Cars and other kinds of motoring gibberish

Lewis wins in Abu Dhabi, clinches 2nd championship

1 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

2 19 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes

3 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes

4 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault

5 22 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes

6 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes

7 11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes

8 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault

9 14 Fernando Alonso Ferrari

10 7 Kimi Raikonnen Ferrari

11 20 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes

12 25 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Renault

13 8 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault

14 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes

15 21 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari

16 99 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari

17 46 Will Stevens Caterham-Renault

Ret 10 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault

Ret 13 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault

Ret 26 Daniil Kvyat STR-Renault 14

Final Points Standings

1. L. Hamilton 384

2. N. Rosberg 317

3. D. Ricciardo 238

4. V. Bottas 186

5. S. Vettel 167

6. F. Alonso 161

7. F. Massa 134

8. J. Button 126

9. N. Hulkenberg 96

10. S. Perez 59

11. K. Magnussen 55

12. K. Raikkonen 55

13. J. Vergne 22

14. R. Grosjean 8

15. D. Kvyat 8

16. P. Maldonado 2

17. J. Bianchi 2

^ Totally anticlimactic, since Nico's car conked out early... Disappointing. :(

Maybe BMW will be back in F1, it's okay with Mercedes: http://www.autoblog.com/2014/12/04/mercedes-zetsche-welcomes-audi-bmw-f1-report/

Following in the steps of Jean Alesi:

Jenson Button marries model Jessica Michibata

Model Michibata Jessica has announced her marriage to F1 driver Jenson Button .

On January 1, Jessica wrote on her official Twitter, "Happy New Year from Mr & Mrs Button!" She then announced her marriage through her official Facebook account, "I would like to announce that I got married to F1 driver Jenson Button, whom I have been dating for some time now, on December 29, 2014."

They tied the knot after dating for 6 years.

Source: Model Press

Father of the Nissan Z, Yutaka Katayama, "Mr. K" passes away at 105

Yutaka Katayama, a former president of Nissan's U.S. unit who built the Z sports car into a powerful global brand in the 1970s, has died, his son said Saturday. He was 105.

Known as the "father of the Z," Katayama won international respect for the Datsun Z as an affordable sports car at a time when Japan-made products were synonymous with slipshod quality.

Katayama, who retired from Nissan in 1977, died Thursday of heart failure at a Tokyo hospital, his son Mitsuo said.

Carlos Ghosn, who has led a turnaround at the Japanese automaker under an alliance with Renault of France, resurrected Katayama's legendary status at Nissan by bringing back the Z, which had been discontinued in 1996.

Inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in both the U.S. and Japan, Katayama is revered by Z fan clubs around the world, which nicknamed him "Mr. K."

"A car is a horse. I want to drive a thoroughbred that's in tune with my heartbeat, but not something that's too dressed up for someone like me," Katayama told The Associated Press in a 2002 interview about the Z's comeback.

In selling the Datsun brand in the U.S., Katayama stressed maintenance services, and courted dealers and employees alike. His vivacious personality, unusual for a Japanese person of his generation, helped.

He made one of the first color films of a Datsun, innovating visual storytelling for marketing, something taken for granted in the auto industry today.

"With a love of cars and a flare for promotion, he built the Datsun brand, Nissan's initial brand name in the U.S., from scratch," Yokohama-based Nissan said on its website last year.

Mitsuo Katayama mused that his father was happily zooming around in the Z in heaven, no longer worried about "gas, police or traffic tickets."

"His greatest achievement, I think, was the fact that he was able to give many American Datsun dealers their own success story," he said.

Katayama is survived by his wife, Masako, two sons and two daughters, 11 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren. A family service is planned for Tuesday. A larger memorial will be announced later.

Nice tribute to Mr. K from Bob Bondurant: http://www.bondurant.com/pit-row/news/farewell-mr-k-my-friend

Cool website: http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/

This is a movie, but it's mostly about cars, one car film in particular: http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/entertainment/videos/a26181/watch-the-new-steve-mcqueen-le-mans-documentary-trailer/

gaijinmark wrote:This is a movie, but it's mostly about cars, one car film in particular: http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/entertainment/videos/a26181/watch-the-new-steve-mcqueen-le-mans-documentary-trailer/

Ooh, this looks fascinating. :victory:

Even though he's with the worst team (and he qualified dead last), for the first time since 2007 there's an American in F1:http://www.eurosport.co.uk/formula-1/rossi-gets-f1-race-debut-with-manor_sto4913907/story.shtml#uk-yh-rf

Here's final qualifying for Singapore:

1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari
2 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull
3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari
4 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull ðV
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes
7 Valtteri Bottas Williams
8 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso
9 Felipe Massa Williams
10 Romain Grosjean Lotus
11 Nico Hulkenberg Force India
12 Fernando Alonso McLaren
13 Sergio Perez Force India
14 Carlos Sainz Jnr Toro Rosso
15 Jenson Button McLaren
16 Felipe Nasr Sauber
17 Marcus Ericsson Sauber
18 Pastor Maldonado Lotus
19 Will Stevens Manor
20 Alexander Rossi Manor

And he finished 14th, two laps down. But at least he finished which is more than the current World Champion can say:

Singapore GP results

1. Sebastian Vettel GER Ferrari-Ferrari 61 laps 2hr 01m 22.118s
2. Daniel Ricciardo AUS Red Bull-Renault +1.4s
3. Kimi Raikkonen FIN Ferrari-Ferrari +17.1s
4. Nico Rosberg GER Mercedes-Mercedes +24.7s
5. Valtteri Bottas FIN Williams-Mercedes +34.2s
6. Daniil Kvyat RUS Red Bull-Renault +35.5s
7. Sergio Perez MEX Force India-Mercedes +50.8s
8. Max Verstappen NED Toro Rosso-Renault +51.4s
9. Carlos Sainz Jr ESP Toro Rosso-Renault +52.8s
10. Felipe Nasr BRZ Sauber-Ferrari +1m 30s
11. Marcus Ericsson SWE Sauber-Ferrari +1m 37.5s
12. Pastor Maldonado VEN Lotus-Mercedes +1m 37.7ss
13. Romain Grosjean FRA Lotus-Mercedes +2 laps
14. Alexander Rossi USA Manor-Ferrari +2 laps
15. Will Stevens GBR Manor-Ferrari +2 laps

Not Classified

Rtd. Jenson Button GBR McLaren-Honda
Rtd. Fernando Alonso ESP McLaren-Honda
Rtd. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes-Mercedes
Rtd. Felipe Massa BRZ Williams-Mercedes
Rtd. Nico Hulkenberg GER Force India-Mercedes

Maybe I should have kept my '86 Nissan pickup:http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2015/09/30/time-capsule-81-datsun-210-sells-for-nearly-12000-in-las-vegas/?refer=news

Speaking of old Japanese cars, world's oldest Toyota (or if you prefer, Toyoda) found, , , ,in Russia:https://www.toyota.co.uk/world-of-toyota/stories-news-events/where-it-all-began-toyoda-aa.json

Aston-Martin looking to comeback to F1. It's only been 55 years:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/11967091/Aston-Martin-name-set-to-return-to-Formula-One-for-the-first-time-in-over-50-years.html?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social


10,000th post!! Woo-hoo!!

I wonder if they'll become collectors' items. Toyota dropping Scion:http://www.motortrend.com/news/breaking-toyota-gives-scion-brand-the-axe/

A new F1 season. Pretty much looks the same as the last two years, but Vettel says it ain't over 'till its over.

Rosberg wins Australian GP


1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes

2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari

4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull

5 Felipe Massa Williams

6 Romain Grosjean Haas F1

7 Nico Hulkenberg Force India

8 Valtteri Bottas Williams

9 Carlos Sainz Jnr Toro Rosso

10 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso

11 Jolyon Palmer Renault

12 Kevin Magnussen Renault

13 Sergio Perez Force India

14 Jenson Button McLaren Lapped

15 Felipe Nasr Sauber Lapped

16 Pascal Wehrlein Manor Lapped

R Marcus Ericsson Sauber Retired (42)

R Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Retired (23)

R Rio Haryanto Manor Retired (19)

R Esteban Gutierrez Haas F1 Crashed (17)

R Fernando Alonso McLaren (17)

R Daniil Kvyat Red Bull Retired (0)

Alonso smashed up his car pretty good in this race. :sweat:

Two in a row for Nico

Vettel blows up on the starting grid, Kimi upholds Ferrari's honor


1. N. Rosberg Mercedes

2. K. Raikkonen Ferrari

3. L. Hamilton Mercedes

4. D. Ricciardo Red Bull

5. R. Grosjean Haas

6. M. Verstappen Toro Rosso

7. D. Kvyat Red Bull +1 Lap

8. F. Massa Williams +1 Lap

9. V. Bottas Williams +1 Lap

10. S. Vandoorne McLaren +1 Lap

11. K. Magnussen Renault +1 Lap

12. M. Ericsson Sauber +1 Lap

13. P. Wehrlein Manor +1 Lap

14. F. Nasr Sauber +1 Lap

15. N. Hulkenberg Force India +1 Lap

16. S. Perez Force India +1 Lap

17. R. Haryanto Manor +1 Lap

Did not finish
18. C. Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso +28 Laps

19. E. Gutierrez Haas +48 Laps

20. J. Button McLaren +51 Laps

21. S. Vettel Ferrari +57 Laps

22. J. Palmer Renault +57 Laps

^ Really short day for Vettel. :sweat:

Looks like Mercedes is still the one to beat... If so, I hope this'll be Rosberg's year.

I vaguely remember what I was up to when I was 18 years and 7 months old. Max Verstappen won't ever forget: https://www.formula1.com/content/fom-website/en/latest/headlines/2016/5/verstappen-stuns-with-maiden-win-in-spain.html

^ I remember when he first came up to F1 last year some people we're saying he's way too young. But it looks like he's the real deal. :victory: