RICCIARDO WINS THE RACE BUT BOTTAS TAKES THE TITLE

Despite a win in the second race of the weekend at Barcelona, Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo just failed in his bid to win the Formula Renault 2.0 World Series. A fourth place to Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas was enough to give him the championship with Ricciardo just failing to grab the crown but taking his team to the team title. Ricciardo was disappointed at missing the title but overall he was satisfied with his year which saw him win six races.

BIG DAY FOR NISSAN AT AUTOPOLIS SUPER-GT

The Nissan GT-R of Satoshi Motoyama and Benoit Treluyer, won Kyushu 300, Round 8 of the Autobacs SUPER GT series at the Autopolis in Japan.  Starting from pole position lead driver Benoit Treluyer, made a great start to open up a significant lead. Co-driver Motoyama took over for the second half of the race and from then on was never threatened. The win was the team's third of the season but their first since way back in round two. They now lead the series outright with one round remaining.

AUSSIE BRABHAM TAKES POLE AT LAGUNA ALMS FINALE

ALMS GT QUALIFYING FROM LAGUNA SECA FROM SPEED TV

<embed src=“http://services.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/626910340“ bgcolor=“#FFFFFF“ flashVars=“videoId=1863403882&playerId=626910340&viewerSecureGatewayURL=https://console.brightcove.com/services/amfgateway&servicesURL=http://services.brightcove.com/services&cdnURL=http://admin.brightcove.com&domain=embed&autoStart=false&“ base=“http://admin.brightcove.com“ name=“flashObj“ width=“300“ height=“254“ seamlesstabbing=“false“ type=“application/x-shockwave-flash“ swLiveConnect=“true“ pluginspage=“http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash“></embed>

BRABHAM TAKES POLE FOR ALMS CLOSER

Australian driver David Brabham clinched his third overall American Le Mans series pole position of the season in what was his last qualifying session in the LMP2 Patrón Highcroft Racing Acura at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.  Brabham set a blistering fastest time of 1:10.103, taking pole position by 0.099 seconds and setting a new Laguna Seca ALMS lap record in the process.

KICKING ON FROM AUSSIE RULES

The Australian Motor Sport Foundation (AMSF) has today announced the appointment of Martin Stillman as its new General Manager.  Stillman joins the AMSF following a distinguished and successful career in football, currently holding the position of AFL Victoria Region Manager for the Calder Cannons.  He is well known and respected in the sporting industry and is also recognised for his roles as General Manager for both the Victorian Football League and the Victorian Football Association.

MORE SACKINGS AT FORD AUSTRALIA

The rumours are true, Ford Australia today confirmed it will cut a further 450 jobs from its Victorian work force. The cuts have been blamed on the global economic slowdown and falling demand for large passenger cars. It's also a tacit acknowledgement that the much vaunted FG Falcon range has been a failure. Ford Australia CEO Marin Burela said it was a difficult time for affected families and everyone at Ford. “We don't take these issues lightly, but we need to secure and protect the business,“ he said. According to Mr Burela the retrenchments will at this stage be voluntary and the company believes there will be sufficient interest in the plan to avoid actual sackings.

RECORD ENTRY FOR HISTORIC SANDOWN

One of the highlights of the Victorian motor racing year  the VACC Historic Sandown on November 7-9 just got even better with the news that almost 360 cars have entered the event potentially equalling the record for the meeting. Despite the current economic crisis that has gripped the globe growth has occurred in all categories, with more than 20 Formula 5000s now confirmed for the VACC Trophy races, along with nearly 60 historic touring cars, and 70 classic and high performance cars spanning the history of the automobile have entered the popular Regularity (average speed) events.

HOLDEN SHOCK AT SYDNEY SHOW

Holden once again stole the show at the Australian International Motorshow at Sydney's Darling Harbour, but this time it was not a stunning locally built concept car but the Down Under debut of the Chevy Volt. The Volt has been seen plenty of times before, most recently from Paris, but the big news was that the car will be sold here in Australia as soon as 2012.

ALGUERSUARI WINS BRITISH F3 CROWN

Jaime Alguersuari took his third win in a row to become the first Spanish driver win the British F3 Championship.  The 18-year-old, who is also youngest ever British F3 Champion, overtook pole position holder Oli Oakes at the start and led to the flag in dominant style.  His title rival Oliver Turvey climbed up the field from 20th on the first lap to 8th finishing his season parked next to the track three laps from home.  Nick Tandy took his best finish of the year in second place ahead of Sergio Perez.  Jay Bridger finished his championship year with a win ahead of Henry Surtees and Steven Guererro.