Press releases from the Moto2 and Moto3 teams after the final day of testing at Jerez:
Year:
2012
Wednesday
Denny Hamlin teaches us all to Dougie
Some fun awkwardness from the Bristol driver intros: Denny Hamlin, showing us all how to Dougie. Work it, white boy, work it!
I'm thinking the dance portion of the intros should become a mandatory component of every race's pre-race extravaganza. Who'd be the best with the moves, you think?
Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/denny-hamlin-teaches-us-dougie-011629859.html
Andrea de Cesaris Francois Cevert Eugene Chaboud Jay Chamberlain
Don?t forget your GP+
Sign up today for GrandPrix+, Formula 1′s fastest e-magazine. This year there are going to be some events at which the magazine will be published BEFORE the race has been shown on television! GrandPrix+ features all the things one would expect from a classical F1 magazine: news, reports, features and perspectives of each F1 weekend, [...]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2012/03/17/dont-forget-your-gp/
Massa: The truth will emerge in Melbourne
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa has been speaking about his team’s preparations for the 2012 Formula 1 season. Check out our Ferrari review for 2011! The Brazilian – who will take part in testing this week – believes that he will try many new ideas as they look to find a winning formula for the season ahead. [...]
Kurt Adolff Fred Agabashian Kurt Ahrens Jr Christijan Albers
Danica Patrick, Jimmie Johnson remember Dan Wheldon, reflect on NASCAR?s safety
Five months ago, Dan Wheldon died during the inaugural running of IndyCar's Las Vegas 300. The events of the day haunted NASCAR then and now. As safe as the sport now is, with more than a decade since the last fatality, Wheldon's death was a shocking, painful reminder of how dangerous motorsports will always be.
Danica Patrick, now full-time in NASCAR, was in the field for the IndyCar race, and in her return to Las Vegas spoke in solemn tones about her memories of Wheldon and that weekend.
"My thoughts are still with Susie [Wheldon's wife] and the kids," she said. "There won't be a time when I come to Las Vegas where I won't think about Dan, and won't think about the family and hope they're doing well."
Patrick acknowledged that one simply cannot carry the pain of the day onto the track. "As race car drivers, our job is to drive the race car," she said. "We need to be able to do that with our whole heart and mind. It's in the moments where you don't have a singular focus, like walking up to the media center and seeing the Neon Garage, remembering the atmosphere [during Indy weekend] and where we pitted ... where you can have time to think about multiple things, [that's when] it gets to you."
"You try to push it out of your mind," Jimmie Johnson said. "You try not to think about it ... It's easier for us as drivers to say, 'Well, that was in a different car.� That was in a different style of racing.'� We just go out and do our jobs.� It was a very, very tough situation for motorsports and especially for the IndyCar drivers."
But Johnson touched on one of the key issues surrounding Wheldon's death. The fact that such an accident couldn't happen in the same way in NASCAR ? the driver's head isn't exposed, for starters ? means that NASCAR is safer, but by no means completely safe.
"The likelihood of clanging wheels, that doesn't happen in stock cars," Patrick said. "What made that accident happen doesn't happen with stock cars. You get too close to somebody and you bump somebody, you're just going to bump somebody. There's peace in that."
Peace, yes, but what about confidence? Even overconfidence?
"At times, especially when we go to plate tracks, we have to climb in and feel that we're indestructible because you know there's going to be a big wreck and the chances are that you're going to be in it," Johnson said. "The other tracks you feel like you're in a bit more control and you know you're going fast and things can go wrong, but I think we're wired to forget those things, to be honest with you."
Johnson got a firsthand look at exactly how vulnerable a driver can be with his wreck at Daytona (one which, incidentally, also involved Patrick).
"There's moments on track that still get my attention," he said. "Sliding down the middle of the race track at Daytona and knowing I was going to get plowed in the door, there was a lot of fear running through my veins at that point."
Johnson pointed out that there are still some small safety concerns with the car as it now stands: "The area above the driver's head. That's something from an intrusion standpoint and we see it more at the plate tracks where cars go tumbling ... you know it's a big, open area that is really just sheet metal up there. A bumper or something could come through there and make contact with the driver's head."
NASCAR has been fortunate to remain safe for the past decade. But safety innovations that are proactive are far better for the sport than ones that arrive after a tragedy. It's a testament to NASCAR that the drivers feel as safe as they do. Hopefully that'll be the case for years to come.
Tuesday
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin have words, trade paint
For about the first 71 laps, Las Vegas was one hell of a race for Dale Earnhardt Jr., since he led 70 of them. In a single afternoon, he totaled more laps led than he did in all of 2011.
But then a four-tire stop when many others took just two buried him back in the pack, and he was never able to get back to the lead. He cited a few problems, like tight handling, but overall just couldn't transition from running in clean air to running in traffic.
Still, there was one particular low point, when he rammed hard into former teammate Mark Martin, who proceeded to give him a little guff right back. To hear Junior tell it, though, respect for one's elders goes only so far.
"To me, personally, there is an unwritten etiquette ... when the guy is running the top," Earnhardt said. "I'm coming ten miles an hour faster off the top of the race track, you stay low. Don't knock a half second off my lap time being a jerk about it. Stay low. You are going to get it in the next corner and the position is going to be yours. Don't pull up in front of somebody when they are going to come off the corner ten miles an hour faster."
Martin, alas, did not offer any reply; his only postrace quotes both live and on Twitter were of the "rough day, should've been better" variety. Martin would end up 18th on the afternoon, dropping him four spots to 10th in the standings.
"I didn't really mean to put him in the wall, but from the cosmetic standpoint it didn't look like it hurt his car," Earnhardt said. "I was pretty frustrated at the moment before that happened, and that just kind of really sent me over the edge there. We just want to win really bad and felt like we should have finished better than we did today."
Earnhardt, for his part, now sits fourth in the standings. Now, fire away, Junior Nation and Anti-Junior Nation.
An Evening With INDYCAR
I am sure you will read pages upon pages of writing breaking down what happened at the state of INDYCAR presentation. There are many, better qualified word hacks to dissect what each and every item means, but that man is … Continue reading 
Source: https://anotherindycarblog.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/an-evening-with-indycar/
Toyota GT-86 Convertible
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Subaru and Toyota are continuing their sports car courtship by releasing drop top versions of their BRZ and GT-86 models in the next couple of years. We’ve already drawn up the BRZ Convertible, as well as Toyota’s more affordable Scion FR-S Convertible, but now it’s time for the GT-86 to get its turn on the drawing table.
Except for the roof, the GT-86 Convertible will feature the same design and technology as the coupe model. It will be a compact rear-wheel-drive sports coupe with an aerodynamic body that rides low to the ground to improve handling and allow it to cut through the air with ease. The fascia will be completely aggressive with long slit-looking headlights giving it a mean and intimidating look, as well as an enlarged lower grille and a bold "Scorpion" styling to the lower grille. Under the hood, it will feature the same 2.0 liter, naturally-aspirated petrol engine with 200 HP at 7000 rpm and 151 lb-ft of torque at 6600 rpm. This engine will be mated to either a six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic transmission.
The new Toyota GT-86 Convertible will be unveiled sometime in 2013 and will cost about $2,000 more than the coupe model. The Japanese market will be the first to receive it and they will be followed by the rest of the world.
Toyota GT-86 Convertible originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 19 March 2012 17:00 EST.
Source: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/toyota/2014-toyota-gt-86-convertible-ar125810.html
Monday
Why Believe The Penalty PR Game?
Next week in a room at NASCAR’s R&D facility in Concord, N.C., retired General Motors executive John Middlebrook will hear the final appeal of Hendrick Motorsports. The crime of course being “c-posts” that, according to NASCAR, did not meet specifications. Soon after, we’ll learn what Middlebrook’s decision is. Given his past, there is a chance [...] 
TheNASCARInsiders.com
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNascarInsiders/~3/xXg53PuRa-U/
Birabongse Bhanubandh Lucien Bianchi Gino Bianco Hans Binder
Introducing the Team Peugeot Cobra TC2000
We live days of presentations and announcements in regard to the national auto racing. The most popular and important categories of motor sport in Argentina are outlining their strategies and are showing their weapons to achieve their different goals on the track, victory and glory. In this case we show the picture of the formal [...]
Source: http://www.autocarblog.co.uk/178-introducing-the-team-peugeot-cobra-tc2000.html
Danica Patrick to compete in Tony Stewart?s Prelude to the Dream
Patrick has signed up to compete in the Prelude to the Dream charity race put on by her NASCAR Sprint Cup Series owner (and teammate) Tony Stewart on Wednesday, June 8th at Eldora Speedway.
Stewart owns the dirt track and the Prelude regularly features NASCAR and other major series stars with all of the proceeds going to charity. After racing in a team format for children's hospitals, this year's Prelude is the Feed the Children Prelude to the Dream, with all proceeds benefiting FeedTheChildren.org.
According to Patrick, this will be the first time she's raced on dirt since she was 10 years old.
"I raced on dirt once before in a go-kart when I was young, but that's about it. It's going to be a challenge for sure, but I know Tony has offered to help in any way possible. I'm excited about it, but I'm also nervous," Patrick said in a release. "It's a totally different style of racing, so I'm not sure what to expect. But it's for a great cause with Feed the Children benefiting from the money raised this year, so I'm ready to give it a shot."
Clint Bowyer, who won last year's race, will be joining Patrick and Stewart and 15 other announced drivers, including Justin Allgaier, Aric Almirola, Dave Blaney, Kurt Busch, Ron Capps, Ty Dillon, Bill Elliott, Ray Evernham, David Gilliland, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Kanaan, Bobby Labonte, Ryan Newman, Cruz Pedregon and Kenny Wallace. Six more drivers will be announced next week.
The Prelude to the Dream will once again be televised via HBO Pay-Per-View.
GP+ is ready for downloading ? six and a half hours after the race
The fastest magazine in Formula 1. GrandPrix+ features all the things one would expect from a classical F1 magazine: news, reports, features and perspectives of each F1 weekend, plus exceptional pictures. Completely organic, it grows during a weekend, is not pre-planned, so it is very flexible. GP+ is a full-colour e-magazine, produced in PDF format, [...]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2012/03/18/coming-soon-gp-2/
Sunday
Who remembers the 1988 Australian Grand Prix?
We are not too far away from the 2012 Australian Grand Prix and everyone is rightly excited. You can check out the drivers that need to deliver in 2012 right here. However, we are going to be building up to Melbourne with a series of videos from races gone by. To begin with, do you [...]
#winning! Brad Keselowski takes down Bristol with a dominating run
The first thing Brad Keselowski did when he reached victory lane at Bristol? Tweet a photo, of course.
NASCAR's social-media monster proved he's not just a master of the hashtag on Sunday with a thoroughly dominating run at the Food City 500. He led 111 laps, by far the most of his Sprint Cup career, en route to his second straight Bristol victory. And he got to make what he called "my favorite turn in racing," the turn onto Bristol's rooftop victory lane.
[ Related: Keselowski led 231 laps at Bristol | Results ]
Keselowski won with what he called earlier in the week the best Sprint Cup car he'd ever driven, and he did so despite a furious challenge from Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth. (And perhaps a wee bit of NCAA referee-style officiating from NASCAR officials, who didn't flag Kenseth for what appeared to be a possible jump of the restart mid-race.)
An inch or two another direction, and Keselowski wouldn't have had the chance to win. He came within a coat of paint of getting caught up in Kasey Kahne's early race wreck. But since that wreck took out three of the odds-on favorites to win in Kahne, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch, the way was clear for Keselowski. And in the end, not even Kenseth could catch him.
Outside of Keselowski, this was a race of redemption for a couple of mid-pack teams. Michael Waltrip Racing finished 3-4-5 with Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer and Brian Vickers in his Sprint Cup debut. And Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing's Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya finished seventh and eighth.
But this day belonged to Keselowski, who completed the multi-manufacturer sweep; each of the four manufacturers has now won a race this season. (Keselowski's Dodge now joins Kenseth's Ford, Denny Hamlin's Dodge and Tony Stewart's Chevy in the win column.) And he's certainly poised for many more, both this year and at Thunder Valley.
"What can I say?" he smiled. "I love Bristol and Bristol loves me."
Other popular content on the Yahoo! network:
? Pat Forde: Kentucky still going strong on run for NCAA title
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? Super Bowl hero Mario Manningham signs with San Francisco 49ers
? U.S. News & World Report: Places where people live the longest
GP+ is ready for downloading ? six and a half hours after the race
The fastest magazine in Formula 1. GrandPrix+ features all the things one would expect from a classical F1 magazine: news, reports, features and perspectives of each F1 weekend, plus exceptional pictures. Completely organic, it grows during a weekend, is not pre-planned, so it is very flexible. GP+ is a full-colour e-magazine, produced in PDF format, [...]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2012/03/18/coming-soon-gp-2/
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