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I am Adam Feneley, studying for an MEng in Motorsport Engineering at Brunel University, England.

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29 Mar 2012

BMW & Toyota Join Forces On Green Engines



Japanese carmaker Toyota and Germany's BMW are to work together on environmental-friendly motoring technology. They will do joint research on next-generation batteries for green cars. BMW will also supply clean 1.6 and 2 litre diesel engines to Toyota, beginning in 2014 for models for the European market.
Bosses from the two companies said they are also discussing other medium and long-term collaborative projects.
Toyota said as a result of the agreement it plans to expand its European range and sell more fuel-efficient, diesel cars. "It is a great joy and a thrill to enter into this relationship with BMW," said the company's president Akio Toyoda. BMW chairman Norbert Reithofer said that "supplying Toyota with our fuel-efficient and dynamic diesel engines represents another important step in the planned expansion of our sales activities".

"The agreement marks a milestone for ongoing cooperation between two companies that set the benchmark in complimentary field," said BMW's sales and marketing director Ian Robertson.
The BBC's Jorn Madslien, who is at the Tokyo motor show, said neither BMW nor Toyota had a lot of experience with such co-operation deals.
A similar partnership between Germany's Volkswagen and Japan's Suzuki is currently on the rocks, with Suzuki trying to force an end to the co-operation.
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19 Mar 2012

Australian GP Report - Button Revels in Victory

Jenson Button hailed his victory in the Australian Grand Prix as a "dream start" to the new Formula 1 season.
Team-mate Lewis Hamilton finished third, after starting on pole , to underline McLaren's competitiveness.
"It was very important for us to get this one in the bank early on," said Button, whose lead went unchallenged after he jumped Hamilton off the line.



In contrast to the last three years, McLaren emerged strongly from pre-season testing and made it count at the opening race in Melbourne. The Woking-based team locked out the front row in qualifying and Button coasted to victory after passing Hamilton off the line.

"For the last couple of years our first races have been tricky," said Button. "I'd say we've been pretty dominant today.
"It's an amazing way to start the season.
"As a team, the win shows how important the winter is. The guys have done an amazing job. This win will definitely help them push hard in the extra hours they are doing."

Button believes the race also highlighted the increased competition throughout the field in 2012.
"We all think this is a very special year in Formula 1, having six world champions and so many competitive teams," the 2009 champion added.
"It's great to see F1 is in a great place at the moment. I'm very excited heading to [the next race in] Malaysia."
After passing Hamilton off the start, Button quickly built a lead and was unchallenged until the safety car came out on lap 37 and closed up the pack of cars.
Sebastian Vettel pitted under the safety car and came out ahead of Hamilton, who had been running in second, but Red Bull's world champion conceded he had no chance of catching Button after the restart.
"I thought I would be in a good position to have a go at Jenson but two corners and he was gone," said Vettel.
"It wasn't very easy to get away from Lewis but Jenson was out of sight. He deserved to win."
Hamilton was left to rue not only Vettel's clever strategy under the safety car but a poor start to the grand prix.
"It was a shocking start," said Hamilton, who had been determined to put a mixed 2011 season behind him in the new campaign.
"I'm not sure what happened. I let out the clutch and got a lot of wheel spin. That followed all way through the launch phase. We lost a lot of ground from there and the safety car didn't help us.
Martin Whitmarsh McLaren team boss
"It's still a great job by Jenson. Clearly we're very quick so we go forward to the next race in good shape."
When asked whether McLaren are now the dominant team, Hamilton responded: "It's too early to tell.
"In qualifying, we're quick and competitive but Red Bull were massively quick in race so they're still a force to be reckoned with."
McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh summed up the race weekend as "nearly perfect".
"Lewis was unlucky with the safety car," he commented. "Jenson drove majestically, he didn't put a foot wrong. It was a bit tight on fuel, we struggled a bit. But it's a great way to start the season.
"We've proved we've got a quick car [and] there'll be a few bits for the next race."

From the BBC Website
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12 Mar 2012

Button is Biggest Threat to Red Bull - Horner

Red Bull boss Christian Horner says McLaren's Jenson Button is the biggest threat to his team this season, but warned that there is more to come from defending champion Sebastian Vettel.
Horner also named Lewis Hamilton of McLaren, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus as contenders.



But he insisted Red Bull's back-to-back champion Vettel will take some beating.
"We are yet to see the best from him," Horner told BBC Radio 5 live. "He will evolve and get stronger."
Button, the 2009 world champion, finished second to Vettel in the 2011 season, a distant 122 points behind the German.


With the 2012 season poised to start in Australia on 18 March, Horner is predicting a closer contest for the title this time round.
"Seb had an unbelievable year and in the end dominated significantly," he said. "But there are some big opponents out there, with six world champions on the grid.
"Lewis is going to be pushing hard this year, Jenson had a great year last year, you can't rule out Fernando because he is a world-class driver and it will be interesting to see how Kimi fares on his return."
Asked to pick out the strongest rival to Vettel and his team-mate Mark Webber, Horner responded: "Probably Jenson."
Horner said he was happy with Red Bull's car after they successfully trialled upgrades during pre-season testing in Barcelona.
"Those upgrades seem to be working OK and will certainly be on the car in Australia in 10 days' time," he said.
"I think we're set for a really fascinating season. Things move on so quickly and the running order at the end of last year doesn't guarantee it's going to be the running order at beginning of this year."

Story from BBC Sport, No copyright infringement intended.
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8 Mar 2012

Gallery: New F1 Cars for the 2012 World Championships

With the 2012 F1 season almost upon us, many of the teams have realeased press images of their new cars which will be burning up the rubber this year. A personal highlight is the again stunning Red Bull car, and a fairly sinister looking Williams. We can only hope with this new breed of cars comes closer competition for podiums and points than last season.

Caterham

Lotus E20

Ferrari F1 2012

Mclaren Mercedes MP4-27

Red Bull RB8

Force India VJM05

Torro Rosso STR7

Williams FW34

Sauber C31
»»  read more

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