Your questions answered - Japanese Grand Prix

Does Lewis Hamilton have the composure and ability to get his title challenge back on track? Who do I think have been the best new team? Who would I like to win the world championship and who do I think will? Is there a chance this season's title fight could go down to a last-race climax as exciting as 1986?

Watch my answers below.

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Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/murraywalker/2010/10/your_questions_answered_-_japa.html

Floyd Anthony Raines Scott Russell Riggs Hiroshi Fushida Beppe Gabbiani

British GP: "Number Two" driver, Webber takes perfect win

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July 11 '10

Mark Webber won his first British Grand Prix in style. ?Not bad for a number two driver? radioed Webber to his race engineer after the end of the race.

Lewis Hamilton finished second for Mclaren in front of his home crowd, while Mercedes' Nico Rosberg bagged third.

The Race in brief
Webber overtook his teammate Sebastian Vettel at the start, with the latter experiencing a tyre puncture only seconds later. While the German had to make a short trip to the pits for a new set of tyres, Webber increased his lead from Lewis Hamilton in front of the pack.

Ferrari?s Fernando Alonso had another start to forget, losing 2 spots and dropping to 5th place after the first few corners. He slightly touched his teammate Felipe Massa?s car while trying to defend his position, causing the Brazilian's right rear tyre to burst. Massa then visited the pits and returned to the track in 23rd place.

Although only a couple of seconds separated Webber and Hamilton in front, the trailing group, headed by Renault?s Robert Kubica, dropped no less than 20 seconds to the leading duo until the first round of pit stops. After each driver went to the pits to get new tyres, Webber emerged once again in front of the field, ahead of Hamilton and Nico Rosberg (who passed Kubica thanks to a great team work in the pit lane).

Alonso tried to pass the Pole himself in order not to lose contact with the Top 3 positions, but shortcut a chicane while pushed by Kubica out of bounds ? and passing the Renault driver ? which later got him a drive-through penalty from the stewards. Just when he was about to make his drive-though run, the safety car was deployed due to debris coming out of Pedro de la Rosa?s car. His rear wing practically disintegrated in the start/finish straight, as there was a slight contact between him and Adrian Sutil on the pit straight.

The Spaniard was forced to make his pit lane run when the SC went in, which dropped him to 16 overall.

In front of the field, Webber had no problem maintaining his 1st place in front of Hamilton, while Rosberg did the same in front of the second McLaren driver Jenson Button. The reigning world champion had a wonderful start and climbed all the way to 7th place (from 14th on the grid) after a few laps, which he later turned into 4th place after a good pit stop strategy (added Alonso?s penalty).

Webber the ?Number Two? Driver
Prior to the Saturday qualifying, the Austrian team decided to take the front wing of Webber?s RB6 and hand it to Vettel, resulting in the German driving to pole position in Q3. While obviously furious with the decision, Webber kept his cool and decided to deliver the response on track, winning his first British GP in career and becoming the winningest F1 driver this season (to date).

?Not bad for a number two driver,? Webber told his race engineer via radio at the end of the race, hinting that what happened in Silverstone will still haunt him from now on.

At the press conference after the race, Webber continued to voice his frustrations, insisting that he would have never signed a one-year extension with Red Bull had he known he will be treated the way he was in the UK.

?Yesterday was really a unique situation, and it was the first time we had one bit. I would never have signed a contract for next year if I believed that was the way going forward. I was disappointed. We will see how it goes in the future, I will keep doing what I am doing and I hope it is enough.?

?I have had a few hurdles in my career, sometimes privately as well, so I think you can judge a person's character by how they come back from adversity. Some drivers have that, I've had a bit more than others. It can work but obviously it is not how long is a piece of string - you have to make sure it is not constantly happening because it can test you too much but if the balance is right it can put some fuel on the fire,? added Webber.

The Race as it happened via James Allen
Heading to Hockenheim in two weeks time, Lewis Hamilton leads the drivers championship with 145 points. His team mate Jenson Button is second in the standings with 133 points and Mark Webber climbs to third with 128 points.

British Grand Prix Race times

1. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 52 laps 1hr 24m 38.200s
2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes +1.3s
3. Nico Rosberg Mercedes-Mercedes +21.3s
4. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes +21.9s
5. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth +31.4s
6. Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari +32.1s
7. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault +36.7s
8. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes +40.9s
9. Michael Schumacher Mercedes-Mercedes +41.5s
10. Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth +42.0s

11. Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes +42.4s
12. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari +47.6s
13. Vitaly Petrov Renault-Renault +59.3s
14. Fernando Alonso Ferrari-Ferrari +62.3s
15. Felipe Massa Ferrari-Ferrari +67.4s
16. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth +1 lap
17. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth +1 lap
18. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth +2 laps
19. Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth +2 laps
20. Sakon Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth +2 laps

Rtd. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 44 laps completed
Rtd. Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari 29 laps completed
Rtd. Robert Kubica Renault-Renault 19 laps completed
Rtd. Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 9 laps completed


Fastest lap:
Fernando Alonso Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 30.874s lap 52



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3M Ford Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet David Ragan

NASCAR Tickets - Kyle Busch Takes Checker Flag

Kyle Busch knows he is fast and fearless on the track. When this bad boy gets a chance to burn rubber watch out NASCAR fans, he is heading towards victory lane. That exactly what happened on Sunday when Busch won his second Sprint Cup Series race of the season in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. He led a pretty impressive race with 378 of 503 laps before taking the checkered flag. After the race, many compared number 18 to another driver who happens to be a legend, Dale Earnhardt. However, the Bristol Motor Speedway Champion doesn't want to be compared to one of the most revered drivers in history. He believes he's his own man in his own time. Get NASCAR tickets and see Kyle Busch on the track.

Number 18 received his customary chorus of boos both before the race and during his victory lane celebration. But with 14 career Cup wins (47 spanning all three of NASCAR'S to series) he's grown comfortable with the discord. There are spectators who say Kyle enjoys the dissension. After the race, the Las Vegas native told reporters he doesn't care about the hecklers from the stands and being labeled as number one, he's out on the racetrack to win races. So those who wish him ill, the bad boy from the sin city wishes ill right back at them. What really drives the crowd mad is when Kyle wins his races and then gives a sarcastic celebratory bow.

Kyle Busch doesn't care what people think and doesn't censor himself before he speaks. The speed demon is not Earnhardt and that is a good thing for NASCAR. Whether fans love him or hate him Kyle is one of the best faces for the sport. Sure, he is confident and cocky, but in an era where the drivers are too watered down and politically conservative, Busch keeps things interesting. He never holds back on his raw emotions, which tends to hurt plenty of feelings. On Saturday, his racing crew fumbled away a tire during the final pit stop of the Nationwide Series race. The bad boy would have had another victory underneath his belt; however, the carelessness drew a NASCAR penalty that took him out of contention after he'd led a race 157 laps.

So what was Kyle's reaction? The man parked his car in Turn 3 near the pedestrian tunnel and walked to his motorhome. The crew ended up collecting the car, which was a reminder that they blew a sure victory. You would think the Las Vegas native would have apologized to his crew for his actions on Sunday, but the driver didn't bother to make nice before he took on the track. On this day, number 18's crew made no mistakes. It was critical that Busch be the first car off the pit road on the final stop because the track position would play heavily into the outcome. Runner-up Denny Hamlin and third-place finisher Jimmie Johnson both acknowledged that the race was won on the pit road during that final stop. NASCAR really hasn't seen a person like Busch.

This article was sponsored by StubHub. StubHub sells NASCAR tickets, as well as many other kinds of sports tickets, concert tickets, special events tickets and theater tickets.

Article Source: NASCAR Tickets - Kyle Busch Takes Checker Flag

Source: http://www.articlespan.com/article/253130/nascar-tickets-kyle-busch-takes-checker-flag

Taki Inoue Innes Ireland Eddie Irvine Chris Irwin

Hendrick, Gordon Confirm Three-Year AARP Sponsorship

Filed under: , , , , ,

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) -- Rick Hendrick never panicked as the season stretched on and he still didn't have a sponsorship deal for Jeff Gordon.

Why? Because he always had a contingency plan to fall back on. It gave him the ability to be discerning when it came to the four-time NASCAR champion.

Then came the potential pairing with the AARP Foundation, which began talks on a sponsorship program with Hendrick Motorsports in September. The deal quickly fell into place, and the foundation's "Drive to End Hunger" campaign was announced Wednesday as Gordon's primary sponsor for the next three years.

"We had a deal in our pocket. It was a verbal agreement," Hendrick said of the second suitor, which he refused to identify. "But this one came only faster, quicker and had more potential."

More potential for both sides.

 

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Source: http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2010/10/27/hendrick-gordon-confirm-three-year-aarp-sponsorship/

Russell William Wallace Jr Michael Curtis Waltrip Scott Alan Wimmer Jonathan Edward Wood

Turkish GP: Webber claims third consecutive pole

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May 30 '10

Mark Webber claimed his third consecutive pole position and made it seven pole positions from seven attempts for Red Bull at Istanbul Park circuit at yesterday's qualifying session for the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton secured second position making it a McLaren front row start for the first time this season. Sebastian Vettel who topped the first two sessions of qualifying will start the race from second row of the grid in third position after suffering a suspected brake failure.

In Q1

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@Jamesallenonf1

As usual, the three new teams failed to make it out of Q1. Jarno Trulli in the Lotus was the quickest of the six cars, beating team mate Heikki Kovalainen by three tenths of a second.

When the three new teams fail to make the progress beyond Q1, there is always a room for one of the drivers from the established teams to join them and this time it was Force India's Vitantonio Liuzzi who struggled for pace even though he was running Force India?s F-duct on his car. He failed to make it past Q1 for the second time this season.

At the end of Q1, Vettel was almost a half second faster than Webber who was followed by Button, Petrov, Rosberg, Hamilton, Schumacher, Kubica, Alonso Sutil and Massa 11th.

Drivers eliminated in Q1

18. Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1m 28.958s
19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1m 30.237s
20. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1m 30.519s
21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m 30.744s
22. Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 1m 31.266s
23. Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1m 31.989s
24. Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1m 32.060s


In Q2

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@Jamesallenonf1

Fernando Alonso had a disappointing elimination from Q2 on the eve of Ferrari's 800th grand prix start. According to iTV, "The Spaniard was already struggling for speed when he dropped his right-rear wheel onto a white line in the braking area for turn 12. The lap ruined, he had time for one more, but could not improve. He will start the race from 12th."

He said afterwards, ??I pushed very hard in that lap. Anyway I was slower than my fastest lap. I knew it was not enough. I don?t think that moment cost me a place in Q3. I did three laps in mainly in the same time and I think the pace was not there.?

Kamui Kobayashi forced his Sauber C29 out of Q2 for the third time this season. Adrian Sutil who missed out whole of the final practice session could only manage 11th fastest time.

Drivers eliminated in Q2

11. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes 1m 27.525s
12. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 27.612s
13. Pedro de la Rosa Spain BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1m 27.879s
14. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 28.273s
15. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth 1m 28.392s
16. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 28.540s
17. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Williams-Cosworth 1m 28.841s


In Q3

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@Jamesallenonf1

Webber was the man to beat in Q3 as he set the fastest time on the drivers? first runs. He improved on his time on his final run and was unbeatable to pole. According to iTV, "Red Bull tested its F-duct during Friday practice but opted not to use it in qualifying, low-drag rear wing endplates instead being flown out to Istanbul and fitted to Webber?s car just prior to qualifying."

Michael Schumacher spun off at turn 8 on his final lap and ended the session in the gravel. Despite this, he ended up ahead of his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg. They line up fifth and sixth.

Ferrari had a disappointing day as Massa, three times a winner at this track, could only manage eighth fastest time while Alonso was eliminated in Q2.

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali spoke to BBC, ?For sure the performance in qualifying was not up to our standard. We don?t know why and we need to understand. For sure we were expecting much more performance.?

Top ten drivers in Q3

1. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m 26.295s
2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m 26.433s
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m 26.760s
4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m 26.781s
5. Michael Schumacher Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 26.857s
6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 26.952s
7. Robert Kubica Renault-Renault 1m 27.039s
8. Felipe Massa Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 27.082s
9. Vitaly Petrov Renault-Renault 1m 27.430s
10. Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1m 28.122s


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David Hampshire Sam Hanks Walt Hansgen Mike Harris

The Vintage Mercury-Lincoln Cougar - A Nascar Legend

Many have thought of the Mercury Cougar a simply nothing more than a luxo-bloated version of a Ford Thunderbird. It may well surprise many Ford, Mercury as well as Ford Mustang and Mercury Cougar enthusiasts that 35 years ago that the Cougar “Pony” Car was kicking butt on the Trans-Am circuit.

In its origins, the Cougar was an idea that Lincoln-Mercury had been tossing around, for some time, with the idea of a smaller sporty car. As early as February 1963 this idea of a smaller as well as sporty Lincoln-Mercury vehicle, to be introduced to the North American market, came to emerge within the corporate head office, marketing and design staff.

The success of the Ford Mustang was all that was needed to put the wheels in motion. Indeed the famous marketing reference in regards to the product market popularity and sales of the Ford Mustang ‘Pony” Car was a sign in a donut shop that “Or donuts sell as fast as Mustangs”. Nothing drives the automobile industry more than the potential and promise of fast car sales figures. It is noteworthy that even the name of the vehicle product “Cougar” can be said to be family line generated. After the name Cougar is not only six letters but is another member of a line of fast creatures. Both the names of Mustang and Cougar evoke an image of sleekness and fast speed as well as agility.

Built on a 111 inch wheelbase, the Cougar was three inches and half inches shorter than its cousin – the Thunderbird. Underneath the elegant sheetmetal of the Cougar was a Mustang, so to speak. In actuality the Cougar shared with its cousins – the sporty Mustang, and the more dour family vehicle - the Ford Falcon (which was also known in the Canadian market as the Ford Frontenac product. The Ford Mustang had the greatest fortune of being born from the Ford Falcon product line. Mustang enthusiasts owe a great debt of gratitude to a so called compact “Family” car. The Ford Falcon allowed both the Mustang car project as well as the Cougar car product a quick to develop, cheap to produce as well as a proven and durable base platform. Even the dash of the early Mustangs was a direct copy of the Falcons.

Underneath all of the glitter of its elegant sheet metal the Cougar car was all Mustang, using the exact same Falcon front suspension and a solid rear axle with four-leaf springs. A base 289 cubic inch V-8 made 200 bhp (gross), but the real action came in the guise of a 390 cubic inch V-8 that made 320 bhp. A GT option included a performance handling package and power disc brakes that replaced more standard front brake drums. Finally special GT wheels rounded out the package.

It has been said that Lincoln Mercury’s chief designer had envisioned the Cougar as an elegant European sports car, along the lines of the Jaguar Mark 2. How was it that the Cougar went racing?

In 1967 Lincoln Mercury turned to Bud Moore to be the point man for a shot at the SCCA Trans-Am Championship. Team Cougar made up of drivers, Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, Formula 1 driver Peter Revson and NASCAR driver Dave Pearson came in second in Ford Mustang’s team. In 1968 then under the aegis of Moore, driver DeWayne “Tiny” Lund went on to capture the NASCAR Grand Touring Championship.

So where and how did the Cougar go wrong. It seemed that Lincoln-Mercury was never quite sure on how to market the Cougar. This lack of market focus, as well as not knowing and perceiving the needs and desires of the potential Cougar customer market proved to be the Cougar’s undoing. By the 1969 product introduction the Cougar was a little longer and a little wider. From then on it was only a short decent into landau roofs as well as the opera window type styling and options of the day. Once started this downward trend and spiral of the Cougar was inevitable. The halcyon years of the early Cougar - specifically the early Cougar model years of 1967 – 70 remain a time when the Cougar’s roar boomed out of dual exhausts and the sign of a car that had some bite to it.

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Article Source: The Vintage Mercury-Lincoln Cougar - A Nascar Legend

Source: http://www.articlespan.com/article/129872/the-vintage-mercury-lincoln-cougar-a-nascar-legend

Beppe Gabbiani Bertrand Gachot Patrick Gaillard Divina Galica

Schumacher and Villeneuve exchange warm words

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June 10 '10

Jacques Villeneuve has been reunited with his old nemesis.

The one-time car-racing champ and his former rival Michael Schumacher appear to have made up.

They met reporters near Montreal on Thursday to promote new automobile safety technologies and raced around on a rainy track.

It's been over a decade since Schumacher tried running his Canadian foe off the track in a decisive Formula One race. Schumacher now says he believes there's still a place in F1 for Villeneuve ? who hasn't driven on the circuit since 2006.

In return, Villeneuve is applauding the return of the seven-time champion.

It?s been over a decade since Michael Schumacher tried to run Jacques Villeneuve off an F1 track but on Thursday the two champions had nothing but good things to say about each other

?It's great for Formula One because it was starting to run short a bit of heroes,? he said of his former German rival. ?It's important because it brings in fans.?

Villeneuve is in Montreal while the city enjoys its own comeback this week: the return of F1 racing after a one-year hiatus.

Schumacher said he is happy the city is back on the F1 calendar.

?The track is always good emotion because the spectators really live the Grand Prix and you can feel that and that makes it special from that point of view,? Schumacher said.


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