GP2: Leimer gets penalty for Coletti clash

Sunday, June 30th 2013, 01:08 GMT

Fabio Leimer has been given a 10-place grid penalty for the second GP2 race at Silverstone as a punishment for taking championship leader Stefano Coletti out on Saturday.

Coletti was trying to hang on to fourth position in the closing stages when Leimer made a passing attempt into Brooklands.

The Racing Engineering car pushed Coletti's Rapax machine into a spin and out of the race.

Leimer went on to finish fourth, a result he retains, but he will start 10 places down the order in the sprint.

A GP2 statement said: "although Coletti left enough room, Leimer still collided with him."

Caterham's Alexander Rossi also gets a 10-place penalty for a collision that ended Kevin Ceccon's race. Rossi survived to finish 10th.

Jon Lancaster was also investigated for a clash with James Calado, but did not receive a penalty.

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NASCAR: Rain delays Kentucky Cup race

By Connell Sanders Jr

Sunday, June 30th 2013, 01:11 GMT

The Kentucky NASCAR Sprint Cup race has been postponed to Sunday afternoon due to persistent rain at the track.

Conditions were poor at Kentucky Speedway all day on Saturday, with repeated showers following earlier thunderstorms.

Despite the organisers' best efforts to dry the track, the rain returned every time progress appeared promising.

An hour and a half after the scheduled start time of the Saturday night race, the decision was taken to abandon the evening and reschedule the race for midday local time on Sunday.

Dale Earnhardt Jr will start from pole position alongside Carl Edwards, with championship leader Jimmie Johnson third.

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GP3: Sainz penalised and Kujala suspended

Sunday, June 30th 2013, 01:16 GMT

Carlos Sainz Jr will get a 10-place grid penalty for the second Silverstone GP3 race, while Patrick Kujala has been suspended from the event for clashes with David Fumanelli.

Koiranen driver Kujala was launched over the top of Fumanelli's Trident car at Becketts in an incident that triggered a long safety period during race one. Kujala's car landed atop the tyre wall, but he escaped unhurt.

The stewards ruled that Kujala had hit Fumanelli twice in an "extremely serious breach of the regulations which had the potential to cause injury to others".

Sainz's punishment was for a late-race incident in which he forced Lewis Williamson off the road as the Bamboo driver drew alongside his MW Arden car on the run to Brooklands.

The Red Bull protege moved across the width of the track with Williamson alongside him, sending his rival into the barriers and out of the race.

Sainz subsequently fell to 13th, and will have to start 23rd on Sunday morning.

The other penalty issued was to Melville McKee, who had 20 seconds added to his race time for taking a jump-start penalty while the safety car was out.

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ERC: Loix handed big Ypres lead

Friday, June 28th 2013, 19:36 GMT

Freddy Loix's Ypres Rally lead soared to 1m36s at the end of Friday after Craig Breen suffered a broken driveshaft

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F1: Hamilton reprimanded over pit entry

By Jonathan Noble

Friday, June 28th 2013, 19:53 GMT

Lewis Hamilton has been reprimanded for making a late entry to the pitlane during second practice for the British Grand Prix

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NASCAR: Earnhardt takes first pole of 2013

By Connell Sanders Jr

Friday, June 28th 2013, 22:40 GMT

Dale Earnhardt Jr earned his first pole of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup season in qualifying at Kentucky Speedway

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Subscribe to Premier Sports TV to watch all Sprint Cup events live in the UK. Visit www.premiersports.tv for more information.

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GT: Ogier lines up Bentley GT3 test

By David Evans

Wednesday, June 26th 2013, 13:46 GMT

World Rally Championship leader Sebastien Ogier has been linked to a test in Bentley's Continental GT3, with the Frenchman saying he hopes to do more circuit racing in the future

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F1: Horner: Mercedes penalty too lenient

Wednesday, June 26th 2013, 15:55 GMT

Red Bull boss Christian Horner says Mercedes' punishments for breaking Formula 1's testing regulations were too lenient

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F1: Rossiter gets Force India practice run

By Edd Straw

Wednesday, June 26th 2013, 16:38 GMT

James Rossiter will make his grand prix weekend debut for Force India in Friday morning practice for the British Grand Prix

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RALLYX: Ekstrom to compete at X Games

By Jamie O'Leary

Tuesday, June 25th 2013, 14:03 GMT

Two-time DTM champion Mattias Ekstrom will become the latest star name to compete in rallycross this year when he takes part in this weekend's X Games Munich

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Find out more about FIA European Rallycross with our 2013 season guide

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F1: McLaren trials upgrades in Idiada test

By Edd Straw

Tuesday, June 25th 2013, 14:58 GMT

McLaren is trialling planned British Grand Prix car upgrades at the Idiada test facility in Spain today.

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MOTOGP: Honda: less pressure after 2014 test

By Matt Beer

Tuesday, June 25th 2013, 15:08 GMT

Honda says the fact that its work riders saw no reason to hurry its 2014 bike into action means it is now under less pressure.

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LEMANS: Plowman hails dream Le Mans debut

By Scott Mitchell

Monday, June 24th 2013, 15:28 GMT

Briton Martin Plowman hailed a "dream" Le Mans 24 Hours debut after claiming victory in the LMP2 class with OAK Racing.

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WRC: Kubica values experience, not wins

By Matt Beer

Monday, June 24th 2013, 15:34 GMT

Robert Kubica says the experience he is gaining of gravel rallying is far more important to him than the WRC2 victories he is racking up.

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F1: F1 to use new side impact system in '14

By Edd Straw

Monday, June 24th 2013, 16:53 GMT

Formula 1 teams will use a new side impact system in 2014 designed to improve protection in the case of an oblique angle of impact.

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LIGHTS: Karam wins all-Schmidt Lights tussle

By Mark Glendenning

Sunday, June 23rd 2013, 02:48 GMT

Sage Karam led a Schmidt rout of Saturday evening's Indy Lights race at Iowa Speedway

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INDY: Engine penalty costs Castroneves pole

By Mark Glendenning

Sunday, June 23rd 2013, 02:50 GMT

Helio Castroneves will be forced to drop back to 11th on the grid for Sunday's IndyCar race at Iowa Speedway after Penske elected to change the Brazilian's engine

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LEMANS: H14: Lead battle remains tense

By Jamie O'Leary

Sunday, June 23rd 2013, 03:08 GMT

The battle for the lead of the Le Mans 24 Hours remained tense during the race's 14th hour as Sebastien Buemi's Toyota reduced the advantage of Loic Duval's Audi to just over two minutes

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F1: Ferrari perplexed by Mercedes verdict

By Jonathan Noble

Friday, June 21st 2013, 17:06 GMT

Ferrari has suggested it is 'perplexed' by the decision of the FIA International Tribunal to only hand down a reprimand and young driver test ban to Mercedes for testing of a 2013 Formula 1 car

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LEMANS: Sarrazin doubts Audi can sustain pace

By Jamie O'Leary

Friday, June 21st 2013, 18:29 GMT

Toyota has 'no idea' whether Audi has already shown its hand at the Le Mans 24 Hours, according to driver Stephane Sarrazin

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WRC: Ogier still ahead while Latvala surges

By Matt Beer

Friday, June 21st 2013, 20:23 GMT

Sebastien Ogier maintained a serene lead as his Volkswagen team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala dominated Rally Italy's night stages

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LEMANS: Chrysler unveils new Viper GT3 car

By Gary Watkins

Thursday, June 20th 2013, 17:26 GMT

Chrysler has unveiled a new racing version of the SRT Viper developed for the FIA GT3 and United SportsCar Racing GT Daytona classes

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LEMANS: Toyota tops rain-hit second qualifying

By Jamie O'Leary

Thursday, June 20th 2013, 18:45 GMT

Audi remains on course for pole position for the Le Mans 24 Hours, despite Toyota's Alex Wurz topping a rain-hit second qualifying session that was shortened due to barrier damage

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LEMANS: Duval hangs on to pole for Audi

By Sam Tremayne

Thursday, June 20th 2013, 22:29 GMT

Loic Duval hung on to pole position for the 81st running of the Le Mans 24 Hours, as Audi scored its first lockout of the top three grid spots since 2002 at the circuit

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MOTOGP: Lorenzo quickest in Aragon test

Wednesday, June 19th 2013, 17:22 GMT

Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo was quickest as his team and Suzuki joined Honda's test at Aragon on Wednesday

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LEMANS: Duval leads Audi practice lockout

By Jamie O'Leary

Wednesday, June 19th 2013, 17:50 GMT

Loic Duval headed an all-Audi top three in a Le Mans 24 Hours practice session that was shortened due to a huge accident for GTE driver Tracy Krohn

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LEMANS: Duval puts Audi on provisional pole

By Sam Tremayne

Wednesday, June 19th 2013, 22:09 GMT

Loic Duval snatched provisional pole position for the Le Mans 24 Hours in an opening qualifying session that was brought to a premature end by barrier damage at the second Mulsanne chicane

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NASCAR: Villeneuve joins Phoenix for Sonoma

By Sam Morgan

Tuesday, June 18th 2013, 15:28 GMT

Jacques Villeneuve will compete in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Sonoma Raceway this weekend.

The 1997 Formula 1 world champion will step into the #51 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet for NASCAR's first road course event of the season.

It will be Villeneuve's first appearance in NASCAR's premier series since 2010, when he finished 29th at Indianapolis.

"We wanted to put a driver in our #51 Chevrolet who would give us the best chance to win at Sonoma Raceway," said Phoenix Racing team owner James Finch.

"When the opportunity came up to have someone like Jacques Villeneuve in our car, we were very happy to make that happen."

Villeneuve has competed in various road course events in the Nationwide Series, but this will be his first foray into non-oval racing at Cup level.

The 42-year-old came within a whisker of winning the Nationwide race at Montreal last year, but was passed by Justin Allgaier on the final lap and dropped to third.

Phoenix Racing led two laps at Sonoma last year with Kurt Busch, who eventually finished third.

Subscribe to Premier Sports TV to watch all Sprint Cup events live in the UK. Visit www.premiersports.tv for more information.

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F1: Button expects stronger British GP

By Dan Cross and Jonathan Noble

Tuesday, June 18th 2013, 16:37 GMT

Jenson Button has faith that he and McLaren can still give home fans something to cheer about in the British Grand Prix, despite recent struggles.

On the back of a disastrous performance in Canada, where McLaren's long-running record of 64 consecutive points finishes came to an end, Button believes the high-speed nature of Silverstone will be a better stomping ground.

And although he is not expecting a miraculous jump to the front of the grid, he reckons the weaknesses of his current car will not be as exposed this time out.

Speaking at Silverstone on Tuesday about his prospects for the British GP, Button said: "There are many things a driver needs to be good at here, but he also needs to be working with a good team and driving a good car.

"With us, this grand prix is going to be a difficult one. But I think we'll be stronger here than the previous races because it is a fast flowing circuit.

"I think we do have OK downforce, but the problem for us has been the ride quality of the car.

"There is a massive amount of movement of the car which really hurts the airflow and hurts the aerodynamics. Here it shouldn't be so much of problem, except for Turn 1 [Abbey] which is going to be a little tricky for us."

Button may be bracing himself for a tougher weekend than he would like, but he insists that he is still looking forward to the June 30 event.

"Even in the difficult times, that are much worse than now, I still love coming to Silverstone because of the support you get from the crowd," he told AUTOSPORT.

"I remember going on stage back in 2008 when we were really poor [with Honda], and still I received massive support, which was really nice and that really helped me for the rest of the season.

"I'm looking forward to racing here and hopefully seeing a full house. We will fight and do the best we can.

"It's going to be very difficult [to get] even a podium, but the most important thing for us is to get the best out of what we have.

"Hopefully that will be enough for the fans we want to do so well for, because they've been so supportive."

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LEMANS: Audi not dismissing Toyota threat

By Gary Watkins

Tuesday, June 18th 2013, 18:57 GMT

Audi is not going into this weekend's Le Mans 24 Hours believing that Toyota will fail to offer a challenge, according to Oliver Jarvis.

The Audi driver believes that the results of the first two rounds of the World Endurance Championship and the Le Mans test day earlier this month did not produce conclusive evidence that the German manufacturer's R18 e-tron quattro has a performance advantage.

Jarvis, who is making his third Le Mans start this year in the #3 Audi alongside Marc Gene and Lucas di Grassi, said: "Everyone else is saying that Toyota is out of it, but that's not how we are thinking."

AUTOSPORT'S 2013 Le Mans 24 Hours special

He suggested that the big performance differential between the solo Le Mans-spec Audi and the 2013 Toyota TS030 HYBRID in qualifying at Spa was not representative of the cars' respective race pace.

"We have been quick in qualifying when the tyres were new, but sportscar racing has nothing to do with qualifying," he explained.

"They appear not to be able to get the peak out of the tyre, but it looked like they were better than us in terms of wear over the race at Spa.

"The Toyota looks like it comes alive in the race."

Jarvis also suggested that the Toyota's ability to go further on a tank of fuel in the Silverstone and Spa WEC races could prove crucial.

"If they go one lap longer, then we have to go five or six tenths quicker a lap to make up for that," he continued.

"If they go two laps longer, that's 1.2 seconds."

The results of the Le Mans Test Day the weekend before last were equally inconclusive even though the fastest Audi was five seconds quicker than the best Toyota, according to Jarvis.

He pointed out that the fastest of the Audis undertook a qualifying-lap simulation in the hands of Loic Duval.

"Loic went for a qualifying run, whereas we don't think the Toyotas did," said Jarvis.

"He also got a clear lap, which can be worth three or four seconds around Le Mans."

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MOTOGP: Lorenzo fastest as Suzuki returns

Monday, June 17th 2013, 16:24 GMT

Jorge Lorenzo set the pace for Yamaha at a Barcelona test in which Suzuki made an impressive return to the MotoGP fold.

Lorenzo, who triumphed at the Spanish track on Sunday, moved to the top of the timesheets with a 1m41.904s - more than one second down on Dani Pedrosa's record pole time - two hours from the end.

Even as he did so most eyes were focussed on Suzuki's new MotoGP challenger, codenamed the XRH-1, as it made its first appearance alongside the 2013 field.

Test rider Randy de Puniet improved throughout the day and in the final hour moved to a 1m42.676s, less than eight tenths of a second down on Lorenzo.

The Frenchman, also one of the day's busiest riders with 73 laps, was faster than the satellite machines of Andrea Iannone and Bradley Smith, although the latter left the test early to have surgery on his injured left hand.

Ducati's Nicky Hayden came close to denying Lorenzo top spot late on but eventually had to settle for second, five hundredths of a second down.

The American spent some time trialling a new rear compound developed by Bridgestone.

His late improvement demoted Stefan Bradl, the only Honda rider present at the test, to third.

Bradl will travel to Aragon, where factory riders Pedrosa and Marc Marquez are due to test on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Andrea Dovizioso edged out his old Tech 3 stablemate Cal Crutchlow in the fight for fourth, while behind them Valentino Rossi went sixth fastest, 0.609s down on Lorenzo.

The Italian brought the red flags when he crashed in the afternoon, but he was unhurt and able to resume shortly after.

Aspar Aprilia rider Pol Espargaro was the fastest CRT rider, edging out de Puniet - his 2013 team-mate - to claim seventh.

  Pos  Rider             Team/Bike             Time       Gap       Laps   1.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha                1m41.904s            54   2.  Nicky Hayden      Ducati                1m41.955s  + 0.051s  73   3.  Stefan Bradl      LCR Honda             1m42.227s  + 0.323s  31   4.  Andrea Dovizioso  Ducati                1m42.417s  + 0.513s  56   5.  Cal Crutchlow     Tech 3 Yamaha         1m42.462s  + 0.558s  57   6.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha                1m42.513s  + 0.609s  57   7.  Aleix Espargaro   Aspar Aprilia         1m42.537s  + 0.633s  63   8.  Randy de Puniet   Suzuki                1m42.676s  + 0.772s  73   9.  Andrea Iannone    Pramac Ducati         1m42.697s  + 0.793s  65  10.  Bradley Smith     Tech 3 Yamaha         1m43.180s  + 1.276s  25  11.  Michele Pirro     Pramac Ducati         1m43.784s  + 1.880s  70  12.  Hector Barbera    Avintia FTR-Kawasaki  1m43.899s  + 1.995s  54  13.  Colin Edwards     Forward FTR-Kawasaki  1m44.183s  + 2.279s  38  14.  Karel Abraham     Cardion Aprilia       1m44.458s  + 2.554s  61  15.  Danilo Petrucci   Ioda-Suter-BMW        1m44.477s  + 2.573s  49  16.  Michael Laverty   PBM-Aprilia           1m44.547s  + 2.643s  53  17.  Claudio Corti     Forward FTR-Kawasaki  1m44.794s  + 2.890s  56  18.  Yonny Hernandez   PBM Aprilia           1m45.078s  + 3.174s  36  19.  Lukas Pesek       Ioda-Suter-BMW        1m47.379s  + 5.475s  52  

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LEMANS: Caterham says LMP2 a perfect fit

By Gary Watkins

Monday, June 17th 2013, 16:32 GMT

A move into the LMP2 division is the perfect fit for British sportscar manufacturer Caterham, according to company design chief Mike Gascoyne.

Gascoyne, head of the Caterham's Technology & Innovation arm, explained that building an LMP2 for the customer market makes sound business sense for the group.

His comments follow the revelation earlier this month that Caterham was evaluating a P2 project on the launch of its first involvement in the category in next weekend's Le Mans 24 Hours as a sponsor of the Greaves Motortsport Zytek squad.

"We have the facilities, we have the design team and we have the partners, so it is a natural for us," said Gascoyne, who was formerly chief technical officer of the Caterham (nee Team Lotus) Formula 1 team.

"The Caterham Motorsport ladder is based on the Seven and then there is a GP2 and the F1 team. LMP2 would fit in well in between."

Gascoyne suggested that Caterham is well placed to build LMP2 chassis at a profit, something that the majority of existing constructors claim they struggle to achieve.

"For a company like Zytek, which has to put its carbon work out, it is a very difficult business in which to make money," he explained.

"We have a design team and a composite department where the overheads are already paid for, plus it would add commercial value to the company."

Gascoyne stressed that no decisions have been made beyond the company's Le Mans sponsorship deal with Greaves, with which Caterham Racing GP2 driver Alexander Rossi has been placed for the 24 Hours.

"There are no firm commitments, but there is definitely an intention to move forward," he said. "In terms of working with Zytek, providing a body update could make sense."

That suggests that Caterham is considering a badging deal, because a new body would not be possible before the end of 2015 unless the Zytek Z11SN were renamed and rehomologated in much the same way as OAK's LMP2 chassis when it became a Morgan for 2012.

Caterham is also looking at continuing it relationship with Greaves, which is running in both the World Endurance Championship and the European Le Mans Series.

Gascoyne said: "We are talking to other drivers and hope the arrangement can continue this year and expand into next year."

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BTCC: Hill to make BTCC debut

By Kevin Turner

Monday, June 17th 2013, 17:19 GMT

Jake Hill will make his British Touring Car debut at Croft this weekend, driving Motorbase's S2000 Ford Focus.

The 19-year-old former Ginetta star tested with Motorbase last season and will now drive the car normally raced by Liam Griffin, who has business commitments this weekend.

Team boss David Bartrum said: "Jake tested with us at the end of last season along with another local lad, Tom Grainger.

"The whole idea was to give two Kent-based youngsters the opportunity to sample the S2000 touring car and for us to offer two developing young talents the experience and chance to raise their profile.

"When the opportunity came up through Liam and [sponsor] Addison Lee to put a replacement driver in the car for Croft we thought we would give Jake the chance as he was very capable and knows the TOCA package quite well."

The drive is currently a one-off, but Hill hopes to be able to fight for Jack Sears Trophy honours.

"It's amazing that David has kindly given me the chance to have another run in the car, and this time in an actual race," said the son of ITV commentator Simon Hill.

"I can't describe how thankful I am to Liam and everyone at the team for letting me have this opportunity and I intend to make the most of it and do the best job I possibly can."

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