [...]

TheNASCARInsiders.com

Follow the Insiders on Twitter or be a fan on Facebook!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNascarInsiders/~3/DPHNPWC5dkY/

Lucien Bianchi Gino Bianco Hans Binder Clemente Biondetti

Drivers' meeting 'promises to be very interesting'

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/04/unanswered_questions_for_rosbe.html

Giorgio Bassi Erwin Bauer Zsolt Baumgartner Elie Bayol

Friday

Eliseo Salazar Showcase Its Mini John Cooper Works WRC In The Mapocho

On Saturday 21 April at 10:30 hrs in the Mapocho (height between the bridges Pedro de Valdivia and Concepcion), the driver Eliseo Salazar of Chile show the car that will compete between 26 and 29 April in the fifth day of the World Rally Championship (WRC) to be held in Cordoba, Argentina. The car will [...]

Source: http://www.autocarblog.co.uk/219-eliseo-salazar-showcase-its-mini-john-cooper-works-wrc-in-the-mapocho.html

Philippe Adams Walt Ader Kurt Adolff Fred Agabashian

Williams begin ?beginning of a rebuilding process?

If Ferrari fans thought that their team had perhaps not lived up its name last season then they should talk to fans of Williams. The team that dominated in the early 90?s winning multiple World Championships managed to score only five points last season. Five. It?s a sad fall from grace and one, that at [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Formula1Fancast/~3/E6B6tv0XDjM/williams-begin-beginning-of-a-rebuilding-process

Chuck Arnold Rene Arnoux Peter Arundell Alberto Ascari

Brad Keselowski adds extra element to two-car tandem and pulls away to win at Talladega

It wasn't a spur of the moment move. It wasn't a move that anyone expected. It was a move that team owner Roger Penske called "pretty amazing." And it was a move that made Brad Keselowski the winner of Sunday's Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega.

Most everyone expected the two-car tandem to be the deciding factor in Sunday's Aaron's 499, just like it was in Saturday's Nationwide Series race. And the common thought was that the driver in second place in that two-car tandem would have the advantage as the finish line approached. Keselowski confirmed the former. But not the latter.

Restarting on the inside of the front row with two laps to go, Keselowski had Kyle Busch (the driver he famously called a rear end in no uncertain terms once in Bristol driver intros) behind him. Race leader Matt Kenseth had his teammate Greg Biffle behind him on the outside line. Just like at Daytona, Kenseth had the dominant car on Sunday. And Just like at Daytona, Biffle couldn't get latched onto Kenseth's bumper in the closing laps. Yes, Kenseth's car might have been too good to win.

Enter Keselowski and Busch, who immediately latched together as Kenseth and Biffle pulled away at the restart. However, once Keselowski and Busch gathered steam while their bumpers were locked, Kenseth, Biffle and the rest of the field were left fighting for third place.

[Video: 'The Big One' claims Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards among others]

Keselowski led Busch high into turn three on the last lap. He knew that Busch would wait as long as possible to make his move to capitalize on the draft, so he made his move early, diving to the low-side of the banking, breaking contact between his rear bumper and Busch's front fender. Once that contact was broken, Busch's momentum was too, and Keselowski could focus more what was in front of him than was in his rear-view mirror.

"Then Kyle, I just knew the move I wanted to make and made it into three and disconnected us and that was the key right there. Once we got the air bubble in between the two cars, it was going to take two or three laps for him to pop that and we only had to go half a lap, and not quite that."

It was Keselowski's second win of 2012 and second win at Talladega, the first coming in 2009, the first time we'd see the tandem draft work to such extremes in the Sprint Cup Series. That, of course, was when Carl Edwards went flying off of Keselowski's front bumper in the tri-oval. Three years later, this move came from the front, and didn't involve flying sheetmetal.

And because it's Keselowski's second win of the season, it makes him a virtual lock for the Chase if he's not in the top 10 after the season's 26th race. A Sprint Cup Series title is the only thing that's eluded Penske, and he feels that Keselowski is the driver that can deliver it for him.

"He's matured a lot," Penske said of Keselowski. "He's been a tremendous asset to the team. He's not just for Brad Keselowski, he's for Penske Racing. You see that when he comes in the shop and he's spending a lot of time. I wouldn't trade him for anybody right now and you know that."

Keselowski joined Penske late in 2009, and after just over a year in the No. 12 car that resulted in just two top 10s in 39 races, took over the Miller Lite No. 2 in 2011. In that No. 2, he's got five wins in 46 races. As a Wild-Card entrant into last year's Chase, Keselowski was still somewhat of a championship afterthought despite his three wins.

He finished the 2011 season fifth. Now in May of 2012, it'd be crazy to not consider him a prime contender when we get to November.

"He came to me, and we talked about before he went to work for us, he said 'Look, I'd like to come to Penske Racing and help you build a winning Cup team.' He said 'that's my goal,'" Penske said. "And I think he's certainly demonstrating that from his driving ability and the way he's been able to pull together and his chemistry with Paul Wolfe and that whole team has obviously made a difference because this is not just about the driver and the car or the sponsor, it's about the whole team and I think that he's the real package and what we're trying to do is give him everything we can to give him a winner and obviously one of the goals in my life is to sit up on that stage either in New York or Las Vegas sometime and I think he's the guy that can make it happen this year, hopefully."

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/brad-keselowski-adds-extra-element-two-car-tandem-224409683.html

David Clapham Jim Clark† Kevin Cogan Peter Collins

Fry says F1 needs Mercedes deal before flotation | F1 Fanatic round-up

Fry says F1 needs Mercedes deal before flotation is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.

In the round-up: Mercedes CEO Nick Fry says F1 owners CVC should agree terms for them to remain in F1 before the planned flotation.

Fry says F1 needs Mercedes deal before flotation 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://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2012/05/11/f1-fanatic-roundup-115/

John Barber Skip Barber Paolo Barilla Rubens Barrichello

Thursday

2012 Estoril Moto2 and Moto3 Sunday Post-Race Press Releases

Press releases from the Moto2 and Moto3 team after Sunday's race at Estoril:

Year:

2012

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/Sr96JKXwgpk/2012_estoril_moto2_and_moto3_sunday_post.html

Harry Blanchard Michael Bleekemolen Alex Blignaut Trevor Blokdyk

Mercedes and F1

Mercedes-Benz has been involved in Formula 1 non-stop since 1993, although it must be said that the decision to get more involved in the sport was taken 25 years ago. At the time Peter Sauber had been working with Mercedes engines in sports car racing for several years. He had made his breakthrough in 1986 [...]

Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2012/05/07/mercedes-and-f1/

Piero Carini Duane Carter Eugenio Castellotti Johnny Cecotto

2012 Estoril MotoGP Race Result: Winner Controls Race From The Front

Result and summary of the MotoGP race at Estoril:

Race Details

2012

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/n9cMEUTlK0k/2012_estoril_motogp_race_result_winner_c.html

Michele Alboreto Jean Alesi Jaime Alguersuari Philippe Alliot

Drag car wreck at Bristol takes out fortunately unattended camera

We complain about robots taking over the world, but there are times when we'd like to leave some of the dirty jobs to our mechanical brethren. Like filming a drag race from right next to a track, for instance. Considering what could happen if things go off-kilter, how about you handle that one, WALL-E?

The above car belongs to Lizzy Musi, who, as you can see from the photo at right, is not your typical drag racer. Musi, the daughter of well-known NHRA/IHRA championship driver Pat Musi, got loose at Bristol Dragway and, as you can see from the video, took out a camera in the process.

Musi, a 21-year-old driver in her first year of racing, was running at the 2012 ADRL Spring Drags III at Bristol, and the wreck happened in a qualifying session. Aside from, you know, that wreck, she's done well so far; she hit 170 mph and cleared a 1/8-mile run in 4.34 seconds on Friday. And thankfully, she walked away from this wreck under her own power. She'll race again another day.

[Hat tip to Jalopnik and Tri-Cities.com]

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/drag-car-wreck-bristol-takes-fortunately-unattended-camera-201417820.html

Olivier Beretta Allen Berg Georges Berger Gerhard Berger