MONTMELO, SPAIN - MARCH 01: Jenson Button of Great Britain and McLaren drives during day two of Formula One winter testing at the Circuit de Catalunya on March 1, 2013 in Montmelo, Spain. (Photo by Ker Robertson/Getty Images)

Honda's history in Formula 1 is long and full of ups and downs. It was the first Japanese manufacturer to win an F1 race way back in 1965 at the Mexican Grand Prix with Richie Ginther behind the wheel. In the '80s and early '90s, their engines were used by hot-shot teams like McLaren, Williams and Lotus. By the end of their participation in 1992, the company had provided power to six constructor's championships, and five driver's championships, including three for Ayrton Senna. 

The decision to supply engines to BAR in 2000 - the team started for Canadian Jacques Villeneuve - eventually led to the team's purchase, and then a decade of disappointment. In 2006, BAT became Honda Racing, which didn't improve matters. Finally, the company pulled the plug in '08, selling the team to Ross Brawn, who somehow managed to mate new Mercedes-Benz engines with the leftover chassis to finally create a winner.

Obviously, that debacle left the company with a bad taste in its mouth. So, with Formula 1 moving to small-displacement 1.6-litre turbocharged V6s from the current normally aspirated 2.4-litre V8s, Honda's hoping its expertise in both the original F1 turbo 'era' and the similar setups currently run in IndyCar, will create a winner. 

That McLaren is its first confirmed customer doesn't come as much of a surprise. Ever since McLaren split from Mercedes-Benz a few years back, you could tell the relationship was strained at best. This way, McLaren can completely break all its ties with Mercedes while trying to regain some of its '80s glory. However, since the organizational and naming changes with Honda won't take place until the 2015 season, McLaren will have one year with Mercedes' new turbo-six. Here's hoping they aren't lame ducks during the transition.

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

NASCAR's new 'Gen 6' racecars have come under plenty of criticism during their first season on track. Drivers have called them unfinished or difficult to pass on the bigger tracks, but there's still plenty of time left to get them up to speed. Recently, though, it seemed like the perfect combination of track conditions, car setup and tire compound allowed at least a couple drivers there to hit top speeds of 214 mph at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

That's pretty darned fast, especially since Indy has always been a painful race to watch because of tire degradation. Last year's pole sitter, Denny Hamlin, was quickest at 182.293 mph, but to put that into perspective, that's the average speed around the two-mile facility. Although average speeds from the test weren't revealed, Jeff Gordon said that they were definitely faster than last year.

Although 214 mph might sound fast, speeds are still higher at tracks like Talladega even with the power-sapping restrictor plates required at the two Super-speedways on the calendar. The plates were put into effect in 1988 after several huge crashes put both drivers and fans at risk of injury, reducing average speeds to around 190 mph. However, Rusty Wallace ran an un-restricted Cup car to a top speed of 228 mph back in 2004, and Bill Elliot's pre-plate qualifying run in 1987 saw an average speed of 212.809, which remains the fastest NASCAR qualifying lap ever.

Stirling Moss at the wheel of a vintage race car. Photo: Mark Horsburgh/Newscom/RTR

Here we go again...

Yet another old-time racing driver has come out against the idea that women will ever succeed in Formula 1. This time, British legend Sir Stirling Moss made the comments in a BBC documentary covering women in motorsport.

"We've got some very strong and robust ladies, but, when your life is at risk, I think the strain of that in a competitive situation will tell when you're trying to win," he said." The mental stress I think would be pretty difficult for a lady to deal with in a practical fashion. I just don't think they have the aptitude to win a Formula 1 race."

Although Moss won everything in sight driving everything in sight - other than an F1 title, by the way - the comments have stirred up plenty of controversy. The obvious women in North American racing are Danica Patrick and Simona de Silvestro, who are in NASCAR and IndyCar respectively. Both have won races at varying levels of competition, and are finally positioned in good equipment and it's only a matter of time before they're in the winner's circle again.

In Formula 1, there have only been a handful of women drivers competing over the years, including only one who scored a single half-point. While there have been some women in F1 roles in recent years, generally they were mid-pack development drivers who had some 'in' with the team, whether it comes from a rich family member or long-time sponsor.

Currently, the only woman in F1 is Susie Wolff, a Scottish racing driver who climbed up through open-wheel and DTM, but finally got the call from Williams F1 team to become a development driver there.

She's married to Toto Wolff, though, who was a big investor and shareholder in the Williams team, and - somehow in incestuous F1 this makes sense - executive director of the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 team. Anyway...

So, to make a long question short, do you think Stirling's off his rocker? Will a woman win an F1 race or championship? 

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

Although Peugeot hasn't sold cars in North America since the early '90s, but the French manufacturer is bringing at least one new product to our shores ... The 208 T16 is a purpose-built silhouette racecar designed specifically to win the twisting, challenging road that's used for the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado. 

Peugeot has a long history of competing at Pikes Peak, which were immortalized by the 205 T16 and 405 T16 GR machines that eventually broke the overall record in 1988. Those car-nuts who've seen the short film Climb Dance, a fantastic look at how Ari Vatanen muscled the crude 600-horsepower machine up the hill.

Anyway, while there's no word yet on how much power the new 208 T16 makes, but we'd guess it's upward of 900 horses, and probably all-wheel drive too, even though the hill is now completely paved. 

And who have Peugeot enlisted for the task? None other than bazillion-time World Rally champion Sebastien Loeb, who still competes with sister-brand Citroen in the WRC. Loeb is obviously trying to expand his resume a little and must be getting bored with whipping everyone's butts for nearly a decade. The Frenchman will be looking to beat the time of 9 minutes, 46.164 seconds set by Rhys Millen in a time-attack-spec Hyundai Genesis Coupe.

Do you think Loeb will have what it takes? 

We've included the Climb Dance video after the break...

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

Subaru has been very bullish about the success of its latest Forester - with good reason. We were impressed with its additional space, improved engines and big gains in fuel efficiency. But equally impressive was its newfound 'fun-to-drive' factor, especially on the turbocharged XT models, something that's now more akin to a WRX on stilts.

And what is the WRX most known for? Rally. Every generation has been used in everything from regional and national events all the way up to International series like the WRC and IRC. Rally is at the core of what makes Subarus tick and has been for decades, so when it needs to let people know about its new product's abilities, well, they just rally one.

Thus the Forester Family Rally, a campaign that's getting real families behind the wheel of the new Foresters on a closed rally stage with the winner taking home a new 2014 Forester. There's already been a first event with four different families competing, but the next will apparently be held this August in Mont Tremblant, QC.

On the Forester Family Rally page, you can check out how the families did along the 'stage road' and compare their times, speeds and heartrates with Subaru's Black Stig - ahem - 'professional' driver.

Although it's difficult to tell, we'd assume that the Siggurdson family went home with the prize thanks to being the fastest by far...

Would you be interested in trying an event like this? Does it do its job by making you more likely to consider a Subaru Forester or maybe just the opposite? Tell us what you think in the comments.

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

Juan-Manuel Fangio of Argentina is regularly considered one of the gratest Formula 1 drivers to ever turn a wheel in anger, made even more amazing when you consider the complete lack of safety gear and racetracks with little margin for error.

Unlike some drivers who stayed with one team or manufacturer over their carrer, Fangio jumped around from team to team, but remains the only driver to win Grand Prix titles for four different squads: Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Maserati and Mercedes-Benz.

It's that final team whose wares will be offered at a Bonham's auction to be held during the Goodwood Festival of Speed this coming July. The W196 is described as Mercedes-Benz' first 'true' post-war Formula 1 machine and it debuted a number of important technologies, including fuel injection, a fully-independent suspension, inboard disc brakes, a spaceframe chassis design, and more. The 2.5-litre straight-eight engine was the first from Mercedes-Benz not to feature forced induction, but still produced a quite-incredible 260-ish horsepower. 

The first W196 cars were fully enclosed to allow higher speeds, but after the first few races in '54, Fangio asked the team to build some with exposed wheels that would allow him to better position the car around the infamous Nurburgring racetrack, a 23-kilometre track in Germany that Brit Jackie Stewart later nicknamed the Green Hell.

The first open-wheel W196 - chassis number 00006/54 - was given to Fangio for the German Grand Prix, which he won easily. Fangio repeated in the same car at the following event in Switzerland, and helped secure his second driver's championship.

Bonhams is estimating this incredible piece of history could fetch between $40-$50 million, which if sold would make it the most expensive car ever sold.

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

Jimmie Johnson won his second-ever Daytona 500 on Sunday afternoon, despite not leading many laps along the way. Johnson restarted in the lead with only six laps to go, and despite a charge by Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin, Johnson wasn't really challenged at the checkers.

“It’s a very, very proud moment. Plate racing has been a little tough on the 48 the last few years," Johnson said.

It was the first win for Chevrolet with its new Gen-6 SS racecar, and it also took six of the top-10 finishers. Ford had three while Toyota had only one, although it was third-placed Martin.

Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin were the most dominant in terms of laps led, but finished poorly in 37th, 20th and 14th respectively.

For those wondering, Danica Patrick set another record on Sunday by becoming the first woman to lead a Cup race at Daytona. She was racy all day and was into the mix until the final lap where she dropped from second to eighth.

Bad luck also gave Patrick's teammate and boss Tony Stewart a headache when he wrecked out early despite having won the infamous crash-filled Nationwide race the night before. Despite being Sprint Cup champ at least twice, he's never won the big one at Daytona.

Overall, the race turned out to be more a snoozer than NASCAR was hoping for. Apparently the Gen-6 cars were safe enough on their first outing, but it was difficult to pass and run two or three wide. However, the focus for the new Sprint Cup cars is to improve the 'show' at the mid-sized 'mile-and-a-half' tracks that make up the bulk of the schedule, not the two-mile 'plate' tracks like Daytona and Talladega.

Did you watch the race? What did you think? Were you rooting for Danica to win or crash out? Let us know in the comments.

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

Well, that sure took a while... After a 12-year factory-support drought, the iconic Viper is returning to Le Mans. Back when it was still a Dodge (well, Chrysler, actually) and not an SRT, the ORECA-run Viper GTS-R was the squad and car to beat during the 24 Hours of Le Mans, scoring three class one-two finishes from 1998-2000. By the time Dodge pulled the financial plug, it had also torn up the FIA GT championship, the ALMS championship, and the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Of course, this was just when things were getting 'interesting' with the folks from Corvette Racing, who without any serious competition quickly became the 'big dogs' in endurance racing.

Now that rivalry is set to reignite this June after SRT Motorsport accepted their official invitation to race at the 'twice-around-the-clock' special in France. The team will prep both of its Viper GTS-Rs for their most demanding race yet, while each car can run a maximum of three drivers throughout the race. That also means a Canadian to root for as Montrealer Kuno Wittmer has been re-confirmed as one of the team's returning drivers for 2013. He'll be joined by Marc Goosens, Tommy Kendall, Dominik Farnbacher and Jonathan Bomarito.

If you only count five and not six, congrats. We'd expect SRT to find another top-notch 'temp' who has a couple weeks in June to spare. Indycar champ Ryan Hunter-Reay had that spot during the ALMS' 10-hour Petit Le Mans last October, but would be questionable given he's hoping to repeat in his own series.

The Vipers will run in the GTE Pro class against other big-dollar teams from Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin, and of course, Corvette. Can't wait for the green flag to drop on June 22.

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

And the Ganassi Racing powerhouse wins once again. The undisputed heavyweight champion of the Grand-Am sports-car world put on a clinic of hard and clean driving, working your plan and the benefits of intense pre-race preparation. When the team's lead car crossed the finish line at 3:30 pm local time at Daytona International Speedway, it cemented its reputation as the winningest team in decades. This year's Daytona 24 win was CGR's fifth out of 10 attempts, and lead driver Scott Pruett's fifth overall victory, a feat that ties him with legendary Porsche driver Hurley Haywood.

Pruett's Daytona teammate Juan Pablo Montoya was tasked with bringing the 01 BMW-powered Riley home during the final stint, and did so despite mounting pressure from second-placed Max Angelelli in a Corvette DP. Montoya's gap over Angellelli was about 22 seconds at the end of 24 hours (plus one lap) of racing, which is pretty impressive, although other years have been one by significantly less time. The defending champs from Shank Racing fielded the same five-driver lineup as last year, but suffered a broken suspension piece early in the race and went seven laps down trying to fix it. In the end, they fought back to third place, but obviously without the mechanical issues would have been right into the mix with their Ford-powered Riley.

In GT, Porsche had dominated in qualifying taking the top-four spots on the grid, but by the end of 24 brutal hours, couldn't place higher than fifth... Audi took a one-two victory with its more-generously-supported R8's, a first for the manufacturer in Grand-Am. It might have been a podium sweep for Audi had the Rum Bum Racing R8 not run out of gas late in the race. That gave the Toronto-based AIM Autosport Ferrari 458 with Emil Assentato, Nick Longhi, Anthony Lazzaro and Canadian Mark Wilkins a well-deserved podium place.

The new GX class for more experimental and environmentally friendly racecars basically saw a trio of well-proven Porsche Caymans outlast the three brand-new never-raced Mazda6 SKYACTIV entries. The Mazda's 2.2-litre turbo-diesel engines were a first in Grand-Am, but proved fragile over the race. Mazda says it planned the Rolex 24 to be one giant test and the car can only improve from here.

Another Porsche legend David Donahue was the lead driver on the GX-class-winner Cayman from Napleton Racing, while Vancouver-based Bullet Racing with Canucks Darryl O’Young and Karl Thomson finished second. 

Plenty of other Canadians in the race, including Paul Tracy, Alex Tagliani, James Hinchcliffe, Sylvain Tremblay, David Empringham, Michael Valiante, Dave Lacey, JF Dumoulin and Paul Dalla Lana. 

There seemed to be fewer yellow-flag periods because of silly driving this year and more from general wear-and-tear or unproven parts. However, moving into morning, a giant bank of fog hit the track, forcing the race to run under yellow for around 90 minutes until conditions improved.

For full results, check out the Grand-Am page.

Anyone else watch the race? Enjoyable? I can't wait to see how it'll shake out with the additional cars in the merged ALMS/Grand-Am series. 

Photos courtesy Grand-Am.

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

While we've known for a while that Ford officially pulled its factory effort from the World Rally Championship after decades of steady support, at least one other manufacturer has jumped into the messy fray. Volkswagen is the latest to go full-time with its newly-developed Polo R machines, and found quick success last week during the WRC's opener in Monte Carlo.

eThe legendary Monte Carlo is generally a 'tarmac' (read: paved) event that sometimes sees some snow and ice at higher elevations. But this year, every day was thick with freezing rain, heavy snow, and just horrible conditions threw everyone for a loop and forced organizers to cancel the final two stages.

Citroen rally monster and nine-time WRC champion Sebastien Loeb of course kept his cool and won the event, but VW's Sebastien Ogier was an incredible second. Loeb's Citroen teammate Dani Sordo ended up third, while the other Polo R driven by Jari-Matti Latvala retired late in the rally. 

As background, WRC cars are based on production shells taken straight from a manufacturer, but now bear little relation to their road-going cousins. Power comes from turbocharged 1.6-litre four-cylinders with around 300 horsepower, sequential transmissions and all-wheel drive.

Next up is the Rally Sweden held from February 7-10 where it'll most certainly be even colder than in Monaco...