Treasures from West Germany lurk at Sonoma Raceway

In my role of Chief Justice of the 24 Hours of LeMons Supreme Court, I travel to Sonoma Raceway, aka Sears Point, at least twice per year. Most of the time I'm there, I'm stuck disciplining miscreant racers with incomprehensible penalties, but every so often I slip away in my Race Organizer Review car to shoot some action photos of the competitors. A good area for shooting LeMons cars is from the access road that runs parallel to the track between turn 10 and turn 11, and getting there takes me past an area of shops and garages… and I always spot some interesting cars parked there.

Sinkhole fears shut commuter route

A ROAD in a key transport-link town is to be closed over fears that a sinkhole exists deep under the surface. A hole has appeared in St John's Road in Watford, Hertfordshire, and preliminary investigations carried out last week had to be stopped as there were concerns about undermining the road and footway further. Hertfordshire County Council said: "A geotechnical engineer present during the investigations advised that there is a possibility that a sinkhole exists deep down in the underlying chalk." Following f urther investigations today, the road is being shut until work on it can be completed.

Toyota fails to land 'top safety pick' rating in insurance-group study

For the first time in three years, none of Toyota Motor Corp.'s vehicles received “top safety pick” ratings from an insurance group, as tougher criteria pared the number of selections from 94 last year to 27 this year. Ford Motor Co. led all automakers for the second year in a row with six 2010-model top safety picks from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, including four from Volvo, a brand that's being sold.