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Karamjit Singh Takes His 17th Rally Championship Title – At 60

For Karamjit Singh, age is just a number and at 60, he still has ‘The Right Stuff’ to not only compete in rallies but also become a champion. The younger generation may have physical agility and perhaps even more bravery but this uncle has experience in the sport that goes back over 35 years – before some of them were even born!

Driving a Proton Gen2, Karamjit and co-driver Jagdev Singh were today crowned champions of the 2022 VANTAGE Malaysian National Rally Championship (MNRC). ‘The Flying Sikh’ shows that his age is no barrier (nor is the age of his rallycar which is 15 years old) and has been recognized as Asia’s most successful rally driver.

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Avalanche Andretti Formula E team Wins Opening Round Of Formula E Season 9

Michael Andretti may be having challenges getting a team, with Cadillac as partner, into Formula 1, but where Formula E is concerned, the Andretti team was readily accepted and has remained a consistent participant since the first season. And this year, as the Avalanche Andretti Formula E team, it has taken the first victory of the new Season 9 in Mexico City this weekend.

Driver Jake Dennis had a dominant drive to win the Hankook Mexico City E-Prix ahead of TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team driver Pascal Wehrlein who started from sixth to finish second, and Mahindra Racing’s Lucas di Grassi who slipped from pole position during the race to finish third.

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Toyota Suggests That There Could Be A Future For Old Models Like The AE86 With EV Conversions

Toyota, like some of the other top carmakers, has expressed a view that the goal of carbon neutrality to prevent climate change is not a single-solution – going electric with motor vehicles – approach. While they do recognise the importance of moving towards that goal, they feel that the electric-only solution is not practical and is also costly. A choice of solutions that include some existing technologies (improved, of course) is being promoted as a more realistic approach.

Toyota’s President, Akio Toyoda, is very vocal about this and was among the first car company CEOs to state the position. Perhaps that encouraged the CEOs in the other companies to also echo similar views but still committing to increasing production of zero emissions battery electric vehicles (BEVs). They are probably under a lot of pressure to allocate massive funding for BEV R&D and at the same time, they still need to continue some development of combustion engine powertrains.

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PLUS To Take Proactive Measures To Make Your Balik Kampung Journey Easier (But You Have To Do Your Part Too)

The first major festival of 2023 – Chinese New Year – is coming and as with other festivals, the roads will be filled with more traffic. In fact, it’s already started in the cities as many people grumble about the increased volume lately, making it longer getting around.

In the days just before Chinese New Year, which falls on January 20, the highways are going to start to see more traffic and PLUS estimates that the volume could reach 2 million vehicles on its highway network on the peak days. That’s 20% higher than the number on normal days, so be prepared for journeys to take longer and the R&R places to be more crowded.

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Jeep Takes European Car Of The Year Title For The First Time With Avenger EV

Since the European Car of the Year (COTY) awards began in 1964, the winners have come from European brands with the first one from Japan in 1993. That of course discounts Ford as being as American brand as the Ford models that won were essentially European models. So there has never been an American brand winning the European COTY – until 2023.

At the Brussels Motor Show today, the Jeep Avenger was announced as this year’s winner, probably a surprise to many as there were strong contenders among the other six finalists. It’s the first time that Jeep – a thoroughly American brand – has won the award though other brands in the Stellantis Group (which it is part of) have won awards over the years.

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Mazda Brings Back The Rotary Engine – As Part Of A Plug-in Hybrid Powertrain in MX-30 e-SKYACTIV

The Wankel rotary engine was first used in a car in 1964 and it seemed like a revolutionary concept that many carmakers licensed it to use for their models. However, virtually all found it to have issues which they didn’t want to waste time and money trying to address and gave up. Only Mazda worked hard to commercialize the rotary engine and succeeded in doing so from 1967.

Unfortunately, some of the characteristics of the rotary engine – high emissions and consumption – were unacceptable as the world grew more environment conscious. By 2012, Mazda had no choice but to stop using the rotary engine and it seemed that it was gone forever. From time to time, there would be rumours of its return and Mazda insiders would say ‘we are working on it but still need time…’. The last time the rumour was strong was with the Vision Study Coupe concept.

Today, the rotary engine returns but not in the way enthusiasts would expect it. It is not used as a primary propulsion system but is instead adapted for use more as a power generator in the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrain of the new MX-30 e-Skyactiv R-EV model.

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