Source: http://www.popoffvalve.com/2012/8/30/3280896/indycar-power-rankings-baltimore
Saturday
Friday
Audi S5 - Driven
I?d honestly not given the S5 much thought before this week. Why, when Audi offers up much flashier models like the R8, RS7, and upcoming TT? It wasn?t until I drove the 2014 S5 Coupe that I discovered this hidden gem in Audi?s lineup. It might not be the most powerful version of the coupe, but with 333 supercharged horses under is mile-long hood and a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission sending power to all four wheels, I found myself finding excuses to go for a drive.
It hit me midway through the week that my black-on-black tester with satin chrome accents looks like something Bruce Wayne would drive when not fighting crime in the Batmobile. Its two-door architecture, sleek profile, and menacing color scheme lends itself for the perfect, if not stereotypical, wealthy bachelor?s car. The techno-filled cockpit further solidifies my thoughts as I found myself impressed with the level of refinement in Audi?s MMI infotainment system.
While the S5 might be better suited to a Bruce Wayne kind of lifestyle, it still performed decently enough when the time came to chauffeur the kids around. Yes, a full-sized child seat fits in the back seat. Ingress and egress was made easier by a quick-release lever on the front seatbacks that allowed the chairs to move forward without losing its last position. It afforded just enough room for crawling back to buckle the kiddo.
But a minivan this thing is not. The S5 is more at home on twisty, backcountry roads and making time on the interstate. Its demeanor changes with the driver?s mood ? even without changing the Audi Drive Select system. The S5 makes a great grand touring car capable of long-distance travel and short distance track runs.
Click past the jump for the full review
Audi S5 - Driven originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 29 May 2014 11:00 EST.
Source: http://feeds.topspeed.com/~r/topspeed/~3/aQLHg0AKU20/2014-audi-s5driven-ar163708.html
Thursday
Meet Joe in Montreal?
Joe Saward will be hosting an Audience in Montreal at its usual venue, at the Pub St Paul, 124 rue St-Paul Est, Vieux-Montr�al, Qu�bec H2Y 1G2. This is down in the old port area. The Audience will take place on Friday, June 6. The event will be for a limited number of Formula One fans […]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2014/05/28/meet-joe-in-montreal/
Wednesday
Ed Carpenter wins second consecutive Indianapolis 500 pole; Kurt Busch 12th
Ed Carpenter is starting first in the Indianapolis 500 again.
The last qualifier during Sunday's pole qualifying session at Indianapolis, Carpenter snatched the pole from James Hinchcliffe with his four-lap run of 231.067 MPH.
Carpenter started on the pole in the 2013 Indianapolis 500 and finished 10th.
After suffering a concussion in last week's Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Hinchcliffe's Indy 500 was in doubt. However, he was cleared by IndyCar doctors earlier in the week and was able to practice the car before qualifying began.
The top nine qualifiers from Saturday's qualifying session were eligible for the pole on Sunday. Kurt Busch was 10th Saturday, so he was forced to run again and was unable to improve his position. After Sunday's run, Busch will start 12th. Juan Pablo Montoya, in his first Indianapolis 500 since he won in 2000, was the fastest of the non-top nine qualifiers. He'll start 10th.
Busch left Saturday's qualifying session early to get back to Charlotte for the Sprint Cup Series Sprint All-Star Race and only made one attempt. After running the All-Star Race last night, Busch returned to Indianapolis Sunday morning.
After Carpenter and Hinchcliffe, Will Power completes the front row. Helio Castroneves will start fourth and Simon Pagenaud, the winner of the Indy GP, starts fifth.
33 cars attempted to qualify for the race, so no one will miss the show.
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Tuesday
Monday
2014 Donington World Superbike FP3 Results: Rea Rapidly Wrangles Rain
In a wet morning's untimed session, Jonathan Rea on the Honda was a second and a quarter quicker than Ayrton Badovini's Evo Bimota and Alex Lowes on a Suzuki. A surprising bunch, but as this is the first properly wet session for the Superbikes, it's as unpredictable as expected. The wet track time will be useful for this afternoon's Superpole session as heavy rain looks unavoidable.
Results:
Johnny Cecotto Andrea de Cesaris Francois Cevert Eugene Chaboud
Sunday
Matt Kenseth has a novel idea for the Sprint All-Star Race
With every All-Star Race, there's chatter about changing up the format and/or location of the race. 2014 is no different, especially after Jimmie Johnson has won the last two in dominating fashion.
The format of the race has been tweaked a lot. It isn't sacred. The location? Well, it has been sacred. Since its inception, the race has always been held at Charlotte Motor Speedway save for 1986 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Charlotte is home base for most teams, so that's an added benefit. But if you follow NASCAR at all, you know that a 1.5 mile track like Charlotte isn't the most conducive for close, side-by-side racing.
It's why switching location of the race has started to dominate that chatter. Should the race go to Bristol? Martinsville? Richmond? Opinions vary, but if there's a consensus, it'd be that the race should go to a short track.
Matt Kenseth likes the idea of moving the All-Star Race, but he suggests none of the three tracks mentioned above.
?Here?s what my idea for the All-Star race has always been ? this might not be popular, but I thought of this a couple year ago.� I think the All-Star race should move every year and I think it should go to a track that we don?t currently race at, but is equipped to have a NASCAR race.� I think it should go to Iowa and Milwaukee and St. Louis and Pikes Peak and maybe even Memphis�? you have to have enough grandstands.� I think it should move around and go to tracks like that�? I think that would be great for all those markets that don?t have a NASCAR race. I think you would sell them out whether that?s 30,000 or 40,000 people, whatever that is. I think the racing would be good and it?s not a points race. I think that would expose a lot of fans to our product live that don?t get to see it now and I think it would be fun.?
Kenseth's on to something here. NASCAR doesn't need the money from attendance at an All-Star Race. It can afford to host it at a track that doesn't seat 80,000 or more people and not even notice it on the overall bottom line. Butts in the seats isn't an issue.
NASCAR is looking for new fans, too. And what better opportunity to get people who may not be normally able to get to a race than to move it to a different market? With potentially good or surprising racing in store at a track where the Cup Series doesn't normally race at, you not only can win over fans who are at the race, but those tuning in to see what the heck NASCAR is all about.
Nothing against Johnson's dominance, but a 10-lap runaway isn't the best way to convince people your sport is awesome.
Plus, it'd be a goodwill gesture to many fans who think NASCAR has "lost its way" or left the racing "back in the day" behind. There wasn't a bad review around of the Truck Series race at Eldora in 2013. There's little reason to think it wouldn't be the same for a race at Memphis, or, say, Gateway, which produced some great Nationwide and Truck Series racing.
But we're also going to be realistic; Kenseth's idea probably isn't going to happen. SMI, the company that owns Charlotte, won't want to let the All-Star Race leave. It owns Bristol, so if the race departs Charlotte, it could satisfy the short track wailing by moving to Bristol.
We appreciate the originality, however. The more logical and reasoned options for the All-Star Race, the better. Because if it's another ho-hum race Saturday night, the cries for changes are only going to intensify before the Coca-Cola 600.
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