Autoblog reports that nearly 7,000 Mercedes-Benz vehicles in the USA are being recalled for potentially leaky fuel filters.The diesel versions of the 2011 E-Class, GL-Class, M-Class, and R-Class, as well as the 2012 S-Class, manufactured between January 2010 and April 2011 are being recalled.
NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), USA says fuel filters on affected vehicles “may develop leaks from the area around the heating component.” Mercedes-Benz USA will be contacting owners for free inspection and replacement, beginning in November.
We’ll keep you posted on whether the issue affects models sold in India.
Celebrating the arrival of F1 racing in India, Hindustan University is organising a motorsport quiz on 22nd October 2011 at 1.00 pm. Around 100 teams having two members each will participate in the quiz to be held at MGR Auditorium, Hindustan University, Rajiv Gandhi Salai, Padur, Chennai. Register online here.
F1 tickets for the grand prix at Buddh Circuit are being awarded to the winners.
Following the announcement of Peugeot’s 4008 SUV for the European market, rumours suggest Peugeot could put the HX1 into production as its new flagship model, sitting above the 508 and its high-riding RXH counterpart. PSA’s adaptable Hybrid 4 drivetrain could offer nearly 300 horsepower driving all four wheels through a combination of internal-combustion and electric motors.
The HX1 was showcased recently at the Frankfurt Motor Show, and was a wild concept with future-esque doors and interiors. We’ll wait and see how much is retained in the production version.
The most significant detail to emerge out of Portimao this weekend is the retiring of Superbike legend Troy Corser from motorcycle racing. Another interesting development is the signing of Hiroshi Aoyama by Ten Kate Honda to partner Jonathan Rea. Carlos Checa has signed again with Althea Ducati the team for which he rides presently. Eugene Laverty will go to Aprilia after the withdrawal of Yamaha from World Superbikes. Michel Fabrizio, riding a Suzuki this year will move to team BMW Italia for next season as Suzuki is yet to confirm its intention for 2012. He will partner Ayrton Badovini. Leon Camier will no longer be with Aprilia though where he will be next year is yet unknown. All the pieces in the World Superbike puzzle for 2012 are yet to fall in place and news of those will be brought as they happen.
In the season finale at Portimao, in the second and final race of the season of 2011, Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty took positions one and two respectively on the Yamaha R1. Earlier in the year, Yamaha announced its intention to pull out of World Superbikes and this 1-2 effort is a fitting finale for the Japanese manufacturer. Third place in the race went to Jonathan Rea on the Honda CBR1000RR, like in the first race.
Earlier in the first race Carlos Checa on the Ducati 1198 clinched victory ahead of Sylvain Guintoli also on a Ducati 1198. The third position was clinched by Jonathan Rea on the Honda CBR 1000RR Fireblade.
Dan Wheldon, the 33 year old Indy racing driver from Britain, who won the Indy 500 two times and the championship in the year 2005 has succumbed to injuries sustained in a crash in the season finale of Indy Racing League at Las Vegas. He was driving from the back of the 34 car grid when the accident occurred and Wheldon had to be airlifted to hospital where the doctors could not revive him. The race was red flagged on lap 12 when the accident occurred and later abandoned, though all others drove five laps as salute to the departed driver.
“I could see within five laps people were starting to do crazy stuff,” said Dario Franchitti, who raced together with Wheldon at Andretti Green Racing. “I love hard racing but that to me is not really what it’s about. One small mistake from somebody…Right now I’m numb and speechless. One minute you’re joking around in driver intros and the next he’s gone. He was six-years-old when I first met him. He was this little kid and the next thing you know he was my team mate.We had a couple of fallouts over the way, but we were friends. Everybody in IndyCar Series considered Dan a friend. You saw the reaction. He was one of those special, special people from when he showed up first in IndyCar. And he was kind of brash, all that stuff, but he was a charmer. Then he became this loving family guy who is still charming, but he had this whole new side to him.
I’m just thinking of [Wheldon’s wife] Susie and the boys, when I think about them, I’m struggling to hold it together. I don’t know what else to say.
We put so much pressure on ourselves to win races and championships and today it doesn’t matter.
Andretti Autosport owner Michael Andretti said, “He was a very close friend and we had just literally inked it this morning. We had great plans to do fun things together. I’m going to miss him. There was a lot of life in that guy. He was part of the glory days here. We had a combination that has never been put together in the sport of auto racing, in my opinion.
“But it’s part of our sport. He knew the risks, we all know the risks when we get in the car. It probably touches me a little more because of everything that was going on. It’s a terrible thing, but unfortunately in our sport we’ve had a lot of days like these. They suck, but that’s the way it is.”
Fans and friends have posted their condolences here.
The first ever Indian Formula1 GP will see the grid being formed for the start with a penalty for Vitaly Petrov. Petrov had driven into the back of Michael Schumacher’s car and both had to retire due to that. The stewards have deemed Petrov to be the cause of the accident and therefore have handed a five place grid penalty for the next race which happens to be in India. Interesting, Petrov and Schumacher have had a coming together on more than a couple of occasions just like Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa.
Hiroshi Aoyama the last ever 250cc World Champion made his debut with a satellite spec Honda machine run by the Interwetten team in the 2010 season. This season was blighted by injuries and this year Aoyama was given an opportunity to ride a satellite spec Gresini Honda even though teammate Marco Simoncelli has been given a works spec machine. This will be Aoyama’s final MotoGP season and he will be moving to the official Honda entry in World Superbikes, the team Ten Kate Honda from 2012 onward.
Jorge Lorenzo of the factory Yamaha team injured his ring finger in the final practice prior to the commencement of the actual race in Australia and this necessitated an emergency surgery due to which Lorenzo could not take part in the GP at Philip Island. It has now emerged that Lorenzo is also ruled out of this weekend’s GP of Malaysia at Sepang. It is not known whether he will have recovered sufficiently for the season ending GP of Valencia.
GM is working on a facelifted version of the the people mover vehicle the Tavera. Despite not being sold in the BSIV cities that Tavera has been garnering decent sales and GM has signed an agreement with ICML the makers of the Rhino for a BSIV compliant engine to power the Tavera. To keep up with the engine upgrades, the Tavera will also receive a minor facelift to differentiate it from the previous models.
