| By Peter Mills | Monday, March 30th 2015, 19:02 GMT |
Lotus Formula 1 Junior Team driver Matthieu Vaxiviere set the fastest time in both sessions of the first day of the final Formula Renault 3.5 pre-season test at Motorland Aragon.
You have viewed over 15 free stories this month. Why stop there? Click here to find out how to continue reading.
| By Gary Watkins | Monday, March 30th 2015, 16:37 GMT |
An increase in the number of pits at Le Mans to allow 60 cars to start the 24 Hours is on course to be completed in time for next year's race
You have viewed over 15 free stories this month. Why stop there? Click here to find out how to continue reading.
| Monday, March 30th 2015, 16:24 GMT |
Nick Yelloly will test Hilmer Motorsport's GP2 car after parting company with the Jota Sport LMP2 squad prior to his planned European Le Mans Series campaign
You have viewed over 15 free stories this month. Why stop there? Click here to find out how to continue reading.
| By Mark Glendenning | Sunday, March 29th 2015, 22:33 GMT |
Juan Pablo Montoya held off Penske team-mate Will Power to open the 2015 IndyCar season with a victory in St Petersburg
You have viewed over 15 free stories this month. Why stop there? Click here to find out how to continue reading.
| Sunday, March 29th 2015, 22:22 GMT |
Dani Pedrosa may be forced to halt his MotoGP career due to an inoperable arm condition
You have viewed over 15 free stories this month. Why stop there? Click here to find out how to continue reading.
| Sunday, March 29th 2015, 22:43 GMT |
Jorge Lorenzo has revealed that a problem with his helmet cost him a shot at victory in MotoGP's season-opening Qatar Grand Prix
You have viewed over 15 free stories this month. Why stop there? Click here to find out how to continue reading.
| By Mark Glendenning | Saturday, March 28th 2015, 21:49 GMT |
Reigning IndyCar champion Will Power will start his title defence from pole position after leading a Penske domination of qualifying in St Petersburg
You have viewed over 15 free stories this month. Why stop there? Click here to find out how to continue reading.
| By Mark Glendenning | Saturday, March 28th 2015, 19:43 GMT |
Ed Jones dominated the weekend's opening Indy Lights race on the streets of St Petersburg to give Carlin a victory in its maiden North American race
You have viewed over 15 free stories this month. Why stop there? Click here to find out how to continue reading.
| Saturday, March 28th 2015, 18:26 GMT |
Andrea Dovizioso underlined Ducati's MotoGP resurgence by claiming pole position for the Qatar Grand Prix season opener ahead of Honda's Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez
You have viewed over 15 free stories this month. Why stop there? Click here to find out how to continue reading.
It broke its first record on its first day, when it became the fastest project to raise $1 million -- in 49 minutes. A week later, it became the most-funded campaign in Kickstarter's history after receiving more than $13.3 million in pledges, besting Coolest Cooler, the previous record holder.
Now, in total, Pebble has raised $20,336,930 from 78,463 people. Pebble's initial goal -- to raise $500,000 -- was too easy of a hurdle. Each watch was sold for $159 to early backers, and $179 for just about everyone else. Once retailers start selling the watch, the price will go up to $199.
"We cannot thank the Pebble community enough for their monumental support," Eric Migicovsky, Pebble CEO, said in a statement. "We continue to listen to and be inspired by the backers who believed in us and supported our vision from day one."
The Pebble Time is Pebble's second generation smartwatch, and this is Pebble's second Kickstarter campaign.
Three years ago, Pebble raised more than $10 million from 69,000 people on the crowdfunding site for its first product, the original Pebble Watch. The company's goal at the time was also an easy target -- $100,000.
Pebble Time is 20% thinner than its predecessor, and features a new color e-paper screen. The Pebble Watch only came with a black and white screen. A one-week battery life has also been another selling point for the Pebble Time.
Kickstarter says that Pebble is one of thousands of companies and creators who have turned to crowdfunding on its site for more than one project.
"Pebble's double success really shows the power of Kickstarter as a way to build community around creative work," John Dimatos, Kickstarter's lead for tech and design projects, said in an email statement. "The Pebble team wanted to come back to the people who supported them at the start, and that community really responded."
Pebble says it will start shipping the Pebble Time watch to its backers in May.
Related: New Pebble smartwatch raises $1 million on Kickstarter in record time
CNNMoney (New York) March 27, 2015: 11:16 PM ET
The Anti-Defamation League has called the article "tasteless" and "insensitive."
The playful, satirical quiz, presents 35 statements and asks the reader to decide if they refer to a dog or to her Jewish boyfriend. Dunham, the creator of HBO's hit show Girls, has said she is half-Jewish herself. She dates musician Jack Antonoff.
Some examples: He "doesn't tip," he "never brings his wallet anywhere," and "comes from a culture in which mothers focus every ounce of their attention on their offspring and don't acknowledge their own need for independence as women," Dunham writes.
"We are surprised that the New Yorker chose to print it," said the ADL's national director Abraham Foxman.
Related: Is this the Apple product that will reinvent TV?
The article appears in the magazine's March 30 issue.
We learn a lot more about Antonoff beyond his religion. He apparently has a best friend named Archie and an obsession with bellhops. Also: Dunham's grandma Dottie "loves him and says he's a 'good, good boy.'"
"While we understand that humor is its own special brand of expression ... we wish that she had chosen another, less insensitive way to publicly reflect on her boyfriend's virtues and vices," Foxman said.
Related: Brian Williams' daughter: 'I can't wait until he's back on TV again'
The New Yorker editor David Remnick issued the following statement:
"The Jewish-comic tradition is rich with the mockery of, and playing with, stereotypes. Anyone who has ever heard Lenny Bruce or Larry David or Sarah Silverman or who has read 'Portnoy's Complaint' knows that. Lena Dunham, who is Jewish and hugely talented, is a comic voice working in that vein. Richard Pryor and Chris Rock do the same about black stereotypes; Amy Schumer does it with women and gender. I don't mind if one reader or another didn't find the piece funny. People can differ on that. But considering all the real hatred and tragedy in the world, the people getting exercised about the so-called anti-Semitism of this comic piece, like those who railed at Philip Roth a generation or two ago, are, with respect, howling in the wrong direction."
Dunham's spokeswoman declined to comment and so did HBO, which is owned by CNNMoney's parent company Time Warner (TWX).
CNNMoney (New York) March 27, 2015: 6:52 PM ET
On Friday, the San Francisco company said it discovered that someone broke into its computer system. Hackers tapped a Slack database that held customer usernames, email addresses, phone numbers and Skype IDs.
Now the danger is that hackers might break into Slack user accounts.
The database contained passwords. They were encrypted into indecipherable gibberish that will be difficult convert back into plain, readable text. But security experts say these hackers could fairly quickly figure out the weakest ones, like "password" and "123456."
This is a blow to the company's image. Slack's main selling point is: Ditch email and trust us with your company's sensitive conversations.
It's unclear if Friday's news will impact the company's stellar performance with investors. Slack has raised millions of dollars in recent months. And investors currently value the young company at $2.76 billion -- more than double what they thought it was worth in October.
To prevent hackers from hijacking users' accounts with the stolen information, Slack is now offering two-step authentication.
That feature -- already available on Gmail, Twitter and other respected services -- provides an added layer of protection against hackers. If you log in from a new device, the company sends a temporary code to your phone in a text message. You'll need that code to get in.
Why didn't Slack release this sooner? The company said it was already working on it, but it was still getting the kinks worked out.
"It is a complicated change," Slack said in a blog post. "We were about a week from release, with just a few small [user interface] tweaks to simplify and clarify the usage experience."
This is the latest example of a company that's late to the game, adding a safety feature that should have been there from the start. Dropbox started offering two-step authentication after it was hacked in 2012. Apple (AAPL, Tech30) just expanded it after last year's celebrity iCloud hack.
Plus, this is Slack's second security and privacy flub. Last year, ValleyWag discovered that Slack had an information leak that let you peek at the names of internal teams at Apple (AAPL, Tech30), Google (GOOGL, Tech30), Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30), Twitter (TWTR, Tech30) and elsewhere.
Related: Hackers are stealing your tax refund
Related: Insurance giant Anthem hit by massive data breach
Related: This just happened! The world's first live-streamed virtual reality birth.
CNNMoney (New York) March 27, 2015: 3:15 PM ET
Jobs that undocumented immigrants hold. Some 13% of undocumented immigrants had management or professional jobs in 2012, up from 10% in 2007, according to a new Pew Research Center report. Meanwhile, 29% held construction or production posts, such as a food processor, garment worker or machinist, down from 34% in 2007.
The transition reflects a shift within the undocumented population in recent years. More than six in 10 of these immigrants have been in the U.S. for a decade or longer, compared to just over three out of 10 in 2003.
That's because there have been more undocumented workers leaving the country than coming into it, especially since the Great Recession, when many job opportunities dried up. Since 2007, about one million undocumented workers have left the U.S., said Jeffrey Passel, senior demographer at Pew. There were some 11.2 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. in 2012.
It's not surprising that some undocumented immigrants are taking on more responsibilities at work the longer they stay in this country, Passel said. The most common managerial positions for these workers are in food service and farming and agriculture.
Although it's illegal for undocumented immigrants to work in the U.S., many find ways to circumvent the rules. Some came here legally, but overstayed their work visa. Others use forged documents. Still others work off the books or as day laborers getting paid in cash. And some companies don't verify the information they receive.
Still, the majority of undocumented immigrant workers continue to toil in agriculture, construction and hospitality. Also, they are more likely to hold low-skilled jobs than their native-born counterparts.
For instance, some 62% held service, construction and production posts, twice the share of U.S.-born workers.
And while undocumented immigrants are climbing the job ladder, they still lag behind those born in the U.S. Though 13% of these immigrants were in management and professional jobs, some 36% of U.S.-born residents held these positions.
Overall, the number of undocumented immigrants working or looking for employment has remained somewhat constant in recent years at 8.1 million. That's about 5.1% of the civilian labor force.
Undocumented men were more likely to be in the workforce than their American-born counterparts, 91% vs 79%. But only 61% of undocumented women were in the workforce, compared to 72% of U.S.-born women.
The Pew report also gives insights into where undocumented immigrant workers live and from which countries they come. Nevada had the highest share, at 10.2%, with California and Texas following at 9.4% and 8.9%, respectively.
Just over half of undocumented immigrants were Mexican, with Salvadorans and Guatemalans next.
Overall, undocumented immigrants made up 3.5% of U.S. residents and 26% of all immigrants.
CNNMoney (New York) March 27, 2015: 3:15 PM ET
The first U.S. penny sold for nearly $1.2 million Thursday night at an auction in Baltimore. It sold for nearly $1.2 million Thursday night at an auction in Baltimore.
The coin, known as the "Birch Cent," was made in 1792, months after the one-cent denomination was first authorized by Congress, according to the auction house Stack's Bowers Galleries.
It was made in a trial run for the penny, and depicts Lady Liberty. Thomas Jefferson and George Washington discussed the design in letters dated August 1792, before it was presented to Congress as an option for the new coin.
Today, there are only 10 of these coins in existence, as far as collectors know. But it's possible that more were made at the time, according to Stack's Bowers.
Related: It's time to put a woman on the $20 bill
This penny had not been sold at auction since 1959. Stack's Bowers declined to release the winning bidder's name.
Another coin, an 1861 half-dollar made by the Confederate States of America, sold for $646,250 at Thursday's auction.
Related: The $10 bill is up next for a new look
CNNMoney (New York) March 27, 2015: 4:34 PM ET
And this was no standard response. Google (GOOGL, Tech30) used playful animated GIFs to make seething points directed at the Journal and its parent company News Corp.
Here's the back story. In 2013, the Federal Trade Commission decided not to sue Google over antitrust issues. However, on March 19, the Journal revealed that FTC investigators back then did actually feel that Google used abusive, anticompetitive tactics.
In a blog post Friday, Google called the Journal's report inaccurate.
Google's senior vice president of communications and policy, Rachel Whetstone, countered several points in the story.
For example, the Journal report hinted at Google's influence in the White House, counting 230 visits there. But Whetstone said engineers were busy fixing Healthcare.gov and discussing patent reform and self-driving cars.
So what about those GIFs? Last year, News Corp CEO Robert Thomson had said that Google is creating a "less informed, more vexatious level of dialogue in our society."
Google's response? A laughing baby.
And to underscore what it felt about the substance of the Journal report, the Google post closes with this image: An old-school Jewish New Yorker saying "Aha!"
This GIF thing might seem odd, but get used to it.
House Speaker John Boehner is resorting to Taylor Swift GIFs to reach out to young Americans. And the Republican-led U.S. House Judiciary Committee just issued an anti-immigration press release full of them.
Related: Google abused its monopoly power, FTC experts found
Related: Google shuts news service in Spain
Related: 'Google tax' targets big tech
CNNMoney (New York) March 27, 2015: 6:34 PM ET
In a speech Friday afternoon in San Francisco, Yellen was more blunt than usual in her assessment of the economy.
"If underlying conditions had truly returned to normal, the economy should be booming," she said.
Her more sobering tone will likely please Wall Street. Investors are anxious about the Fed raising interest rates later this year for the first time in about a decade.
But Yellen continues to strongly hint that the Fed won't push interest rates significantly higher anytime soon.
Related: Fed is preparing to raise rates later this year
Here are some of her most telling comments Friday:
1. The job market needs improvement: Although Yellen said the job market recovery "has been substantial," she added that there is "some way to go" before the economy reached maximum employment.
The unemployment rate is now 5.5%. Yellen said that Fed wants to see it fall to about 5%. She also noted that there are still too many people working part-time jobs and that " wage growth continues to be quite subdued."
2. "Not all sectors of the economy are doing well." Yellen mentioned three specific concerns:
The strong dollar is hurting exports.
Lower oil prices have led to a pullback in drilling.
The recovery in housing construction, like wage growth, is "subdued."
3. Can the economy thrive without low interest rates? She said the economy is still "quite weak by historical standards" and that the increases in hiring have been achieved mainly due to the Fed's easy money, or accommodative, monetary policies since the Great Recession ended.
The Fed cut interest rates to near zero after the financial crisis to try to jump start a recovery.
This might be the most interesting observation ... and some may interpret it as a sign that Yellen realizes the Fed has to keep interest rates pretty low for a long time. Last week, the Fed opened the door to raising rates as early as June, but some now question if that's too soon.
Related: Thank you, Janet Yellen! Stocks surge
Yellen gets that this recovery is an odd one. It's been strong for investors, but not for average middle-class Americans struggling to keep up.
The economy is a heck of a lot better now than it was six years ago. But it is definitely not booming.
Related: What an interest rate hike means for real people
Related: Bond king tells Fed to not be a 'blockhead'
CNNMoney (New York) March 27, 2015: 4:12 PM ET
Ellen Pao (right), after the jury decided against her, said "I have told my story and thousands of people have heard me." But it took a strange turn of events to get to this outcome in a case that has riveted Silicon Valley for weeks.
At issue in the case: Did Kleiner Perkins, one of Silicon Valley's most prominent venture capital firms, discriminate or retaliate against junior partner Pao because of her gender?
On Friday afternoon, a San Francisco jury first ruled in favor of Kleiner Perkins. But the verdict was temporarily in limbo after the judge ordered the jurors to resume deliberating on one of Pao's four claims against the firm.
When the 12-person jury -- six women and six men -- came back roughly two hours later, one juror had changed his mind and the jury affirmed that it had sided with Kleiner Perkins. The jury voted 10-2 in favor of Kleiner Perkins on three of Pao's claims and 9 to 3 on the fourth.
This time, Judge Harold Kahn accepted the verdict.
"Today's verdict reaffirms that Ellen Pao's claims have no legal merit," the partners at Kleiner Perkins said in a statement. "There is no question gender diversity in the workplace is an important issue. KPCB remains committed to supporting women in venture capital and technology both inside our firm and within our industry."
Speaking to reporters after the verdict, Pao said, "I have told my story and thousands of people have heard me. If I've helped to level the playing field for women and minorities in venture capital, then the battle was worth it."
Related: Saadia Muzaffar is fighting for women in tech
After the trial, juror Marshalette Ramsey, an African-American woman who works as a manager for a local mass transit agency, was one of two jurors who voted for Pao on all claims.
Juror Marshalette Ramsey Ramsey said she sided with Pao after looking at the timeline of events and reading the performance reviews entered as evidence. She believed male employees received similar critiques as Pao but were then promoted.
But she said she was pleased with how the jury handled its deliberations and that they did not weigh the broader implications for sex discrimination in Silicon Valley.
"I think to do that would have done this case an injustice. We had to just consider this case," she said.
Juror Steve Sammet, a white male who voted with Kleiner Perkins on all claims, said the performance reviews showed that Pao's negative ratings didn't change over time.
"What really stuck out was that for Pao's reviews, we looked back at areas to improve, they tended to stay the same through the years," Sammet said. "Where we saw the same remarks for other individuals, they tended to change."
Related: 9 reasons to be hopeful about diversity in tech
Pao sued Kleiner Perkins in 2012, claiming she was passed over for promotions and eventually terminated because she was a woman, and because she had complained about discrimination.
The 24-day trial included testimony from various Kleiner Perkins partners. Pao, who is now the interim CEO at Reddit, testified for four days.
Both sides went through piles of performance reviews and emails from her seven years at the venture capital firm. A number of dueling experts were called to testify about damages and employment discrimination investigations.
Pao had accused her former employer of gender discrimination and retaliation. During the trial, her lawyers brought up a number of alleged incidences when male partners excluded her or acted inappropriately.
Kleiner Perkins denied that any discrimination or retaliation played a part in their decisions. Instead, they said that Pao was a difficult and underperforming employee who didn't want to improve. They alleged that she knew she was going to be fired and purposefully concocted a trail of evidence so that she could sue for millions.
Silicon Valley was paying close attention to the trial, and not just because Kleiner Perkins is one of the most well-known venture capital firms in the industry. The lack of diversity in technology is a hot topic, and the jury's decision could have implications for women in the field.
Since the trial started, two other women have filed separate gender discrimination suits against Twitter and Facebook.
Juror Steve Sammet CNNMoney (San Francisco) March 27, 2015: 9:29 PM ET
So when it solicited questions about its animal care online as part of a new marketing campaign this week, it seemed to fuel critics rather than dissuade them.
SeaWorld (SEAS) came under fire for its treatment of killer whales when the documentary "Blackfish" aired on CNN in 2013, criticizing the company's practices. PETA, the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, has long called out SeaWorld on its animal care.
"Why do you LIE & tell guests collapsed dorsal fins are normal when only 1% suffer this in the wild?" was posted by PETA Thursday. It was retweeted 487 times, and went unanswered by SeaWorld directly.
The company is trying to set the record straight on what it says is "false accusations by activists who oppose whales and other animals in zoological settings."
Related: SeaWorld says PETA 'lies' about killer whales
SeaWorld is encouraging people to use the hashtag #AskSeaWorld on Twitter to ask about topics ranging from breeding to conservation to safety and training. Some questions and answers are posted to the website AskSeaWorld.com.
But a lot of the questions came from activists and animal lovers unhappy with the company.
"Why are your parking lots bigger than your Orca tanks?" asked several Twitter users.
On Friday, SeaWorld addressed what it said were thousands of trolls and bots, hijacking the Q&A.
Related: Harry Potter tour owls 'distressed,' PETA claims
"No time for bots and bullies. We want to answer your questions," it posted on Twitter.
The "Ask SeaWorld" campaign is only part of the company's new marketing push. A website SeaWorldCares.com features videos, research and articles showing how it's a leader in the care and protection of killer whales.
The negative image hasn't helped the company's stock. It's down nearly 40% in the past year and is about 50% below its all-time high.
SeaWorld could not immediately be reached for comment.
Related: Ringling Bros. to phase out elephants from circus shows
CNNMoney (New York) March 27, 2015: 7:38 PM ET
Mercy Investment Services Inc. is the investment fund for the Institute of Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, an international religious order.
The fund is managed by Sister Valerie Heinonen, a soft-spoken nun who's been buying shares in for-profit prison companies since early 2000. She's not doing it in the hopes of making big bucks. Rather, she tries to use her leverage as an owner to reform the industry.
"What we want is the establishment of a human rights policy at these companies," Heinonen told CNNMoney.
Even more importantly, she wants the policy to be thoughtfully implemented, monitored and transparently disclosed to shareholders.
Related: 19 stocks to buy now
The issue: Hundreds of prisons and immigrant detention centers in the U.S. are being run or co-run by for-profit companies.
For decades, investors have put billions of dollars into the two largest such companies, Geo Group (GEO) and Corrections Corporation of America (CXW). Many investors saw dollar signs as prison populations swelled. The stock of Geo Group has risen 130% in the past three years.
While profits have been huge, some money managers feel it is unfair for Wall Street to profit from what they see as the inhumane warehousing of human beings. This issue is back in the forefront given the surge of immigrant detainees following the mass deportation effort of the Obama administration.
Immigrant federal prisoners are mostly segregated into 13 "Criminal Alien Requirement" prisons, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. These institutions are unusual in three respects.
"They are some of the only federal prisons operated by for-profit companies instead of being run as federal institutions by the Bureau of Prisons; they house exclusively non-citizens; and they are low-custody institutions with lesser security requirements than the medium and maximum-security institutions run directly by BOP," the ACLU says.
Accusations of mistreatment at for-profit prisons are plentiful.
Related: More undocumented workers moving into management
Prison treatment: Among them, according to an ACLU report released in 2014, is a riot in 2012 where about 300 prisoners at a facility run by CCA in Natchez, Mississippi, housing immigrant detainees over "inadequate food, poor medical care, and mistreatment by guards." The report said "the uprising resulted in the death of one guard and the injury of nearly 20 other people."
GEO Group and CCA say they are committed to protecting the human rights of prisoners and detainees.
"Our company adopted a Global Human Rights policy two years ago, which we believe was a first for any private correctional organization in the United States," Geo Group told CNNMoney in a statement.
CCA said its human rights policy is publicly available on its website and is incorporated into the ethics and professionalism course that every new employee receives. "It has been shared across our organization in communications from our CEO and others in leadership," a CCA spokesman said.
Guards search male detainees inside Homeland Security's Willacy Detention Center, a facility with 10 giant tents that can house up to 2000 detained undocumented immigrants, 10 May 2007 in Raymondville, Texas. Last month, part of an immigrant detention center in Willacy County, Texas was burned to the ground by detainees rioting in protest of what they said were inhumane conditions at the facility. Last week the Federal Bureau of Prisons abruptly canceled its contract there with Management and Training Corporation, the third-largest privately run, for-profit prison company in America.
Issa Arnita, director of corporate communications for MTC said the BOP no longer needed the additional beds that Willacy provided.
The treatment of immigrants at detention centers exploded into the national consciousness this summer as a torrent of undocumented children flowed into the U.S. Kids were being picked up by the border patrol but placing them in immigrant detention facilities was difficult. There just weren't enough facilities available. What was available, however, were prison beds.
With investor money, companies like Geo Group and CCA have been building prisons across the United States, but as crime rates and incarceration levels declined nationwide, those beds sat empty. Now, many of those beds are being used to house immigrants.
How the nuns strive for change: Mercy has raised questions about food, housing and education for the detained children and adults.
"We've also been concerned about legal access for people," Heinonen said.
Implementation and monitoring of human rights policies and transparency in communicating progress to investors is a work in progress.
"How often do the guards get a refresher course and what kind of oversight is there," Heinonen asked.
Mercy and the prison companies say they continue to meet regularly in order to address these issues.
Mercy's relationship with prisons started out pretty warm and fuzzy.
"A number of orders have members who are chaplains in prisons and perhaps this conversation came from what these people saw," she said.
Mercy initially focused on executive compensation. It introduced an investor resolution onto the ballot of both Geo Group and CCA, tying compensation to social as well as financial criteria.
"By the time we got started with the human rights policy, we had had had some success with other shareholder initiatives," Heinonen said. "For example, with the environmental initiative, everyone was recycling their waste."
However, this type of activism can be long and arduous.
Some investors, rather than pushing to reform an industry, simply want to unload their stakes in companies that don't conform to their moral code.
For example, Columbia University students have been recently organizing rallies to push the University to divest itself from private prison companies.
But there's a problem with this strategy: Unless investors sell en-masse, it can do little to spur reform and mainly only helps ease investors' minds about where their profits are generated.
For individuals interested in reforming these companies, Heinonen's recommendation is pretty simple: "I know friends who get materials from companies they used to work for and they just throw them out," she said. "I'd encourage people to read their proxy statements and go out and vote."
Related: Wall Street bets on prison growth from border crisis
Related Undocumented immigrant journalist partners with Los Angeles Times
Related: Cash for passports - how much it costs to buy a visa
CNNMoney (New York) March 28, 2015: 9:28 AM ET
| By Peter Mills | Friday, March 27th 2015, 19:20 GMT |
Manor Formula 1 driver Roberto Merhi has committed to a demanding travel schedule in order to contest Monday's Formula Renault 3.5 test at Aragon straight after the Malaysian Grand Prix
You have viewed over 15 free stories this month. Why stop there? Click here to find out how to continue reading.
| Friday, March 27th 2015, 23:28 GMT |
Joey Logano became the second repeat NASCAR Sprint Cup pole winner of the season at Martinsville, topping a session delayed by rain
You have viewed over 15 free stories this month. Why stop there? Click here to find out how to continue reading.
| By Mark Glendenning | Friday, March 27th 2015, 21:13 GMT |
IndyCar has abandoned its second scheduled practice session for this weekend's season-opener in St Petersburg due to bad weather
You have viewed over 15 free stories this month. Why stop there? Click here to find out how to continue reading.
| Thursday, March 26th 2015, 18:03 GMT |
Two-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez started the 2015 season as he finished 2014, topping the first practice session of the new campaign in Qatar
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| By Andy Hallbery and Stephen Lickorish | Thursday, March 26th 2015, 16:59 GMT |
Four-time IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti believes more needs to be done to help young Scottish drivers progress in motorsport, after backing the launch of a new scheme earlier this week
You have viewed over 30 free stories this month. Why stop there? Click here to find out how to continue reading.
| By Mitchell Adam | Thursday, March 26th 2015, 18:30 GMT |
Mercedes rookie Lucas Auer led the way on the second, rain-marred day of DTM's first official pre-season test at Estoril
You have viewed over 30 free stories this month. Why stop there? Click here to find out how to continue reading.
| Wednesday, March 25th 2015, 19:48 GMT |
Jamie Green set the pace for Audi on the first day of official pre-season DTM testing at Estoril on Wednesday
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| By Dieter Rencken and Glenn Freeman | Wednesday, March 25th 2015, 16:42 GMT |
Honda does not believe that its bid to catch up to its rivals in Formula 1 would be boosted if it supplied more than one team for its comeback
You have viewed over 30 free stories this month. Why stop there? Click here to find out how to continue reading.
| By David Evans | Wednesday, March 25th 2015, 17:00 GMT |
Gymkhana star Ken Block will focus his attentions on Global Rallycross this season and will not compete in a single World Rally Championship round for the first time since 2009
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| By Gary Watkins | Tuesday, March 24th 2015, 17:02 GMT |
British single-seater specialist Fortec Motorsport has closed its GT arm after just two seasons
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| By Scott Mitchell | Tuesday, March 24th 2015, 17:11 GMT |
Jason Plato led new British Touring Car Championship team-mate Colin Turkington as the Team BMR Volkswagens topped the series' official pre-season test at Donington Park
You have viewed over 30 free stories this month. Why stop there? Click here to find out how to continue reading.
| By Gary Watkins | Tuesday, March 24th 2015, 19:03 GMT |
The Murphy Prototypes team and Nathanael Berthon topped the times in the official European Le Mans Series test at Paul Ricard
You have viewed over 30 free stories this month. Why stop there? Click here to find out how to continue reading.
| By Hal Ridge | Monday, March 23rd 2015, 15:46 GMT |
Former single-seater racer Tamas Pal Kiss will make a full time move to rallycross this season, including occasional appearances in the world championship
You have viewed over 30 free stories this month. Why stop there? Click here to find out how to continue reading.
| Monday, March 23rd 2015, 15:13 GMT |
Ferrari protege Raffaele Marciello will make his Formula 1 grand prix weekend debut in Malaysia, when he contests Friday's first practice session with Sauber
You have viewed over 30 free stories this month. Why stop there? Click here to find out how to continue reading.
| By Scott Mitchell | Monday, March 23rd 2015, 17:16 GMT |
WSR boss Dick Bennetts is concerned the British Touring Car Championship regulation changes for rear-wheel drive cars will have an unfair impact on his title-winning team's performance in 2015
You have viewed over 30 free stories this month. Why stop there? Click here to find out how to continue reading.
| By Gary Watkins | Sunday, March 22nd 2015, 03:04 GMT |
Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi and Sebastien Bourdais claimed a clear victory in the Sebring 12 Hours for the Action Express Racing team
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| By Lawrence Barretto | Sunday, March 22nd 2015, 11:42 GMT |
Williams is confident it can outdevelop any of its Formula 1 rivals and maintain a consistent challenge throughout the 2015 season, despite falling behind Ferrari in the Australian Grand Prix
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| Sunday, March 22nd 2015, 23:23 GMT |
Brad Keselowski completed a spectacular comeback to take Fontana NASCAR Sprint Cup victory on the second green-white-chequered restart
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| Saturday, March 21st 2015, 16:06 GMT |
Nick Yelloly has split with Jota Sport on the eve of the first official European Le Mans Series pre-season test
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| By Gary Watkins | Saturday, March 21st 2015, 17:17 GMT |
The organisers of the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Tudor United SportsCar Championship have extended their alliance until the end of the 2020 season
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| By Gary Watkins | Saturday, March 21st 2015, 21:13 GMT |
Chip Ganassi Racing led the Sebring 12 Hours with its Riley-Ford EcoBoost DP at half distance
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Teen Driver tells parents how fast kids drive. GM (GM) said Friday it will soon introduce new technology in its cars to help parents keep tabs on their teens behind the wheel.
Parents can pre-set the car to give visual and audible warnings when teens exceed preset speeds. If teens ignore the warnings, the system will rat them out to mom and dad. Parents can review a "vehicle report card" that tells them how far and how fast their teens drove.
The first GM car with the "Teen Driver" feature will be the 2016 Chevrolet Malibu. It will be built into the car's existing MyLink system that operates entertainment and navigation controls. GM says it plans to include the system in other cars down the road.
To get teens to buckle up, the system automatically turns off the radio and connected devices if the safety belts aren't fastened in the front seat. That means teens will need to strap in before they can rock out. (Groan). Mom and dad can also limit the maximum volume on the car's sound system. (Eye roll).
Related: Apple's CarPlay draws safety criticism
The report card also gives parents a sense of how their teens perform behind the wheel by listing which safety features were engaged, including antilock brakes and stability control.
In addition, parents can program the system so that the car's safety features, such as parking assist and forward collision alert, cannot be disabled.
To activate Teen Driver, parents need create a PIN number in the MyLink settings. Teenagers will have their own designated key fob so the car knows who's driving. To hack the system, teens will need to steal their parent's key fob and reprogram it.
Related: Hands-free phone calls are distracting too
GM says the system is designed to help kids learn safe habits and give parents some peace of mind when inexperienced teen drivers hit the road. It notes that the fatal crash rate per mile driven for 16- to 19-year-olds is nearly three times the rate for drivers ages 20 and over, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
"We developed this system so parents could use it as a teaching tool with their kids -- they can discuss and reinforce safe driving habits," said GM safety engineer MaryAnn Beebe.
Teens may see it differently, however.
Related: Branson's Virgin might make an electric car
Related: Car seat maker Graco socked by safety regulators
CNNMoney (New York) March 20, 2015: 11:42 AM ET
Under Obamacare rules that kicked in this year, large employers have to offer health benefits to workers who put in 30 or more hours a week or face penalties. Some fretted that the new rules would cost employers a bundle or prompt them to cut workers' hours to get under the cap.
But a new study found that so far there's little cause for concern: Average enrollment in company plans was essentially unchanged between 2014 and 2015 at 74% of all workers.
The survey of nearly 600 employers by benefits consultant Mercer found that in 2015
Related: Obamacare is finally hitting employers
The average percentage of employees who were eligible for coverage increased 1 percentage point to 88%, while enrollment of eligible workers dropped 1 percentage point on average, to 83 percent.
Part of the explanation for the stable results stems from the fact that most employers were already in compliance, says Beth Umland, Mercer's director of research for health and benefits.
In 2014, employees had to work 25 hours a week on average to be offered health insurance, according to Mercer. That figure has edged up since 2011, when it was 23 hours weekly, but is still well below the law's 30-hour threshold.
Still, while the expansion in eligibility wasn't a big change for many employers, "if you were impacted, you were really impacted," says Tracy Watts, Mercer's national leader for health care reform.
Food and lodging companies were most affected by the new rules, with the average percentage of workers who were eligible for coverage increasing to 60% from 57%.
Other industry sectors that felt the change included health care, where per diem nurses and other professionals take on short-term assignments, and higher education, which employs many part-time adjunct professors, says Watts.
Related: Obamacare's second round attracts more Americans
But most employers aren't changing their practices to discourage health plan enrollment, the survey found. Some 73% said they had no plans to change, while 16% said they made sure newly hired part-timers work fewer than 30 hours weekly. Some 19% said they reduced the hours of employees who consistently or occasionally worked more than 30 hours a week.
Even though the health law aims to encourage employers to offer coverage by imposing fines on those who don't do so, not all of their employees take advantage of the offer.
Workers might not sign up because they have other options under the health law. Low-income workers may be eligible for Medicaid in states that have expanded coverage. Young adults can stay on their parents' plan until they turn 26 under the health law, and many people continue to get coverage through their spouses.
Related: Wal-Mart cuts health benefits for 30,000 part-timers
CNNMoney (New York) March 20, 2015: 3:27 PM ET
Today's young adults are on track to becoming the most educated generation to date, according to new data from the Pew Research Center.
More Millennial women, in particular, are securing their diplomas than their older sisters, mothers and grandmothers.
They also outnumber their male peers when it comes to getting college degrees.
But those degrees aren't helping them get jobs. Thanks to the Great Recession, Millennials are less likely to be employed than Gen Xers.
Millennial men were hit particularly hard. Not only do they trail Gen Xers in employment, but fewer are employed now than Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation (who are now mainly in their 70s and 80s) were at the same age.
Instead, Millennial men are more likely to be out of the labor force, either in school or not looking for a job.
Millennial women lost ground in terms of employment when compared to Gen Xers. But they are still more likely to work than Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation, when it was more common for women to stay home and raise children.
Related: Millennials closing the gap in pay disparity between men and women
Related: Millennials say no to marriage
Related: Enough with Millennials. Here's what Gen X thinks
CNNMoney (New York) March 20, 2015: 3:35 PM ET
The startup, which has wowed the Internet with impressive displays of augmented reality, has unveiled a fresh sample of its techno prowess.
Magic Leap, which got people excited last year with its video of a floating elephant, has a new video that imagines a futuristic video game that incorporates real life surroundings.
We see this from the point of view of an office worker whose computer displays -- YouTube cat videos and email inbox -- appear as floating ghostly images. When he cues up a steampunk-like shooter game, the action appears to be taking place in the office.
He shoots holes through office partitions and he mows down attacking robots. Then a big burly tank-robot crashes through the office, as sunlight streams in from the outside. Florida sun, presumably, since the company is located in Dania Beach near Fort Lauderdale.
Magic Leap's latest display of techno wizardry is a 3D imagining of a point-and-shoot office interactive video game. So what is Magic Leap, exactly? We asked the company, and spokesman Andy Fouché said, "I've heard of general questions before, but this might just take the cake!"
But it's not a ridiculous question, because a focused answer is hard to come by. The company, its technology and its mission are not easy to nail down.
Here's the company description from its website: "Magic Leap is an eclectic group of visionaries, rocket scientists, wizards, and gurus from the fields of film, robotics, visualization, software, computing, and user experience."
In a video segment called, "Magic Leap makes the Internet lose its mind," CNN's Rachel Crane said the company describes their technology as "cinematic reality" which "seems to be a mixture of augmented reality and virtual reality on steroids."
Related: New 'Mad Max' movie more expensive than previous three combined
The company's funding also seems to be on steroids: at least $542 million, with Google (GOOGL, Tech30) as the primary investor.
Magic Leap, which has job titles like "chief futurist," is obviously spending a chunk of that cash on its work force. In a section of its web site called "wizards wanted" the company has 100 job listings.
Most of them are for engineering positions, primarily in computers and software, with specializations in "3-D people tracking" and avatars.
There are several positions specifically related to video games. So maybe they'll make that steampunk interactive office shooter game a reality.
Related: Flying car ready for takeoff in 2017
Related: Blues Brothers now a record label too
CNNMoney (New York) March 20, 2015: 1:19 PM ET
But the restaurant chain has staged a stunning turnaround in the past few months after a hedge fund took over and shook things up.
Darden Restaurants (DRI), the parent company of Olive Garden, reported solid earnings and sales Friday. The stock rose 4% to an all-time high on the news.
The stock is now up 40% since activist investment firm Starboard won control of the company's board in October and installed a new CEO.
Starboard took Darden to task last year for what it felt were financial and culinary sins.
In a scathing slide presentation, Starboard mocked the company's endless breadsticks as excessive and said they hurt profits. Starboard also complained about pasta being cooked in unsalted water and drowned in a river of gloopy sauce.
Related: How an activist fought Olive Garden and won
This prompted me and my colleague Cristina Alesci to do our own taste test. We were not big fans. And we openly wondered if Starboard could get the company back on track.
But Darden said Friday that Olive Garden reported a 2.2% increase in same-store sales in the quarter. It was its second straight quarter of growth -- something that hasn't happened since 2010.
The company's new management team is clearly doing something right.
It has made changes to the menu, including a $9.99 three-course dinner. Olive Garden is trying to emphasis value over sheer gluttony like its famous neverending pasta bowl.
Related: Olive Garden is red hot again
That helped offset some of the impact of higher food costs. During the company's conference call with analysts, Darden's CFO said that Olive Garden had cut back on food waste.
And Olive Garden customers also are apparently sticking around for even longer.
New CEO Gene Lee said that the company was seeing a pickup in alcohol and dessert sales at Olive Garden for "the first time in a very long time."
Part of that could be due to the pickup in the job market and economy. People may be willing to spend more when they go out for meals.
But consumers may also have room for more wine and tiramisu if they haven't gorged themselves on fettuccine Alfredo and bread sticks. Either way, Olive Garden benefits.
So Cristina and I may have to eat some crow about Darden and Olive Garden -- but we still won't touch those fried lasagna bites again.
Related: Burger mania: Shake Shack IPO soars
Related: High calories = high stock prices?
CNNMoney (New York) March 20, 2015: 2:18 PM ET
Nike (NKE) shares rose nearly 5% to a new all-time high. The company reported earnings that topped forecasts.
Nike's future orders -- a measure Wall Street looks at closely -- were up just 2% in the quarter. But if you exclude the impact of the strong dollar, that number was up 11%.
Investors chose to focus on that latter number, which was better than expected and is incredibly impressive for a company of Nike's size.
In particular, Nike said that future orders in China and Europe were extremely strong.
"The Nike brand is sacrosanct," wrote Sam Poser, an analyst with Sterne Agee, in a report Friday. "Nike will likely continue to gain share worldwide due to ongoing product innovation and the massive dollars dedicated to R&D, marketing, and infrastructure."
Related: Could Under Armour win CNNMoney's #MarketMadness tournament?
The strong dollar does bear watching though.
Several of Nike's fellow Dow components, including Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30), Procter & Gamble (PG), IBM (IBM, Tech30) and Caterpillar (CAT), have been punished by Wall Street due to fears that the greenback's rally will hurt their profits this year.
Nike also faces growing competition from upstart Under Armour (UA), which is growing more rapidly than Nike. Under Armour's stock rose Friday and also hit an all-time high.
But analysts and investors don't seem that worried. According to data from FactSet Research, at least eight analysts raised their price targets for Nike Friday following its strong earnings.
Nike's success has helped lift shares of retailer Foot Locker lately as well. Foot Locker shares rallied to a record high on Friday too.
Related: Why neon is taking over the world
Related: Under Armour makes a big bet on NBA star Stephen Curry
CNNMoney (New York) March 20, 2015: 11:06 AM ET
According to figures released Friday, the Fed reported net income of $101.3 billion. That's an increase of nearly 30% from 2013.
But the Fed sends nearly all of its profits to the Treasury. Last year, that amounted to $96.9 billion. The Fed said this was a record.
The Fed also ended 2014 with nearly $4.5 trillion in assets -- up from about $4 trillion in 2013.
The central bank has been criticized by some economists and politicians for the size of its balance sheet, which ballooned during the financial crisis as the Fed bought billions of dollars of bonds and other securities each month to try and boost the economy.
The concern is that the Fed may be helping blow up bubbles in the stock and bond markets because it has injected so much money into the markets through its purchases. Stocks are near all-time highs and investors continue to also plow money into long-term U.S. Treasuries.
Related: Janet Yellen denies Fed officials stopped leak investigation
But this bond buying program, known as quantitative easing or QE, is now over.
Still, the Fed's balance sheet may not shrink too dramatically just yet. That's because the central bank has said that it will continue to reinvest the principal payments from all of its holdings for awhile.
The Fed hinted earlier this week that it will probably begin to raise interest rates later this summer.
During a press conference, Fed chair Janet Yellen said that the central bank will eventually end its investments in bonds once it starts raising rates "as a way of gradually reducing the size of our portfolio over time."
But she added that the Fed had not decided how long it will wait to finally slow the pace of those investments. She reiterated that the Fed won't do so until "economic conditions were appropriate after we begin raising rates."
She noted that about $800 billion worth of Treasuries on the Fed's books are due to mature over the next two years.
Still, the Fed has a long way to go before the size of its balance sheet is back to where it was at the start of the Great Recession. It had about $850 billion in assets in 2008.
Related: The Fed is Hilary Clinton's 2016 wild card
The size of the Fed's balance sheet is not the only thing the Fed has come under fire for, however.
Some Republicans in Congress -- most notably Senator Rand Paul -- have also argued that the Fed needs to share more about its finances and inner workings with the public.
Fed chair Janet Yellen fought back against those complaints in Wednesday's press conference.
"I believe the Federal Reserve is already one of the most transparent central banks of any around the globe" she said. "We provide an immense amount of information both financial about our balance sheet and our monetary policy operations. We have audited financial statements. We published our balance sheet every week."
Related: Rand Paul wants to 'Audit the Fed.' Why?
Related: Stop crying about Fed rate hikes!
CNNMoney (New York) March 20, 2015: 12:04 PM ET
Or if these titans of business really love House of Cards they could splurge by acquiring Netflix (NFLX, Tech30) 53 times. They could even buy Apple (AAPL, Tech30), Facebook (FB, Tech30) and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hatahway (BRKA) and still have cash to play with.
In other words, big American companies literally have more cash than they know what to do with.
The mountain of cash in corporate vaults climbed to a record-high of $1.4 trillion during the fourth quarter, according to a FactSet analysis of S&P 500 companies.
The good news is that means companies like Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30) and Oracle (ORCL, Tech30) have extremely healthy balance sheets. That's useful if another crisis comes along.
Related: Nasdaq near all-time high. Is it another bubble?
The bad news is that at least some of these corporate giants still aren't willing to spend their cash on new equipment, new hires and new research. It would be a big economic boost if companies went on a spending spree. Shareholders would also like bigger dividends given all this cash companies have on hand.
A large part of the problem is the energy sector. The dramatic plunge in oil prices has caused Big Energy CEOs to scale back on spending. Capital expenditures at S&P 500 companies are projected to decline 3.5% over the next 12 months, FactSet said.
"Since we've come out of the recession, Corporate America has become much more cautious about spending," said Mark Litzerman, co-head of real asset strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.
Related: Cheap oil is costing 100,000 jobs
Oil fallout hits spending: Companies like Chevron (CVX) and ConocoPhillips (COP) have disclosed plans to slash spending this year to offset shrinking cash flows. Many oil producers are simply pulling the plug on drilling rigs in response to the oil glut.
That's why analysts believe the energy sector will slash capital spending by 13.5% over the next 12 months, easily the biggest drop in the S&P 500. That's a very big deal because energy accounted for nearly one-third of S&P 500 capex over the past decade and during the fourth quarter it jumped by double-digits.
Related: Why OPEC can't kill the U.S. oil boom
Not everyone is hoarding: The picture looks a bit better when you look beyond the oil patch. Six sectors in the S&P 500 are projected to boost spending for the next 12 months, led by technology and health care.
U.S. corporations more broadly are expected to increase spending between 3.5% and 6%, according to Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab.
"We've gone through two cycles where capex is growing but not sharply. It's not been incredibly robust," Sonders said referring to the recovery from the 2001 recession.
Related: Just buy it? Nike stock soars to all-time high
Stuff is getting old: There is a silver lining here: At some point companies will be forced to go on a shopping spree to replace their aging stuff.
At the same time, there's no secret that the country's infrastructure is badly in need of a face lift. Now that state and local budgets are in better shape, spending on roads and bridges may finally be in the works.
"We think the next recession is still a ways away largely because recessions come when you've built up excesses. It's easy to argue there's not a heck of a lot of excess built up in this economy," Sonders said.
Related: When will companies stop hoarding cash?
CNNMoney (New York) March 20, 2015: 1:55 PM ET
Viner, 44, will step into the role vacated by the departing Alan Rusbridger, the award-winning editor who is leaving the paper after 20 years.
"Being editor-in-chief of the Guardian and Observer is an enormous privilege and responsibility," Viner said in a statement. "I intend to lead a media organization that is bold, challenging, open and engaging."
Viner, who is currently the deputy editor of The Guardian and editor-in-chief of the paper's U.S. counterpart, will take on the new role after Rusbridger steps down this summer.
Related: Editor of The Guardian is stepping down
"She will bring immense experience, flair, warmth, imagination and formidable energy to her new role as editor of the Guardian," Rusbridger said in a statement about his successor.
The Scott Trust, which owns Guardian Media group and other media assets, announced the appointment on Friday after holding final interviews with other candidates.
She will become only the 12th editor since the paper's founding in 1821.
Viner, who joined the The Guardian in 1997, will be following one of the most legendary editors in the paper's history.
Rusbridger's two decade run as The Guardian's editor-in-chief helped the British paper transform into a global media company.
With Rusbridger at the helm, the newspaper won its first Pulitzer Prize in 2014 for its coverage of the Edward Snowden leaks and was named the Newspaper of the Year at the UK Press Awards.
CNNMoney (New York) March 20, 2015: 3:08 PM ET
While one advocacy group is calling on the government to replace President Jackson with a woman on the $20 bill, it's actually the $10 note that's up next for a redesign.
A new $10 bill is on track to enter circulation in 2020, a Treasury Department spokeswoman said Friday.
It will be the first to have a raised "tactile feature," making it easier for people who are blind to identify the cash, according to a Treasury Department document outlining redesign plans from 2013. The spokeswoman confirmed that the information in the report still stands.
Related: Jack Lew: Higher minimum wage = stronger economy
She would not comment on whether or not the redesign would include a new portrait of Hamilton or anyone else for that matter.
Some changes to the bill are aimed at making it harder for crooks to make counterfeit money. All bills are changed every so often for this reason, and security threats largely drive the schedule for redesigns.
One reason the $10 bill was selected as the first to get the raised feature is because it is frequently used and has a low production volume, allowing for a smooth transition, the report says.
The advocacy group, Women on 20s, is petitioning the president and Congress to put a woman on the $20 bill. It has a list of 15 candidates to replace Jackson and people can cast a vote for their favorite on its web site.
Additional reporting by Antoine Sanfuentes.
CNNMoney (New York) March 20, 2015: 7:50 PM ET
| By Gary Watkins | Friday, March 20th 2015, 22:41 GMT |
Olivier Pla set two laps good enough for pole position aboard the Krohn Racing Ligier-Judd/BMW JSP2 in qualifying for the Sebring 12 Hours.
The Frenchman ended up on a 1m51.152s during the 15-minute prototype class qualifying session, which put him three tenths ahead of Ryan Dalziel's Extreme Speed Motorsports HPD ARX-03b.
Dalziel had trailed Pla by seven tenths, but he improved on his last flying lap to a 1m51.455s.
Pla said: "It is something special to be on pole at Sebring.
"The more laps we did, the quicker we went, and I think I had another lap in my pocket if I needed it.
"The track changed a lot because the wind was a lot stronger; it changed the balance and made it loose at the rear."
Joao Barbosa set the best time in a Daytona Prototype to line up third behind the two LMP2 cars in the lead Action Express Racing Coyote-Chevrolet Corvette DP.
The reigning Tudor United SportsCar champion finished on a 1m52.128s, putting him just ahead of Oswaldo Negri Jr in the Michael Shank Racing Ligier-Honda JSP2, which only just made qualifying after an engine change in the wake of final free practice.
The factory CORE Porsche team blocked out the front two positions in GT Le Mans with Frederic Makowiecki and Patrick Pilet.
Makowiecki jumped ahead of Antonio Garcia's Chevrolet Corvette C7.R to take the class pole with a 1m58.587s and then Pilet improved his best to put the #911 Porsche 911 RSR second with a 1m58.806s.
Garcia ended up third, his 1m58.828s leaving him just ahead of Rahal BMW driver Dirk Werner.
Martin Plowman led the way in the prototype challenge class with a 1m55.257s aboard the BAR1 ORECA-Chevrolet FLM09.
That put him a tenth up on Colin Braun in the CORE Autosport entry.
Jeroen Bleekemolen snatched pole for the GT Daytona class at the wheel of the Riley Motorsports Dodge SRT Viper GT3-R from Mario Farnbacher's Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT America.
The Dutchman crossed the line in 2m03.485s to eclipse Farnbacher's best by just five hundredths of a second.
The top two were more than half a second ahead of third-placed Spencer Pumpelly, who ended up on a 2m04.106s in his Park Place Porsche.
QUALIFYING RESULTS
| Pos | Class | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | P | T.Krohn, N.Jonsson, O.Pla | Krohn Racing | Ligier/Judd | 1m51.152s | - |
| 2 | P | S.Sharp, R.Dalziel, D.Hansson | Tequila Patron ESM | HPD | 1m51.455s | 0.303s |
| 3 | P | J.Barbosa, C.Fittipaldi, S.Bourdais | Action Express Racing | Corvette/Chevrolet | 1m52.128s | 0.976s |
| 4 | P | J.Pew, O.Negri, J.Wilson | Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian | Ligier/HPD | 1m52.170s | 1.018s |
| 5 | P | E.Curran, D.Cameron, M.Papis | Action Express Racing | Corvette/Chevrolet | 1m52.490s | 1.338s |
| 6 | P | R.Westbrook, M.Valiante, M.Rockenfeller | visitflorida.com Racing | Corvette/Chevrolet | 1m52.691s | 1.539s |
| 7 | P | R.Taylor, J.Taylor, M.Angelelli | Wayne Taylor Racing | Corvette/Chevrolet | 1m52.720s | 1.568s |
| 8 | P | E.Brown, J.van Overbeek, J.Fogarty | Tequila Patron ESM | HPD | 1m53.047s | 1.895s |
| 9 | P | J.Hand, S.Pruett, S.Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates | Riley/Ford | 1m53.329s | 2.177s |
| 10 | P | M.Rojas, K.Legge, A.Meyrick | Claro / TracFone DeltaWing Racing | DeltaWing/Elan | 1m55.223s | 4.071s |
| 11 | PC | M.Drumwright, T.Drissi, D.Cheng, M.Plowman | BAR1 Motorsports | ORECA/Chevrolet | 1m55.257s | 4.105s |
| 12 | PC | J.Bennett, C.Braun, J.Gue | CORE Autosport | ORECA/Chevrolet | 1m55.327s | 4.175s |
| 13 | PC | M.Guasch, A.Palmer, T.K.-Smith | PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports | ORECA/Chevrolet | 1m55.416s | 4.264s |
| 14 | PC | J.Mee, J.French, C.Daly | Performance Tech Motorsports | ORECA/Chevrolet | 1m55.748s | 4.596s |
| 15 | PC | B.Junqueira, C.Cumming, G.Menezes | RSR Racing | ORECA/Chevrolet | 1m56.450s | 5.298s |
| 16 | PC | M.Goikhberg, C.Miller, R.Mitchell, G.Kraut | JDC/Miller Motorsports | ORECA/Chevrolet | 1m57.248s | 6.096s |
| 17 | P | T.Nunez, J.Bomarito, S.Tremblay | Speedsource | Mazda | 1m57.421s | 6.269s |
| 18 | PC | R.van der Zande, M.Hedlund, M.Schultis | Starworks Motorsport | ORECA/Chevrolet | 1m57.842s | 6.690s |
| 19 | GTLM | J.Bergmeister, E.Bamber, F.Makowiecki | Porsche North America | Porsche | 1m58.587s | 7.435s |
| 20 | GTLM | N.Tandy, P.Pilet, R.Lietz | Porsche North America | Porsche | 1m58.806s | 7.654s |
| 21 | GTLM | J.Magnussen, A.Garcia, R.Briscoe | Corvette Racing | Chevrolet | 1m58.828s | 7.676s |
| 22 | GTLM | B.Auberlen, D.Werner, A.Farfus | BMW Team RLL | BMW | 1m58.842s | 7.690s |
| 23 | GTLM | P.Kaffer, G.Fisichella, A.Bertolini | Risi Competizione | Ferrari | 1m58.927s | 7.775s |
| 24 | GTLM | J.M.Edwards, L.Luhr, J.Klingmann | BMW Team RLL | BMW | 1m58.930s | 7.778s |
| 25 | GTLM | O.Gavin, T.Milner, S.Pagenaud | Corvette Racing | Chevrolet | 1m59.451s | 8.299s |
| 26 | GTLM | B.Sellers, W.Henzler, P.Long | Team Falken Tire | Porsche | 1m59.787s | 8.635s |
| 27 | GTLM | P.D.Lana, P.Lamy, D.Turner, M.Lauda | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 1m59.896s | 8.744s |
| 28 | GTD | B.Keating, J.Bleekemolen, S.Bleekemolen | Riley Motorsports | Dodge | 2m03.485s | 12.333s |
| 29 | GTD | I.James, M.Farnbacher, A.Riberas | Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing | Porsche | 2m03.538s | 12.386s |
| 30 | GTD | P.Lindsey, S.Pumpelly, J.Norman | Park Place Motorsports | Porsche | 2m04.106s | 12.954s |
| 31 | GTD | C.MacNeil, L.Keen, A.Davis | Alex Job Racing | Porsche | 2m04.339s | 13.187s |
| 32 | GTD | C.Nielsen, J.Davison, B.Davis | TRG-AMR | Aston Martin | 2m04.855s | 13.703s |
| 33 | GTD | D.Faulkner, M.Skeen, M.Avenatti | GB Autosport | Porsche | 2m04.930s | 13.778s |
| 34 | GTD | J.Potter, A.Lally, M.Seefried | Magnus Racing | Porsche | 2m04.944s | 13.792s |
| 35 | GTD | M.Snow, J.Heylen, M.Valverde | Wright Motorsports | Porsche | 2m05.059s | 13.907s |
| 36 | GTD | A.Carter, M.Goossens, B.Keating, C.Lawrence | Riley Motorsports | Dodge | 2m05.081s | 13.929s |
| 37 | GTD | C.Haase, B.Miller, D.von Moltke | Paul Miller Racing | Audi | 2m05.265s | 14.113s |
| 38 | GTD | M.Holzer, R.Thorne, C.Thompson | Flying Lizard Motorsports | Audi | 2m05.499s | 14.347s |
| 39 | GTD | P.Perazzini, M.Cioci, R.Aguas, E.Potolicchio | AF Corse | Ferrari | 2m05.781s | 14.629s |
| 40 | GTD | B.Sweedler, T.Bell, A.Lazzaro | Scuderia Corsa | Ferrari | 2m06.479s | 15.327s |
| 41 | GTD | M.Marsal, M.Palttala, A.Priaulx, B.Said | Turner Motorsport | BMW | 2m07.373s | 16.221s |
| 42 | P | T.Long, J.Miller, B.Devlin, S.Tremblay | Speedsource | Mazda | - | - |
| 43 | P | J.Pace, B.Defoor, D.Hinton, D.Schroeder | Fifty Plus Racing | Riley/BMW | - | - |
| Saturday, March 21st 2015, 01:11 GMT |
Kurt Busch dominated qualifying for the fifth NASCAR Sprint Cup race of the season at Fontana, only his second event back after suspension.
The Stewart-Haas driver had topped the earlier practice session and set the fastest times in the second and final segments of qualifying to head team-mate - and winner of the last two Cup races - Kevin Harvick.
Busch had sat out the first three races of 2015 during a legal case over assault allegations.
Last year's Fontana polesitter Matt Kenseth managed third after setting the fastest time of the entire session in the first qualifying instalment, followed by David Ragan - subbing for an injured Kyle Busch in the #18 Joe Gibbs Toyota - and 2014 Fontana race runner-up Kyle Larson.
The most notable absentee from the final qualifying showdown was Joey Logano, who was only able to muster 13th and missed out on the final qualifying segment for the first time since Talladega last year.
Behind Logano and also missing out was Jimmie Johnson. The Hendrick Motorsports driver has five wins and a pole in 20 races at the track but struggled in Turn 1 and 2 during his second qualifying lap, leaving him 14th.
Last week's Phoenix runner-up Jamie McMurray had a difficult session and failed to progress past the first segment of qualifying. The Ganassi driver could only manage 26th.
Roush Fenway Racing particularly struggled on the aero-dependant Fontana track, with Ricky Stenhouse Jr its highest-placed car in 27th. Greg Biffle managed 29th and Trevor Bayne 36th.
Brett Moffitt qualified the #55 Michael Waltrip Racing car in 30th, after Brian Vickers was ruled out of the weekend following a recurrence of blood clots that interrupted his racing in 2010 and '13.
Front Row Motorsport is now onto its third driver change of the year after losing Ragan to Gibbs and Moffitt to Waltrip.
Chris Buescher took over the #34 Front Row entry and made his Cup qualifying debut in the process, taking 33rd.
Reed Sorenson and Travis Kvapil failed to qualify.
| Friday, March 20th 2015, 20:48 GMT |
IndyCar has announced that it will increase payments to its 'Leaders Circle' teams to $1.25million per car this season.
The series issues the payments to pre-selected teams - this year choosing 21 entrants - providing they qualify for every race during the season.
Last year the chosen teams received $1million, but the money on offer has increased by $250,000.
IndyCar president of competition and operations Derrick Walker said: "IndyCar is invested in the continued support of its teams.
"This programme rewards teams for full-season participation and helps each of them with an additional source of funding.
"The programme is also an asset to our [race] promoters as it guarantees over 20 cars at each event.
"As IndyCar continues to grow we're excited about opportunities like this that are beneficial to the teams that compete in our series."
Teams eligible for the scheme will also compete for race-by-race bonuses, which will be issued to the top 12 this year, compared to the top 10 in 2014.
Non-eligible teams can also compete for payouts given to the top three finishers, although both race-by-race reward schemes exclude the Indianapolis 500.
| By Gary Watkins | Thursday, March 19th 2015, 16:32 GMT |
Rob Bell is returning to Aston Martin Racing after a year away for an attack on the Le Mans 24 Hours in June.
The Briton, who is contracted to McLaren for its GT3 programmes, will race the lead Aston Martin Vantage GTE together with Darren Turner and Stefan Mucke in the GTE Pro class at Le Mans and the Spa World Endurance Championship round in May.
Bell, who led the class at Le Mans in 2013 for Aston Martin together with Frederic Makowiecki and Bruno Senna, told AUTOSPORT: "I'm pretty happy to be back with Aston, and McLaren has been great about letting me do it with them again.
"I'll be doing Spa to get up to speed; there's a bit of pressure on being with Darren and Stefan."
AMR boss John Gaw explained that Bell had "done a great job in 2013".
"Rob gets on well with Darren and Stefan; the chemistry within the team is very important," he said.
Bell is rejoining Aston after McLaren vetoed him staying with the team in 2014, which resulted in a move to the factory Dodge Viper squad.
He raced in three of the four North American Endurance Cup rounds of the Tudor United SportsCar Championship and was scheduled to do Le Mans prior to the Riley-run squad's withdrawal.
Richie Stanaway is scheduled to contest all the full WEC for the first time in AMR's second car alongside Fernando Rees and Alex MacDowall.
Should Stanaway, who joined AMR in 2013, land a GP2 drive after starring in last week's official GP2 test in Abu Dhabi with the Status team, there would be only one clash with the WEC.
MacDowall, who joined AMR last year as part of a tie-up with the Bamboo squad, has stayed on board for a second year in the WEC.
He said it was "undeniably the best place for me to be".
Ferrari GT3 regular Francesco Castellacci joins Roald Goethe in AMR's #96 GTE Am entry together with Stuart Hall, the German's long-time driving partner.
Stanaway will also be part of AMR's Nurburgring 24 Hours campaign with a pair of V12 Vantage GT3s along with fellow newcomer Jonny Adam.
FULL AMR WEC LINE-UP
#5 Marco Sørensen/Christoffer Nygaard/Nicki Thiim
#96 Francesco Castellacci/Roald Goethe/Stuart Hall
#97 Darren Turner/Stefan Mücke,/Rob Bell ( Spa & Le Mans only)
#98 Paul Dalla Lana/Pedro Lamy/Mathias Lauda
#99 Alex MacDowall/Fernando Rees/Richie Stanaway
| Thursday, March 19th 2015, 16:38 GMT |
Jenzer Motorsport driver Ralph Boschung led the way on the final day of GP3's opening pre-season test at Estoril.
The 17-year-old Swiss driver set his 1m27.789s lap midway through the morning session, which was dry, unlike the first day's action on Wednesday.
On his 21st birthday, ART's Marvin Kirchhofer was Boschung's closest challenger, almost two-tenths adrift, while Emil Bernstorff, Jimmy Eriksson and day one pacesetter Antonio Fuoco completed the top five.
Fuoco's Carlin team-mate Mitchell Gilbert was sixth fastest, before topping the afternoon session.
In warmer conditions, Gilbert's 1m28.517s was 0.728 seconds off the morning benchmark, but still good enough to lead Matheo Tuscher, Bernstorff, Pal Varhaug and Boschung.
Confirmed by Carlin as its third driver on the eve of the test, Jann Mardenborough was eighth in the morning and 10th in the afternoon and the busiest driver of the day, logging 103 laps.
Valencia will host the next pre-season test on April 9-10.
MORNING TIMES:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ralph Boschung | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m27.789s | - | 36 |
| 2 | Marvin Kirchhofer | ART Grand Prix | 1m27.967s | 0.178s | 36 |
| 3 | Emil Bernstorff | Arden International | 1m28.049s | 0.260s | 39 |
| 4 | Jimmy Eriksson | Koiranen GP | 1m28.050s | 0.261s | 25 |
| 5 | Antonio Fuoco | Carlin | 1m28.268s | 0.479s | 36 |
| 6 | Mitchell Gilbert | Carlin | 1m28.312s | 0.523s | 35 |
| 7 | Luca Ghiotto | Trident | 1m28.366s | 0.577s | 38 |
| 8 | Jann Mardenborough | Carlin | 1m28.520s | 0.731s | 37 |
| 9 | Esteban Ocon | ART Grand Prix | 1m28.546s | 0.757s | 33 |
| 10 | Sandy Stuvik | Status Grand Prix | 1m28.594s | 0.805s | 37 |
| 11 | Matheo Tuscher | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m28.601s | 0.812s | 39 |
| 12 | Alex Palou | Campos Racing | 1m28.749s | 0.960s | 37 |
| 13 | Matt Parry | Koiranen GP | 1m28.772s | 0.983s | 33 |
| 14 | Pal Varhaug | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m28.848s | 1.059s | 30 |
| 15 | Seb Morris | Status Grand Prix | 1m28.941s | 1.152s | 31 |
| 16 | Alex Fontana | Status Grand Prix | 1m29.015s | 1.226s | 19 |
| 17 | Alfonso Celis | ART Grand Prix | 1m29.031s | 1.242s | 35 |
| 18 | Adderly Fong | Koiranen GP | 1m29.052s | 1.263s | 33 |
| 19 | Oscar Tunjo | Trident | 1m29.091s | 1.302s | 29 |
| 20 | Kevin Ceccon | Arden International | 1m29.239s | 1.450s | 34 |
| 21 | Artur Janosz | Trident | 1m29.866s | 2.077s | 29 |
| 22 | Alex Bosak | Arden International | 1m29.932s | 2.143s | 24 |
| 23 | Zaid Ashkanani | Campos Racing | 1m30.846s | 3.057s | 27 |
AFTERNOON TIMES:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mitchell Gilbert | Carlin | 1m28.517s | - | 56 |
| 2 | Matheo Tuscher | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m28.628s | 0.111s | 29 |
| 3 | Emil Bernstorff | Arden International | 1m28.751s | 0.234s | 39 |
| 4 | Luca Ghiotto | Trident | 1m28.786s | 0.269s | 35 |
| 5 | Pal Varhaug | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m28.953s | 0.436s | 30 |
| 6 | Ralph Boschung | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m28.962s | 0.445s | 46 |
| 7 | Kevin Ceccon | Arden International | 1m29.120s | 0.603s | 35 |
| 8 | Alex Fontana | Status Grand Prix | 1m29.126s | 0.609s | 25 |
| 9 | Artur Janosz | Trident | 1m29.406s | 0.889s | 29 |
| 10 | Jann Mardenborough | Carlin | 1m29.611s | 1.094s | 66 |
| 11 | Oscar Tunjo | Trident | 1m29.630s | 1.113s | 19 |
| 12 | Adderly Fong | Koiranen GP | 1m29.682s | 1.165s | 40 |
| 13 | Seb Morris | Status Grand Prix | 1m29.811s | 1.294s | 43 |
| 14 | Sandy Stuvik | Status Grand Prix | 1m30.086s | 1.569s | 47 |
| 15 | Zaid Ashkanani | Campos Racing | 1m30.257s | 1.740s | 31 |
| 16 | Matt Parry | Koiranen GP | 1m30.450s | 1.933s | 26 |
| 17 | Alex Bosak | Arden International | 1m30.749s | 2.232s | 35 |
| 18 | Esteban Ocon | ART Grand Prix | 1m30.763s | 2.246s | 47 |
| 19 | Alex Palou | Campos Racing | 1m30.925s | 2.408s | 42 |
| 20 | Antonio Fuoco | Carlin | 1m31.102s | 2.585s | 59 |
| 21 | Marvin Kirchhofer | ART Grand Prix | 1m31.283s | 2.766s | 53 |
| 22 | Jimmy Eriksson | Koiranen GP | 1m31.454s | 2.937s | 59 |
| 23 | Alfonso Celis | ART Grand Prix | 1m32.236s | 3.719s | 51 |
