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Mario Andretti sees familiar spark in Fernando Alonso at Indy

INDIANAPOLIS - Mario Andretti sees the same spark in Fernando Alonso that drove him to take on all comers at race tracks around the world and said he believes the Spaniard is a threat to win the Indianapolis 500. Alonso set the motor racing world abuzz last month when he said he had been granted clearance by his McLaren Formula One team to miss the Monaco Grand Prix and race in the 101st Indy 500 on May 28 in pursuit of the sport's famed 'Triple Crown' - a Formula One title and Indy 500 and Le Mans wins. While Graham Hill is the only driver to achieve the feat, Andretti also stands alone as the only driver to win a Formula One world championship, an Indianapolis 500 and Daytona 500. "I embraced the challenges that's why I did it because I was curious," Andretti told Reuters before Alonso settled into the cockpit of an IndyCar for the first time on Wednesday. "Some drivers are very happy specializing. I wasn't. "I see the same spark in Alonso. "I commend him for doing this. I know how he feels because this was always my challenge to go into somebody else's sandbox and see if I could win at their own game. "There's nothing better than that." Despite Alonso having won 32 grands prix and two drivers championships, the 35-year-old was required to undergo IndyCar's rookie orientation program on Wednesday in order to get used to the unique environment of oval racing at the famed 2.5 mile (4km) Brickyard course. "Here you have constant high speed on a super speedway and it is incredibly different from what his (Alonso's) specialty is which is basically road racing," added Andretti. "It's not that he is going to be foreign to 220 mph plus but what he is going to be foreign to is cornering at 220mph plus. "That's the part that obviously he is going to have to deal with and learn how to approach it." McLaren will enter the race with a Honda-engined Indy car run by Andretti Autosport, owned by former McLaren driver Michael Andretti, who put together a detailed game plan for Alonso that began in a simulator. Alonso impressed on Wednesday as he quickly got up to speed with a fastest lap of 222.548 mph (356.825 kph) but Andretti said there was still a lot for him to learn. "As you get closer to qualifying then he is going to have to start flirting with the limit of the car. That's when it gets precarious," said Andretti. "At these speeds when you're flirting with the limits of the car and ready to go then you have to have a pretty good feel.

Geneva-bound Seat Toledo showcar is a concept in name only

The Seat Toledo Concept that we'll see at the Geneva Motor Show is the precursor for the Seat Toledo that will go on sale later this year in Spain - hence its description as a "close-to-production study." The "study" part is how Seat has integrated its IBE, IBX and IBL concepts into a production sedan, and how it plans to make that car "exceptionally good value for money."
This will be the fourth generation of the Seat, which, in its 20-year lifespan, has been both a trunked vehicle and a five-door hatchback. This "concept" splits the difference: it looks like a three-box sedan but it's actually a five-door hatchback. The liftgate at the rear helps it achieve a 500-liter cargo capacity.
As the Spanish brand's version of the Skoda MissionL concept, it will enter the range under the Ibiza and above the Leon and be built on the AO-plus platform from parent company Volkswagen. Prices are rumored to start at €13,000 to €14,000. Follow the jump for a press release with more details.

McLaren 675LT is already sold out

You wouldn't associate McLaren with doing things slowly, but we didn't anticipate how fast it would sell out of the 675LT. The British racing team turned exotic automaker revealed the 675LT as a longer, more hardcore version of the 650S at the Geneva Motor Show this past March. At the time it announced that only 500 examples would be made. Now just two months later, McLaren spokesman Wayne Bruce confirmed to Autoblog that the entire production run has already sold out. "Around half the buyers" who placed their orders for the 675LT, Bruce tells us, "are new to the brand." The other half, by extension, are existing McLaren customers who already own (or have owned) a 12C, 650S or P1. The 675LT sits in the company's new Super Series alongside the aforementioned 650S and the more accessible Asian-market 625C. With 666 horsepower on tap from McLaren's signature 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8, the Longtail will rocket to 62 in under three seconds en route to a top speed of 205 miles per hour. It comes exclusively in fixed-roof-coupe form and retails for GBP259,500. That's equivalent to about $400,000 at current exchange rates, and comes out to about the same (in either currency) as what Lamborghini charges for an Aventador. Related Video: