The Formula1 Grand Prix of Belgium proved to be most interesting even though pole sitter Sebastian Vettel won the race as there was enough drama to keep viewers biting their finger nails off. And if you are a Michael Schumacher fan then it does not get too much better than this, for the man who did not even set a time in yesterday’s qualifying thanks to a wheel coming off and consequently started in the 24th and last position on the grid, worked his way up to 5th place in the Mercedes GP car ahead of his teammate Nico Rosberg by the time the chequered flag was waved. Almost equally impressive was Jenson Button’s drive from 13th on the grid to 3rd place and on to the podium, in the process pulling off some breath taking overtaking moves on competition such as Fernando Alonso. While Button brought something for McLaren fans to rejoice about, Lewis Hamilton brought them grief when he threw his race away yet again, this time due to a misjudgment of where Kamui Kobayashi’s Sauber Ferrari was in relation to his own car after completing an overtaking move and this led him to crash out of the race. Mark Webber drove a comparatively unspectacular race to finish a solid second behind teammate Sebastian Vettel who stormed to victory in his Red Bull Racing car. The Ferrari of Fernando Alonso could finish only fourth and his championship hopes are now finished barring some miracle. His teammate Felipe Massa also faded in the race to finish in eighth position behind Force India’s Adrian Sutil who finished in seventh. Ferrari have some soul searching to do since their cars were beaten fair and square on the track through overtaking moves. One expected the Ferrari’s to be kind to their tyres but that was not to be. Vettel seems to have the championship in his bag, barring major disaster(s).
Yearly Archives: 2011
Casey Stoner took a commanding pole position for the race at Indianapolis in MotoGP. Riding the Repsol Honda Stoner ensured that no one would catch his pole setting time. In second and third places were taken by the beautifully liveried (red and white) Yamahas of Ben Spies and defending world champion Jorge Lorenzo. Valentino Rossi just could not get going and finally finished in 14th position on the grid after languishing in 17th and last for most part of the qualifying. His teammate Nicky Hayden using the GP11.1 for the first time in qualifying put himself in 8th position on the grid. Now that must have hurt Rossi.
Red Bull Racing have continued their strangle hold on pole position in qualifying this season. In all the twelve rounds thus far, pole position has gone to Red Bull Racing cars and mostly to Sebastian Vettel. At the wet and dry Spa Francorchamps Sebastian Vettel drove his Red Bull Racing car to pole position with his teammate Mark Webber in third place. In the Red Bull sandwich is the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton in second place. The first two places in the championship table go to the two Red Bull drivers while Hamilton is in third just one point behind Webber. But Vettel is 84 points ahead of his nearest rival.
The Ninja 250R from Kawasaki, marketed by Bajaj Auto in India, is facing very stiff competition from the Honda CBR 250R even though the latter is a single cylinder engined motorcycle while the former features an engine with two parallel cylinders. Now Motoroids.com has features images of what it says could be the 2012 Ninja 250R, though all changes are confined to different colour schemes. The Ninja 250R is a handsome bike and if indeed the colours are official they bring a certain zing to the bike.
Pictures courtesy: Motoroids.com
The skyrocketing petrol prices in the country have seen not only the skidding of petrol powered cars sales but also an increase in those with a diesel heart. Every manufacturer is now scurrying to make diesel engined variants of their cars. Toyota is in the happy position of having both diesel and petrol engines of varying capacities in portfolio. To tap the increasing diesel car market Toyota will be launching its made for the masses Etios sedan and the Etios Liva hatchback with the same diesel engine that does duty in the Toyota Corolla with a fixed geometry turbocharger that produces lesser power and greater fuel efficiency. The date for the launch of the cars with this engine has been fixed for the 9th of September, 2011.
Since the commissioning of the Oragadam manufacturing facility near Chennai by the Renault-Nissan alliance one lakh engines have been produced at the same facility. The facility is used by both Renault and Nissan and is also used for exporting engines to other parts of the world apart from making them for the cars that Nissan and Renault manufacture in India. The Nissan Micra has been in India for a while now but the volumes of the engines are not all in the domestic market but also for the export market as well.
The second offering from Renault after it has come into India on its own is the Koleos softroader that takes on the likes of the Mitsubishi Outlander, the Honda CR-V. The first was the Fluence Sedan. The news has now emerged that Renault has successfully completed the trial production of the Koleos at its Oragadam plant and the launch is likely since the Renault website has started teasing images of the Koleos. The Koleos has had a facelift globally and it is that version that will be launched in the Indian market with a price that will be competitive.
Picture Courtesy: Indiancarsbikes.in
The Toyota Camry is all set for a new makeover. For sometime now there have been spy pics of the car. Finally some pictures emerged which were considered to be those of the new Camry definitively. However now there is a perception and another picture of the possibility of a slightly different looking Camry for markets such as India. So here are both the pictures.
Picture Courtesy: Indianautosblog.com
This is apparently for the USA market
Picture Courtesy: Indiancarsbikes.in
This is how the Indian version of the Camry may look like
The Tata Ace and subsequently the Tata Ace Magic have revolutionized load carrying and passenger carrying respectively. The Ace Magic which is the passenger version is used on the outskirts of cities as a stage coach and in rural and semi urban areas as a mass people’s mover. Its success has not gone unnoticed and Mahindra were the first to fire a salvo to compete with it by working on a passenger version of the Maxximo which goes head on with the Ace Magic while the Maxximo takes on the Ace. Force Motors’ three wheeler Minidor has been the casualty in the blitzkrieg of the Ace and the Magic and Force Motors has launched a four wheeled load carrier similar to the Ace in the form of the Trump. Now it seems Force Motors is working on a passenger version of the Trump and is being called the Trump Trip. Indian Autosblog.com has some spy shots of the Trump Trip.
Pictures Courtesy: Indian Autosblog.com
Bajaj Auto has gone ahead with a soft launch of the Boxer bike which is now being called the Boxer BM 150. The motorcycle is supposed to be using the same 150cc power plant that does duty on the Discover 150 but in a different state of tune that increases torque so that its load lugging abilities improve. The bike looks beefy and big and features a big petrol tank and a chrome carrier at the back for load lugging. The Boxer BM 150 addresses the same segment that is being addressed by the TVS Max 4R. It is priced a little over Rs. 43,000 and aims at the rural and semi urban markets.
Picture Courtesy: Bikeadvice.in
Pictures Courtesy: Motoroids.com
