Happy New Year 2013 to all.. with memories of 2012

2013 is just around the corner, and the older one with the joy that was associated are a few memorable moments & some not so sweet. The outgoing year saw its own share of ups & downs / glories & sorrows, with some great achievements and some departures of loved ones!

Just to recollect from the outgoing year, here is a run-down on the few rally championships of most popular flavours, around the world.

Sebastien Loeb, became 9th-time world championship in series, which by itself if unbelievable for an Average-Joe like me.. Yeah, seriously! 9-times!! How much tears been shed.. uh!!? By his rivals, I mean!

For might not be very happy with the dominance of Loeb & Citroen, but M-Sport definitely is!

Andreas Mikkelsen won the season twice in the IRC in a row, which is now merges into ERC.

Global RallyCross, 2012 season saw immense success ratio amidst high drama & the series was won by American Tanner Foust, even though former WRC champion - Marcus Gronholm competing who won the first two round he competed and had to fallout of the series due to injury in a huge crash.

Timur Timerzyanov won the European RallyCross Championship in his Citroen DS3 T16 4x4.

And we anticipate nothing less the new year that is about to ring in all but' more action, drama and hope it doubles what we had so far bringing more fun, cheer & happiness to one and all.

Cheers to 2013.. Bring it on!!

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Ratan TATA steps down at 75, offers his seat to Cyrus Mistry

 Mr.Ratan Tata retired as a chairman of Tata Group, today.

It is also his 75th birthday, marking the day by stepping down from the throne of one the biggest empire of legacy of locomotive, automobile, textiles, tea, and much more diversified group of companies. Cyrus Pallonji Mistry, who has now took over the reigns, who chose to travel in a Tata Manza to his new workseat. According to 'The Hindu' newspaper, narrow lanes leading to 'Bombay House' is witnessing heavy presence of media since morning in anticipation of Ratan Tata, who is reportedly in Pune.

Bombay House has been the headquarters for the multi-billion-national conglomerate, Tata Group, since 1924. Cyrus Mistry is the youngest son of the construction tycoon Pallonji Mistry, who also heads their  company as a Chairman. It was in late 2011, that Mr.Ratan Tata announced Cyrus Mistry as his successor, as he had been searching for a suitable successor for a while.

Cyrus, is basically an Irish citizen since 2003, as he had to give up his 'dual citizenship - which is not allowed by Indian Law'. He is in his mid-40's, married and have two sons who are at school going age. Mostly a family oriented person, other than his work and loves to spend time reading books or at home, rather than attending cock-tail parties. Cyrus is said to be good in golf, as many of the multi-billionaire's as hobby & likes big SUV's.

We wish him a best of luck & all the good wishes to get the company heading in the right directions like, Mr.Ratan Tata had done in his last 21years at the great company the whole of country adores & is proud of!

Mr.Ratan Tata, Happy birthday Sir! Wish you a very happy retirement life ahead.. we will remember your contribution and you as a person for remaining part of our lives!!

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Merry Christmas!!

To the entire community & to the world..

Merry Christmas!

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FMSCI announces Rally Calendar for 2013 | INRC - IRC

INRC 2012 season was much criticized for a few reasons, like delayed & short season announcement & running, and mostly for the even shortened to just two rallies to finish the championship. But it looks like that the ASN [FMSCI] have woken up to the call of the needy to for the first time since a long time, to announce the upcoming season of the Indian National Rally Championship before the new-year party & even before christmas!

It is a welcome move from the ASN that the initiative atleast taken and news coming after the rescheduling of the final round [that was scheduled for last weekend itself], hence cutting short the 2012 season to just two events.

Here is below the official announcement from the official site.

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December 19, 2012: After a challenging couple of seasons, the FMSCI seeks to re-invigorate the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) with the announcement of an exciting eight round championship set to take off in March. In what has been a purple patch for Indian motorsport overall, the FMSCI looks set to create a bigger and better season of rallying in 2013.

The new season will also see the re-introduction of Tarmac stages with two rallies, one in Nashik and also September’s Cochin Rally running on sealed surfaces. The INRC will comprise of two major classes: the Group N 1601-2000cc cars and another class for cars upto 1600cc. The FMSCI homologation of new machinery this year will also mark the entry of Maruti SX4 and Volkswagen Polo to the national rallying arena for the first time.

Vicky Chandhok, President of the FMSCI was looking forward to a positive year ahead and said, “There’s no hiding from the fact that 2012’s INRC didn’t go to plan but all the clubs involved are putting in a solid effort to ensure we come back strong with heightened preparation for 2013. It’s also good to see more manufacturer interest and we look forward to seeing some new cars on the dirt in 2013.”

With an eye on identifying and further developing young rallying talent in the country, the Junior Indian National Rally Championship (JINRC) returns once again with drivers under 27 years of age eligible to contest for the Championship in Group N cars under 1600cc.

The Indian Rally Championship (IRC) is also set to return and is open to foreign participation in homologated Group N4 cars. The series for 2013 has received plenty of interest from Asia Zone drivers and will see drivers from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka battle it out for the silverware.

The INRC kicks off with the MMSC’s historic South India Rally in Chennai on the 22nd of March 2013.

IRC/INRC Calendar for 2013



Round 1: 22-24 March: MMSC Chennai (Gravel)


Round 2: 12-14 April: Northern Motorsports, Bhuj (Gravel)


Round 3: 17-19 May: Kolkata , RRPM (Gravel)


Round 4: 07-09 June: WISA, Nashik (Tarmac)

(TBC)
Round 5: 19-21 July : CASC, Coimbatore (Gravel) 


Round 6: 20-22 September: KASC , Cochin (Tarmac) (TBC)
Round 7: 25-27 October:  K1000, KMSC Bangalore (Gravel) 


Round 8: 29 Nov -01 Dec: MSCC, Chikmagalur (Gravel) 

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The good thing that happened from this [2012] season was the inclusion of the IRC for International Competitors to take part & fight for their own championship, which is a boon for both the Indian motorsports community as well as a good option for the potential competitors. However in this season, it was only a one car drive, a Subaru Impreza WRX STi that was rented driven by an Indian team TKM Motorsport entry after hiring a rally prepared car from Malaysian motorsports team, MRU Motorsports.

With more competition coming in the new IRC category & equally helping numbers for INRC, in the National Championship, the stage will be filled with competition. The ASN recently also had called up  for setting up the Technical Regulations for the upcoming season, there is likely to be a new category for faster cars or maybe a better for the existing categories with minor tweaks. So the new regulations should be out in a few days time, shortly.

The promises looks lucrative as the documents for the new season are published well in advance & looks promising.

Here are a few documents needed for the Rally Championships for 2013 as part of the documentation requirements.

Driver/Co-Driver License for National Championship (applicable for INRC competition only)

or

Driver/Co-Driver License for International Championship (applicable for IRC competition only)

and

Individual Entrant - National / International (applicable for both INRC & IRC competitions)
or
Team Entrant - National / International (applicable for both INRC & IRC competitions)

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Info for interested International Competitors

Stay & Transportation can be availed at best prices across various & spread international quality services at all of the competitive rounds published above. Service backup is also immensely present which are proven teams, like Kari Sports, Chettinad Racing, Red Rooster Racing, FRK Racing, SpeedSport & many others who have more than adequate experience in providing the services. For more info & support, we are available to assist you happily anytime. We can be contacted at our Facebook Page or on Twitter, or on email. 

A glimpse of the past couple of seasons action.

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Hyundai i20 WRC - ADAC Tests | Yes! It is for real..

Hyundai's i20 WRC car has finally conducted a test in Europe for real. With all the initial hype and sudden disappearance from the rest of the world, and with a commitment to return in World Rally Championship in 2014. Not only that, but it also held a first test run outside its territory, i.e., in Europe.

So far Hyundai i20 WRC was exclusively produced in South Korea without any much details or news that was first unveiled in September, but they decided to make a overseas test run, in Europe, so landed into Germany for two days of and display at ADAC test center, near Frankfurt early last week.

Only a selected few journalists were invited to witness the event of i20 WRC show car. Work on the actual World Rally Car will be getting underway soon, with the company absolutely committed to starting at the 2014 WRC.

Hyundai will be announcing at the Geneva show in March of the upcoming major developments for the new i20 WRC, an effort not tried since 2003.

A spokesman from the firm says: "We wanted to keep the story moving. We realised there was nothing since Paris, which is why we wanted to organise everything to fly the car into Europe to show what we have done and the direction we are moving in. This is a way of showing our commitment to the World Rally Championship."

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Norwegian Prime Minister calls Petter Solberg | WRC - 2013

Shortly after Petter Solberg announced his no-season-WRC-2013-for-me, that he got a phone call from his country's prime minister.

Norway’s premier Jens Stoltenberg has been a keen supporter of Rally Norway in the past - so the minister decided to call Solberg after learning that the 2003 world champion wouldn’t be competing in the WRC next year.

Speaking to Motorsport News, Solberg, who enjoys a huge profile in his homeland and equally throughout the world, said: “When the news came out that I wasn’t competing next year, the whole of Norway was on its roof! The Prime Minister called me and we talked for 10 minutes.”

Although Solberg received no firm offers from him either for a ride in the WRC in 2013, but plans to be busy next year, maybe in another motorsport discipline.

He says, “Except for rallying and Formula One I think I’ve had offers from every other sort of motorsport where I won’t have to put money in and I will have the chance top fight for the win. Fighting at the front is really important for me in whatever I do next year. I need to think about things, I won’t make any decisions yet.”

So, hope is still there!?

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Race Of Champions - 2012 | Romain Grosjean - Champion of Champions

Race of Champions, is a knockout tournament where the world’s greatest drivers battle to prove they’re the fastest on Earth. Through a series of head-to-head races in identical cars on a parallel track, the stars fight it out to prove they have what it takes to be crowned ‘Champion of Champions’. 

The event starts with a group stage to ensure fans get to see plenty of action from every driver. The racers face up to each of the other drivers in their group, with cars swapped round between heats so they all have to prove themselves in a variety of machinery. The most successful drivers move on to the quarter-finals. 

From there it’s back to a head-to-head, no second chances, knockout competition to get to the semi-finals and then the Grand Final. Just as with all the world’s great cup competitions, the tension builds all the way through to this best-of-three shootout where there can be only one ‘Champion of Champions’. 

_ ______ __________________ _ __________________ ______ _

Reigning 'Champion of Champions'

French rally ace Sébastien Ogier defeated Le Mans legend Tom Kristensen to take the prestigious title in 2011 while superstars including F1 world champions Sebastian Vettel, Michael Schumacher and Jenson Button were knocked out in the quarter-finals and semi-finals.

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25th Edition of the RoC-2012

The 25th Edition of the RoC-2012 was held in the Rajamangala Stadium at Bangkok, Thailand this weekend.

Friday's action began with ROC Thailand, a four-way battle between drivers from the host country. The competition started with a group stage involving Charoensukawattana, Sritrai, Nattapon Horthongkum and drift guru Sak 'Kiki' Nana. N Charoensukawattana winning the event against T Sritrai in the finals. The best timing [by the winner] was 1:21.087.

_ ______ __________________ _ __________________ ______ _

RoC Asia held later on Friday, for the Asia Pacific countries in which 4 nations, India, Japan, China, and host Thailand competed against each other.

Team India's Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok are celebrating tonight after they took glory in the inaugural ROC Asia competition, the first night of action of the 2012 Race Of Champions weekend.

On a hot evening at Bangkok's Rajamangala Stadium, Karthikeyan and Chandhok joined forces for Team India as both made their ROC debuts. The Indian duo topped the group stage with four wins out of six to go into the final as favourites.

_ ______ __________________ _ __________________ ______ _

Saturday was the action packed RoC Nations Cup race, where the reigning Nations Cup champions, Team Germany took their sixth consecutive win, with Michael Schumacher & Sebastien Vettel over-running everyone to take the cup back home.

The German duo defeated Team France's Romain Grosjean and Sébastien Ogier by two heats to nil in the Grand Final. Team All Stars (Jorge Lorenzo and Tom Kristensen) and Team Australia (Jamie Whincup and Mick Doohan) reached the semi-finals. However, it was disappointment for Team India despite being there to race for the first time. Following their triumph in yesterday's ROC Asia, Team India's Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok failed to make it beyond the group stages this time. They took a win apiece but it wasn't enough against the might of Germany and Australia.

_ ______ __________________ _ __________________ ______ _

The final race for 2012 edition of Champion of Champions was held today, just a few hours ago from now. In the thrilling battle with the reigning champion and the Formula 1 top drivers yielded into a spectacular fashion of fight between them.

Sebastien Ogier won all the three races in his Group A qualifiers, so as Vettel & Schumacher did the same and took off to the Quarter Finals. Quarter Finals & Semi-Finals is the brutal knockout game, where there are no second chances.

Dramatically, it was Tom Kristensen & David Coulthard, and Romain Grosjean & Michael Schumacher who made it to the Semi-Finals and the battlefield was a nail-biting moments both to the competitors and the audience. But it was the Semi's which was even more exicting being Kristenen & Grosjean took victory against their rivals in the Semi-Finals and securing their positions for the Finals.

Finals of 'Champion of Champions' was a three round battle for the duo, where they did go 'Gung-Ho' with their cars and it was Romain Grosjean who emerged victorious beating Tom Kristenen with a straight 2-0 win in the first two round of the finals.

Champion of Champions for RoC-2012

The 26 year young  Romain Grosjean!

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'Thierry Neuville' Joins Qatar M-Sport WRT for 2013, along with Evgeny Novikov

M-Sport has made an announcement that Thierry Neuville, who drove for Citroen Junior WRT in the Citroen DS3 WRC for 2012 season, will be joining Qatar M-Sport WRT for the upcoming 2013 WRC season. He will be sitting behind the wheel of the Ford Fiesta RS WRC for all the 13 rounds along with Nasser himself and so does the young Russian gun Evgeny Novikov, who drove for M-Sport WRT for 2012.

Thierry Neuville is not new to M-Sport, as he had piloted a Ford Fiesta in the 2008 WRC season, though in a 2-wheel drive version of the car, and says, “It is a great honour for me to represent Qatar and M-Sport on all 13 rounds of next season’s championship. Thanks to a great ‘learning’ year in the WRC, I am confident that I will be able to achieve some great results alongside M-Sport and my new team mates.

I would especially like to thank Malcolm [Wilson] for his confidence in me, and also my friend Nasser [Al-Attiyah] for his fantastic support. I am now focussed on preparing for Rally Monte-Carlo and really looking forward to the start of this new adventure.”

Evgeny Novikov present at the moment was equally thrilled about the news of his seat for the new season, and quipped, “I am very glad to be representing Qatar and M-Sport next year. I would like to express huge gratitude to all those who supported me and believed in me: my mentor Mikhail Lepekhov, Malcolm Wilson, my family and my fans.

In 2013 we will fight at the top level and do our best to please those who have supported us all these years.”

Thierry's new challenge also revealed that the Citroen Racing boss Yves Matton was also keen in offering him a seat in for atleast 8 rounds for the 2013 season.

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Awards Ceremony - Intercontinental Rally Challenge | 7th & Last of the series - 2012

Awards Ceremony of the 2012, the 7th and the last of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge series was held yesterday at the French capital Paris, bringing down the curtain to one of the amazing series in the Rallying history.

After receiving his trophy for winning the coveted IRC title for the second time in succession, Mikkelsen said: “I’m feeling fantastic. I’ve just completed two fantastic years in the IRC with ŠKODA. It was a big opportunity coming with them in 2011 and I felt like I’d won the series when I got that drive.

We’ve been very successful and won two championships. These years with ŠKODA UK have meant everything to me. They have been two fantastic years and when I look back at them they are the two best years of my life,” iterated the Norwegian who would be in a even bigger challenge in the coming WRC season in the third VW Polor R WRC.

Mikkelsen’s performances during 2012 – he was twice a winner and was fastest on more  stages than any other driver – earned him the prestigious Colin McRae IRC Flat Trophy Driver of the Year, which Colin’s father Jimmy presented.

ŠKODA Motorsport boss Michal Hrabánek collected the IRC manufacturers’ award for the Czech firm with Bruno Famin and John Steele joining him on stage as the representatives of Peugeot (second) and M-Sport (third) respectively. Meanwhile, Patrice Ratti, the CEO of Renault Sport Technologies, accepted the IRC 2WD Cup makes’ award on behalf of the French company. Honda (second) and M-Sport (third) were also recognised.

Robert Consani picked up his award for winning the IRC Production Cup title, accompanied by his IRC Production Cup-winning navigator Nicolas Klinger, while Harry Hunt and Robbie Durant were in attendance to receive their IRC 2WD Cup accolades. For co-driver Durant, the event marked his first public appearance since he injured his back on a crash on the Mabanol Sliven Rally in the autumn. Fortunately the Briton is on the road to recovery and eying a return to action in 2013.

Michal Hrabánek and Bruno Famin made special presentations to Laurent-Eric Le Lay and Eurosport managing director Olivier Fisch. Tyre firm Yokohama honoured the IRC with a commemorative painting handed to IRC Manager Jean-Pierre Nicolas.

Michelin’s achievements in the IRC were also recognised, while the various event promoters also received trophies for their efforts during 2012 from Eurosport Events’ Motorsport Development Director François Ribeiro.

Guests were treated to several spectacular action sequence videos produced by Gilbert Roy and his team from Eurosport Events with footage from 2012 – including a demonstration of pioneering SimulCam technology – and the previous six IRC seasons proving hugely popular.

The following awards were also presented:

IRC runner-up driver: Jan Kopecký

IRC runner-up co-driver: Pavel Dresler

IRC third-placed driver: Juho Hänninen

IRC third-placed co-driver: Mikko Markkula

IRC runner-up manufacturer: Peugeot
IRC third-placed manufacturer: M-Sport
IRC Production Cup runner-up driver: Toshi Arai

IRC Production Cup runner-up co-driver: Dale Moscatt

IRC Production Cup third-placed driver: Andreas Aigner

IRC Production Cup third-placed co-driver: Dorin Pulpea

IRC 2WD Cup runner-up driver: Robert Consani

IRC 2WD Cup runner-up co-driver: David Moynihan

IRC 2WD Cup third-placed driver: Martin Kangur

IRC 2WD Cup third-placed co-driver: Nicolas Klinger

IRC 2WD Cup runner-up manufacturer: Honda

IRC 2WD Cup third-placed manufacturer: M-Sport

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FMSCI - INRC 2012 - Season, Concludes with the Coffee Day Rally of Chikmagalur!

In what it was looking like a troubled season from the start with late announcements with all the drama over the title sponsors, the Indian National Rally Championship has been all, but just two rallies. Rally of Coorg [initially it was Rally of Mysore, before the venue shifted] was cancelled due to heavy rains, hence rendering the stages undrive-able. 

So the season was jut cut short to just 3 rallies, and the last one was scheduled just before Christmas. Since, last week unconfirmed news [like rumors] was creeping on the FB Rally community & finally it was official that it too was off. So that means, the championship is bound with just two rounds & it is creating more confusions, whether the championship will be nullified [as per the books, which says minimum of 3 rallies], or otherwise.

This season also saw a lots of changes to the Classes of the cars which were to be run & the big off was perhaps the knocking off the uber-costly Group N+'s. Which was like kind of good for the competitors & teams, but not so with the fans & alike. But, there was still hope with the new IRC [Indian Rally Championship], which is open to even foreign nationals to be able to battle with the N4 & R4 spec cars. This could have become a star-show stealer if only there was much bigger competition, but nevertheless it had an entry by an Indian team, Team Kajah Motorsports, who did a brilliant job in getting a Subaru Impreza STi in the newly created championship series. The only thing missing, was the competition, which we hope to see more in the upcoming season.

K1000 Rally of Bangalore, The first round of the season 2012.

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Volkswagen Motorsport - Polo R WRC | World Premiere - WRC, 2013

World Premiere of Volkswagen Motorsport, Polo R WRC, World Rally Car for the upcoming WRC season 2013 happened at Casino Square, Monte Carlo. It all started with the launch of the street version of the Polo R WRC, at 16.30 local time. VW Polo R WRC, World Rally Car will be unveiled in about 3 hours from then.

The limited edition of the road going Polo R WRC edition was unveiled, which has an engine that can churn more than 200 horsepower & its not a joke.

The event is on & can be viewed online here.

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Citroen reveals its new Team Livery, for WRC - 2013 | Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team

Citroen Racing / WRT is now officially Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, with the arrival of the new major title partner which was announced by the team few days after the last rally in Spain this season. The new livery was unveiled at Abu Dhabi, Monte-Carlo Beach today.

Present at the event, Citroen Racing Team Principal, Yves Matton, We are very proud to have forged a relationship with a partner that is as prestigious and dynamic as Abu Dhabi. Like our long-time partner Total, Abu Dhabi will be visible across all our 2013 programmes: on the works teams competing in the WRC and the MERC (Middle East Rally Championship), but also in the Citroën Racing Trophy held in the main countries in Europe. Together, we are also committed to establishing a rally driver development programme with Abu Dhabi Racing.”

Eight time & five time consecutive World Rally Champions Constructors title winning team, has a 3 car line up for the 2013 season, with the no.2 car fielding their new leading driver/codriver pair, Mikko Hirvonen / Jarmo Lehtinen, "Now that I have my first season with Citroën under my belt, I feel ready for this new challenge,” asserted the Finn. “I have been World Championship runner-up four times, so the next logical step is to aim for first place!"

However it reserves the no.1 car for the 9-time World Champion driver Sebastien Loeb, who will be competing in selected rallies to get points to the works team. “We’ll start the season in Monte-Carlo and we’ll also be competing in Sweden, because it’s a rally that I would love to win in normal racing conditions. And I couldn‘t begin to think about missing the Rallye de France,” confirms Seb.

Spaniard, Daniel Sordo will be driving the third car & be nominated for points winning position, wherever Loeb/Elena pair are not taking part. “I’m incredibly pleased to be back with the team. The first test sessions went very well and I’m ready to help Citroën win more titles. My personal goal will be to win my first rally in the WRC,” says the Spaniard.

There will also be a 4th car in the field, where behind the wheel will be the team’s newcomer, Khalid Al-Qassimi who will start his season in Sweden in a racing programme featuring eight WRC rallies. The United Arab Emirates driver will also be looking to win the Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) again. He will be driving a Citroën DS3 RRC sporting Abu Dhabi Citroën World Rally Team decals: “Joining such a successful team and competing on two fronts will undoubtedly help me to keep improving. After winning the title for the first time in 2004, winning the MERC again will be my main goal.”

The Middle East Rally Championship will also provide two young drivers with the chance to acquire valuable experience in a Citroën DS3 R3. The crews will be selected for this programme following a qualifying event in Citroën DS3 Racing cars held on December 7-9 at the Yas Marina circuit. “The varied and difficult nature of the MERC will ensure it emphasizes the qualities of the DS3 R3,” commented Marek Nawarecki, Customer Racing Manager at Citroën Racing. “The drivers will be selected using the same methodology that we apply in our European promotional formulas, and they will enjoy the same backing and support, geared toward helping them to improve in our programme.”

Hope this new alliance brings a good charm and support to the team and the sport as a whole.

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Mr.Hollywood Retires from WRC.. [for now, though!]

Petter Solberg has made a decision & announced today that he is ending his 14 year career at the top level of Rallying, WRC, and is all set to try at a something little different for 2013. The Norwegian had entered the sport in late 90's and was best known for his flambouyant driving style. He has one of the biggest fanbase in this sport & cannot be ruled out as a major crowd drawing force, and he had pretty good in the sport, while serving 4 different teams. He managed 13 rally wins, 15 second places and 24 3rd's, with 456 stage wins and a total of 852 points. It was the WRC Season 2003, that hetook the World Rally Driver Championship crown, though he never had such success later on.

Much elated Petter didn't forget the WRC community to thank, “I am so grateful and happy for what I have experienced during my 15 years in the WRC. For now it’s really quite sad, you know, I would have loved to have driven for a few more years, but I do realise there will not be a WRC program for me next year. I have said I am willing to drive for free, but at this point, I will not pay to drive. This is not to say that you will never again see me in a WRC car, but for now, I think it’s best. I know I am good enough to fight in the top for many years still, but I fully understand the difficult financial situation for the 2013 season for M-Sport, so I wish the team all the best in the future.”

“The sport has given me so much, but I want to give a special thank you to all of my fans that have supported me through thick and thin, and given me such a great feeling about what I do, and for being a large reason of why I do it. I do hope you all understand, and I hope you’ll continue to follow me on to my next venture. I promise to bring you something worthy of this. My team and I are hard at work as you read this, and we can’t wait to let you know what are plans are.” 

We wish him the best of luck in his new venture & hope he will return when the sun will return to shine at the fullest!!

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More efficient Honda Civic, with the 1.6 i-DTEC

Since the PSA Peugeot-Citroën Group presented its 1.6 HDi , which drew the same 110 hp previously only known in two-liter engines. While the other leading European manufacturers were launching their corresponding replicas, with the smooth 1.6 TDI from Volkswagen and with 1.5 dCi the Renault Nissan Alliance were seen in the lead, followed by the Korean amazing 1.6 CRDi and 1.7 CRDi from Hyundai and Kia .

Japanese brands, however, have always taken a little longer to alternative diesel for the European market (the only one, in fact, that massive demand this type of engine in cars), but when they have, at least in case of Honda, they have taken it very seriously.

The new 1.6 i-DTEC is the latest proof. It is the first engine from Honda series called Earth Dreams Technology in the development of engines and transmissions, which was announced almost a year ago now, and they will come to Spain in February 2013 mounted on the Civic , and to join the range later also the upcoming Honda CR-V .

This turbo block has numbers like 120 hp and 300 Nm of maximum torque available at 2,000 rpm, with the figures for fuel consumption and CO2 emissions for the Honda Civic declared as 3,6 l/100 km and 94 g / km respectively.

Produced at the Honda plant in Swindon British plant, the engine block and aluminum cylinder head has been developed from scratch and is distinguished by weigh 47 kg less than the 2.2 i-DTEC that the brand currently mounted. All components have been redesigned to reduce weight and size of the set, and lighter pistons and connecting rods.

Another achievement of which Honda is the proud reduction of internal friction, which according to test figures ensures that the levels are in-line with a gasoline engine. For example, details a shorter and thinner piston skirt helped reduce friction by 40% at 1,500 rpm compared to 2.2 i-DTEC.

Tetsuya Miyake, head of project development says "This engine not only reduces emissions and improves fuel consumption, but also increases engine response, both in acceleration and in reduction." Although, for help, Garrett turbo fourth generation, able to max at a pressure of 1.5 bar and whose geometry is electronically controlled by the engine control unit and is optimized to reduce the delay in responding.

The direct injection common-rail used in the 1.6 i-DTEC injectors has Bosch solenoids that are capable of operating at pressures up to 1800 bar (higher pressure, better distribution and utilization of the fuel mixture). Moreover, this engine will have associated other fuel saving systems such as automatic stop and start.

With all this new featured engine, Honda believes that it is ready to take on the most promising market share of the new generation cars in the market today.

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