The second free practice session of the inaugural Formula1 Grand Prix of India was topped by Ferrari driver Felipe Massa.  Sebastian Vettel yet again finished in second position in the Red Bull Racing car while Fernando Alonso in the other Ferrari was third.  All three drivers ducked under the 1m 26s barrier.

Fourth position in the session went to McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton while fifth went to Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber and sixth fastest time set by the second McLaren driven by Jenson Button.  Sahara Force India drivers Adrian Sutil and Paul Di Resta set seventh and ninth fastest times respectively.  Too much need not be read into either the times or the positions since different teams and drivers are usually doing different simulations, a fact that was exemplified by the fact that Michael Schumacher could only manage 21st position outside of the 107% time of Felipe Massa.  Schumacher’s Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg was only nineteenth on the timing sheets.

ALL PICTURES COURTESY: ZAYN KHAN

Chevrolet will have many Camaros and Corvettes at SEMA this year – including a full-size tribute to the “Custom Camaro” that was part of the original Hot Wheels 1:64-scale line in 1968. Chevrolet will showcase a number of concepts that reflect the wide range of personalization possibilities, inspiring owners to customize their own cars.

Camaro Red Zone Concept

Chevrolet Camaro Red Zone Concept at 2012 SEMA

Clothed in the 2012 model year Crystal Claret exterior color with black convertible tonneau cover, the Camaro Red Zone Concept is shod with 21×8.5-inch silver/polished-face wheels.  The Silver heritage stripe runs sets the car in a class of its own. Body-color grille and convertible wind screen and Titanium leather interiors with Silver Ice accents, black soft instrument panel insert. and Chevrolet Accessories Silver Ice door and instrument panel inserts complete the garb. On the engineering front, suspension has been lowered using a kit by Pedders (Chevrolet Official Licensed Product). There’s also concept polished strut tower brace and lastly the Concept “RS” underhood liner.

Camaro 1LE Concept

Chevrolet Camaro 1LE Concept

Born in the Camaro’s third generation and refined further in the fourth generation as a road-racing performance package, the legendary 1LE option code designation returns to the Camaro as a concept intended to scorch road courses. While only a concept, it borrows production components from both the Camaro SS and forthcoming Camaro ZL1 to deliver a competition-ready package.

Painted in Victory Red, with flat black hood and what Chevy calls ‘hash mark extensions’ the Camaro 1LE Concept has Satin black splitter, rocker panels, rear spoiler and outside mirrors.  There’s the Sport suspension featuring Magnetic Ride Control, Electric power steering, and a good old six-speed manual close-ratio transmission.

The wheels are lightweight 20×10-inch (front) and 20×11-inch (rear) wheels again in the satin black color. Brembo® six-piston front calipers, with two-piece front rotors, and four-piston rear calipers work hard to bring the car to a stop and Goodyear® Eagle F1 Supercar G asymmetrical tires lay down the rubber. Dual exhaust outlets with ZL1-style active exhaust and diffuser is another distinctive feature. The other highlights are

  • Shock tower brace
  • Chevrolet Accessories red engine cover
  • Black leather interior with Light Stone stitching
  • Graphite Silver door and instrument panel inserts
  • ZL1 shifter with Light Stone stitching
  • ZL1 flat-bottom steering wheel
  • Chevrolet Accessories pedal kit

Camaro ZL1 Carbon Concept

2011 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Carbon Concept

This concept incorporates all the technology and performance of the Camaro ZL1 – which goes on sale in 2012 – but with an added layer of carbon fiber.

Shown in this concept is Chevy’s new Ashen Gray exterior paint. Chevrolet Accessories exposed-weave carbon fiber “Mohawk” adorns the hood and Carbon fiber rear spoiler has what Chevrolet calls the stainless-steel wicker bill. More Carbon fiber inserts on the interior door and instrument panel.

The Carbon Concept has on its feet Lightweight 20×10-inch (front) and 20×11-inch (rear) wheels in satin black with machined faces. The Brembo® calipers are identical to that on the Camaro 1LE Concept. The Carbon Concept also has Magnetic Ride Control, and gorgeous dual exhaust outlets with active exhaust and diffuser.

Interiors reflect the sinister side of this Camaro with Jet Black leather interior with sueded microfiber seat inserts and Torch Red stitching. The flat-bottom steering wheel is trimmed in suede.

The Carbon also showcases the ZL1’s short-throw shifter with suede and carbon fiber-trimmed shift knob and the ZL1 pedals.

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In the first ever free practice at the Buddh International Circuit for the first ever Formula1 Grand Prix of India, Lewis Hamilton emerged as the fastest driver.  His teammate Jenson Button had predicted that given that the circuit is of a high speed nature the McLaren cars were likely to go well here.  For most of the first free practice it was Jenson Button who was the fastest.

There were a couple of adventures involving Jaime Alguersuari who clouted the barriers near turn 10 with his Scuderia Toro Rosso- Ferrari, Sergio Perez who went to check out the grass in Sauber – Ferrari and there were also engine failures for Fernando Alonso of Ferrari and Pastor Maldonado of Williams.  The second place went to Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel and third to Mark Webber his teammate.  Both the RBR-Renault cars bumped Jenson Button to fourth.  But this is early days yet and the lap times are likely to tumble as the drivers learn the circuit.  Hamilton’s time was 1min26.836s.  Karun Chandok was given an opportunity to drive the car in the first free practice and he finished 19th but ahead of Narain Karthikeyan who was in 22nd position.

ALL PICTURES COURTESY ZAYN KHAN

Yamaha is worried that it will have only Cal Crutchlow available to ride its machinery in the season finale at Valencia in about 10 days time.  Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies could be off the starting grid, convalescing from injuries and Colin Edwards is definitely out with a dislocated shoulder and also guilt that it was his bike that first ran over Marco Simoncelli, an accident in which the latter lost his life.  To find so many replacement riders is a tough ask since regular test riders have been found unequal to the task of racing and with other riders in other categories contracted to other manufacturers who will stop them from racing in MotoGP with Yamaha.  With three Yamaha riders possibly out and with team Gresini choosing to not run a bike in deference to Simoncelli the grid could come down to just 12 riders.  Even if other riders are found and they are not up to the mark, well it is as good as a 12 rider grid.  Sad state of affairs indeed in MotoGP.

Bernie Ecclestone maybe an octogenarian, but that has not made him softer in any sense of the term.  Ecclestone replying to questions from the media at the Buddh International Circuit said that there was no question of renegotiating the contract terms with the organizers of the Korean GP saying that whatever is the situation now was reached after the Koreans had already driven a hard bargain.  When asked if he would not mind dropping the Korean event from the calender, he replied in the affirmative.  With a new deal signed for a second race in the USA and a race set to come up in Russia and India trying for a second race, it is perhaps unsurprising that Ecclestone is playing hard ball.

Caterham Cars India has announced the prices of the Lotus7 based Caterham7.  Depending on the size of the engine and power output the cars can cost anywhere from Rs. 28 lakhs to Rs. 90 lakhs. The cars will be built to order and Caterham has plans to open a manufacturing facility in India, only the second outside of the UK, the first being in the United States of America.  The company will also be setting up a Caterham Academy in India and will be organizing track days at the Buddh International Circuit.

Mercedes Benz has changed tack and is in the process of reinventing itself.  A decade ago Mercedes Benz let the world know that it was interested in doing big numbers when it signed various agreements with Chrysler, Mitsubishi and Hyundai.  None of them came to any fruition and Daimler Benz, the parent company, which had become Daimler Chrysler simply became Daimler.  But its ambitions have not changed all that much.  The company is now in the solo mode but it still wants numbers.  One of the changes that it has initiated towards that is that it has taken on the task of designing relatively inexpensive front wheel drive cars in the A class and B class, cars that are supposed to be based in the MFA platforms.  Similarly, with engines also Mercedes has decided to go in for easier straight sixes and V8s and avoid too large capacity engines.  It is also well known that Mercedes is working on the Diesotto engine that combines the virtues of a diesel power plant with that of a petrol engine.  While the MFA cars are likely to be available from 2012 itself, the new engines will come in a few years later.  By that time, Mercedes Benz would have reinvented itself and  in the process possibly the automobile too.

Bloomberg news believes that the Volkswagen Group of companies could be the largest seller of automobiles the world over.  It predicts that Volkswagen could end up with sales of  8.1 million vehicles, a rise of over 13 percent and that General Motors will be in second place with sales reaching 7.55 million which would be up by 8 percent while the present number one, Toyota may end up in third spot with sales of around 7.27 million, down by 9 percent.  A couple of years ago, Toyota displaced GM to become the Global Number One, but this year Toyota has had to face a slow down owing to the tsunami and earthquake in Japan apart from a slew of recall of vehicles for fixing glitches, a process that started last year.  Also Toyota sales come mostly from the Toyota badge itself while some also include the Lexus luxury brand that Toyota owns.  Daihatsu is also part owned by Toyota but we are not sure if the numbers from Daihatsu are tagged on to Toyota sales.

GM’s performance should be seen as impressive, coming as it is on the back of a near bankruptcy.  Also some of the GM brands no longer exist in its portfolio, brands such as Saab, Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Saturn.  GM sales are mainly due to the resurgence of the Chevrolet brand globally, but more so in Asia and also to an extent due to Opel and Vauxhall, brands that share platforms and car designs and model names.

The Volkswagen umbrella has many brands such as Audi, SEAT, Skoda, Bugatti, Lamborghini, apart from the VW badge itself.  Of these VW, Skoda, SEAT bring in the big numbers while Audi makes some contribution.  Bugatti and Lamborghini sell boutique cars so they are not significant for numbers.  What is important is that VW spreading its wings to newer markets has contributed to rising numbers.

However, while many are patting VW on its back and congratulating it for becoming No.1 in 2011 while its own target was doing that in 2018, we would like to say that next year, once Toyota is able to put itself back on the rails properly, it will, in all likelihood, return to the top spot.

Well, that is what Carwale.com is saying.  In what they have called a scoop, Carwale.com have said that Tata have used the expertise of Jaguar/Land Rover in developing an automatic transmission for the Aria and have mated that to the 2.2 litre Dicor engine.  Carwale.com further speculates that the same can be used in the new Safari and the Grande both of which use the same power plant.  But the Aria does not sell too well as it is since most believe that customers are not ready to pay such a hefty price for a Tata badge. Wonder how this will help, because this is only going to make an already very expensive product, even more expensive.  Maybe Tata knows something that we don’t.

With the impending arrival of the completely new 3 series from BMW and also having seen the arrival of the rejuvenated C class from Mercedes Benz, Audi has prepared its own warrior in the segment, the A4 to do honourable battle with the afore mentioned warriors from rival manufacturers.  The A4 has received updates to the exterior and interior to keep it fresh and interesting for the prospective buyer.  Exterior changes are mainly to the face of the car, bringing it in line with the A6.  The grille is now like it is on the A6 as are the headlights; narrower, meaner and more purposeful.  Inside changes are mainly confined to the steering and bits on the dashboard that makes the use of things a little more intuitive.  Audi has done enough to ensure that rivals don’t simply get a walk over from the A4.

Find our Design Feature on the Audi A4 here.