2010 Imola WSBK QP2 Results - Crutchlow Fastest, But Wet Track Leaves Grid Unchanged

Sterilgarda Yamaha's Cal Crutchlow was the fastest man on Saturday morning at Imola, but a damp track meant that nobody improved on their times set yesterday in the first session of qualifying. As a result, Carlos Checa still leads going into Superpole, ahead of Johnny Rea, Leon Haslam and Noriyuki Haga.

Results: 

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JIMMY BUTTON JEAN-MICHEL BAYLE DOUG DUBACH

Watch Martin Brundle's grid walk

Martin Brundle's Singapore Grand Prix grid walk on the BBC iPlayer

Sebastian Vettel Jenson Button Felipe Massa

Marvin Musquin Takes MX2 Title in Benelux GP (Lierop)

Marvin Musquin Takes MX2 Title in Benelux GP (Lierop)

The MXGP Race Report

Marvin Musquin finished second overall in the Benelux Grand Prix but was crowned the 2010 FIM MX2 World Champion already after the first heat thanks partly to Roczen’s misfortune, pulling out of the opening moto. The Grand Prix victory went on hands of his compatriot Gautier Paulin. In MX1 Antonio Cairoli struggled a little bit on the Dutch track but managed to clinch the overall victory and continues breaking records in the History of the sport.

Photo Gallery: Marvin Musquin Takes MX2 Title in Benelux GP (Lierop) - Dirt Rider Magazine

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Richard Childress Richard Childress Racing Ray Evernham

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TREY CANARD MIKE BROWN MIKE LAROCCO

Williams, Sauber give emerging talents their shot at the big leagues

Filed under: Motorsports, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, BMW

A growing array of F1 teams have been developing young driver programs over the past few years. BMW ranked high among them while competing in the top-tier racing series, but in its absence, the teams it partnered with have picked up the proverbial mantle.

Williams Grand Prix, which ran with BMW engines and factory support from 2000-2005, is giving a test drive to one Dean Stoneman. The 20-year-old Brit recently won the Formula 2 title, a series to which Williams supplies the spec chassis.

After parting company with Williams, BMW acquired the Sauber F1 team, from which it has since divested. The Swiss outfit has likewise announced the signing of Esteban Gutierrez - pictured right, with Peter Sauber - as its test and reserve driver for next season.

The 19-year-old Mexican driver, who's been affiliated with the team for a couple of years now, recently claimed the championship in the new GP3 series, driving for the ART Grand Prix team run by Nicolas Todt, manager of former Sauber driver (and current Ferrari pilot) Felipe Massa, and son of FIA president and former Ferrari chief Jean Todt. Ferrari has had longstanding ties with Sauber, and currently supplies their engines.

Both drivers will be lining up alongside other aspiring talents at the post-season F1 young driver test in Abu Dhabi this coming November.

[Sources: Autosport, pitpass]

Williams, Sauber give emerging talents their shot at the big leagues originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 22 Sep 2010 07:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Larry McClure Morgan-McClure Motorsports Eric McClure

Elliott Sadler Leads Cup Drivers in Crashes and Spins

Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Elliott Sadler, Kevin Harvick, Sam Hornish Jr., NASCAR Crashes, Sprint Cup, Joey Logano, FanHouse Exclusive, IRL

It's a sad irony that the driver who has had the hardest crash of the year, Elliott Sadler at Pocono in July, is also the driver who has been involved in the most incidents

After getting involved in a four-car crash in turn 2 late in the race two weeks ago at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Sadler chalked up incident number 14 for the year.

That put him in the lead, ahead of Sam Hornish Jr. and Joey Logano, who each have been involved in 13 spins or crashes that prompted yellow flags.

It's time for another installment of our exclusive FanHouse crash and spin roundup. And after 28 races, with eight more to go, while Sadler leads with 14, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick have been involved in the fewest, with two each.

The worst of Sadler's 14, of course, was his full speed, head-on crash into an earthen berm at Pocono on Aug. 1 -- number 12 on his list. Although Sadler was unhurt save for some serious soreness, the engine and most of the front end of his car was torn off by the impact (right). NASCAR officials later told him it was the hardest crash their in-car monitoring devices had ever recorded.

Sadler's year-long record, however, is not so much a reflection of a sudden burst of futility, but more of a steady, relentlessly consistency. Since the last time we checked 13 races ago, Sadler has surged into the lead past Marcos Ambrose, who held the lead at 10. But in the last 13 races, Ambrose got his act together, and only added two more incidents, so he's at 12 after 28 races,

 

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Renault Force India-Mercedes Williams-Cosworth

Has Schumacher actually gotten worse this F1 season?

Two competing views of Michael Schumacher are making the rounds on the Interweb today. In one corner, Ross Brawn is adamant that Schumacher hasn’t lost it. In the other is BBC pundit Mark Hughes, who says the Schumacher of old has been replaced by an old Schumacher. Which one of them is right? Both do [...]

STR-Ferrari Lotus-Cosworth HRT-Cosworth

Hublot opens flagship store in Singapore

Swiss luxury watch brand Hublot, Official Watchmaker of Formula 1�, and Asia's leading specialist watch retailer The Hour Glass officially opened the doors of the Hublot flagship store in Singapore on Friday. Jean-Claude Biver, CEO of Hublot, and Bernie Ecclestone, CEO of the Formula One Group were both in attendance.

The new store, the first to be opened by Hublot in Singapore, is situated in the premium ground-floor space of the prestigious new Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resorts...

CJM Racing Brandon Whitt Chevrolet

The Latest on Larry Pearson

There have been numerous calls for Bristol Motor Speedway to end its experiment with old-timer “legends” racing since the track’s March 20 event resulted in a savage late-race accident. Larry Pearson, the driver seriously injured in that wreck, isn’t one of the naysayers. Pearson, 56, had six surgeries in the 12 days following the crash, [...]

Pedro de la Rosa Jaime Alguersuari Heikki Kovalainen

Tony Stewart Feels the Love After Crushing New Hampshire Finish

Filed under: Tony Stewart, Chase for the Sprint Cup, FanHouse Exclusive, NASCAR

Editor's Note: FanHouse is teaming up with two-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart for weekly, in-depth spotlight stories as he competes in the 10-week Chase for the Sprint Cup. Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet, is contending to become the first owner-driver to win NASCAR's most coveted title since the late Alan Kulwicki in 1992.

As the sympathetic text messages, emails and cell phone calls rolled in Sunday evening, Tony Stewart showered, grabbed a Coca-Cola and the TV remote and simply lay on the bed in his motor coach inside New Hampshire International Raceway, flipping through the channels and contemplating one of the most heartbreaking days of his racing career.

As his mind raced, the two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champ kept going back to one image -- and it wasn't the moment he realized his race-leading No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet was out of gas with a little more than a lap to go in the Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff opener earlier that afternoon.

Instead, Stewart's thoughts kept returning to the pleasantly surprising reception he received from the fans that day as his car silently and solemnly coasted around the track before getting a push into the garage.

"Maybe I was reading it wrong, but I felt like the crowd was applauding that we ran good and were appreciative of what we had done that day,'' said Stewart, who led three times for 100 laps and had a 1.3-second lead on the field when his car ran out of gas just before taking the white flag.

"There are times when you're the unpopular guy and they're cheering because you had bad luck. But I honestly didn't feel like that was the case Sunday and it was the one good feeling I had coming home this week. ''

 

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HEATH VOSS WIL HAHN MIKE ALESSI

Watch Martin Brundle's grid walk

Martin Brundle's Singapore Grand Prix grid walk on the BBC iPlayer

Heikki Kovalainen Karun Chandhok Lucas di Grassi

Ryan Newman grabs first win in 2 years at Phoenix

Ryan Newman took the lead after a late caution at Phoenix International Raceway and held off Jeff Gordon (FSY) in a two-lap shootout Saturday night to get his first victory since the 2008 Daytona 500, and first since joining Stewart’s new team last season.
Kyle Busch (FSY) was cruising to what would have given him a [...]

DAVID BAILEY MIKE KIEDROWSKI MARK BARNETT

Video: Matech Competition teases its film Reborn

Filed under: Motorsports, Videos

Teaser for Matech Competition's Reborn - Click above to watch video after the jump

Matech took two Ford GTs to Le Mans this year and came back with stories to tell. Having won the GT3 class and built the LMGT1 competitors specifically to return the track that made the GT40's name, it is clear why they wish to crow.

Neither car finished the race, but on their first try both cars finished ahead of some much more seasoned competition. But hey: Ford GT + Le Mans = what's not to like? You'll find the trailer after the jump.

[Source: Matech]

Continue reading Video: Matech Competition teases its film Reborn

Video: Matech Competition teases its film Reborn originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 27 Sep 2010 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pedro de la Rosa Jaime Alguersuari Heikki Kovalainen

Mika Ahola and Honda World Champions for the fourth consecutive time!

Mika Ahola and Honda World Champions for the fourth consecutive time!

Honda Pro Racing News Release

"Like a fine wine, Mika Ahola gets better with age" is a quote from the FIM World Enduro Championship website. I could not think of a better way to describe the exploits of the 36 year old Finn who sealed his fourth successive FIM EWC World Championship and fourth in a row with Honda and the formidable Honda- HM-Zanardo Team at the Grand Prix of France, Noiretable.

Mika Ahola took his CRF450R to victory on the first day of a wet Grand Prix of France. He was in imperious form across the wet terrain to defeat main rival Ivan Cervantes and claim the E2 category for the second time and add the latest accolade to the two previous E1 titles. Ahola has been one of the very best riders in the Enduro World Championship during the second half of the last decade and renewal of the number one plate after another reverential display in central France cements his status as one of the true greats of the sport.

Ahola had to negotiate slippery conditions on Saturday and even made a mistake in the Enduro test that increased the tension. With Cervantes not able to reach the Honda rider's level in the second half of the competition that involved three cautious and demanding 70km laps, Ahola bided his time for a podium slot and was fortuitous when Fabien Planet suffered a mechanical problem in the final stages and the party could begin for the Italian squad thanks to their tenth winner's trophy of the campaign.

With the championship in the bag Ahola elected to take it easy through Sunday and his absence from the top of the leader-board was the only blip on his 100% podium record across eight rounds and sixteen days of action.

"What a fantastic day for Mika, the team and also for Honda with four titles in a row," commented Honda Motor Europe Off-road Racing Manager Roger Harvey. "It has been a long and hard season for the team to keep up that excellent record of results and it shows how competitive the battle with Ivan Cervantes actually was as the title fight went down to the final round despite the fact that Mika had not finished off the podium for seven grand prix. Full credit for the guys with their achievements on a new bike for 2010 and we are thrilled with their success."

An in-depth interview with the new EWC E2 Champion will follow in a separate release shortly.

Visit the site : www.hondaproracing.com

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Jeff Wyler Racing Johnny Benson Toyota

F101: Beginners guide to F1 ~ Singapore review

It may have started off a bit slow, and the first half may have been a bit boring, but with two safety cars, a fire, and a collision between two of the title contenders, the Singapore Grand Prix 2010 has been a race of allsorts, not to mention it?s turned the championship on its head [...]

ANDREW SHORT DAVI MILLSAPS CRISTOPHE POURCEL