Fog Light 2006 Escape Sku#1873719 on 2040-parts.com

SEMA ups scholarship money for car-crazed college kids

The Specialty Equipment Market Association, better known to most of us as SEMA, has announced a hefty boost to its SEMA Memorial Scholarship Fund for 2013: The top student selected now gets $1,000 more for a total of $5,000 toward an automotive-related college education. Other eligible participants in four-year programs get $3,000—last year, they only received $2,000—and two-year students get their funds doubled to $2,000. In the Buckeye State, one lucky student at the Ohio Technical College will get complete tuition coverage, which is a cool $29,400.

Rally Ace Beats Own Isle Of Man Lap Record

SUBARU’S WRX STI has once again broken the four-wheeled lap record around the famous Isle of Man TT circuit, with British rally champion Mark Higgins setting a new record of 19 minutes 26 seconds in a production version of the firm’s newly launched high-performance saloon. Higgins’s lap around the challenging 37.8-mile TT Mountain course saw him post an average speed of 116mph and a top speed of over 160mph. Manxman Higgins completed his timed run under closed road conditions as part of the TT schedule and beat his previous record, set in 2011, when he set a time of 19 minutes 56.7 seconds at the wheel of the previous-generation WRX STI, breaking a record that had stood for 21 years.

Who's Where: James Hope appointed Director of Design at Chery Motors

James Hope has been appointed Corporate Director of Design at Chery Motors, the Chinese state-owned carmaker. He joins Chery from General Motors, where he held the position of Assistant Chief Designer since February 2008. Hope took up his new position on 16 January, based in Chery's Shanghai satellite studio from where he will report directly to Chen Anning, Chery's Head of Product Development.