Aston Martin has entered into negotiations with Red Bull Racing for a possible comeback to F1 racing, next season. The deal could also see the British manufacturer broker a possible four-year engine deal with German carmakers Mercedes-Benz, on behalf of the racing team. Aston has participated only in two F1 seasons till date, with the last season being way back in 1960. The deal currently under negotiation is expected to see Mercedes – which owns a 5 percent stake in Aston Martin – become the long-term engine provider for Red Bull Racing while Aston will become the racing team’s technical partners. Some reports have suggested that Mercedes have green-lighted these negotiations at the senior board level, with the company eager to run more customer teams to offset the costs of its investment in F1. Christian Horner, Red Bull Team Principal, has however dismissed this as a rumour. In an official statement, he told Autosport, "The fact is, we have a contract with Infiniti and Renault until the end of 2016. Anything beyond that is pure speculation. Last week it was Ferrari, this week it''s Aston Martin, next week it will probably be Honda or Lamborghini. We have a contract and commitment with Infiniti, a very good relationship with Infiniti, and anything beyond the end of 2016 is purely speculative." At present, Red Bull racing have a contract with Renault for Luxury Replica Watches Brands for Men,Cheap Rolex Replica ... its race engines until the end of 2016. The deal is however unlikely to continue with Mercedes having outpaced the French automakers over the past 18 months. Last month, Red Bull owner, Dietrich Mateschitz appeared to be trying to force a split with Renault when he claimed in an interview that Renault’s inability to improve its pace was “destroying” his enjoyment of F1. The deal with Aston Martin and Mercedes is yet to be confirmed by company officials. However, there is a possibility that Red Bull Racing will not be signing a new contract with Renault for engines.

It’s been 12 months since Autocar India first broke the news of Nissan’s plans to introduce the GT-R in India, but it’s only now that the Japanese automaker has finally given the green light for the launch of its iconic sports car, which is expected in showrooms by the end of this year. The delay in launching the GT-R was largely due to the challenge in setting up a service infrastructure to maintain this sophisticated, four-wheel-drive machine which, like all supercars today, needs high-octane fuel to run optimally. Built to fine tolerances and with extreme precision, there are only four engineers in the world who are allowed to hand-assemble the GT-R’s twin-turbo 3.8-litre V6 engine. “It is easy to launch a car, but what’s the point if we cannot offer after-sales support after we sold a car that would cost about Rs 2 crore," said Guillaume Sicard, president of operations, Nissan India. For the handful of GT-Rs in India which have been directly imported by their owners (the list includes cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar), Nissan flies technicians in from Dubai to get them serviced, which is not an ideal solution. However, Nissan is now investing in getting select service facilities upgraded with trained technicians to service the GT-R. According to Nissan, mechanics have to undergo four months of intensive training to qualify as a GT-R technician, before they can carry out even routine maintenance. Every dealership that sells the GT-R is expected to have a fully trained technician. In India, Nissan is in the doldrums owing to lacklustre sales and an overall lack of consumer confidence in the brand. The Japanese company feels that it desperately needs a halo product and is counting on the legendary GT-R could give its image a much-needed boost. One of the fastest point A to B cars in the world, the GT-R can humble many Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Porsches and yet pass off easily as an everyday car. It’s the fifth fastest car in the world around Nürburgring‘s famous Nordschleife circuit with a time of 7 minutes 8 seconds. But to put the GT-R’s astonishing pace in perspective in the Cheap Replica Watches UK Shop Sale,Buy Fake Swiss Cool ... Indian context, it remains the fastest production car we have tested on the Sriperumbudur circuit outside Chennai with a time of 1 minute 52 seconds, beating cars like the Lamborghini Gallardo and Porsche 911 Carrera. Expected to cost a shade over Rs. 2 crore when it goes on sale, the GT-R which has cult like following, will find a small but ready clientele. Courtesy: Autocar

Jaguar F-PACE breaks cover at the Tour de France as official Team Sky support vehicle. The Jaguar F-Pace based on the CX-17 concept and is expected to make its public debut at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show. Less than a week after teasing its upcoming SUV F-Pace online, Jaguar has announced that they will run the car as the official support vehicle for Team Sky in their campaign to win the top most prize in cycling. What’s really interesting is that, for the Tour de France the SUV will shed most of its camouflage and will run in the Team Sky livery giving us a sneak peak of what it could look like. The Jaguar F-Pace based on the CX-17 concept and is expected to make its public debut at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show. Up front, the F-Pace has a typically Jaguar grille and teardrop headlights. The rear of the SUV looks like it draws inspiration from the F-Type. The support car will carry a crew of four including the Team Sky Sports Director, doctor, mechanic and another senior member of the team. While these four will follow Team Sky Sports ace cyclist Chris Froome, they will also be able to load the trunk with supplies, tools and equipment. Jaguar has wrapped the F-Pace in a special camouflage with carbon textures, rubber and chains which gains inspiration from Tour de France and road racing bikes. This is not the first time Jaguar has taken one of their products to the Tour de France. Last year the British car maker had taken its popular sportscar F-Type to the event. Kevin Stride, Vehicle Line Director, Jaguar F-PACE, said "The Jaguar F-PACE is a striking balance of performance, style and practicality. And what better way to showcase the vehicle''s attributes than on this crucial first leg of the Tour de France." Jaguar is expected to debut the F-Pace and mark its entry into the SUV segment at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show later this year. Courtesy: Zigwheels

Through the Nissan GT Academy programme, the carmaker has been looking to find racing drivers from among gamers. Anyone with a valid driver''s license was allowed to compete and the qualifiers were held in India at Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai in June. At the qualifiers, participants were given 10 minutes to set their best lap times on a virtual circuit in the PlayStation 3 game, Gran Turismo 4. From over 10,000 participants, only 20 were chosen for the finals. In the final round, the racing aspirants were tested on not just lap times at the virtual Silverstone circuit, but also on their ability to handle a real car, on a real track. In this case, a Nissan Micra on the MMRT, through a short course designed by professional racer Karun Chandok, who was the mentor for the programme this year. Apart from that, the participants were also put through gruelling physical tests and a round where they were evaluated on their ability to interact with the media. Six winners — Abhishek Dwarkhnath, Anush Chakravarti, Dhruv Dayal, Shantanu Kallianpukar, Jaideep Chahal and Akshay Gupta — are now headed to the Silverstone racing camp where they will compete with finalists from other countries. Only one will get a chance to race in the Dubai 24 Hours for Nissan. Courtesy:Autocar

The replacement for the Renault Laguna is set to be revealed and will be known as the Talisman. A teaser video for the Talisman is out and is expected to be revealed on July 6. The Talisman has been spotted testing several times in Europe and is expected to go on sale in 2016. Design cues at the front end are similar to that of the next-generation Renault Megane, which is also due 2016. Overall, the Talisman’s shape is similar to that of traditional saloons like the Mazda 6 and Volkswagen Passat. The teaser video released indicates an interior wood trim, a head-up display, an aggressive front-end with a chrome bar on the grille, along with two-tone alloys, sleek taillights and a sculpted hood. Renault explains the saloon’s nameplate saying it “conjures up notions of both protection and power. At the same time, Talisman is an easy word to pronounce and understand the world over”. The powertrain details of the car are under wraps. On the inside, the Talisman is expected to be equipped with technology suited for an executive saloon such as a digital instrument cluster, leather trim and a large multimedia screen. The Talisman may be offered with optional full-LED headlights, four-wheel steering, adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition system, semi-auto self-parking tech and Best Replica Watches Brands UK Sale,Swiss Rolex Breitling ... a list safety and assistance systems. The Talisman is expected to share the CMF architecture, which is co-developed with Nissan and is expected to be bigger than the outgoing Laguna. Renault had plans to replace the Laguna with a premium executive saloon from 2012. In a conversation with our sister publication, Autocar UK, Renault bosses had mentioned that the next Laguna would need to be a more adventurous model, and would need to incorporate the fluid styling seen on Renault’s smaller models. Courtesy: Autocar