The 2009 Nissan GT-R

The 2009 Nissan GT-R delivers the kind of supercar performance that stuns enthusiast magazines and consumer auto Web sites alike—at a price point that’s at least half of its true competitors. In the words of Edmunds, “The 2009 Nissan GT-R delivers true supercar performance in a user-friendly package for less coin than a base Porsche 911.”

Subaru To Tap Toyota Expertise For 2012 Hybrid

Subaru is looking to Toyota for assistance in developing a new gasoline-electric hybrid model that will be launched by 2012, according to remarks from Fuji Heavy Industries president Ikuo Mori, at the launch of the new Subaru Legacy in Japan. Based on early reports, it isn't altogether clear which Toyota platform, or which specific version of Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive, would be employed in the new vehicle, but since meeting the tougher fuel-efficiency and emissions regulations is an issue, TheCarConnection.com points to the Prius as the most likely candidate.

Lorenzo victorious in France

Jorge Lorenzo heads Valentino Rossi after French MotoGP grand prix win

Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo's gamble on tyres paid off as he won the FIM MotoGP World Championship race in France.

But the real shock was second place for the Hayate Racing machine of Marco Melandri, who put his Ducati and Kawasaki nightmares firmly behind him.

Jorge Lorenzo has overtaken his Fiat Yamaha team-mate, the current world champion Valentino Rossi, in the MotoGP world championship after wining the French grand prix at Le Mans.

The Spanish rider finished 17.71sec ahead of Marco Melandri of Italy, with Dani Pedrosa of Spain beating Italy's Andrea Dovizioso into third place with a late burst of speed. Lorenzo leads the overall standings by a point after four races, with Rossi and Casey Stoner tied for second on 65 points.

Rossi had gone in early to switch to his second bike with slick tyres but that strategy proved to be his undoing as he slid off and then visited the pits several times – including once for a ride-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane – to get his tyre selection right.

Behind Lorenzo and Melandri were the Honda duo Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso, with the Ducati of Stoner in fifth.

Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) was sixth, Colin Edwards (Yamaha) finished seventh and Vermeulen's team-mate Loris Capirossi was eighth. James Toseland was ninth and Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda) 10th. Rossi came 16th and failed to score a championship point.

Melandri struggled to be competitive on the Ducati and also thought he might not be racing this season when Kawasaki pulled out of MotoGP.

A compromise deal struck by Kawasaki and series rights holders Dorna resulted in the Italian racing on machines supplied by the Japanese manufacturer and run under the Hayate Racing banner.

Melandri repaid the team with a fine second place behind Lorenzo, who had stayed out on the drying track with a bike running wet-weather tyres longer than most of his rivals.

Rossi could only finish 16th and failed to score a championship point, leaving the defending champion one point behind new leader Lorenzo in the standings and tied in second with Stoner on 65 points.

Jorge Lorenzo takes win in manic bike swap race

Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo took a stunning second win of the season in Le Mans today, negotiating varying track conditions and a change of bikes to lead from the first lap to the flag and take the championship lead. It was a doom-laden day for his team-mate Valentino Rossi however as the world champion slid off early on and then had a ride-through penalty to compound his misfortune.

With the track still wet from a rainy morning all riders started the race on rain tyres, with the mechanics readying the dry bikes in pit lane in anticipation of an early change as the track dried out. Lorenzo, starting from second, slipped a place at the start but had passed both Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa by the end of the first lap to take the lead. By lap five a dry line had begun to appear and a few riders chose to make early pit stops to change bikes. The 22-year-old Spaniard however was feeling comfortable and had an excellent pace on his Bridgestone wets and so he stayed out, constantly stretching his lead. In the end he was the last of the front-runners to pit, a gamble which paid off brilliantly as he was by then nearly 34 seconds clear and was able to rejoin the race in the lead on lap 13. Once he had bit of heat in his slick tyres the youngster put his head down and kept his nerve for the remaining 15 laps and he eventually took the chequered flag an impressive 17.710 seconds clear of second-placed Marco Melandri.

It was a day of stark contrasts on the opposite side of the garage, with Rossi forced to make an incredible four visits to pit lane. The Italian was in second behind his team-mate when he elected for an early bike change, coming in to swap onto his second M1 on dry Bridgestones after just five laps. The change went smoothly but the track was still damp in places and he went down on the next lap whilst trying to warm his tyres up. He returned to the pits next time around to swap back onto his other bike, with the rules stipulating that he had to keep one wet tyre with the second bike change, but a problem with his pit-limiter meant he was penalised for speeding on exit and forced to return once again two laps later to perform a ride-through penalty. His final visit to the garage came on lap 11 when he changed once again onto a fully-dry machine, but by then he was some two laps adrift and he finished in 16th.

Lorenzo’s 25-point haul takes him into the lead by one point and he now has 66 points to Rossi’s 65. Stoner has the same points as Rossi but lies third as the Italian has more second places, and Pedrosa follow in the standings. With just nine points separating the top four the next round in Mugello is sure to be a thrilling spectacle.

Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 1 Time: 47′52.678
“Never in all my dreams did I imagine this situation today – winning the race and leading the championship. This season I have been much more calm and careful and so I was really upset after the crash in Jerez because I didn’t expect it! Today has made up for that though. I had a very good pace with both types of tyre and the strategy of our team worked perfectly. I felt happy to stay out on the wet tyres for such a long time and in the end I think we changed at exactly the right time for our race; there was some luck on our side but we were also strong, calm and careful and this paid off. It was the first time in my life that I’ve had to change bikes during the race and I was very nervous, but it went smoothly and I was able to rejoin in the lead. I’m sorry for Valentino because it was bad luck to crash, but now we are nearly on the same points and it seems like the championship is starting again! I want to thank my team because they were very clever today, I’m so happy to be here and to have won a third MotoGP race.”

Valentino Rossi - Position: 16th Time: +2 Laps
“I had difficulties from the start today and I really could not ride my bike to its best. Already by the fourth lap I felt that I was quite slow and that I couldn’t ride as I wanted. I decided to change bikes early because usually this strategy – being among the first to change the bike pays off. Of course I knew that I had to warm the tyres up a little bit but I crashed anyway in that corner because at that point the track was still wet and I just didn’t ride into it in a calm enough manner. Luckily I was able to make it back to the pits and I changed again, but the rule says that if you change the bike again then you have to use one wet tyre, and so this is what we did. When I started that time, the pit-limiter on my bike was not on and so I was given a ride-through for speeding, but by that time it was too late for our race anyway. We’ve had problems throughout the entire weekend with the set-up of the bike and today I was just hoping that I could stay with the riders in front and get some important points for the championship. Now we go to Mugello, my home GP, where I will perhaps be even more motivated than usual!”.

Race 5 Mugello Circuit, Italy - Race Result

Pos Riders Time 1. J.LORENZO 47'52.678 2. M.MELANDRI + 17.710 3. D.PEDROSA + 19.893 4. A.DOVIZIOSO + 20.455 5. C.STONER + 30.539 6. C. VERMEULEN + 37.462 7. C.EDWARDS + 40.191 8. L.CAPIROSSI + 45.421 9. J.TOSELAND + 50.307 10. T. ELIAS + 53.218 11. A. DE ANGELIS + 53.550 12. N. HAYDEN + 56.647 13. Y. TAKAHASHI + 56.688 14. R. DE PUNIET + 1'11.299 15. N. CANEPA + 1'15.385 16. V. ROSSI 2 Laps

Rossi takes first win of the season

Valentino Rossi celebrates podium at Gran Premio bwin.com de España

A crowd of more than 120,000 fans at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit witnessed a victory for Valentino Rossi in the first European race of 2009.

Valentino Rossi took his first win of the season at the Gran Premio bwin.com de España on Sunday, beating Dani Pedrosa to the line by a 2.7s margin in front of a huge Spanish crowd in Andalusia.

Pedrosa led for the first half of the race having made one of his trademark strong starts from second on the grid, but Rossi took the lead with ten laps to go and did not look back there and his triumph gives him an 11 point lead in the general standings.

The rostrum was completed by Casey Stoner, who trailed Rossi by 10 seconds, the Ducati Marlboro rider moving into second place in the championship. It was the Australian’s first podium appearance at the southern Spanish track.

As was the case in the 250cc and 125cc races the Spanish rider who got underway in pole position crashed out when Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo lost control riding in fourth place with three laps to go, losing ground in the championship race.

An excellent performance from Randy de Puniet, meanwhile, saw the Frenchman bring his LCR Honda satellite machine home in fourth place, having qualified in fifth, to give himself a confidence boost ahead of his home GP in two weeks time at Le Mans.

Another excellent run from Marco Melandri gave the Italian another good points haul in fifth, the former Ducati and Honda rider improving on his good result from last weekend in Japan for the Kawasaki-equipped Hayate Racing team.

Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi rode steadily from sixth on the grid, to come home in the same position, meaning five different manufacturers were represented in the top six.

Monster Tech Yamaha’s Colin Edwards crossed the line seventh, whilst Andrea Dovizioso did well to finish eighth in his third ride for the factory Repsol Honda team having left the track at one stage. Toni Elías was the second best Spaniard in ninth for the San Carlo Honda Gresini team, with the top ten completed by Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen.

Sete Gibernau on his return to Jerez could only manage 11th for the Grupo Francisco Hernando team, whilst 2006 World Champion Nicky Hayden crossed the line 15th.

The MotoGP stars return to action at the Grand Prix de France in a fortnight’s time.