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Tag Archive | "Grand Prix"

F1 SALE UNDER INVESTIGATION

Thursday, January 6, 2011

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F1 SALE UNDER INVESTIGATION

The financial dealings of Formula One and it's "colourful" head man Bernie Ecclestone are again coming into question after the arrest of a former executive at Bavaria’s state-backed bank BayernLB. Former BayernLB manager Gerhard Gribkowsky was arrested on Wednesday under suspicion of fraud, tax evasion and taking bribes. The investigation will look at whether Gribkowsky sold the bank’s Formula 1 holdings under questionable circumstances after BayernLB took control of bankrupt media mogul Leo Kirch’s stake in the sport. This was later sold to CVC Capital Partners who became the majority owner of Formula One. Prosecutors claim that the sale was made without "it's true value being being properly evaluated,” They claim that Gribkowsky in turn received $50 million in payments disguised via two consultancy agreements. They have not at this stage made any direct allegations of who may have paid those payments.

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IS THE CAMS, AGP DEAL UNDER THREAT ?

Sunday, December 26, 2010

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IS THE CAMS, AGP DEAL UNDER THREAT ?

Is the recently signed agreement between CAMS and the Australian Grand Prix Corporation regarding the running of the 2011 Australian Grand Prix already under threat? Sources close to the Australian Grand Prix Corporation have told In Pit Lane that the AGP Corp. are furious with CAMS over their recent media releases and statements about the deal, which they say was a clear breach of a confidentiality clause in the agreement. According to the source, a letter has been sent to CAMS informing them of the alleged breach and the Corporation's anger. The Corporation has also allegedly sought advice from Australia's Competition watchdog the ACCC regarding their concern that CAMS role as the sole FIA approved Motorsport body in Australia may be in breach of Australia's anti monopoly laws. Clive Banfield, Media & Communications Co-Ordinator for CAMS told In Pit Lane that he had been in recent meetings with the AGPC and was not aware of any such problems.

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In Pit Lane December 7 Sir Stirling Moss

Sunday, December 19, 2010

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The legendary Sir Stirling Moss was in Melbourne for the first ever Motorclassica at the Royal Exhibition Building. Sir Stirling talks about his career, Fangio, Le Mans and his return to racing with Sir Jack Brabham at Bathurst. Oh, and CRUMPET!

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LOTUS vs LOTUS FOR 2011

Thursday, December 9, 2010

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LOTUS vs LOTUS FOR 2011

The long rumoured takeover of the Renault F1 team by Lotus cars is now official with the announcement that the team will race in 2011 under the banner of Lotus Renault F1. Genii Capital and Group Lotus plc made the announcement which includes a strategic alliance between the two companies that will provide Group Lotus with significant [...]

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ANOTHER AUSSIE ON THE WAY TO F1 ?

Thursday, November 18, 2010

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ANOTHER AUSSIE ON THE WAY TO F1 ?

Australian race fans might soon have two locals to cheer on in Formula One after the stunning performance this week of Daniel Ricciardo. The Western Australian dominated both days of the 2010 young driver test at the Yas Marina circuit taking his Red Bull RB6 to a quickest time of 1:38.102, .700 faster than Renault driver Jerome D'Ambosio and over a second faster than Sam Bird in the McLaren. Ricciardo's time would have been fast enough to have put the Australian on pole for the series final race. The time was set however on light tanks, soft tyres and after four days of F1 rubber on the track. Red Bull head of race engineering Ian Morgan said that the team was delighted with Ricciardo's performance.

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LOTUS JOIN INDYCAR AS F1 ROW CONTINUES

Thursday, November 18, 2010

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LOTUS JOIN INDYCAR AS F1 ROW CONTINUES

With the controversy continuing over the fight for the Lotus name in F1, now comes the news that Lotus will join the 2012 Indycar series as an engine supplier. Australian businessman and former Champ Car series co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven along with Gerry Forsythe are the men behind the move, with Cosworth to build the new engine. KV Racing, which Kalkhoven co-owns with former driver Jimmy Vasser is set to run the engine which will be announced at this year's LA Auto Show this Thursday at 5.00 PM local time. The announcment comes one week after General Motors annoced that Chevrolet would also be joining the series when the new regulations come into effect in 2012. Meanwhile the fight over the use of the Lotus name in Formula One next year has heightened with the news that Proton Holdings Bhd will buy a 25% stake in the Renault F1 team and changes the name of the team to Lotus Renault. Lotus Racing, which is led by Air Asia boss Tony Fernandes, intends to change the name of his team to Team Lotus next season after buying the rights from David Hunt a few months ago. The fight is almost certain to end up in London courts later this year.

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IN PIT LANE November 9th (Full Audio) Michael Teychenne

Friday, November 12, 2010

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When guests fail to front and newsreaders vanish into thin air, who do you call? No, it’s Michael Teychenne and he joins us to talk about Mark Webber, Team Orders and brings us up to speed on “Packed to the Rafters” RIP Melissa Rafter “We hardly knew you”

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WEBBER FACES HIS TOUGHEST OPPONENT: HIS OWN TEAM

Saturday, November 6, 2010

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WEBBER FACES HIS TOUGHEST OPPONENT: HIS OWN TEAM

As Mark Webber goes into this weekend's penultimate round of the World Championship his chances of taking his first ever title are looking increasingly slim. After a mistake in the wet at Korea Webber now sits behind Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and just in front of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton. Sebastian Vettel is in fourth but Red Bull team bosses are still hopeful the young German can leapfrog his team mate and challenge Alonso at the final round at Abu Dhabi. Should Webber get up to win the championship it will be one of the gutsiest titles ever. Not only does the Australian face the usual challenges of F1, but also the added burden of a team that would rather lose the championship than see Webber on top. From the time of their coming together earlier this year to his comments this week, it is clear that forces at the top at Red Bull have little time for the straight shooting Aussie, and would rather see Alonso take the title than their man Webber. One Red Bull insider has said that the feeling inside the team is not good. "Our side of the garage are 100% behind Mark" he said. "But the guys at the top, they want Vettel to win more than anything. If he can't win I think they would rather see Alonso win"

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AUSTRALIAN GP GOING NOWHERE: Well not to Calder anyway

Thursday, September 23, 2010

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AUSTRALIAN GP GOING NOWHERE: Well not to Calder anyway

There will be no move of the Australian Grand Prix to Melbourne’s Calder Park despite ludicrous mainstream media speculation. Local media was awash with reports that a heads of agreement signed between Calder Park, CAMS and the Victorian State Government could see the race moved to Calder from it’s current location at Albert Park. The agreement says [...]

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YOUTH, EXPERIENCE AND THE UNMENTIONABLES

Saturday, July 17, 2010

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It’s a great thing to see a F1 team manager finally recognising that youth is not the simple answer or solution to hiring an F1 driver. The announcement of former Super Aguri & Spyker driver Sakon Yamamoto being given a second chance to race this year in the German Grand Prix for HRT comes after his drive the British GP a fortnight ago.  Unfortunately, that comes at the cost of the popular Karun Chandhok being cast aside. This age long debate of balancing youth or experience in professional employment continues to be a raging argument in motor racing.  As the current F1 season has turned out, Michael Schumacher’s return to full time racing has not produced results and the seven time World Champion is lagging well behind his much younger team mate Nico Rosberg. (A situation not helped by yet another Brackley dud).  On the other hand, an experienced drivers such as Sakon has been recognised and rewarded for his persistence, qualities and experience directly related to the job at hand.

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