Author: autoevolution

The two winners of this year’s GT Academy, Italian Luca Lorenzini and Frenchman Jordan Tresson, raced for real for the first time at Snetterton the past weekend. They were racing on road tires in standard 370Z cars, but were up against sports cars such as Radicals and Ginettas.

The race was the first one in a series of national races in order to qualify for an international licence in time for the start of the European GT4 Cup. Only one driver will be selected to race the full season in a ra… (read more)

An interesting decision made by the NASCAR governing body will send the May 22 All-Star race more into the pit crews’ hands than in those of the drivers. The decision was made precisely for this purpose, because "pit crews are such an important part of everything we do week in and week out" as NASCAR vice president of competition, Robin Pemberton, was qoted as saying by Auto123.

The format of the race will remain basically the same through the first three segments, with a green fla… (read more)

Having trouble selling your convertible? The answer is simple: just wait for the summer. At least that’s what Aston Barclay auction house said after closing UK’s first convertible sale of 2010 on the 4th of March. The same cars that Aston Barclay sold on the 4th of March were offered at an auction during December and struggled to generate a bid or meet reserve prices.

The sale reinforced the way the used market is divided as to the best time for vendors to sell a used traditional soft top com… (read more)

As Citroen has already started preparations with their DS3 WRC model for the 2011 season of the World Rally Championship, Ford proceeded to making another step into developing the car that they hope will bring them another world title in the series, the new Fiesta WRC.

While already launched by M-Sport a few months ago, the new Fiesta WRC was not tested by Ford while fitted with Ford Focus WRC’s 2.0L turbocharged engine. As revealed by Autosport, it is believed the WRC team decided to do the… (read more)

Railways are the first means of public transportation and ever since the first train left the station, authorities around the world, together with companies and transportation departments, have strived to raise efficiency and costs. And these two aspects were indeed improved a lot but as time passed by efficiency easily became speed, which is actually the essence of public transportation: getting you from point A to point B in the shortest possible time.

In the context of railways, however, t… (read more)

Vauxhall has been named the UK’s Fleet Manufacturer of the Year, during 2010 Fleet News Awards, held earlier this week at the Grosvernor House Hotel in London.

The award, the most prestigious of the event, is very important for manufacturers as it is voted by a panel of independent fleet managers.

"We’re absolutely delighted to receive this recognition from our customers, especially in such testing times for the industry.  We strive to provide our customers not only with a great choic… (read more)

A German police officer was critically wounded this week after a Hells Angels member shot him during a house search in Germany. The incident happened during a raid related to prostitution in Anhausen, as part of the German police’s offensive to put an end to illegal activities of motorcycle gangs like Hells Angels and Bandidos, The Press Association reported.

According to prosecutors, the killer fired without warning through the closed door of his apartment, killing the 42-year-old officer. … (read more)

Fernando Alonso got used to extremely fast machines, as the two-time Formula One World Champion, now an official driver of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, has just shown in Fiorano his brand new Maserati GranCabrio.

Though you would expect that the F1 champion would get a Ferrari, Alonso chose the GranCabrio because it’s a very elegant car. The F1 driver didn’t opt for a red one, but for a darker shade for the exterior in combination with two-tone upholstery for the interior. The color of the car’… (read more)

After revealing that a KTM superbike will race for the first time this year and confirmed presence of BMW at the event, Isle of Man TT revealed that Ducati will also be back at the event in 2010. Riding for Ducati will be racer Michael Rutter, who will be competing on a Ducati 1098R and 749RS machines.

With support from Bathams Brewery and Black Horse Finance, the 1098R, fully updated to 2010 specification, will be raced in both the Superbike and Senior races, while the 749RS will enter the t… (read more)

Mazda 6 has just been named Best Estate Car at the 2010 Fleet News Awards. This does not come as a surprise, especially after used car experts CAP Monitor said a while ago that Mazda6 is worth more at the fleet benchmark replacement period of three-years/60,000 miles than any of its key company car rivals. This comes at a perfect time, as Mazda is preparing to launch a revised line-up.

The award ceremony was held at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel on Wednesday.

The Mazda6 Estate combines e… (read more)

The Chinese vehicle producer Dongfeng announced that it sold almost 40,000 commercial vehicles last month, thus becoming the Chinese CV market leader.

Dongfeng Auto managed to sell 39,900 units last month, gaining a 15.7 percent market share. The company was followed by Beiqi Foton Motor, which registered a February sales figure of 37,700 units. FAW car took the third place, selling 29,700 commercial vehicles. It was followed by Jianghuai Auto, with 19,200 units sold. The fifth best-selling c… (read more)

A lot of companies from the auto world have struggled to raise money for Haiti. One of the automakers involved in the fund raiser is Ferrari, which has raised $601,000. The most important object auctioned at the gala held last night was the first Ferrari 458 Italia to arrive in the United States. The car fetched $530,000. The party was hosted by Piero Ferrari, Deputy Chairman, Amedeo Felisa, worldwide CEO of the company, and Marco Mattiacci, the newly appointed North America CEO.

More than 5… (read more)

The British division of Fiat recently announced pricing for the new Doblo family on the UK market. According to the manufacturer, eight versions of the Doblo featuring seating for up to seven will be available when it goes on sale this month, with prices ranging from £12,295 to £17,145 (OTR).

There is a choice of three engines, with more power and torque and lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions than their predecessors. The 1.6 16v and 2.0-litre turbodiesels employs Fiat’s MultiJet techno… (read more)

General Motors’s Chinese arm, GM China Investment will recall 7,942 Cadillac CTS vehicles that have been imported in the country, due to a potential brake issue.

The campaign will start on April 28 and will cover a possible brake fluid leakage problem.

According to the official website of the Chinese General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine, the rubber components of the brake lining might trap water with impure materials, a process that could lead to the… (read more)

Thanks to the success it had on the Australian market since the second generation model made its debut one year ago, the Murano received additional standard equipment including an innovative glass moonroof on Ti models, Nissan announced today.

The Murano is equipped with a 191 kW VQ35DE 3.5-litre V6 engine that offers 336 Nm of torque, mated to Nissan’s Xtronic Continuously Variable Transmission for a lower fuel consumption.

The 2010 model comes with various electronic safety systems, also… (read more)

A very limited edition, high performance Ford Mustang, tweaked by American builder Roush and auction house Barrett-Jackson will be sent under the hammer at the Americraft Expo Center at the South Florida Fairgrounds on April 3.

The special Mustang, which will be shown live during the SPEED broadcast, will feature metallic Back in Black as a base paint and Red Hot Chili Pepper stripes on the front. The car will rest on 20-inch chrome wheels with high-performance Cooper RS3 tires. But that’s th… (read more)

Although missing the last MotoGP test in Sepang due to a hand injury he picked up in a motocross accident, Spanish rider Jorge Lorenzo managed some consistent good lap times in Day 1 of the Qatar night tests this week. The 2009 MotoGP runner-up scored the 7th best time of the first test, some second and a half behind his teammate Valentino Rossi.

The Italian again dominated the testing session, while Lorenzo only settled to become more comfortable in his new Yamaha bike prior to the season op… (read more)

It seems the slow pace recorded by the Ferrari cars – as compared to their rivals Red Bull Racing – in the early stages of the Bahrain Grand Prix was caused by the heavier F10s. Meaning the fuel tank of the Ferrari F10 was filled with more fuel because the Italian manufacturer’s powerplants are known to be a bit thirstier than the Renaults that power Red Bull’s RB6s.

The Red Bulls started the race with 10kg less fuel than the Ferraris. That would have been worth nearly 0.4 seconds a lap in th… (read more)

Daimler AG has held its annual Daimler Key Supplier Meeting in Stuttgart, Germany, awarding their best suppliers of 2009.

A total of 13 companies entered the Daimler Supplier Award 2009" list, joined by a 14th one, which received a special award for innovation. Through the special action, Daimler is recognizing top performance, a quality measured through a global system. This uses four criteria: quality, cost, logistics and technology/innovation. Daimler emphasizes the fact that its rela… (read more)

Malaysian carmaker Proton confirmed today it has engaged in talks with Indian motorcycle manufacturer Hero, to research the synergies of a possible partnership. Proton sees Hero as its main gate to the Indian market, a priority for the company, as Proton Holdings managing director, Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said according to just-auto.com.

We want to enter the market as soon as possible. We have many things to discuss with Hero in the meantime and we will announce something … (read more)