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2015 Belgian Grand Prix is a return to scheduled programming

With summer intermission over, the second half of the Formula One season commenced in the Belgian countryside at Spa-Francorchamps. After qualifying, it looked a lot like the first half of the season with just a few minor changes. Lewis Hamilton was even more dominant in his Mercedes-AMG Petronas than usual, regularly taking half a second out of his teammate in just the middle sector of the circuit. Teammate Nico Rosberg tightened it up a tad for his final hot lap, but Hamilton still took pole by 0.45 seconds ahead of Rosberg in second. With his Williams back at a power track, Valtteri Bottas got himself up to third, although more than a second behind Hamilton. Romain Grosjean in the Lotus in fourth had his best qualifying performance since his fourth-place grid spot at the 2013 US Grand Prix. This was a huge boon for Lotus, the team facing another financial issue off track that threatened to have its cars impounded as soon as they left the circuit. Grosjean had to have his gearbox changed before the conclusion of six races, however, so the five-spot penalty meant he'd actually line up ninth for the race. Sergio Perez put the Sahara Force India in fifth, where we're more used to seeing his teammate Nico Hulkenberg, just ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in the Infiniti Red Bull Racing in sixth. Felipe Massa got the second Williams in seventh, in front of the second Lotus of Pastor Maldonado in eighth. Then came the first and only Ferrari in the top ten, Sebastian Vettel qualifying ninth after a disappointing Saturday for the scuderia; teammate Kimi Raikkonen suffered gearbox issues and qualified way down in 16th. Carlos Sainz took tenth in the Toro Rosso. A new start procedure in Belgium meant drivers had to handle clutches on their own, without the engineers finely tuning bite points between the garage and the start line. That was in conjunction with another rule limiting the kinds of radio messages possible between engineers and drivers, aiming to put more of the car in the drivers' hands. After an aborted start when Hulkenberg's car quit while sitting on the grid, Hamilton made the most of the new procedure. His start wasn't amazing but he beat everyone else off the line, while those behind were alternately getting bogged down or leaping ahead. Midway through the first lap the top ten was Hamilton, Perez, Ricciardo, Bottas, Rosberg, Vettel, Maldonado, Grosjean, Massa, Marcus Ericsson. At the end of 43 laps, Hamilton would still be in the lead.

Recharge Wrap-up: Nissan reveals GT-R LM Nismo, NRG plans eVgo expansion

Nissan has officially revealed the GT-R LM Nismo LMP1 car. The hybrid Le Mans racer uses a biturbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 up front to power the front wheels, plus a kinetic energy recovery system for an extra boost. Football fans likely caught a glimpse of the car in Nissan's With Dad commercial that aired during the Super Bowl, but the company has a couple more videos that show the car off quite well provided below. "This is innovation that excites," Says Nismo president Shoichi Miyatani. "Sustainability is at the top of our agenda, and the technical regulations for Le Mans give us the freedom to pursue new ideas in this area." Read more at Green Car Congress, or in the press release below. The NRG eVgo charging network now operates 120 DC fast charging stations in California. 60 of those are "Freedom Stations," offering both CHAdeMO and CCS charging cables, and 52 more of these are in the works. NRG plans to expand the eVgo network to 25 US markets in the next two years (up from the current 10), including chargers in Tennessee, as well as linking cities along the near entirety of the East and West coasts. Read more at Green Car Reports. Tesla has opened its 20th Supercharger station in the UK. The company says it will offer full UK coverage by the end of 2015. As of now, the Supercharger network extends as far north as Edinburgh, southwest to Exeter, and to Maidstone in the southeast, which is just up the road from access to mainland Europe through the English Channel Tunnel. Tesla operates more than 1,600 Superchargers worldwide at over 300 stations, with 129 stations and more than 670 Superchargers in Europe. Read more at Hybrid Cars. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Nissan reveals Le Mans challenger during Super Bowl - First glimpse of race-ready Nissan GT-R LM NISMO during Super Bowl XLIX - Innovative new LM P1 racing car is like no other Le Mans car - TAG Heuer, Motul and Michelin revealed as Nissan LM P1 partners YOKOHAMA, Japan Í– Nissan today declared itself ready to take on the world's best sports car manufacturers after revealing a glimpse of its Le Mans challenger – the Nissan GT-R LM NISMO – during the commercial break for Super Bowl XLIX. Last year's Super Bowl was the most watched television program in U.S. television history with over 110 million viewers.

European jury picks finalists for 2015 Car of the Year

There are countless Car of the Year awards handed out each year, and naturally, Europe has its own way of doing things. Every year, a panel of jurists representing seven publications in seven different languages and seven different countries get together to name their joint Car of the Year. The panel released a list of 32 candidates back in July, and it has now whittled that list down to seven nominees. The list consists of the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer, the Citroen C4 Cactus (shown), the Ford Mondeo, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, the Nissan Qashqai, the Renault Twingo and the Volkswagen Passat. Of those seven, only two are available in the US – those being the Mondeo (sold Stateside as the Fusion) and the C-Class. The Passat is an entirely different model in North America, the Qashqai isn't offered here, Citroen and Renault don't even participate in our market and the BMW 2 Series is represented here only by the completely different coupe and convertible. Expect the one and only recipient of the 2015 Car of the Year award to be announced at the Geneva Motor Show this coming March, and while you're waiting, you can place your guesses for the eventual winner in Comments. Featured Gallery 2015 European Car of the Year: Nominees News Source: CaroftheYear.org BMW Ford Mercedes-Benz Nissan Volkswagen Citroen Renault car of the year nissan qashqai citroen c4 cactus bmw 2 series active tourer