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Outlanders V6 for USA(4/2/2006)

Mitsubishi’s all-new Outlander crossover has been upgraded for the US and provides clues to what we’ll see later this year…

Mitsubishi will show off its latest Outlander to the US market this month at the New York Auto Show. The all-new crossover vehicle is already on sale in Japan and will come Down Under later this year.

Aimed at the likes of Toyota’s RAV4 and the likes of Mazda’s new CX-7, the Outlander is a little more SUV-focused than the current model. Mitsubishi says the vehicle combines “SUV functionality and design with sedan-like handling and ride.”

After less than six months on sale in the home Japanese market, Outlander has topped 20,000 units delivered, easily exceeding its 2000 unit monthly sales target.

The North American market Outlander raises further questions regards the spec Aussies will be able to buy when the model arrives Down Under.

The US version is powered by a 3.0-litre MIVEC V6 engine coupled with a six-speed automatic transmission. Japanese market Outlanders get a 2.4-litre four-cylinder powerplant. It’s likely Australia will offer only a four-cylinder version, though the V6 option would help differentiate the Outlander in the burgeoning Aussie crossover marketplace.

While the yanks can choose from AWD and front-wheel drive models it’s unclear whether Mitsubishi will offer a two-wheel drive version locally. Hyundai has successfully offered a two-wheel drive variant of its Tucson and Ford’s two-wheel drive Territory has also won favour with local buyers. It’s expected Holden’s upcoming Korean-built V6 Captiva seven-seat SUV will also be available in both AWD and 2WD versions.

One thing is likely to flow from the US Outlander. There a seven-seat layout (that features two occasional-use third row seats stored flat under the luggage area floor) is offered -- expect such a set-up to be an option Down Under.

Alonso wins dramatic F1(4/2/2006)

Renault^s Fernando Alonso won an incident-packed Australian Grand Prix today to take a 14-point lead in the Formula One standings after three races. The 24-year-old world champion claimed his second victory of the season when he established an early lead then held off McLaren^s Kimi Raikkonen to win by less than two seconds on a dramatic afternoon at Albert Park.

"The car was perfect. We were not in danger of

losing the race at any time," said the Spaniard of his 10th career win. "There were no problems at all."

Michael Schumacher, Germany^s seven times world champion, was among a handful of drivers who were involved in high-speed crashes that interrupted the race. "It^s clear we have work to do," said a dejected Schumacher. Felipe Massa, Schumacher^s team mate, also wrecked his Ferrari when he slammed into a wall while Juan Pablo Montoya, Christian Klien, Jarno Trulli, Nico Rosberg and Vitantonio Liuzzi were also involved in accidents.

"It was a weekend to forget," Jean Todt, the Ferrari team boss, said. "Going home without points is a very bitter feeling, given that we have all we need to succeed.

Honda^s engine burst into flames
Jenson Button, who started on pole position, avoided most of the mayhem only to pull over agonisingly within sight of the finish line when his Honda^s engine blew and burst into flames. He had been in fifth place. The failure also ended Button^s run of 12 races in a row in the points. Almost half the drivers failed to complete the 57-lap race, while the safety car was introduced on four separate occasions.

Ralf Schumacher steered his Toyota to third place, despite a stop-go penalty for exceeding the pit lane speed limit, ahead of fellow German Nick Heidfeld^s BMW Sauber and Alonso^s Italian team mate Giancarlo Fisichella.

Melbourne to open 2007 F1 season (4/2/2006)

Formula One bosses have confirmed that the Australian Grand Prix will resume its place as the opening race of the calendar from 2007 onwards.

The race was moved this year to allow for the Commonwealth Games, which were also being staged in Melbourne.

Bahrain and Malaysia staged the first two races of this season^s Championship and Melbourne officials said their attendances were down 118,200 on 2005.

"It will now revert to the first race," Victoria state chief Steve Bracks said.

Bracks revealed that Melbourne was assured of its place at the start of the F1 calendar for the foreseeable future.

"I was there when the contract was renegotiated for 2010 with an option for a further five years after that and one of the conditions was that it was the first race of the year," he said.

Czech wins in A1GP finale(4/2/2006)

Shanghai, China - Tomas Enge overtook pole-starter Alex Yoong of Malaysia on Sunday to give the Czech Republic its first victory of the season at China^s season-ending A1 Grand Prix.

The French drivers, meanwhile, raised the championship trophy for the series^ inaugural season that they already wrapped up at last month^s American GP.

Switzerland was second for the season, followed by Britain.

Yoong^s win in the sprint race earlier on Sunday put him on pole for the longer feature race and he looked primed to make it a double.

However, a first-lap crash between Indonesia^s Ananda Mikola and Michael Devaney of Ireland brought the pace car out

. Enge was able to pass Yoong on the first turn after the re-start.

"I think it^s going to take us a week to understand what happened today," said Enge, who turned doughnuts in celebration after the win, sending clouds of burning rubber smoke toward his ecstatic pit crew.

Enge, who led from lap five, finished in 59min23.250, more than six seconds ahead of Yoong. He also had the fastest lap of 1min52.695 on the 5.5km Shanghai International Circuit and a top speed of 278.8km/h.

Yoong had the consolation of his sprint race win of 28min17.807, almost 10 seconds ahead of Britain^s Darren Manning.

Australia^s Ryan Briscoe was third in the feature race, three seconds behind Yoong. New Zealand, Pakistan, and France completed the top six.

Hosts China, with Shanghai native Jiang Tengyi at the wheel, was 16th.

A1GP - The Race Begins(4/1/2006)

Shanghai – A1 Team Malaysia snatched their first pole position for the final Sprint race of the 2005/06 A1 Grand Prix season this afternoon after the flag had dropped in the last of the four Qualifying sessions. A1 Team Great Britain’s Darren Manning, who led from the word go, was denied the opportunity to head up the grid in his first A1GP race by Malaysia’s Alex Yoong. While Manning still recorded the fastest lap of Qualifying (1.51.832), Yoong pushed his aggregate time ahead of A1 Teams France and Great Britain, with a 1.51.846 flying lap after leaving the pits in the last few minutes of the session.

Darren Manning, making his debut for A1 Team Great Britain, praised the A1GP Qualifying system for the excitement that it added to the day. ‘I thought it was all over after I was quickest in the first session but this qualifying system is different, it isn’t over until the last car crosses the line. It’s a really good result for A1 Team Great Britain. I made a small mistake just before the back straight, and lost too much speed. The back straight is very long and I lost a lot of time. Without that I think I would have been even closer to Alex. I have little experience as to how the Series is run, but we are doing ok, and I will be going out to win the race tomorrow.’

First time A1GP pole sitter Alex Yoong, was pleased with his performance: ‘Today was really good, the car was brilliant, we made a couple of small improvements from yesterday. It’s a great day for A1 Team Malaysia. The team is brand new, and was only put together for A1GP, it has been a big effort for a lot of people. This will mean a lot to the people in Malaysia, which, like China, does not have a motorsport background.’

Alex Premat took to the track for the first time today, after his team mate, Nicolas Lapierre drove yesterday’s practice sessions. ‘Just before Qualifying I managed to do a few laps during third practice. So I had to learn the set up of the car and the circuit quickly. I made a few mistakes, but for tomorrow I think it will be perfect.’

With three official practice sessions and four 15 minute Qualifying sessions completed over two days, not a single red flag has been seen all weekend. There have been a few spins including a matching pair from A1 Teams Australia and USA on turn one in the first Qualifying session and another from A1 Team New Zealand in Q3, but they each managed to get themselves back on track for the subsequent sessions.

	A1 Team	Driver	Aggregate Time
1	Malaysia	Alex Yoong	3.43.700
2	Great Britain	Darren Manning	3.43.888
3	France	Alexandre Premat	3.44.392
4	Mexico	Salvador Duran	3.44.560
5	Indonesia	Ananda Mikola	3.44.656
6	Ireland	Michael Devaney	3.44.724
7	Netherlands	Jos Verstappen	3.45.206
8	Czech Republic	Tomas Enge	3.45.554
9	Australia	Ryan Briscoe	3.45.683
10	Switzerland	Giorgio Mondini	3.45.965
11	Canada	Patrick Carpentier	3.46.254
12	South Africa	Stephen Simpson	3.46.430
13	New Zealand	Matt Halliday	3.46.455
14	Pakistan	Adam Khan	3.46.458
15	China	Tengyi Jiang	3.46.543
16	Brazil	Christian Fittipaldi	3.46.737
17	Italy	Enrico Toccacelo	3.46.864
18	Portugal	Cesar Campanico	3.47.489
19	USA	Phil Giebler	3.47.565
20	Lebanon	Graham Rahal	3.47.714
21	Austria	Mathias Lauda	3.48.036
22	Germany	Sebastian Stahl	3.49.171

Home racers A1 Team China and Series leaders A1 Team France are both taking advantage of a unique rule which allows teams to change drivers between Qualifying and each of the two races. A1 Team China will run with Ma Qinghua in the Sprint race and Tengyi Jiang in the Feature race while A1 Team France will run Alexandre Premat for the Sprint and Nicolas Lapierre for the Feature race. All other A1 Teams will keep their Qualifying driver behind the wheel for both races.

The Sprint race will be contested over 50 miles lasting up to 30 minutes in duration. With a rolling start at 13.30 local time, tomorrow’s race will be run over 15 laps of the Shanghai circuit. The outcome of the race determines the grid positions for the Feature race which will start at 15.00 local time with a standing start. The Feature race will be run over 100 miles (30 laps) lasting up to 60 minutes in duration.

F1:The Beginning of the Race(4/1/2006)

J. Button