Nissan to Enter WTCC in 2014?

With Citroen all but confirmed to be entering the World Touring Car Championship in 2014, could Japanese manufacturer Nissan be ready to follow suit? 
Earlier this week reports began to circulate that Nissan Chief Carlos Ghosen is due to make an announcement regarding the future of the marque's Motorsport-division, Nismo. In the same forty-eight hours came the news from Touring Car specialists RML, that they were due to announce their plans for the foreseeable future within the 'next two weeks.' 
The team successfully recorded their third consecutive driver and team championship titles in 2012, but were left in the doldrums at the end of last season after Chevrolet brought it's factory programme to an end. 
Should their be any substance to my suspected link between Nissan and RML, then the partnership would surely be with a a view to enter the 2014 WTCC championship, with rule-changes allowing machines to be more powerful and more aerodynamically efficient. Such changes bring the series' closer to Nismo's current interests the Nissan's homeland, where the division runs a number of heavily race-modified Nissan GTR's in the Super GT series. 
RML and Nissan last worked together between 1997 and 1999, when the latter successfully contracted RML to run it's British Touring Car Championship assault with a pair of Nissan Primera's. 
With success in the past, and a promising WTCC future, many & me will be hoping that these two stalwarts are about to launch each other back into the motorsport limelight.

Reading Lewis Hamilton.

I wonder, I wonder if Hamilton has pondered an acting career recently... 
With two reasonably faultless test sessions behind him at the wheel of his new Mercedes W04, both of which displayed at least a hint of raw pace, the former champ comes across as a man truly and utterly downbeat and despondent, almost beyond belief. Take, for example, the featured interview with Sky Sports F1's Craig Slater: http://www1.skysports.com/formula1/video/24068/8517047
It's common knowledge that drivers and teams tend to 'sandbag' during pre-season testing, but comments from Hamilton such as "we'll be fighting for points" and completely writing off ALREADY any title or race-win hopes, seem to me and many others im sure, to be stretching the limits of 'playing down expectation'. 
But hey, Formula One is all about pushing boundaries, right?

Should Sutil be Sat?

Today (Thursday 14th January), it has emerged that erstwhile Sahara Force India driver Adrian Sutil, has returned to his former teams factory for a seat-fitting. While it remains unclear whether or not the fitting puts the German in pole-position for the final seat on the 2013 F1 grid, it will, and has, undoubtedly raised many eyebrows.
As is common knowledge now throughout the F1 fraternity, justice is a word not particularly understood within the sport. You only have to consider for example, the prolific names who have found themselves heading for the sports exit-door in recent history; Heikki Kovalainen, Timo Glock, Jamie Alguersuari, Nick Heidfeld, to name but a few. All incredibly talented drivers with a proven speed-credentials in Motorsports' pinnacle class, yet sidelined through above all else, a lack of funding.
Of course, it's not the funding that has caused a stir with the Sutil-Situation, it's strangely enough, his criminal record. Should a man previously convicted of GBH really be given a second chance in the Sport? Many will say no, of course he shouldn't. Formula One in the grand scheme of things, maintains a clean-cut image, with the intense level of sponsorship and role-model occupation of it's drivers, being essential to the very cornerstone of the sport. So with Sutil's tainted reputation, it's a surprise to many that Force India team boss Vijay Mallya is at least considering giving the German a second chance, whether it be merely a pre-season test next week in Barcalona, or a season-long drive back in the big-time.
Now back to the issue of funding... despite not being the do-all and end-all in this conundrum, it does still play a colossal part. As in Sutil's first impressive spell in Formula One, he carries with him significant backing from sponsors such as Medion, Einstein & Newton, and Capri-Sonne, resulting in a sufficient level of pennies to fuel Sutil in Formula One. Dig a little further, and it comes to stand that Mallya's own wealth is somewhat in danger, with his primary buisness interest, Kingfisher Airlines on the brink of folding. Sutil's backing might not only be sufficient for himself, but also a safety net for the team as a whole, one must feel.
Sutil's main rival for the race-seat is Jules Bianchi; a man who himself carries a strong argument warranting him the drive. Having already tested the all-new VJM06, and carrying backing from the juggernaut that is Ferrari, Bianchi is far from an ugly option for Force India. Having displayed raw pace in numerous 2012 Friday test-sessions, the Frenchman is embedded within the team set-up, which must be seen as an important factor considering the lack of time between now and the first race in Melbourne, just over a month away.
With so many variables at play, it's easy to see why the final driver-announcement for 2013 has become a somewhat saga. A man who much Mallya in terms of giving the nod/guidance to fast men, Peter Coe (Seb Coe's father and trainer), once said that one of the biggest factors in being successful in sport, is 'managing the variables'surrounding the event itself. I hope for the teams sake, that such variables don't begin to underpin a successful and well-loved operation, such as Sahara Force India.

WRC: VW Win, What Now For Citroen?

Volkswagen have won their maiden World Rally event, with Sebastian Ogier driving the marque to victory in Rally Sweden. 
The well documented victory adds fuel to the fire concerning Ogier and VW's title credentials, and certainly supplies an unwelcome migraine to rival teams Citroen and Qatar M-Sport. However, does the win have further implications? 
Well, a brief pondering-session would suggest so. A maiden victory for any team/driver combination is always a popular one, even if it comes courtesy of one of the worlds largest car company's. However, it's taken less than two-events for VW to achieve success.With almost-guaranteed car development thanks to the marques deep pockets, and arguably the finest driver line-up in Jari-Matti Latvala and Sebastian Ogier, is it probable more than possible that VW might about to completely steam-roll the WRC? 
Should this illusion of mine take shape, it leaves the series' most prolific competitor, Citroen, with a number of huge decisions to make. Do they invest more into their rallying-programme to try and compete? Do they bide their time as second best, in an obviously struggling series? With all important TV-Rights/airtime going quite frankly arse-over-tit in the WRC at the moment, and an expected assault in World Touring Cars on the horizon, fans, the F.I.A, and indeed Motorsport as whole, should be worried. 
Should Citroen leave the sport as a factory-backed team, it leaves the newbies VW, as the only factory-representatives, which is good for no-one.In a nutshell: less sponsorship, less broadcasting appeal, reduction of competition, and in tough economic times (yawn), a high doubt-factor of any other manufactures rushing to the rescue of the WRC. 
A final key-catalyst of potential destruction, is the part-retirement of a certain Frenchman, Sebastian Loeb. Loeb is quite simply the most successful rally driver of all time, and is to rally what Tiger Woods is (well, was...) to Golf, and what David Beckham is to Football.Take away such a name from a sport in such a fragile state as the WRC is now, and it could be potentially be disastrous. Citroen have lost their champion, massive brand identity and elder statesman responsible for all their WRC success, and fans around the world have lost a man truly worshipped by admirers of sideways-action. A legend removed, and an ever gaping hole left behind, could well see the the WRC go head on into a tree, at what is a tight icey turn in the series' illustrious existence.

2013: Sauber's Year?

Sauber today took the wraps off of their 2013-challenger, the C32-Ferrari.
The all new car appears to be the most radical looking yet, ahead of the all-new McLaren, Ferrari, and Lotus machines that have been revealed over previous days.
The inclusion of noticeably small sidepods is the cars most striking feature, with the space reserved by the tiny-pods being taken up by large vanes, in an attempt to channel air towards to the vital-area of the exhaust outlets and diffuser at the rear of the C32.
A pleasing feature of the new car is the absence of the pig-ugly conventional  stepped-nose, with so-called 'modesty fairings' protruding past the the step itself, much like as seen on the Red Bull RB8 from yesteryear.
Not-so-radical is the car's new-for-2013 colour scheme, with a predominant shade of grey sprawled across the carbon-fibre in twine with lashes of white and red, the colours most synonymous with the Hinwil-based team.
With an all-new driver line-up in Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Gutierrez, hopes are high for Sauber, as new team principal Monisha Kaltenborn states:  "The aim is very clear and simple: we want to continue to improve ourselves."
With a radical looking design, and an upwards trend of performance on the their CV over previous seasons, 2013 looks to be a potentially jubilant season, with nothing short of regular top five performances and occasional  wins, a widely held expectation.