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Del Piero moves into Le Mans racing



Football legend Alessandro Del Piero is teaming up with actor Patrick Dempsey in a bid to shoot for glory at Le Mans. The World Cup winner, a motorsport fanatic, has formed Dempsey/Del Piero Racing with the Grey’s Anatomy hunk.

The team has applied for an entry to compete in the 24-hour classic in France in June. And they will field two cars in the US-based American Le Mans Series.

Dempsey, an accomplished amateur racer, will drive at Le Mans if the squad’s entry is accepted, along with veteran US racers Joe Foster and Michael Avenatti.

Del Piero, who won the World Cup with Italy in 2006 and countless trophies in a 19-year spell with Juventus, is not expected to get behind the wheel. He said: “I have had a passion for motorsport since I was a young boy growing up in Italy.

Del Piero, 38, is now the star player of Sydney FC in Australia’s A-League.

The racing team expects to announce further details about its cars, livery and driver line-up in the coming weeks.

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Aston Martin reveals Rapide S


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Chevrolet Corvette Stingray revealed


Chevrolet has drawn on the past for its most futuristic car ever, with the all-new Corvette Stingray named after the iconic 1963 original.

The seventh version of the best-selling American sports car was formally unveiled at a glitzy event in Detroit prior to this year’s Detroit Motor Show.

In standard trim, the Stingray gets a 444bhp 6.2-litre V8 delivering 610 Nm of torque, and does 0-60mph in under four seconds.

For the more-is-better file, the C7 brings a novel entry: a 7-speed Tremec manual transmission. Yes, the shift pattern may resemble a Pac-Man maze, but when the driver finds a gear, it may induce delusions of grandeur, thanks to Active Rev Matching – an electronic flattery system that blips the throttle on downshifts to make a driver look, or at least sound, like Formula 1 champion Sebastian Vettel at the Singapore Grand Prix. Or you can choose a 6-speed automatic (sigh).
 
Underneath, an aluminium frame similar to the one seen on the outgoing Z06 and ZR1 high-performance models is 57% stiffer than the old car’s steel frame and weighs 99 pounds less.

Carbon fibre in the hood, roof and underbody panels, along with lighter-density sheet-molded compound – SMC is engineer-speak for “plastic” – trims 37 pounds in body weight.

Chevy also adds that the 2014 Corvette will be in showrooms “in the third quarter”, at a price to be announced closer to its sale date. Surely the convertible and high-performance editions will follow shortly thereafter.

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Qoros GQ3, from China to Europe.

The new compact sedan from Qoros has officially been dubbed GQ3. To be revealed at next year's Geneva Motor Show before going on sale in China in the second half of of 2013, the GQ3 is a C-segment sedan whose selling points are meant to be a spacious interior, lots of technology and five-star crash ratings on the Euro NCAP tests. If you're wondering about the name, each element signifies brand nomenclature: Qoros sedans will all begin with "G," the letter "Q" stands for the company and will feature in every car's name, and the number is the segment, "3" representing compacts.

Even though it's a compact car and those wheel arches can swallow 19-inch rims. Beyond spaciousness, the interior's main attraction is the eight-inch touchscreen infotainment system utilizing in-house software, technology and graphics. 

The arrival to the Europe is scheduled for the second half of 2013.
Qoros want to add new models to its range at close intervals of six months after the release of GQ3, scheduled for the second half of 2013.

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Car of the Year 2013 eight finalists


Ford B-Max, Hyundai i30, Mercedes Classe A, Peugeot 208, Renault Clio, Toyota GT86, Volkswagen Golf e Volvo V40. These are the eight finalists of «Car of the Year 2013».

The decision will now be presented to a jury of 58 specialist journalists representing 22 European countries.

Out of the list were the names of "weight" as the new Audi A3, BMW 3 Series and Toyota Auris, or even the Porsche Boxster, Fiat 500L, Kia Cee'd, Mazda 6 and Opel Adam.

The winner will be announced on March 4, the opening of another edition of the Geneva Motor Show.

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