Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Formula1Fancast/~3/5L2hXwGZSXc/kubica-hit-with-injury-setback
Michael Bleekemolen Alex Blignaut Trevor Blokdyk Mark Blundell
Thursday
Kubica hit with injury setback
Renault have announced that Robert Kubica will miss the start of the 2012 Formula 1 season. Following a rally crash in February, the Pole is still struggling to recover from the serious injuries obtained. There had been reports that he would be available to take his seat in times for 2012, but this hasn’t proved [...]
Wednesday
Power Rankings: At the top, it?s a pick-?em
Time for our latest round of 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. And it's all down to this...
5. Matt Kenseth. The best part about this Chase, and indeed this season in general, is the way we're seeing a total turnover at the top of the NASCAR pyramid. Sure, we'll have a new champion; more on that in a moment. But we've seen the rise of a bona fide star in Matt Kenseth. Sure, he's been around for awhile, but this was the year everybody started realizing that he might just be the go-to guy for all opinions NASCAR.� Last week's ranking: 3.
6. Brad Keselowski. And here's the other breakout star of the 2011 season. While it's way too early to say if Keselowski can sustain this momentum, he's certainly become a media darling and seems to have the foundation now in place for a long, strong career.� Last week's ranking: 5.
11. Jeff Gordon. The sooner this Chase is over, the better for Jeff Gordon. He just hasn't done anything worth writing home about. (Or IM'ing/Skyping/Twittering home; nobody writes home anymore. And your mom is sad about that.) Anyway, enough with 2011. If I was Jeff Gordon, I'd start, park and drink away the pain of this year at the Fontainebleaue on South Beach.� Last week's ranking: 8.
Dropping out of the rankings: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Greg Biffle.
Lucky Dog: Jeff Burton. Carl Edwards won't be buying The Senator any beers anytime soon after being unable to keep Stewart from getting to third, but in and of itself, Burton's fourth-place finish is pretty darn impressive.
DNF: Geoffrey Bodine, who spun three times in this race. Best part of that: his brother Todd protesting on Twitter that he (Todd) wasn't the one causing all these problems, as if people thought he would be checking Twitter during the race.
Charging upward: David Reutimann, who got a 7th-place finish at a really tough track. Yep, he sucks. Cut him loose.
�
Next up: Homestead! It's the end of the season, so get ready and send comments to us via Twitter at @jaybusbee, via email by clicking here, and via Facebook at The Marbles page.
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On and off: Is the switch for the Austin F1 race flickering again?
The saga of Formula 1's 2012 visit to the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas has yet another chapter.
Will it be the final one? Possibly. But probably not.
While the series was in Abu Dhabi over the weekend, F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone said that he wouldn't want to put his money down on the race happening next year at Austin.
Strong words. But is it just a power play? Or the real deal?
Tavo Hellmund's promotional company has the rights to the race at Austin. Bobby Epstein is helping fund construction of the track, which is estimated at $300 million. Apparently they're not getting along. And add in the fact that the state of Texas is involved to the tune of a $25 million major events fund, and yeah, this is getting messy.
By all accounts the meeting did not go well. Sources in Europe and the United States suggest that Epstein was offered a new contract but he has not signed it, presumably because he doesn't like the terms. Ecclestone hasn't been paid, and the state of Texas hasn't disbursed the $25 million from the trust fund. The rules say it can't until after Nov. 18, less than one year before the scheduled event. Even so, online inquires suggest that all of the applications, paperwork and meetings required to apply for the money have not been completed.
Circuit of the Americas president Steve Sexton downplayed Ecclestone's comments about the race's future in a statement, saying that funding for the race has been secured.
Maybe it's not all conjecture from Ecclestone at this point, especially given the fact that the series doesn't have to have all of its eggs in the Austin basket after the announcement of the race in New Jersey starting in 2013. At this point, it's almost a minor miracle that the race still has a future given all of the hurdles that it's had to clear And that's why it wouldn't be so surprising to see it actually happen.
Or not.
All right, everybody, time to move on from Kyle Busch
It's one of the truisms of NASCAR that every major story has about a six-and-a-half-day lifespan: the time between the checkered flag of one race and the green flag of the next. With little to do between races but wait and debate, every story gets chewed into a fine paste over the course of the working week. And then, like the changing of the seasons, each new race brings a whole fresh crop of storylines to fascinate and titillate the fans and the media.
If the story is "these two drivers just plain don't like each other," that's one thing. But in a case where you've got a driver who's put himself at a career crossroads, as we had with Kyle Busch last weekend in Texas, everyone involved owes it to the driver and the sport to get the matter resolved as soon as possible.
NASCAR acted swiftly. Joe Gibbs Racing and M&M/Mars did not. They left Busch twisting in the wind for an entire week, exposing him to escalating levels of criticism that far outweighed the original act. And when the press conference did come, Busch fidgeted in a plain white JGR dress shirt as Gibbs, with disappointed-father demeanor, laid out exactly how much Busch had let down everyone around him.
It's going to take a long time for Busch's image to recover from this past week, and perhaps that was the point of all this. But in a world where news cycles are defined by minutes, not days, Busch has just gone through the 21st-century equivalent of a tarring and feathering, with his critics getting ever bolder in their top-this declarations of what his punishment should be. Out of the car for a race? Forget that, he should be out of the car for the season! He should be fired from JGR! He should be kicked out of NASCAR! He should be prosecuted for assault!
Come on. Enough.
What Busch did was stupid and thoughtless. He deserved parking, and he deserved a public denunciation. What he didn't deserve was to be treated like a misbehaving five-year-old told to wait until his father came home, with the entire NASCAR nation looking on and ticking off the hours.
Put it another way: when Busch plowed his truck into that of Ron Hornaday Jr., Joe Paterno was still happily esconced as coach at Penn State, enjoying an off-weekend and readying for this week's Nebraska game. That's how fast things can change. And yet it took until Thursday for M&M's to make up its mind about penalties, and until Friday for JGR to lay out its perspective on the whole matter.
"Sometimes we think we are bigger than the sponsors, and we are not," Jeff Gordon said Friday, and nowhere was this more demonstrably clear than when M&M's decided to yank its logo off Busch's car. You can agree or disagree with that sentiment, and with the possibility that sponsors have too much influence on what happens on the track. Clearly, they want value for their dollar, but where that value ends and influence begins is another matter entirely.
But if sponsors want the cachet of riding with one of the sport's most successful drivers (in the regular season, anyway), why not step up with some more definitive action earlier in the week? Why not send out a spokesperson, rather than communicating through press release? This was a defining moment, not just for Kyle Busch but for NASCAR as a whole, and all sides should have handled this with more speed and authority.
Busch deserved every bit of the punishment he's received; for the good of the sport's image, hopefully this will scare him straight. But he also deserved better than the drawn-out circus that, even now, may not be over.
Piero Carini Duane Carter Eugenio Castellotti Johnny Cecotto
Tuesday
Hot/Not: Sifting through 2011?s NASCAR highs and lows
In all, NASCAR waved checkered flags 95 times over points-paying national series races this season ? leaving plenty of hits and misses to remember from the season that was. Here's a look back at what made the 2011 NASCAR season tick:
HOT: Tony Stewart won five races in the Chase and Carl Edwards had a better average finish than anyone, ever. And then? Stewart wins the Sprint Cup title on a walk-off win. Need we say more?
NEUTRAL: New pavement at Daytona, the bane of any race track's existence, allowed drivers to add a new trick to the restrictor plate handbook this year in the form of two-car tandem drafting.
It was a novelty during the Daytona 500, still new for Talladega in April and finally started to lose sizable luster when NASCAR returned to Daytona in July. The racing was different, yes, but NASCAR's sizable steps to remove tandem drafting should be bold ? and effective.
HOT: What would you say the best fight to the finish line this season was? My top-three are simple: Stewart-Edwards at Homestead, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson at Atlanta and Gordon and Kyle Busch at Phoenix.
Honorable mention goes to Kevin Harvick versus Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Martinsville in the spring.
NOT: The incessant complaints about the high number of fuel-mileage races this season may top my list of gripes. Should we really fault 1) NASCAR for not throwing as many perceived phantom cautions, 2) drivers who learned to manage their fuel the greatest and 3) teams who technically were the fastest to the finish line?
No. I'll take the uncontrived finishes with plenty of dramatic potential.
HOT: NASCAR's far-reaching embrace of social media was a major positive for this season. The best? I'll hand that award to NASCAR's Steve O'Donnell (@odsteve), vice president of racing operations, who provided fans with direct information, insider views, trivia and more.
NASCAR has long lacked transparency in how they operate, but O'Donnell (and others) have changed that, 140 characters at a time.
NOT: What happened to Joe Gibbs Racing this year? Denny Hamlin fell from the face of the Sprint Cup world sometime around the middle of September, while Kyle Busch floundered midway through the Chase before his Texas meltdown.
Also: did Joey Logano really only reel in six top 10s in the Cup series? Yikes.
HOT: Once considered by racing purists with scorn, NASCAR racing on road courses continued it's rapid ascent this year as some of the most enjoyable left-and-right action available in the U.S. Scenic, action-packed and dripping with strategy ? it's borderline idiocy that the Sprint Cup Series only flips the steering wheel right twice a year.
NOT: NASCAR officially has their own version of the present-day San Diego Chargers in Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. Every so often, they bubble toward the top with notable names and inclinations of consistent success, before falling back to mediocrity.
A year removed from Jamie McMurray's keystone wins at Daytona and Indianapolis, both he and Juan Pablo Montoya were outside the top 20 in points. What goes up for that team seems to always come back down.
NEUTRAL: The simplicity and ease of NASCAR's new point structure was a major positive. The artificially-close gaps should help keep future interest, as well.
However, NASCAR does need to make a slight adjustment to make winning count a bit more. If nothing else, picking up several wins should go a long way in erasing a single bad finish.
HOT: We saw the ignition of a long and successful career amidst the most unlikely of odds. With Kurt Busch playing top dog at Penske Racing, seeing Brad Keselowski score three wins ? while badly hurt for one, nonetheless ? and a fifth-place finish in the final standings was the biggest eye-opener of 2011.
NOT: Consider this personal resentment due to local love, but I'm very sad that the 2012 NASCAR calendars won't include the once-named Indianapolis Raceway Park. There's no doubt about it: tracks like Indy's half-mile should have been NASCAR's cookie cutter template in the late 1990s.
It's sad to see another go.
FINAL: There's no doubt that 2011 did a lot of good for NASCAR's brand. They made reasonable steps to better accommodate fan reaction, new and old contenders surfaced, real dramas unfolded and ? for the first time in a long time ? young drivers in the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series seemed to grab more attention.
And, my goodness, was the finale at Homestead one to write home to mama about, or what? The countdown to Daytona is moving swiftly, and 2012 will be here before you know it.
I don't know about you, but I'm already excited for it.
Agree with my ramblings? Did I miss something? Hate my guts? The comment section is all yours.
George Abecassis Kenny Acheson Andrea de Adamich Philippe Adams
Second Day Of Valencia Moto2 Test A Washout: No Times, But Some Intrigue And Gossip
After a first day of useful testing for the Moto2 class at Valencia, the second day was a complete washout. The day started off wet, the rain getting heavier as the day progressed, severely limiting action on track. Just a handful of riders braved the conditions, including Alessandro Andreozzi, Scott Redding and Johann Zarco. Later in the afternoon, Toni Elias followed suit, the Spaniard taking one of the Aspar Suter's out for a spin as he closed on a deal with the team for 2012. Aspar already has Aleix Espargaro and Nico Terol signed, but Espargaro looks like being promoted to ride a CRT Aprilia in MotoGP for the team, making way for Elias to take the Moto2 ride. Contracts are expected to be signed in the next couple of days.
Source:
Monday
Kyle Busch: $50K penalty, NASCAR probation until end of year
NASCAR has spoken regarding further penalties for Kyle Busch, and the word is this: a $50,000 fine plus probation until the end of the year. But he will be in the car for Phoenix and Homestead.
This, of course, is in addition to the potential winnings lost by not running in the Nationwide or Sprint series races in Texas over the weekend. And Joe Gibbs Racing has not announced if it will level any in-house penalties on Busch.
Busch lost substantial money for himself and his team by missing two races over the weekend. In the Sprint Cup series, Busch averaged a 12th-place finish this year; at Texas that paid David Ragan $116,625. In Nationwide, Busch averaged a fifth-place finish, which at Texas paid Brad Keselowski $24,225.
NASCAR has also begun the laborious process of drawing definitive lines for behavior, lines that the sport has until now been loath to set down in writing. "If during the remaining NASCAR events in 2011 there is another action by the competitor that is deemed by NASCAR officials as detrimental to stock car racing or to NASCAR, or is disruptive to the orderly conduct of an event, the competitor will be suspended indefinitely from NASCAR." In other words: no more retaliation,�Kyle ... if, of course, you believe the threats.
The major problem with the Kyle Busch suspension isn't that it happened, it's that NASCAR needs to establish precedent rather than pulling a "know it when we see it" approach. Now we know where the line is for any driver retaliating while the race is under caution, and potentially during green-flag runs as well.
�
Helmut Marko on 2012 at STR: ?We are looking for a top F1 driver??
Red Bull motor sport chief Helmut Marko insists that no decisions have yet been made on who will drive for Toro Rosso next year, and says that the options will be discussed next month. The team has four candidates, with … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2011/11/28/helmut-mrako-on-2012-at-str-we-are-looking-for-a-top-f1-driver/
Porsche Design Tower set to be built in Miami
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We all know that automakers have slowly begun to pay more attention to consumer goods as a way of branching out their business models, but in the case of Porsche Design - Porsche’s styling arm - they might have taken it to a whole new level by diving into real estate development.
No, they’re not building their own theme park like Ferrari did, but they did build a new condominium project in the heart of Miami Beach.
The building is set to be christened the "Porsche Design Tower" and will be a collaborative project between the company and real estate developer Gil Dezer. The new condominium is expected to rise on 2.2 acres of real estate along Collins Avenue in Miami, making up 132 housing units on the 57-story building. One of the most fascinating features of the Porsche Design Tower is the inclusion of three robotic car elevators that will allow you to actually bring your own car up to your condos without, apparently, needing your own basement parking.
We’re more than interested to see how the whole set-up is going to work, but we have neither the car nor the funds to make a play for one of those units, which, we expect, will sell for more than what our bank accounts can handle.
But hey, the whole idea of bringing your car up to your condo unit is pretty sweet in its own right. At the very least, you won’t have to worry about it being stolen in the basement.
Porsche Design Tower set to be built in Miami originally appeared on topspeed.com on Saturday, 26 November 2011 18:00 EST.
Source: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-news/porsche-design-tower-set-to-be-built-in-miami-ar120414.html
Michael Andretti Keith Andrews Elio de Angelis Marco Apicella
Hamilton targets victory in Brazil
McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton has targeted a positive finish to the 2011 Formula 1 season in Brazil this weekend. Interlagos plays host to the final Grand Prix of the year and Hamilton ? who secured victory in Abu Dhabi last time out ? has spoken positively about his chances of further success. The 26-year-old said: [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Formula1Fancast/~3/c4S7vAlAiDI/hamilton-targets-victory-in-brazil
Sunday
Tony Stewart crew chief Darian Grubb: Win on Sunday, fired on Monday?
As of Monday, it appears he's out of a job.
One of the most fascinating subplots of the immediate postrace celebration was the fact that Grubb has done what no other crew chief has managed in the last half-decade, and yet he's still apparently going to be looking for work.
[Related: Tony Stewart beats Carl Edwards to win Sprint Cup title]
Certainly, Grubb's performance in the early part of the year could have justified a firing. Stewart limped into the Chase, appearing to have little to compete with the workhorse programs of Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch.
Still, Stewart won the first two races of the Chase, and suddenly the ship started turning in the right direction. But then Stewart slid back in the pack, and the Stewart-Haas braintrust made the decision: Grubb was gone as of the end of the season. The team notified him of his impending unemployment as of the Charlotte race in October.
But to hear Grubb tell it, that decision was made in haste, without giving him time to see the season through. In an awkward postrace interview, Grubb said he was "pleading" to be given the rest of the season. He added that he finds this entire decision "baffling." He's not certain whether a Cup win will help his chances, and he's not certain if, even if he were offered his job back, he'd take it.
[Related: Legend of Tony Stewart cemented in full]
Stewart studiously avoided answering any question relating to Grubb's future. He initially blew off the question with a joke: "In the immediate future, I'm going to get him drunk." But then he lapsed into the usual bureaucratic ownerspeak, saying that there were many options to consider in any offseason. But he also avoided giving Grubb anything resembling a vote of confidence.
Perhaps Stewart and Grubb will meet and Grubb will re-up with the man whom he crewed to a championship. And perhaps Stewart will decide to look in a different direction with the expectation that his next championship won't be so close. Either way, Grubb won't be out of work for long. There aren't many crew chiefs working these days with a Cup to their credit.
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Rubens Barrichello Michael Bartels Edgar Barth Giorgio Bassi
Sebastian Vettel: ?We need to make another step?
Sebastian Vettel was happy with Red Bull?s progress at Interlagos today, but said that there was more to come ? and cautioned that everything could change anyway if the expected rain arrives. Vettel was fourth in FP1 today and moved … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2011/11/25/sebastian-vettel-we-need-to-make-another-step/
Tony Bettenhausen Mike Beuttler Birabongse Bhanubandh Lucien Bianchi
Subaru Impreza WRX STI A-Line Type S
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Joining the 2012 Subaru Impreza WRX STI S206 as new models in Subaru’s line-up is a new option for the WRX STI A-Line called the Type S.
Though it draws a lot of similarities to its A-Line predecessor - including the use of a 2.5-liter turbo engine with 300 horsepower - the new A-Line Type S will still carry some new trims. Among the new features added to the four-door and five-door versions of the car are a new rear spoiler, a pair of Recaro bucket seats, and a new set of specially designed 18" wheels.
Considering that the WRX STI A-Line Type S is treated as the more conservative model of the whole line, the car will retail for 3.28 million Yen, which is around $42,240 based on current exchange rates.
We all know that Subaru has already made it known that they’re going to separate the WRX and STI lines with the Impreza from here on out. So if you’re one that appreciates posterity, the Impreza WRX STI A-Line Type S could very well be one of the last specially packaged models to carry both names on its badge.
Subaru Impreza WRX STI A-Line Type S originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 25 November 2011 20:00 EST.
Source: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/subaru/2011-subaru-impreza-wrx-sti-a-line-type-s-ar120577.html
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