Indy Car Info

Wednesday

Repsol Media Press Release Interview: Marc Marquez, On Sepang 1, and Learning to Ride a MotoGP Machine

After yesterday's interview with Dani Pedrosa, the Repsol Media Service issued a press release containing an interview with MotoGP rookie Marc Marquez. In the interview, the 2012 Moto2 champion talks mainly about the process of learning to ride a MotoGP bike. The interview is shown in full below:

"You can have a lot of fun on this bike"

Repsol rider shines in first test of the year in Malaysia.

After first wearing the Repsol Honda Team uniform in the team presentation at the end of January, last week Marc Márquez was back on his new MotoGP bike to ride alongside the stars of the class. He made a positive assessment of the three days of testing in Malaysia.

What is your assessment of these three days of testing at Sepang?

"The first practice is always special, because you're always nervous after winter. I felt very good, better than I expected with the bike. With the team everything is working well and we're integrating slowly. I've tried new things and I also had my first crash with the MotoGP bike. It was not a big one and little-by-little we are getting to know the bike, which is what preseason is all about."

After three days of testing on the RC213V, what do you most enjoy and what was hardest when riding?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/0xpE7QsvKmE/repsol_media_press_release_interview_mar.html

Erwin Bauer Zsolt Baumgartner Elie Bayol Don Beauman

2012 season in the rear view: Clint Bowyer

Vitals: 2nd in the points standings. 3 wins, 10 top 5s, 13 top 10s. 4 DNFs.

Moment to remember: Clint Bowyer's first season at Michael Waltrip Racing netted him his first road course victory and (surprisingly) his first victory at a 1.5 mile track in the Sprint Cup Series.

In June at Sonoma, Bowyer started sixth and was damn good, leading 71 of the race's 110 laps. He had Kurt Busch alongside him and Tony Stewart behind him when a caution to bring out a green, white, checkered restart flew, but easily pulled away from Stewart and Busch over the final two laps for the win.

In the fall race at Charlotte, Bowyer took the lead on lap 310 from Greg Biffle and made it to the end on fuel for the win. The victory moved Bowyer to within 28 points of leader Brad Keselowski with five races to go.

Moment to forget: This is only here because of the impact it had on Bowyer's Chase chances, because this sure as hell isn't a forgettable moment.

After Bowyer and Jeff Gordon made contact racing for position, Gordon took matters into his own hands (car? fender?) and took out Bowyer. And then that led to one of the greatest garage sprints in NASCAR history.

Bowyer left Phoenix 52 points behind Brad Keselowski, mathematically out of championship contention.

The impact of Gordon's retaliation to Bowyer's championship hopes was an afterthought to the chaos that had occurred. But when Jimmie Johnson had his issue at Homestead, that allowed Bowyer to slip into second place behind Keselowski.

Bowyer was running in the top 10 at the time of his contact with Gordon, and by virtue of his 28th place finish, likely lost about 20 points. His chances going into Homestead would have been slim, and he wouldn't have caught Keselowski regardless, but Bowyer would have been at the championship press conference and in the discussion. Instead, while he was storyline 1A at Homestead thanks to the conflict, his championship hopes were an afterthought.

The wrap: Speaking of afterthoughts, when we look back on the 2012 season in five or 10 years, will people instinctively think that Johnson finished second to Keselowski? That's not discounting anything that Bowyer did -- what he accomplished with a new team and the improvement that Michael Waltrip Racing made is one of the best stories of the year.

It's just that the championship battle moments, the duel at Texas, the comeback at Kansas, the turning point at Phoenix, all involved Keselowski and Johnson. Yeah, even the most casual fans of NASCAR will remember Bowyer for what happened at Phoenix, but hopefully they'll remember that he finished second too.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/2012-season-rear-view-clint-bowyer-145909662--nascar.html

Skip Barber Paolo Barilla Rubens Barrichello Michael Bartels

Lewis Hamilton move would not be a huge surprise

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/09/lewis_hamilton_move_would_not.html

Colin Chapman Dave Charlton Pedro Matos Chaves Bill Cheesbourg

More Accolades for COTA?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nofenders/zbjv/~3/gKsdeDLb0-o/more-accolades-for-cota.html

Michael Bartels Edgar Barth Giorgio Bassi Erwin Bauer

Mark Webber: ?The car gives me confidence to push?

After the first two days of testing in Spain an optimistic Mark Webber says that Red Bull is better off than at this stage in 2012. Although he paid no attention to overall lap times Webber was second fastest on … Continue reading →

Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2013/02/06/mark-webber-the-car-gives-me-confidence-to-push/

Gary Brabham Jack Brabham† Bill Brack Ernesto Brambilla

Tuesday

Kurt Busch makes Forbes list of disliked athletes for the second straight time

Kurt Busch's move to Phoenix Racing to get back to "old-school" and fun racing didn't do much for his public standing according to Forbes. For the second year in a row, Busch made the publication's list of the top 10 most disliked athletes.

After coming in at No. 10 last year, Busch was No. 8 this season, behind Michael Vick and ahead of Kobe Bryant.

In 2012, Busch was suspended for the season's first race at Pocono after threatening a reporter after a Nationwide Series race at Dover when Busch was asked about racing against Justin Allgaier. That incident was preceded by a fracas in May after the Southern 500 at Darlington when Ryan Newman's crew was unhappy with Busch's driving on pit road after a late race caution.

In September, the 2004 champion announced that he would be driving for Furniture Row Racing in 2013 and made the move to the team for the final six races of 2012. In his final race for Phoenix Racing, he drove away after getting spun out with safety officials near his car and an equipment bag on top of it and said that he couldn't hear NASCAR officials' calls for him to stop because he had his helmet off.

There was a tie atop the Forbes list between Lance Armstrong and Manti Te'o. Armstrong's place at the top after his doping admission is understandable. Te'o's is less so. Many people must be skeptical of Te'o's story that he was completely hoaxed by Roniah Tuiasosopo who was posing as Te'o's girlfriend, Lennay Kekua. Or they don't have much sympathy.

College football video from Yahoo! Sports:

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/kurt-busch-makes-forbes-list-disliked-athletes-second-001705222--nascar.html

Ivor Bueb Sebastien Buemi Luiz Bueno Ian Burgess

2013 MotoGP Sepang 1 Test, Day 1 Round Up: Surprises We Expected - Marquez, Rossi and Ducati

It would be one of the larger understatements of the decade to say that the first MotoGP test of the year at Sepang was eagerly anticipated. After the anti-climactic washout that was Valencia, many big questions of the 2013 season had been left hanging in the air over the winter. Given that motorcycle racing fans hate a vacuum even more than Nature does, they filled it, with speculation, conjecture, hyperbole and not a small amount of vitriol.

Would Valentino Rossi prove he still has it, or was his switch to Ducati merely the start of his downhill slide to retirement? Is Marc Marquez the real thing, or were his results in Moto2 deceptive, and down only to skullduggery on the part of his former team? Can Yamaha match the Hondas, or does the advantage which Dani Pedrosa had over the second half of the season mean it will be impossible for Jorge Lorenzo to defend his title? What of Ducati? Will Andrea Dovizioso succeed where Rossi failed, and will the Italian factory be able to claw back some of the ground they have been steadily losing to the Japanese factories since 2007?

After nearly 8 hours of track time - more than many expected, with rain forecast for the period during the test - we have answers to replace the speculation, and data to fill the gaping void created by the winter testing break. Were the answers found a surprise? That depends on your perspective. Did anyone seriously think Rossi wouldn't get closer on the Yamaha to the front runners than he did on the Ducati? No. But does the gap to Pedrosa - 0.427 seconds - mean he is fast enough to compete for the championship, or will it leave him running round in third all year? Was anyone surprised by Marquez running up front right from the off? Surely not. But who predicted he would get within a few hundredths of his teammate on just his second proper test? Did anyone seriously expect the Ducatis to have closed the gap to Honda and Yamaha? That would be crazy. But to be two seconds down?

Source:

http://www.motogp.com/en/videos/latest+videos#2013+MotoGP+Sepang+Test+DA...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/I8tEgNClKVs/2013_motogp_sepang_1_test_day_1_round_up.html

Colin Chapman Dave Charlton Pedro Matos Chaves Bill Cheesbourg

Lewis Hamilton move would not be a huge surprise

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/09/lewis_hamilton_move_would_not.html

Chris Amon Bob Anderson Conny Andersson Mario Andretti

Moto2 and Moto3 Meet for First Major Test of 2013 at Valencia - What to Look Out For.

After the MotoGP class kicked off the 2013 preseason at Sepang, testing season is now well and truly opened. From Tuesday, the Moto2 and Moto3 teams assemble at Valencia for their first group test of the year, a test which should provide a few clues to the way the 2013 might develop, while raising more questions to be answered at the following test next week at Jerez.

It is not the first time on the track for everyone, however. A gaggle of KTM-mounted Moto3 teams have already posted laps at Almeria, joined there by the reigning Moto3 champion Sandro Cortese on his Kalex Moto2 machine, while another group of Moto3 boys had a shakedown test at Cartagena. As neither Almeria nor Cartagena, both located in Southern Spain, appear on the Grand Prix calendar, the lessons learned will be useful, but limited, the bikes still needing work once the teams arrive at Valencia for the three-day test, from 12th to 14th of February.

Source:

http://www.livefrompitlane.com/2013/02/05/1554/

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/GvLR2bz0teQ/moto2_and_moto3_meet_for_first_major_tes.html

Fabrizio Barbazza John Barber Skip Barber Paolo Barilla

Kasey Kahne to drive for JR Motorsports in Nationwide Series; Danica Patrick to Turner?

The first business day of 2013 brought some driver and sponsorship news on the Nationwide Series front.

JR Motorsports announced that Kasey Kahne and Brad Sweet would split time driving the No. 5 car for the team in 2013 with sponsorship from Great Clips. If the combination of drivers and sponsor sounds familiar, it's because it is. The two drove the Great Clips car for Turner Motorsports last season.

The sponsorship will be for 28 races, with 27 of them for the No. 5 car and Kahne or Sweet.� (Kahne now gets to be one of the few drivers identifiable by a sole number in multiple series.) The other race will be for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88. Regan Smith, who won the final race of the season at Homestead for JRM, will run the No. 7 car full-time. The team is still looking for funding for Cole Whitt, who drove the No. 88 car last year.

You may remember that Danica Patrick drove the No. 7 for JR Motorsports last year. While Patrick is moving to the Sprint Cup Series full-time for Stewart-Haas Racing, she's planning to run 10 Nationwide Series races next year and according to ESPN, those races will come with Turner Motorsports. Similar to JR Motorsports, Turner gets engines and equipment from Hendrick Motorsports, where Stewart-Haas receives its Sprint Cup Series engines and chassis.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/kasey-kahne-drive-jr-motorsports-nationwide-series-danica-010344732--nascar.html

Walt Brown Warwick Brown Adolf Brudes Martin Brundle

Monday

2013 MotoGP Sepang 1 Test, Day 3 Round Up: Rossi, Pedrosa, Ducati - Joy, Determination, Despair

Joy, determination and despair. If you had to choose three words to describe the first test of the 2013 MotoGP season, these are the words you would choose. Joy: for Valentino Rossi and his crew at finally having a bike that Rossi can ride and his team understand how to work with; for HRC, at seeing both their hopes and their expectations of Marc Marquez' ability confirmed; for Bradley Smith and Michael Laverty, at making such rapid progress on their early days in the class.

Determination: for Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo, both working hard at preparing for their assault at a title which either could win. For Marc Marquez, focused on learning everything he can to add the consistency he needs to his raw speed, if he is to match Pedrosa and Lorenzo.

Despair: for the factory Ducati riders. Sepang showed the bike is uncompetitive, and with few avenues left to explore with the machine in its present state, despair at knowing they have many months of hard, dispiriting work ahead of them before they can even start to turn the situation around.

Source:

http://solomoto.es/1/1360260399/motogp/rossi-desde-sepang-podemos-luchar...

http://www.gpone.com/index.php/en/201302079350/Dovizioso-lottiamo-contro...

http://www.gpone.com/index.php/en/201302079337/Nakamoto-Marquez-sta-imit...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/tvc7F1R_Pmc/2013_motogp_sepang_1_test_day_3_round_up.html

Erwin Bauer Zsolt Baumgartner Elie Bayol Don Beauman

BMW 4-Series Coupe

Posted on 02.11.2013 11:15 by Simona

Now that we have finally seen the next-generation BMW 3-Series, it’s time to focus on the coupe version of the model: the 4-Series Coupe. The new model will make its official debut sometime in early-2013, and will start production in July 2013. The 4-Series will have its sights set on the Audi A5 family.

When thinking about the next 4-Series Coupe, imagine a smaller 6-Series with design similar to the current 3-Series, except that it will be a sportier model. The vehicle will be a few inches longer than the sedan version and will feature a more aggressive front end with the new-style exposed, three-dimensional BMW double kidney grille and a larger rear window.

As for the engine lineup, expect it to be similar to the 3-Series sedan version. There will be a choice of four engines - two petrol and two diesel - with the most powerful version being the 435i with an output of 306 horsepower.

The 4-Series Coupe will be shortly followed by a convertible model.

Update 2/11/2013: Thanks to the folks at 4-series.com , as they have obtained a leaked document that details the variants of the upcoming BMW 4-Series and the production dates. The F32 ? the internal code name for the hard-top variant — will enter production in July of this year. The base variant will be a 2.0-liter four-cylinder-powered BMW 428i followed by a much more powerful 3.0-liter in-line-six-powered BMW 435i. On top of these base models are the 428xi and a 435xi, both of which will feature BMW?s famed xDrive all-wheel drive.

BMW 4-Series Coupe originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 11 February 2013 11:15 EST.

Source: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/bmw/2014-bmw-4-series-coupe-ar118747.html

Trevor Blokdyk Mark Blundell Raul Boesel Menato Boffa

2013 Preseason Preview: No. 10 Matt Kenseth

As we count down to the 2013 Daytona 500, we're also counting down how we think the Chase will play out this season as predicted by Nick Bromberg, Jay Busbee, Jay Hart and Geoffrey Miller. So sit back, relax, and watch the 2013 Chase unfold before your very eyes. Though you should be warned, we picked Carl Edwards to win last year.

2012 Finish: 5th. Three wins (Daytona, Talladega, Kansas)

2013 Predictions:
Bromberg: 8th
Busbee: NR
Hart: 6th
Miller: 12th

Crew Chief: Jason Ratcliff

When we last saw Kenseth: He was winning two Chase races but nowhere near title contention. Why? Well, his teammate Greg Biffle, who we profiled Thursday, was out of the hunt after three straight finishes in the teens to open the Chase. Kenseth started with an 18th and a 14th and then finished 35th at Dover to find himself in the basement of the Chase.

Big Question for 2013: This one is pretty obvious, eh? Will there be a transition period at Joe Gibbs Racing? Kenseth announced that he was leaving the only Sprint Cup Series team he had ever known in Roush Fenway in June -- when he was atop the points standings. In the fall, he revealed that he was moving to JGR's No. 20 car and his presence means its an explicit disappointment if all three of the JGR cars miss the Chase.

Track most likely to win at: If this was last year's car and last year's team and crew chief combination (with Jimmy Fennig atop the pit box), this would be easy: Daytona and Talladega. Kenseth and Fennig had something special at the plate tracks, leading 245 laps and winning once at each track.

Track most likely to require a miracle to win at: Sonoma. Kenseth has finished in the top 10 once in 13 races in wine country and that was an eighth place finish in 2008.

How Kenseth could win the Chase: The man who won the last pre-Chase title gets a couple more wins in the regular season and avoids the crazy engine and random troubles that have plagued both Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin over recent seasons. At worst, Kenseth is making a lateral move in teams; not making the Chase with Gibbs would be just as big a surprise as if he was still at Roush.

How Kenseth couldn't: The adjustment to JGR and new crew chief Ratcliff takes the entire regular season and Kenseth misses the Chase.

A Haiku:
A champ makes a move
Matt's now a Husky driver
Another title?

Related NASCAR video on Yahoo! Sports

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/2013-preseason-preview-no-10-matt-kenseth-150353171--nascar.html

JeanPierre Beltoise Olivier Beretta Allen Berg Georges Berger

Random facts about the 2012 Nationwide Series

Needing some random and totally useless NASCAR facts about the 2012 season to tantalize your friends with at your New Year's Eve party? You've come to the right spot! Today, it's the Nationwide Series!

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. scored 29 more points to win the title this year than he did last year. That's attributable in part to four more wins (6 to 2) and three more top 10s (19 to 16).

In fact, both Elliott Sadler and Austin Dillon scored more points in 2012 than Stenhouse did in 2011 when he won the title.

Just like younger brother Ty in the Camping World Truck Series, Austin Dillon completed the most laps in the Nationwide Series and completed all but one circuit. That's pretty impressive. That one lap he missed was at the second Iowa race when he finished 15th, the first car a lap down.

To continue the Dillon theme, he had the highest average finish of all Nationwide regulars with an average finish of 7.1. Stenhouse's average finish was 7.3, while Sadler's was 7.5.

13 drivers started all 33 Nationwide Series races. Jason Bowles was the only one of them to not score a top 10 finish.

Drivers who weren't eligible for Nationwide Series points won 20 races, led by Joey Logano with nine. Other points-ineligible winners were Brad Keselowski (3), Kevin Harvick (2), Kurt Busch (2), Carl Edwards, Regan Smith, James Buescher, Nelson Piquet Jr. and Nur Ali. (OK, so we're kidding on that one.)

413 points separated Stenhouse from the 10th place driver in the Nationwide standings, Danica Patrick. To put that in an average finish perspective, while Stenhouse's points average out to approximately 7th place, Patrick's average finish was 18.8.

Stephen Leicht boasted the series worst start-to-miles driven ratio. In five races, Leicht completed 24.57 miles, good for an average of 4.914 miles per race. And Leicht made no starts at tracks shorter than a mile.

The first race on the new configuration at Kansas Speedway boasted the most cautions in the series at 12. The only other race in double digits in the yellow flag category was the second Phoenix race. The fewest number of cautions came at Kentucky (2).

Predictably, the three races with the most lead changes were the three restrictor plate races. The non-restrictor plate race with the most lead changes was the fall Charlotte race with 21. 15 races featured fewer than 10 lead changes.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/random-facts-2012-nationwide-series-232314849--nascar.html

Derek Bell Stefan Bellof Paul Belmondo Tom Belso

Sunday

HRC Boss Reveals Details of Honda's Production Racer: Conventional Valves, Standard Gearbox, a Million Euros

The production racer version of Honda's RC213V is another step closer to reality. At Sepang, HRC Vice President Shuhei Nakamoto spoke to reporters and the MotoGP.com website about the new bike, and the progress being made on the machine which will take the place of the CRT machines from 2014 onwards. The bike is delayed, Nakamoto said, but it will be ready in time for the tests at Valencia, after the final race of the season in November.

Nakamoto gave a brief rundown of the specifications of the production RC213V - a bike which, given the amount of publicity it is going to be generating over the next few months, badly needs a new name - though the list contained few surprises. The bike will have conventional valve springs, as opposed to pneumatic valves on the factory machine. It will not have the seamless gearbox used by the prototypes - again, not a surprise, as maintenance on the gearbox is still an HRC-only affair. This was not a matter of cost, Nakamoto said, claiming the seamless gearbox now costs almost the same as a standard unit.

Source:

http://www.gpone.com/index.php/en/201302079337/Nakamoto-Marquez-sta-imit...

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2013/Nakamoto+sums+up+Repsol+Honda+test+pe...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/M-uwA2zDY7g/hrc_boss_reveals_of_honda_s_production_r.html

Roberto Bonomi Juan Manuel Bordeu Slim Borgudd Luki Botha

Q&A With Josef Newgarden

Source: http://www.16thandgeorgetown.com/2012/10/q-with-josef-newgarden.html

Gerhard Berger Eric Bernard Enrique Bernoldi Enrico Bertaggia

MV Agusta Brutale 675

Posted on 02.10.2013 11:06 by Sulthoni , Serafim

MV Agusta?s Brutale range is considered a bench mark in the naked category as all models are packed with state of the art technologies, come with a modern design language and reward you with first class performances.

In 2013 the Brutale family has become even bigger, as the company launched a fresh model, namely the Brutale 675.

The bike features a refined mechanical design that has been matched with an ultra-technological chassis to deliver top notch performances.

The 2013 MV Agusta Brutale 675 is fitted with a light, agile and powerful engine that is currently the most advanced in the middle-weight segment. The new in-line three cylinder is based on the F3 unit and features a long list of advanced technologies. The engine?s output is rated at 108,5 hp at 12.500 rpm and 65 Nm of torque.

Hit the jump for more information on the 2013 MV Agusta Brutale 675.

MV Agusta Brutale 675 originally appeared on topspeed.com on Sunday, 10 February 2013 11:06 EST.

Source: http://www.topspeed.com/motorcycles/motorcycle-reviews/mv-agusta/2013-mv-agusta-brutale-675-ar145820.html

David Coulthard Piers Courage Chris Craft Jim Crawford

2013 MotoGP Sepang 1 Test, Day 1 Round Up: Surprises We Expected - Marquez, Rossi and Ducati

Source:

http://www.motogp.com/en/videos/latest+videos#2013+MotoGP+Sepang+Test+DA...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/I8tEgNClKVs/2013_motogp_sepang_1_test_day_1_round_up.html

Chuck Arnold Rene Arnoux Peter Arundell Alberto Ascari

Richard Childress confirms Kevin Harvick moving to Stewart-Haas in 2014

During the first day of the annual Sprint Cup Series media tour on Monday, Richard Childress affirmed that Kevin Harvick would be moving to Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014.

The move was first reported in November of last year, but neither Harvick, Childress or Tony Stewart had said anything in confirmation until Monday evening.

From USA Today:

We had a meeting and he told me his plans and we discussed what we were going to do in '13," Childress said Monday. "He'll do well over there at Stewart-Haas, and RCR will keep going and moving forward.

"I think him and Tony will have a good relationship."

For what it's worth, Harvick said he didn't have anything to unveil about his 2014 plans.

Harvick had talked in December about moving on from RCR, the team he's spent his entire Cup Series career with, at the end of 2013 and said he had reached out to Matt Kenseth for advice on how to handle a similar situation. Early last season, Kenseth announced that he wouldn't be returning to Roush Fenway Racing and joined Joe Gibbs Racing. Harvick and Stewart are friends and Stewart drove for Harvick in the Nationwide Series for Kevin Harvick Incorporated.

However, Harvick's situation most closely resembles that of Kasey Kahne, who signed to drive with Hendrick Motorsports starting in 2012 in 2010. That led to Kahne spending a year with Red Bull Racing in 2011 in his transition from Richard Petty Motorsports to Hendrick, where he finished 14th and won at Phoenix in the next-to-last race of the season.

Phoenix is where Harvick got his only win of the season last year and was the race that immediately followed the report of his departure from RCR. Harvick was the only RCR driver to make the Chase in the past two seasons, and after finishing third in 2011, finished eighth in 2012.

Childress comments also jive with Stewart saying earlier in the day at Stewart-Haas that a four-car team was a possibility in 2014 despite the current three-car team having some sponsorship openings for the current season. It's unknown whether Harvick's current sponsor, Budweiser, will make the move with him.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/richard-childress-confirms-kevin-harvick-moving-stewart-haas-133534087--nascar.html

John Barber Skip Barber Paolo Barilla Rubens Barrichello