April 19 2012 – vol 208 no 3 CONTENTS

Up-to-the-minute news and reports from F1, WRC and more. Subscribe for must-read opinion, stats and images

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REPORTS 32 Chinese Grand Prix

Nico Rosberg turns his maiden pole position into his first Grand Prix win for Mercedes. Full reaction and analysis 46 IndyCar Long Beach Two out of two for Penske star Will Power 50 World of Sport NASCAR; ALMS; Indy Lights; Blancpain Endurance; Formula

Nippon; Auto GP; V8 Stockcars 58 WTCC Marrakech

Menu and Muller mega in Morocco for works Chevy squad 60 BTCC Donington Park

Jackson and Shedden share the spoils for Ford and Honda 65 BTCC Supports

Porsche Carrera Cup; Renault Clios; Ginetta Supercup/Junior 68 British Formula 3 Monza

Carlos Sainz Jr takes commanding double win in Monza rain 70 Formula 2 Silverstone

It’s a double win for Luciano Bacheta

FEATURES 72 Remembering Marcel Albers, 20 years on

In April 1992 young Dutchman Marcel Albers was killed in a British F3 race at Thruxton. We look back on a lost talent

NEWS 8 F1 faces Bahrain backlash

Sport’s decision to race in troubled country may backfire 10 Tyre temperature key to F1 title success

Keeping rubber in optimum window will be vital 12 Mercedes wing ruling could prove costly

Teams fear development spend after ‘double DRS’ legality 14 This week in Formula 1 A round-up of what’s been happening recently 16 Bahrain Grand Prix preview 21 David Coulthard column 24 Chevrolet to build IndyCar aero kit

US giant to take bodywork design in-house 26 Toyota: crash won’t distract sportscar programme

Japanese firm still aiming to be top hybrid at Le Mans 29 Plato calls for NGTC engineering freedom

MG racer calls for relaxed technical rules on new-spec cars 30 Ford WRC chief: Latvala can still win the title

Wilson backs injured star despite forthcoming down-time

REGULARS 5 From the editor 6 Snapshot 23 Mark Hughes column 66 Subscribe for a free gift 96 Final drive

Letters and latest gear 98 On track/on screen

The best action in the next week 101 From the archive

Looking back on the controversial South African GP of 1985 102 Race of my life

Guy Smith, Road America ALMS, 2011

SPORTS EXTRA 85 MSA acts to stave off UK single-seater crisis

British motorsport’s governing body calls on key figures to help solve dwindling single-seater numbers 86 Clio Cup teams issue ultimatum to series organiser

TOCA series team bosses write to SRO to express frustrations over one-make championship 90 National reports

Silverstone MSVR; Mondello Park IMRC; Snetterton CSCC; Lydden SEMSEC

COVER IMAGES: ROBERTSON/ GETTY INSET: EBREY/LAT, PA PHOTOS, PIOLA

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