Wirth wants to showcase CFD technology By Mark Glendenning and Pablo Elizalde Thursday, December 31st 2009, 14:09 GMT Virgin Racing technical boss Nick Wirth is aiming to showcase the CFD technology outside of Formula 1 by building a successful grand prix car with it. Wirth is designing Virgin’s maiden F1 car using CFD - Computational Fluid Dynamics - instead of the traditional wind tunnel method used by all Formula 1 teams.

The top 20 MotoGP stories of 2009 By Pablo Elizalde Thursday, December 31st 2009, 16:23 GMT AUTOSPORT has published thousands of news stories during 2009, here we list the 20 most-read MotoGP articles of the year 20. Schwantz questions Stoner’s decision August 22 Despite medical advice suggesting Stoner needed a break, former world champion Kevin Schwantz didn’t see it that way. The American was disappointed by Stoner’s decision and felt he should be been out there on the bike

The top 20 motorsport stories of 2009 By Steven English Thursday, December 31st 2009, 16:24 GMT AUTOSPORT has published thousands of news stories during 2009, here we list the 20 most-read motorsport articles of the year 20. Ericsson fastest, Loeb slowest at Jerez October 8 While Sebastien Loeb’s move to Formula 1 was still a genuine possibility, he joined an official GP2 test at Jerez. Unfortunately for the Frenchman, he was slowest - more than two seconds off the pace, which was set by Marcus Ericsson who would go on to test for Brawn at the end of the season.

The top 20 F1 stories of 2009 By Jonathan Noble Thursday, December 31st 2009, 16:24 GMT AUTOSPORT has published thousands of news stories during 2009, here we list the 20 most-read Formula 1 articles of the year 20. Button closing on McLaren switch November 17 The weeks after the season finished left Jenson Button with little time to sit back and celebrate - as he set about sorting out his Formula 1 future. 19

Volkswagen seeking Dakar glory again By David Evans Thursday, December 31st 2009, 17:03 GMT Fourteen competitive sections and close to 3,000 flat-out miles stand between 368 competitors and possible victory on the 2010 Dakar, which starts from Buenos Aires, Argentina tomorrow. The event, which traditionally starts on New Year’s day, is running in South America for the second consecutive year, following the cancellation of the 2008 edition, which was schedule to run to the well-known African route. Mitsubishi, winner of the event 12 times since its inception in 1979, has pulled out of cross-country racing, but Volkswagen - the marque which dominated last year’s rally, is well represented with five Race Touareg’s making the Buenos Aires start.

Preview: The 2010 Dakar in numbers Thursday, December 31st 2009, 17:10 GMT 8:59 minutes was the winning margin of Volkswagen factory driver Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz as they celebrated the first victory for a diesel prototype in the Dakar in 2009. 10 of a possible 13 stage victories were credited to Volkswagen in 2009.

Q & A with Volkswagen’s Lutz Meyer Thursday, December 31st 2009, 17:13 GMT Conducted and provided by Volkswagen’s press office. Q.

DoxCar.CoM:

AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais Jimmie Johnson got the red-carpet treatment when he visited with President Barack Obama at the White House in August.We have introduced you to Sebastien Bourdais and Sam Hornish Jr. as we roll out the nine candidates for ESPN.com’s Driver of the Decade — in alphabetical order — over the next two weeks

Pedrosa has hand operation By Matt Beer Wednesday, December 30th 2009, 12:04 GMT Dani Pedrosa had a screw removed from his left hand during the Christmas break as part of his continuing recovery from the injuries that have disrupted his past two seasons. The Spaniard has suffered a string of injuries and fractures in recent years, starting with a huge crash during the 2008 German Grand Prix and then further violent accidents during winter testing prior to the 2009 campaign. The operation in Barcelona during the week before Christmas should give Pedrosa greater mobility in his left wrist.