KESELOWSKI CREAMS ‘EM AT RICHMOND

RICHMOND, Va.—After a late caution turned a runaway into a challenge for Brad Keselowski, a late four-tire call proved decisive, as Keselowski stormed to the front from fourth place during a green-white-checkered-flag finish to win Friday night's Bubba Burger 250 Nationwide Series race at Richmond International Raceway. Keselowski, who led 189 of 252 laps, had an advantage of almost two seconds when Paul Menard slammed the Turn 2 wall on Lap 245 of a scheduled 250 at the .75-mile short track. "I'm coming," Keselowski radioed to crew chief Paul Wolfe, steering his car toward pit road for a four-tire stop. Kyle Busch and Justin Allgaier stayed out on old tires, while Jamie McMurray and Greg Biffle each took two. Busch led the field to green on Lap 251 with Allgaier beside him, McMurray on the inside of the second row and Keselowski alongside in fourth. Biffle surged forward from the fifth spot, and by the time the cars reached Turn 3 on the next-to-last lap, Keselowski and Biffle had separated themselves from the pack. A lap later, Keselowski passed to the inside and ultimately crossed the finish line .261 seconds ahead of Biffle. McMurray finished third, Busch fourth and Carl Edwards fifth. Keselowski extended his series lead to 59 points over seventh-place finisher Kevin Harvick.

TOYOTA OUT AS JAPAN SAYS SAYONARA F1

A report in the Japanese English language newspaper "Mainichi Daily" claims that Toyota are about to announce their withdrawal from Formula One effective immediately. The company is due to annouce it's six monthly financial report this Thursday where it is expected to reveal a significant operating loss. Sales have dropped by just over 30 percent in the April to September period compared with the previous year, with exports falling 45.4 percent. The company had already announced it's decision to withdraw from hosting the Japanese Grand Prix at its' Fuji circuit and follows the news that Japanese tyre giant Bridgestone will pull out from F1 at the end of 2010.

NO SPLIT IN F1, MOSLEY GONE! IT’S GOOD NEWS WEEK!

The great Formula One breakaway crisis is apparently over with FIA President Max (hurts so good) Mosley finally falling on his sword and doing what he should have done this time last year. Mosley announced to the World Motorsport Council meeting in Paris today that he would not be standing for re-election. Mosley told reporters after the meeting that there will be no split. "We have agreed to a reduction of costs," he said. "There will be one F1 championship in 2010 but the objective is still to get back to the spending levels of the early nineties within two years." It is believed that Mosley's position became untenable after meeting with long time supporter Bernie Ecclestone and [FOTA] chairman Luca di Montezemolo. It is believed that Ecclestone warned Mosley that if he did not stand aside then Ecclestone would join with FOTA in staging an alternative World Championship. The new agreement means that the teams must call off the breakaway series and sign up to a new Concorde Agreement until 2012. A unified Formula One, and we get rid of Mosley. all in all a job well done. I think Champagne is called for.

KASEY KAHNES THEM AT SONOMA

How strange was it for Kasey Kahne to win a road-course race? The driver of the No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Dodge had to ask his crew chief for directions to victory lane after taking the checkered flag in a green-white-checkered finish in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway. Kahne held off road-course ace Tony Stewart through a succession of four late-race double-file restarts, the final time after Scott Speed’s spin on Lap 108 caused the seventh caution of the day. After starting from the rear because of an engine change, Marcos Ambrose chased the top two finishers to the line to claim third place, matching the best result of his Sprint Cup Series career. “Awesome—not too bad for a dirt-tracker from Washington!” Kenny Francis, Kahne’s crew chief, radioed after his driver crossed the stripe on Lap 113, three laps beyond the scheduled distance at the 1.99-mile road course. “Unreal,” replied Kahne, who gave owner Richard Petty his first victory since John Andretti in 1999. “Gosh, we had to hold him (Stewart) off for a while. We won a road-course race! Oh, my God, I can’t believe this.” Jimmie Johnson recovered from a pit-road speeding penalty to finish fourth. Denny Hamlin, who led 33 laps—second only to Kahne’s 37—came home fifth. Juan Pablo Montoya, AJ Allmendinger, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Gordon and Elliott Sadler completed the top 10....

FORMULA ONE SPLIT: CRISIS, SHOCK, HORROR, SCANDAL ! Pictures page 3

Formula One teams led by Ferrari and other major manufacturers have called the bluff of FIA President Max (hurts so good) Mosley and announced that they will run a breakaway series beginning next year. At a meeting held at the Renault F1 factory in Oxfordshire the teams refused to back down on their demands for changes for next years regulations. Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, Toyota, BMW Sauber, Brawn GP, Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso have therefore declined to enter the FIA Formula One Championship for 2010. The announcement, on the eve of what looks set to be the final British GP at Silverstone, seriously ups the ante in the multi-billion dollar stare-down between the teams and the FIA. In a statement issued by FOTA, the teams said that there was no room for further compromise. "It has become clear that the stables cannot continue to make compromises on the fundamental values of the sport," they said. "The teams have no other alternative but to begin to prepare for a new championship which reflects the values of the competitors and their sponsors. According to the statemant the new series will have a transparent governing body, one single set of rules, encourage new entrants, and would better listen to the fans' wishes. Just what role, if any, Bernie Ecclestone may play in this is not yet clear. Despite the posturing of both the teams and the FIA, the real power broker is still Bernie. It is he who controls the sports commercial rights and the valuable TV deals that provide so much of the sport's income. Publicly at least, Ecclestone has shown qualified solidarity with his old mate Max, but Bernie is Bernie and friendship will count for nothing if there's a quid involved. And with literally millions of quids involved expect Bernie to jump wherever it's best for Bernie.

RENAULT WARNS FIA: AU REVOIR FORMULE UN

  Renault have issued the strongest warning yet to the FIA that they will withdraw from the sport at the end of the season unless plans to set up a two tier F1 system are scrapped. In a statement issued by the company Renault said that the decision of the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) to introduce two sets of Formula One technical regulations for the 2010 Formula One season had caused the company to reconsider its entry in next year’s FIA Formula One World Championship. Unlike some other statements from other manufacturers and teams, there is absolutely no ambiguity in Renault's statement. Drop the new rule or we're out. The company expressed its frustration that FOTA’s proposals, including major cost saving measures had been completely ignored without any form of consultation by the FIA. "Renault believes that it is paramount that the governance of the sport is co-ordinated with a spirit of consultation with all parties (FIA, FOM, FOTA) in order to achieve a better balance between the costs and the revenues." The statement also reinstated the company's belief that all entrants in the World Championship must adhere to and operate under the same regulations. President of the ING Renault F1 Team, Bernard Rey, commented: “Renault has always considered Formula One as the pinnacle of motor sport and the perfect stage to demonstrate technical excellence. We remain committed to the sport, however we cannot be involved in a championship operating with different sets of rules, and if such rules are put into effect, we will be forced to pull out from next season.” ING Renault F1 Team Managing Director, Flavio Briatore, commented: “Our aim is to reduce costs while maintaining the high standards that make Formula One one of the most prestigious brands on the market. We want to achieve this in a co-ordinated manner with the regulatory and commercial bodies, and we refuse to accept unilateral governance handed out by the FIA. If the decisions announced by the World Council on the 29th of April 2009 are not revised, we have no choice but to withdraw from the FIA Formula One World Championship at the end of 2009.” Ferrari, Toyota, Red Bull, BMW and Williams have all attacked the proposed regulations, Mercedes, whose McLaren team was recently given a firm but some say inadequate slap on the wrist over the "Lie Gate" affair have been strangely quiet on the topic. With: Renault F1 Media Release  

DIFFUSERS LEGAL, BRAWN WINS AGAIN

  The FIA International Court of Appeal have backed the decision of stewards at both Melbourne and Sepang and declared the "double decker" diffusers of Brawn, Toyota & Williams to be legal. The decision has come as a huge blow to other teams who are now faced with the task of having to design and test similar devices during a tough season and with limited testing opportunities. Ferrari were quick to issue a statement expressing their disappointment about the decision. Stefano Domenicali, Team Principal for Scuderia Ferrari said that "...this decision forces us to intervene on fundamental areas of the car's design in order to be able to compete on an equal footing with some of the teams from a point of view of the technical regulations, and that will take time and money."

MARCOS AMBROSE IN THE WIND TUNNEL

TOYOTA KILLS OFF TRD, RALLY PROGRAMME UNDER REVIEW

Toyota Australia have killed off it's performance line TRD and the local Rally programme could be next. TRD was responsible for the Supercharged Aurion and Hi-Lux designed to take on Holden's HSV and Fords FPV performance brands, but overall the brand failed to capture the publics imagination and sales were disappointing. Toyota Australia senior executive director Dave Buttner said “Toyota made a significant financial commitment to TRD vehicle conversion and clearly understood short-term profitability was unlikely... However, the perspective has changed for business globally and those new rules require tough decisions for the greater good.”  Mr Buttner said that with the realities of the financial crisis and the downturn in consumer confidence, companies worldwide have an overriding responsibility to do their utmost to conserve cash. “...and Toyota is doing just that.“

HONDA OUT, AUDI CUT BACK. WHO’S NEXT!

Honda's decision to leave Formula One is just an early taste of the schism about to hit international motorsport worldwide. As the US based sub-prime economic meltdown hits, Honda will be the first of many to reassess the wisdom of spending millions of dollars on cars going round and round in circles. Already major NASCAR teams are laying off staff and as the US big three put out the begging bowl to US taxpayers one wonders how any sensible Government will view any public funds being ploughed into things like NASCAR, NHRA and the American Le Mans Series. In the week when Audi announced its commitment to building a new diesel powered sports prototype for Le Mans, they also announced a complete pull out from both the European Le Mans series and the ALMS. Toyota, who have probably the biggest exposure of all the Japanese car makers to the collapsing US economy have issued a statement saying that they remain committed to F1. No, sorry that is “currently” committed to F1. Unlike Honda, Toyota have had some limited success at F1 level and also unlike Honda they have the backing of a major naming rights sponsor in Panasonic. But their press release does give very clear indication that unless ways are found to dramatically cut the huge cost of F1 then they too could be the next to go.