Dakar Rally 2012 Day 3 update

American Robby Gordon continues to hold second place overall at the completion of day three of the 2012 Dakar. Hummer driver Gordon, vying to make up for the delays suffered on Monday, completed the 129 competitive miles between San Rafael and San Juan in the Argentine Andes with the fifth-fastest time. His teammate and defending Dakar champion Nasser Al-Attiyah was third-quickest and moves into sixth position overall, having dropped precious time on day one with a loss of oil pressure.

2011 BMW X3 leaks

The 2011 BMW X3 - together with required camouflage To say that details have leaked is a bit disingenuous, as the leak has emanated from BMW. So although technically I suppose we should call it a leak because the details are not exactly concrete – and the photos are of camouflaged cars – it’s more of a tease than a leak. The photos tell us not a huge amount – it’s a new BMW X3 with some black and white bits on.

Audi R18 TDI dominates Le Mans 2011 test day

Le Mans echoed to the sound of racing cars on Easter Sunday as teams took part in the sole scheduled test day, and Audi's new R18 coupe dominated the LMP1 class. Le Mans 2011: classes and rules changes The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), the organisers of the annual 24-hour race, made several changes to the competition classes and technical specifications for Le Mans 2011, aimed at reducing costs, raising lap times and ending the dominance of turbodiesel endurance racers. Out went V10 and V12 engines in the LMP1 (Le Mans Prototype) class, and in came new capacity limits for all engines, intake restrictors and lower turbo boost limits on existing turbodiesels. Naturally aspirated petrols units are now limited to 3.4-litres, turbo'd petrols can be no bigger than 2.0, and turbodiesels are restricted to 3.7-litres.