Category Archives: For the love of Motors
Saab Face Bankrupcy “In Days”
In a report from the BBC the car maker Saab have had an application for protection from its creditors (to help avoid being pushed into bankruptcy) rejected by a Swedish court. In response, Swedish trade unions said they could demand that Saab be declared bankrupt within days.
Saab suspended production in April this year when its suppliers stopped deliveries through not being paid. Saab’s workers have also had their pay delayed.
The district court rejected Saab’s application because they did not believe it would work, but Saab can appeal the decision. “Saab are more or less broke and is now in the hands of the unions,” said Tom Muller, analyst from Theodoor Gilissen in Amsterdam.
Swedish Automobile’s chief executive Victor Muller had hoped to raise cash from Chinese investors, or from his former business partner, the Russian banker Vladimir Antonov, or from selling and leasing back Saab’s assets. But after months of trying, nothing has been confirmed.
Saab desperately needs a cash injection to pay their suppliers and staff, and without a result they simply cannot remain in business.
On Wednesday, Victor Muller, chief executive of Saab’s owner, Swedish Automobile, said Saab’s suppliers were owed some €150m euros ($210m; £131m).
In January 2010 Swedish Automobile (formerly called Spyker) bought Saab from US car manufacturer General Motors . Before the summer, Swedish Automobile announced that two Chinese firms would buy minority stakes in the company but these deals have not yet been approved in either Sweden or China. They also need to be approved by the European Investment Bank (EIB).
Despite reports Saab had strong sales figures in April 2011, it seems selling vehicles is simply not enough to keep this company in business.
For full report please visit BBC Report on Saab:
F1: Who Can Make It Two In China?
The Chinese Grand Prix has never been won more than once by any one driver, but this season Rubens Barrichello (winning in 2004), Fernando Alonso (05), Michael Schumacher (06), Lewis Hamilton (08), Sebastian Vettel (09) and Jenson Button (10) have a chance to change that fact this weekend. The only driver missing from this list is Kimi Raikkonen who won in 2007 but has since retired from F1.
For the first time in history six F1 Shanghai GP winners will go head to head to see who will be the first to claim a second win in China, the Shanghai International Circuit features one of the longest main straights on the F1 calendar and our bet is the cars with the best KERS and DRS packages will be able to take full advantage of this long strait…
KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) is a device which stores up energy under braking and at the push of a button releases this energy as a boost to acceleration adding at least an extra 60-80 bhp. The driver then has to wait until the KERS is charged again before he can deploy it. For the two races won by vettel for Red Bull his KERS “apparently” was not working, however if Red Bull Racing want to make it three victories in a row they will definitely need to address their KERS situation.
F1: Vettel Wins Malaysia GP
Button, Vettel and Heidfield on podium
Sebastian Vettel made it two wins in two Grand Prix today by winning the Malaysia Grand Prix, with Jensen Button taking second for McLaren and Nick Heidfield taking the final podium spot 
for Renault Lotus. Vettel lead from pole, only giving up the lead temporarily to pit, but over all he lead from start to finish with the only real challenge coming from Lewis Hamilton in the middle of the race.
Hamilton who started the race 2nd on the grid seem to have the pace of Vettel throughout the race up until his third pit stop on lap 37 where his mechanics struggled to remove his front wheel costing Hamilton a valuable 3 seconds. One lap later Button pitted and came out ahead of Hamilton. from this point Hamilton’s race seemed to fall apart, he never quite settled into the rhythm he had before and needing to pit a fourth time showed the tires were just not giving Hamilton what he desired.
Nick Heidfield was the driver chosen to replace the injured Robert Kubica for Renault Lotus and today’s drive justifies that decision. From the first corner of the race on lap one both Renault’s had stormed from the 3rd and 4th row of the grid up to 2nd, with Heidfield even getting in front of Hamilton and holding onto 2nd place for the first third of the race. Renault have proved they have what it takes to mix with the top flight teams, and for Heidfield this could be the first of many visits to the podium if he is able to continue with performances like today.
Both Ferraris finished a dissapointing 5th and 6th, Alonso had the pace to have finished 2nd but on lap 45 he misjudged overtaking Hamilton and smashed the left wing of his nose cone on Hamiltons right rear tire causing him to pit for a new nose cone, no damage was done to Hamiltons car, so the extra pitstop dropped Alonso out of podium contention.
A decision has just come in whilst this post is being written that McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso have been hit with 20-second penalties following a collision in Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix. The verdict means that Hamilton drops from seventh to eighth place, although Alonso retains sixth. Hamilton’s penalty was for making more than one change of direction while defending in the build-up to the clash. Alonso’s was for causing a collision. Alonso clipped the McLaren when trying to pass Hamilton after Turn Three.
The Spaniard had quickly caught up with the Englishman, who was suffering from tyre problems. But Alonso found it difficult to overtake as the DRS (downforce reduction system) on his rear wing, which decreases drag and makes it easier to pass, was not working properly.
Alonso and Hamilton report from BBC
F1: Vettel On Pole In Malaysia
Defending champion Sebastian Vettel starts from pole for Red Bull on Sunday’s Grand Prix, he snatched pole position from McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton by just 0.174s right at the end of qualifying. Hamilton had set what looked like an unbeatable time at 1:35:000, Hamilton then beat his own time with a 1:34:974 but Vettel piped his time with a 1:34.870. This is the second race of the season and the second race with Vettel and Hamilton on the front row.
Webber and Button fill the second row, and on the third row a disappointed Fernando Alonso could only coax 1m 35.802s out of his Ferrari, as Nick Heidfeld jumped up to sixth for Renault with 1m 36.124s. Massa is down at seventh place, on 1m 36.251s, while Vitaly Petrov took eighth in the other Renault on 1m 36.324s ahead of Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes on 1m 36.809s, and Kamui Kobayashi’s Sauber on 1m 36.820s.
Blog Central are hoping for a Lewis Hamilton win, Webber in second, Button in third, vettel in fourth, and the little Spaniard holding onto fifth.
F1: Round 2 practice 1 & 2
After practice 1 and 2 in Malaysia it looks like Red Bull will still be leading the pack this weekend, only with Mark Webber at the helm.
Webber set the fastest time of practice 1 and practice 2 with Lewis Hamilton and Jensen Button in the two McLaren’s right behind him. Only 0.214 second behind but in fourth position Sebastian Vettel will be looking for more pace to challenge for pole position tomorrow.
A surprising lack of pace have the Ferrari’s in 6th and 9th with Alonso struggling to get more out his prancing horse sitting in 9th, this is not the start to the season we were expecting. Tomorrows 3rd and Final practice before qualifying should give us a more realistic indication of what Ferrari are bringing to the table this weekend.
Things looked promising for Michael Schummacher, the 3rd fastest in practice 1 and the 5th fastest in practice 2, could this be the beginning of seeing old Schumy fighting for position at the front of the field?
Blog Central Prediction Mark Webber on Pole, Vettel in second on grid, Hamilton 3rd on grid, Button 4th on grid, Massa 5th on grid and may be a surprise from Schummacher getting the 6th spot. No only kidding Alonso on 6th
Race prediction: 1st Hamilton, 2nd Webber, 3rd Vettel.
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