Toyota Racing has completed a remarkable debut season with a victory from pole in the Six Hours of Shanghai. The winning margin of almost a minute highlighted the impressive speed of the Toyota TS030 Hybrid and its innovative Toyota Hybrid System. It was the third victory this year for the #7 TS030 Hybrid from just six races in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The hybrid system, using unique super-capacitor energy storage technology, also propelled the hybrid race car to three pole positions and four fastest laps during the season. Maximum points from the weekend elevated Alex Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre to third place in the drivers’ world championship, despite contesting only six of the eight rounds. The Toyota hybrid stamped its grip on the race from the outset with Lapierre pulling away from his Audi rivals at the rate of one second per lap. After a double stint, he handed over a half-minute lead to Wurz who kept up the relentless speed. The strategy of fitting new tyres at each pit stop helped maximise the TS030 Hybrid’s pace and enabled the team to seize control of the race by the half-distance mark. Both drivers completed further double stints each, with Wurz crossing the line to take victory and secure a winning climax to Toyota Racing’s first season of competition. “It was a good race for us and a 100 per cent perfect race weekend,” said Wurz. “That was the absolute maximum and it was good enough to win. Maybe it looked easy on TV but Nicolas and I gave it everything. These races are never simple but we were very determined to win this race for Toyota and give everyone extra motivation over the winter.” The final margin was 58.57 seconds and follows victories earlier this month at Fuji Speedway in Japan and in September in Sao Paolo, Brazil. The win in China marks the first time a Toyota team has recorded consecutive victories in an FIA World Championship event since 1994, when it competed in the World Rally Championship.

The FIA have confirmed the Formula 1 calendar for 2013 at a meeting last month at the World Motor Sport Council in Paris. The 20-strong list is almost a direct match of the version that was spread during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, with some slight changes, and was verified and signed off by officials The dates of the Japanese and Korean Grand Prix’s have been swapped for next year and both the German and Belgian GPs have been brought forward by a week. Despite the calendar being confirmed, there is still one race that is yet to be confirmed, the New Jersey Grand Prix, but has been penciled in for June 16. Australia (March 17) and Malaysia (March 24) remain in place as back-to-back races at the start of the year, with Brazil bringing the season to a close on November 11. Speaking not long after the calendar was released, F1′s commercial rights controller Bernie Ecclestone said that organisers of the race no longer had a valid contract. A statement on the FIA’s website said: “The FIA President confirmed that positive and constructive discussions continue with regard to the new Concorde Agreement and it is anticipated a contract will be signed by the end of October.” The 2013 season will span across eight months, with the customary one month summer break once again taking place after the Hungarian Grand Prix in late July. 2013 F1 calendar: 17/03 Australian Grand Prix 24/03 Malaysian Grand Prix 14/04 Chinese Grand Prix 21/04 Bahrain Grand Prix 12/05 Spanish Grand Prix 26/05 Monaco Grand Prix 09/06 Canadian Grand Prix 16/06 New Jersey Grand Prix * 30/06 British Grand Prix 14/07 German Grand Prix 28/07 Hungarian Grand Prix 25/08 Belgian Grand Prix 08/09 Italian Grand Prix 22/09 Singapore Grand Prix 06/10 Korean Grand Prix 13/10 Japanese Grand Prix 27/10 Indian Grand Prix 03/11 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 17/11 United States Grand Prix (Austin) 24/11 Brazilian Grand Prix * TBC Sunday Race Day Dates Shown  

In late September a meeting took place in Paris to discuss what company would take the World Rally Championship (WRC) into 2013 and beyond. The WMSC approved the FIA to proceed with an agreement with The Sportsman Media Group and Red Bull Media House to become the new global promoter of the FIA World Rally Championship from 2013. “The promoter will be responsible for investing and developing the WRC with a view to increasing its profile, reputation and commercial value. In particular, the promoter, working in close collaboration with the FIA, will be focused on introducing live television and an innovative digital media strategy in the next years,” said a statement issued by the governing body. With all that being worked out there are a going to be new and exciting developments for the 2013 season. The support championship structure has been revamped, while a number of cost-cutting measures have been announced. As part of a cost-reduction process and to attract greater entries, the WMSC confirmed WRC Teams competing in the 2013 FIA World Rally Championship will now only have to contest one round outside of Europe. WRC Teams must however still nominate and take part in a minimum of seven events. Current WRC Teams include the Adapta World Rally Team and the Qatar World Rally Team. The structure of the support championships has been revised to reflect the interests and demands of the competitors. From 2013, the current Super 2000 World Rally Championship will be replaced by the FIA WRC-2 Championship including cars with four-wheel drive (R5, R4 and S2000). A specific cup for cars in the Group N category will also form part of the WRC-2 Championship, and titles for teams, drivers and co-drivers will be awarded to those who have scored the most points in six of the seven events in which they have taken part. The current Production Car World Rally Championship will be replaced by the FIA WRC-3 Championship, including Group R cars with two-wheel drive (R3, R2 and R1). Titles for teams, drivers and co-drivers will be awarded to those who have scored the most points in five of the six events in which they have taken part. The current FIA WRC Academy will be re-named the FIA Junior WRC Championship. The Junior title was dropped when the all-new WRC Academy initiative was introduced for 2011 but is making a comeback in 2013. To limit costs and encourage participation, from 2013 the use of the latest evolution of parts homologated by manufacturers will not be mandatory for World Rally Cars entered by drivers not scoring points in the Manufacturers’ Championship. This also applies to all cars in the S2000 category with a 1.6-litre turbo engine. With all the new rules and names for classes the 2013 WRC calendar was also confirmed with one of the oldest events on the WRC calendar to open the season. The 13-round schedule will see drivers and teams come back to Australia after a one-year absence while Italy’s round moves from October to a June slot next year. The other major change is Great Britain’s event returning to its traditional final-round slot in November having run earlier this year. Rd 1 – Rallye Monte-Carlo: 20 January 2013 Rd 2 - Rally Sweden: 10 February 2013 Rd 3 - Rally Mexico: 10 March 2013 Rd 4 - Rallye de Portugal: 14 April 2013 Rd 5 - Rally Argentina: 5 May 2013 Rd 6 - Acropolis Rally (Greece): 2 June 2013 Rd 7 – Rally d’Italia: 23 June 2013 Rd 8 - Rally Finland: 4 August 2013 Rd 9 - Rallye Deutschland: Date TBC Rd 10 - Rally Australia: 15 September 2013 Rd 11 - Rallye de France: 6 October 2013 Rd 12 - Rally de Espana: 27 October 2013 Rd 13 - Rally of Great Britain: 17 November 2013 The dates shown are the Sunday of each rally weekend.

Audi has maintained its perfect record at half-way stage of the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship. In an exciting battle of the hybrid technology concepts, the Audi R18 e-tron quattro proved victorious in the fourth race of the series, held at Silverstone. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Audi wrote history after taking victory with a hybrid car for the first time, now a second win has followed. At both events Marcel Fässler/André Lotterer/Benoît were at the wheel of the victorious car with race number ‘1’. Audi has proved again that it builds the most efficient sportscars. During the six hours of the race, Marcel Fässler/André Lotterer/Benoît Tréluyer required only six pits stops with their hybrid car, two less than the second-placed Nicolas Lapierre/Kazuki Nakajima/Alexander Wurz who use another hybrid concept. The result is even more remarkable because the triumphant Audi was awarded a stop-and-go penalty by the race director. The reason was Benoît Tréluyer was involved in an unfortunate accident with a GT car just before the end of the first third of the race. The car of the three Le Mans winners lost 32 seconds as a result, at the finish the winning margin was still 55 seconds. In addition to the fourth race victory, Audi also has another reason to celebrate as the brand from Ingolstadt holds an unassailable lead in the WEC Manufacturers’ Championship. After four titles in the Rally World Championship between 1982 and 1984, as well as victory in the FIA Touring Car World Cup in 1995, Audi has once again won another World title. In contrast, the excitement in the drivers’ championship ramps up, following a change of leaders. After their second win, Fässler/Lotterer/Tréluyer lead the standings for the first time this season. At the half-way stage they hold a small 4.5 point lead over former leaders Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish. The Danish-Scottish duo was plagued by bad luck on their way to third place at Silverstone. The two Audi works drivers had to settle for third place in their Audi R18 ultra after having to make an unscheduled pit stop. Only a few minutes after McNish had taken over driving duties, a slow puncture in the right rear tyre forced him to make a pit stop. As a result, the sportscar, powered by a conventionally powered V6-TDI engine, lost a lap early in the race and thus any chance of playing a bigger role in fight for victory. The car still reached the finish only 19 seconds behind the second placed Toyota. Audi starts the fifth round of the WEC in only two weeks’ time. Local matador Lucas di Grassi reinforces the Audi driver line-up as team mate to Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen. Race result 1. Fässler/Lotterer/Tréluyer (Audi R18 e-tron quattro), 194 laps 2. Wurz/Lapierre/Nakajima (Toyota) + 55.675s 3. Kristensen/McNish (Audi R18 ultra) + 1m 14.427s 4. Belicchi/Primat (Lola-Toyota) – 5 laps 5. Leventis/Watts/Kane (HPD-Honda) – 5 laps 6. Prost/Jani (Lola-Toyota) – 5 laps 7. Brabham/Chandhok/Dumbreck (HPD-Honda) – 7 laps 8. Martin/Charouz/Graves (Oreca-Nissan) – 11 laps 9. Potolicchio/Dalziel/Sarrazin (HPD-Honda) – 11 laps 10. Panciatici/Ragues/Rusinov (Oreca-Nissan) – 11 laps  

Organisers of Rally Australia have signed a contract with the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile, the world motorsport governing body, to stage another round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) next year. No date has been set for the Australian event, one of 13 included in the 2013 WRC calendar decided by the World Motor Sport Council of the FIA in early June. Rally Australia Chairman Ben Rainsford said the contract had been forwarded to senior management at the FIA for presentation to the World Motor Sport Council. Further discussions with the FIA would focus on an annual event and the specific dates for 2013, having regard for the requirements in freighting cars to Australia. “We’re delighted to have a place on the 2013 calendar, but there is still plenty of work ahead before we can formally confirm the date and logistics for the event,” Mr Rainsford said. The most recent Rally Australia was staged on the New South Wales Coffs Coast last September and proved highly popular with fans and international competitors. Locals embraced the event with unprecedented enthusiasm and thousands of spectators packed Coffs Harbour for the ceremonial start and nightly Super Special Stage. Drivers such as winner Mikko Hirvonen of Finland said the roads were among the best in the world championship. While planning continues for WRC Rally Australia, the Coffs Coast will remain in the rally spotlight with a round of the Bosch Australian Rally Championship, the Snake Racing Coffs Coast Forest Rally, on 13-14 October this year.