The Grid

Niall Breen,

who finished fifth in his rookie British Formula 3 season, announced in Dublin today that he has signed with top Formula 3 Euroseries team, Manor Motorsport, for the 2008 season. Breen who took his first win in the British F3 3 Championship with Carlin in June was the first Irish driver to win a race since Michael Keohane in April 2002. He also took four runner-up positions during the year, finishing fifth in the series with 145 points. Breen, 21, said: “I’ve had an extremely good rookie season in the British Formula 3 Championship and I’m certain I can be very competitive in the Formula 3 Euroseries with Manor Motorsport next year.” He continued: “Now I’m really looking forward to racing in Europe – it’ll be a new challenge to learn the new circuits which will stand me in good stead for the future. We’ll have the new Mercedes-powered Dallara F308 chassis and I’ll be testing it on December 14 at Pembrey. My new engineer, Pete Sliwinski, is very experienced and we got on well at the initial test I did in October with the team. I’m confident we’ll be winning races in ‘08.” John Booth, boss of Yorkshire-based Manor Motorsport, commented: “I’ve been watching Niall for two or three years, since he was in the Formula BMW UK series and won the title in 2006. I’m delighted to have him in the team and pleased that he’s had the courage to step up to the Euroseries as it would have been easier for him to succeed in the British F3 Championship. The Euroseries is much tougher and I’m sure he’s going to win races in his first year.” Provisional 2008 F3 Euroseries calendar: Hockenheim (D) April 12/13; Mugello (I) May 3/4; Pau (F) May 31/June1; Norisring (D) June 28/29; Zandvoort (NL) July 12/13; Nurburgring (D) July 26/27; Brands Hatch (GB) August 30/31; Barcelona (E) September 20/21; Le Mans (F) October 4/5; Hockenheim (D) October 25/26.

BRDC Stars of Tomorrow will unveil its new 2008 Race Centre at the Karting Show on Thursday 10 January, a feature at Autosport International at the NEC, Birmingham. BRDC Stars of Tomorrow is the karting championship from which Lewis Hamilton graduated…read more

Ricardo Vassmer will once again race for Andersen Racing in the SCCA F2000 Championship in 2008. After taking fifth place in the Championship in 2007 with one win at Cleveland, Vassmer should start the season as one of the favourites…read more

Chevrolet have re-signed Alain Menu, Nicola Larini and Rob Huff for the 2008 WTCC…read more

Bob Stallings Racing's team has improved its chances of winning the Rolex24 at Daytona by adding NASCAR Cup Series champion and Champ Car veteran Jimmy Vasser to its driver line-up. The pair will be sharing the driver duties with 2007 Rolex Series champions' Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty

Motors TV is proud to announce it has secured the exclusive rights to provide LIVE coverage of the FIM Motocross MX2 World Championship for the UK market for the next two years, thanks to a major agreement with Youthstream, the official promoter of the series. The terms of the deal means Motors TV will not only show the MX2 races Live, but will also show full repeats of the MX1 races later in the week, and delayed coverage of the Motocross of Nations. The FIM Motocross World Championship is the latest addition to the channel’s motocross line up which has built over the last few years and already includes US AMA Motocross, the Belgian series and the Freestyle magazine M80.

The UK’s number 1 driver training company will for the first time exhibit at the World’s number 1 racing car show when it takes a stand at Autosport International 2008 at Birmingham’s NEC next week. The Oxford-based company who boasts Jenson Button, Gianmaria Bruni, Guy Smith, Mike Conway, James Walker, Salvador Duran, Will Power and Mark Blundell among its past and present drivers will be located on Stand number 8203 in Hall 8. Company Director and Chief Trainer Stewart Wild will be present all four days offering advice and guidance to respective clients and will be happy to answer questions: “The Autosport Show is widely regarded as the Number 1 motor racing exhibition in the world. It attracts major players from around the world, including drivers from all forms of motorsport. For many years I’ve been surprised how few drivers take training seriously, and we felt it was time to take Formula Fitness to the people to show them what can be achieved.” Formula Fitness looks after drivers at all levels, training and educating them to ultimately improve their performance and giving them the winning edge. Based at the University Sports Complex in Oxford. Formula Fitness offers a comprehensive range of Human Performance Services, together with various associated services from some of the countries finest professionals.

Ultimate Motorsport will continue to run with French manufacturer Mygale in the British F3 International Series in 2008. Ultimate was the only team to run the Mygale car last season and the British team's engineers worked closely with their French counterparts to develop the 2007 model into a front-running car by the end of the season. The team will run an all-new Mygale chassis in 2008 and will continue to use the championship-winning Mercedes HWA engine as they bid to continue their climb to the top of the ladder in British F3. Team owner Barry Walsh said: "We are delighted to be continuing our partnership with Mygale and Mercedes for our second season in British F3, a season in which we hope to score the first F3 victory for ourselves and Mygale. "Last year was a learning year for all of us – and we learned fast. We developed a very strong relationship with Mygale and that is one of the key reasons we are working together again in 2008." The team was encouraged by the performance of the new Mygale chassis when Irish driver Michael Devaney ran it in a shakedown test alongside teams running the rival Dallara chassis in December. Team manager Jonny Ostrowski said: "We considered our options carefully for 2008 and were very impressed by the new Mygale car. We feel it has great potential and we should give our fellow competitors a tough time this season. "The new car's performance is testament to all the hard work put in by Mygale and Ultimate last year and although we are no longer the sole Mygale team we are looking forward to developing an even closer relationship this season. "We have also committed to using the Mercedes HWA engine again and are confident that the combination will provide us with a strong opportunity to chase podiums and victories."

Motors TV, Europe’s dedicated motorsport TV channel, will this week be exhibiting at Autosport International as Official TV Partner of the 2008 show....read more

Motorsport Ireland Young Racing Driver of the Year Niall Quinn gets his 2008 campaign under way next weekend when he races in the latest event in the Asian Formula 3 Championship at Batangas, Philippines. The 19-year-old from Dunboyne will graduate to Formula 3 with the Irish owned Aran Racing squad run by John O'Hara in rounds six to nine of the Asian F3 series on January 12th and 13th. Quinn will test his Dallara-TOMs-Toyota F304 for a single day before qualifying for the first of four races on the intensive weekend schedule. With little let up throughout the weekend and the emphasis of the series on maximising track time, Quinn believes that it will be ideal preparation for forthcoming challenges. Following his F3 debut, Quinn heads to Sydney to meet up with the A1 Team Ireland squad as rookie test driver in the next round of the A1 World Cup of Motorsport on 19th/20th January.

John Martin is to race for A1 Team Australia for the rest of the 2007/08 season, the team has confirmed today. Martin, who has been the team’s rookie so far this season, will replace Ian Dyk. The team had previously announced that Dyk would be Australia’s main driver for the entire campaign, including its home race in Eastern Creek on 3 February, however, disappointing results have now led to Dyk moving aside and Martin being given his chance. Australia currently lies 17th in the championship standings, having only scored two points this season, finishing ninth in Sepang’s Feature race. Alan Jones, A1 Team Australia seat holder said: ‘Putting John in the driver’s seat will be an exciting boost after what has been a slow start to the season for A1 Team Australia. John is a great new talent that brings great skill, drive and enthusiasm to the team and we look forward to seeing him deliver some great results on the track. 'The decision for Ian to step down from the team was a difficult one, however we would like to thank Ian for all his work over the last two seasons and together wish him the best for his career.' Jones had admitted in an A1GP.com interview before Christmas that Martin’s rookie performances were putting Dyk under pressure.

PKV Racing's Mark Johnson has confirmed that Oriol Servia will drive for the team in the Champ Car World Series this year...read more.

Aston Martin Racing has revealed the first impressions of its new GT2 racing car. Known as the Vantage GT2, the new car is based on the V8 engined Aston Martin Vantage road car. Aston Martin is the only manufacturer to offer cars in every GT racing category: GT1 -- DBR9; GT2 -- Vantage GT2; GT3 -- DBRS9; GT4 -- Vantage N24. For the first time, Aston Martin Racing is designing this car to run on either standard race fuel or E85 bio-ethanol (where regulations allow). In 2007, Aston Martin Racing successfully converted a standard DBRS9 to run on E85. Robin Brundle, Aston Martin Racing's new managing director, said: "The new Vantage GT2 completes our product portfolio for 2008 with competitive cars now available in every category. Thanks to our experience with the DBRS9, we have been able to develop a bio-ethanol fuelled version, which will be eligible to compete in an increasing number of series now accommodating this greener fuel, including the American Le Mans Series." Aston Martin chairman, David Richards, will be announcing Aston Martin Racing's 2008 plans at the Autosport International show on Thursday 10 January at 10.45 am.

Team Dakar USA's Robby Gordon speaks on decision to cancel the Dakar rally. "It is a big disappointment that they cancelled this event. Normally a race is postponed. Around 9/11 there was a race scheduled and even then, they just ran it on the weekend. The sponsors, manufacturers and teams have all put a lot effort into the Dakar rally and its very difficult for them as well as the fans. While cancelling is obviously the right thing to do for safety and security reasons, there's no reason why we couldn't have raced a few stages in Morocco or Portugal where there wasn't the same risk. I would love to come back next year. I count this as a missed opportunity. We had team prepared, great sponsors and you only have so many years when your experience, age and competitive ability are all aligned and this was one of those years."

The American Le Mans Series' message of alternative fuels will take to the national stage again as Bobby Rahal, owner of Rahal Letterman Racing, will be a featured speaker at the Alternative Fuel for Vehicles Institute's annual conference and expo in mid-May. Rahal, whose team recently completed its first season in the American Le Mans Series' GT2 class, has been a strong proponent of alternative energy sources in motorsport and his address will cover that very topic. Appropriately, a primary sponsor of the Rahal Letterman Porsche is EPIC (Ethanol Promotion and Information Council). The RLR duo of Ralf Kelleners and Tom Milner finished fourth in the GT2 championship with five podiums in the last seven events. The annual AFVI conference features more than 200 speakers and is expected to draw 2,000 registrants for four days of activity, including workshops, sessions, networking, a Ride-n-Drive, a free public forum, and a trade show for fleets. The tradeshow features over 100 exhibitors, displaying products and services available for purchase and use today. Attendees see cutting- edge vehicles and technologies from exhibitors who share the practical knowledge their businesses have gained through real-world applications. The American Le Mans Series' alternative fuel initiative continues to be a high-ranking staple of its platform, providing one of many links from participating manufacturers' race cars to their showroom counterparts. The Series plans to reinforce that position with an expected 'Green' announcement later this month at the North American International Auto Show.

Formula Renault Asia Cup championship winning team, Asia Racing Team (ART) Motorsports has invited Malaysia's promising young driver Nik Iruwan to test one of its Formula Renault cars at the Zhuhai for two days this weekend. It will be the first time for the Kelantanese driver to test with a Tatuus built Renault powered car. "The team has been in talks with me after my last race in Europe last year and they have shown great interest in getting me to test their cars. I've heard a lot of good things about Art Motorsports and with my experience, I hope I can help the team prepare for the new season", said Nik Iruwan. The confirmation of the test has ended speculation of Nik testing for Meritus Racing in the Formula V6 Asia by Renault and a possible drive in a full season program with the team. Nik chose to stick to his plans and believes a season in Formula Renault Asia Cup will keep his racing career on track. "I've said many times that I would like to race at the front end and fight for wins in 2008. I believe Art Motorsports has the package to give me just that and this test will give us the opportunity to work together for the coming season. My commitment for the team is already a sign of how good the team really is", added Nik Iruwan. French owned Asia Racing Team (ART) Motorsports won the Team's Championship and finished runner-up in each of the last three seasons of Formula Renault Asia Cup. Nik Iruwan spent 2007 competing in Formula Palmer Audi Series in the UK. Philippe Descombes, Team Manager of Asia Racing Team (ART) Motorsports commented: "For Asia Racing Team this is an excellent opportunity to test one of the most promising Malaysian drivers. I hope we can create a good 'symbios' between each other as we did with our past race winners. We believe Nik has the potential to be a top contender if he decides to return to return to Asia motor racing scene. He is the kind of driver that every team is looking for".

David Garza is to return with A1 Team Mexico for this month’s races in Taupo, New Zealand.The 19-year-old acquitted himself well on his debut in Zhuhai last month, just missing out on a points finish with 11th place in the Feature race. Garza was called up for Zhuhai after impressing in a high-performance open-wheel test in South Africa, and will now continue to race for the team in the Taupo races, being held on 20 January. ‘Zhuhai was the highlight of my racing career so far,’ said Garza of representing Mexico for the first time. ‘A1GP is close racing and I like it a lot. ‘We had a disappointing qualifying – I’m not used to single-lap flyers because I’m more used to 45-minute qualifying. But I got to grips with the car and almost getting a top-ten finish was a good accomplishment for me. It was a little bit of a slippery learning curve but I think we have good grip on it now. I’m really excited about Taupo – it looks a very nice place and a very nice track.’

The Karting Show at Autosport International will open its doors at the NEC from 10-13 January 2008. Honda Racing F1 team star Button will be welcomed to the Karting Stage on Saturday alongside Red Bull Racing’s David Coulthard and Mark Webber. Triple WTCC Champion Andy Priaulx, 2007 American Le Mans Series Champion Allan McNish, British fans’ Formula One favourite Johnny Herbert, and ITVF1’s Mark Blundell will all be appearing on Sunday. Autosport International opens to the public on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 January, filling 10 halls of the NEC, Birmingham, to form the world’s biggest motorsport show. Avoid the queues and book online at www.autosport-international.com or by phoning the ticket hotline on 0870 040 0396. Tickets are £28.00 per adult including entry to the 55-minute adrenaline-pumping Live Action Arena; children’s (5 – 15 years) tickets are £18.50.

Irish sportscar driver Matt Griffin has confirmed he will enter the Toyo Tyres Dubai 24Hours race next weekend. The Cork-born racer makes his Dubai debut at the wheel of an RPM Porsche 997 and heads to the event looking for a strong finish. "I love endurance racing and although it's my first time out there, the team has competed there before and contested three 24 hour races in total, finishing all of them," said Matt "That in itself is an achievement and I intend to continue that trend and be up at the front when the event finishes next Saturday. It's not just a case of setting fast laps it's a whole different approach to racing over 24 hours. The break between stints in the car means that it never feels the same when you get back into it, so it takes a lap or so to get back into the rhythm and to acclimatise with how the car may then handle. But that's all part of the challenge. Plus when you add to that the number of cars on the track there'll be around 90 cars out there and the track is very fast, I can't wait!" With a campaign on the Avon Tyres British GT Championship in a Ferrari 430 with Chad Racing already announced 2008 looks like being a busy time for the 2003 British GT Cup Champion as he prepares to announce an additional programme in two weeks time. Matt will be joined in Dubai by his regular co-driver Peter Bamford, with whom he will contest the British series, together with Daniel Welch and Jim Getty.

RLR/Andersen Racing will run Andrew Prendeville once again in the Indy Pro Series. "We are thrilled that Andrew has decided to do a second year with us in the Indy Pro Series," said team co-owner Dan Andersen. "Based on his first-year effort, we believe very strongly that he will be a winner in 2008. He has talent, discipline and focus, and he will challenge all year for the title." The 16-race 2008 Indy Pro Series season begins Saturday, March 29 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla. The complete schedule is posted at indycar.com/pro. The races are televised on ESPN2.

Juan Pablo Montoya topped the lap charts in the first of the Rolex Series tests on the road course at the Daytona International Speedway

The Dakar Rally, due to start in Lisbon tomorrow, January 5, has cancelled. Scrutineering was stopped in Lisbon yesterday with the organisers, Amaury Sport Organization confirming the decision. "Based on the current international political tension and the murder of four French tourists last 24th of December linked to a branch of Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb, but also and mainly the direct threats launched directly against the race by terrorist organisations, no other decision but the cancellation of the sporting event could be taken by ASO," . There were already security concerns about the rally after 24th of December, 2007, when four the French tourists were killed in Mauritania, with terrorism suspected as the motive. The French government has advised all French nationals not to travel in the country. "The Foreign Ministry has firmly advised all French citizens not to travel to Mauritania," stated the govenment spokesperson. "What goes for the French public also applies to the organization of the Dakar Rally." The stages through Mali had already been removedfor security reasons.

New Technical regulations and Calendars announced for Caterham challenges...read more

VOLKSWAGEN ENDORSES DAKAR CANCELLATION. It is with great regret that Volkswagen acknowledges news of the cancellation of the 2008 Dakar Rally, which had been due to get underway tomorrow (Saturday). 'The safety of participants has absolute priority and for this reason Volkswagen completely endorses the decision made by the organiser, ASO, to cancel the event,' said Dr Ulrich Hackenberg, board member with responsibility for technical development at Volkswagen. Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen added: 'We fully respect the decision; safety also has absolute priority for us. The cancellation is a great disappointment for every member of the Volkswagen Motorsport team. Everyone was looking forward to starting this peaceful and fair sporting competition.' ASO today announced the decision to cancel due to significant safety concerns, voiced by the French Government, over the Mauritanian stages.

Jeremy Metcalfe has entered the world-famous Big Brother house at Elstree studios in Borehamwood; the 2007 Formula Renault racing driver has been revealed as one of the housemates for the brand new reality TV series Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack...read more

RUSSELL RACING EXPANDS WITH APPOINTMENT OF PAUL LEACH. Fresh developments within the Russell Racing camp continue apace into the New Year with the appointment of vastly experienced race engineer Paul Leach to the Middlesex based Formula Renault BARC squad. Having already confirmed two driver signings before the end of 2007 in the form of FR2000 Class front-runner Aaron Steele and category debutant Don de Graaff, the Sunbury-on-Thames team is delighted to confirm Paul Leach's arrival, a move which is undoubtedly set to bring deserved success to the ambitious Russell Racing squad. Boasting an impressive CV, including roles with the McLaren World Sportscar entry and the Minardi Formula One team, the latter where he worked alongside F1 superstars Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber, Leach was last year instrumental in the success of ELF Renault Clio Cup Champion entrant JHR Developments and the Double M Formula Renault BARC squad. Commenting on his decision to join forces with the burgeoning Russell Racing team, Leach said: "I'm very happy to be joining Russell Racing and I hope my experience will help drive the team forward. This year marks a fresh start for everyone at the team and I'm looking forward to helping establish Russell Racing as genuine title contenders."

Team owner Tim Russell added: "We ended 2007 very positively by confirming two driver signings and our new partnership with Allen Orchard at E-motional Engineering. Now, with the arrival of Paul Leach, we really do believe all the pieces of the jigsaw are in place to become consistent championship challengers in Formula Renault BARC. Our plan is to also return to the British Touring Car Championship supporting Formula Renault UK series this year and with Paul onboard we feel rightly confident of success there too. His experience and achievements are unquestionable. These truly are very exciting times for Russell Racing."

The fourth season of the FIA World Touring Car Championship will get underway in less than two months, on March 2nd in Brazil , at the Autódromo Internacional de Curitiba. Only 45 days have passed since the final event of the 2007 season, when BMW Team UK 's, Andy Priaulx, claimed his third consecutive World Championship at Macau . For the second time Curitiba will be hosting the championship's opening meeting and it will be the third time the FIA WTCC will visit the 3.7-km Brazilian racetrack.After Jordi Gené and his SEAT León won the first ever WTCC race in Curitiba on July 2nd 2006, BMW drivers claimed three consecutive victories: Andy Priaulx crossed the line first in 2006's Race 2, whilst BMW Team Germany team-mates, Jörg Müller and Augusto Farfus, shared the glory last year taking one win apiece. Home boy Farfus is also the track record holder with a qualifying lap of 1:24.761 set on July 1st 2006, when he snatched pole position for Alfa Romeo.

2008 WTCC OFFICIAL TEST SESSIONS. Four official test sessions for the FIA WTCC competitors have been organised during the 2008 season by KSO, the championship’s promoter. Two two-day test sessions will take place at Valencia and Oschersleben immediately before the beginning of the European season, which commences with Valencia on the 18th May. They will take place after the first two race meetings of the year in Brazil (Curitiba, 2nd March) and Mexico (Puebla, 6th April). Two further one-day test sessions will take place in June at Brno and Monza; the former will be held on the Thursday of the week of the Czech event. Applications for media accreditation may be forwarded to the local press officers.

Tim Sugden will start his 2008 season racing in the 46th Rolex Daytona 24 Hours. Tim is part of a star studded line up of drivers entered by The Racers Group (TRG) team in the Rolex 24 on January 25/27. The team has entered a massive 7 cars in the GT class of the race, all Porsche GT3 Cup cars and the entry is being assisted by Porsche who are loaning their factory drivers to the team. Entered among the factory squad is Emmanuel Collard, Tim's 2005 driving partner from their successful campaign with GruppeM although it seems they will not share a car on this occasion. The top drivers will be split among the 7 cars and with Tim in car 64 will be Johannes Van Overbeeck the winner in 2007 of the Porsche International Cup, a trophy won by Tim in 2005. TRG have won this race twice before and are considered among the favourites this year. Two new 998 cars have been bought, one of which has been allocated to Tim's squad.

John Walko Racing recently tested Karting sensation Julia Landauer behind the wheel of one of their Star Mazda cars along with JWR Data Acquisition Specialist Kate Gundlach carrying out the engineering ...read more

The BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda has released its 2008 schedule, a 14-race championship that opens mid-March. All seven Skip Barber National race weekends there are two 30-minute races per weekend, plus practice and qualifying are in support of major spectator shows. The opener is at the Sebring 12-Hour and the closer is at the Petit Le Mans event at the newest Skip Barber Racing base location, Road Atlanta. In between are races at VIR, Mosport, Barber Park, Road America and the all-new Thunderbolt Raceway in southern New Jersey. Todd Snyder, vice president of racing for Skip Barber, said, ``The National already has a solid reputation for introducing and developing star talent to the racing world,'' citing A.J. Allmendinger, Scott Speed and Marco Andretti as the most recent proof. ``Drivers are succeeding on the Mazdaspeed Motorsports Development Ladder that now starts with Skip Barber, steps up to Star Mazda and culminates in the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda. It is an incredibly efficient, not to mention exciting, system for developing the next generation of racing stars.'' Of particular note is the early August race weekend at Road America, where all three Mazda-driven series Skip Barber National, Star Mazda and Champ Car Atlantic are on the slate. As in 2007, drivers 40 or older will be scored separately in pursuit of a Masters Division championship. Calendar

The Superleague Formula(SLF) Calendar for 2008 was successfully ratified by the World Motorsport Council on December 7th 2007. We understand that the Round scheduled for October 18-19th 2008 (currently TBA) is waiting for A1GP's 2008-9 Schedule as if A1GP go to Monza then SLF would like to go be there at the same time due to Monza's noise level legislation which limits the number of days available. SLF's desire to use Monza is based on the close proximity of AC Milan

After Volkswagen won the 2007 FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup with Carlos Sainz and Michel Perin at the beginning of November and led the entire field for eight days during the Dakar Rally a year ago the Wolfsburg base manufacturer once again numbers among the small group of favourites to take victory in the world's hardest and longest rally. "Our goal is and remains to claim the first 'Dakar' win for a diesel with the Volkswagen Race Touareg," says Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen.

TanderSport has conformed that the team will add a second Dallara F307 chassis to its 2008 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship campaign. The team, owned by Australian V8 Supercar champion Garth Tander and F3 championship runner-up Leanne Tander, has reached an agreement with car owner James Rosenberg to prepare and run an ex European F3, Mercedes-Benz Powered Dallara for the full 2008 Australian Drivers Championship. The driver will be announced in the near future. Additionally, the teams’ first HWA -Mercedes engine arrived at their new Melbourne factory on December 30th, the first in Australia. Following an overhaul the team will start testing for the opening round at Eastern Creek on February 3rd. Leanne Tander's new car is still in Europe and will be prepared overseas before being shipped along with it's engine later this month. ”We are very pleased to be able to add a second F307 Dallara to TanderSport this season,” Garth Tander said. ”It’s always good to have two identical cars to compare data and setup information. This definitely strengthens our team and will give us an extra boost to challenge for the Gold Star once again in 2008. “As a one-car team we challenged strongly for the championship for all of last season, so to strengthen our team like this essentially doubles our chances of winning, and shows how serious TanderSport is when it comes to winning in Formula 3. It’s a great way to start the New Year” he said.

Planning the 2008 Dakar began, rather appropriately, with a challenge; that of mapping out the route. The stages we have in mind will give competitors a path across Africa that is just as diverse but with even more of a sporty edge. This year's planned itinerary includes longer specials than in prior years; the meter was blocked at 4,300 km in 2007 due to some changes, but exceeded 4,800 km for the timed segments in 2006. Next January, competitors will embark on an almost 6,000 km adventure. As a result, the road sections will be shorter. ...route

The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear is the only open-wheel racing series that not only provides a high-profile launching platform for young drivers on the way up, but also an arena for the skills of more mature drivers in which the competitive flame still burns brightly. Every driver in the race is in competition for the best finish, the most points and the biggest share of the almost $1.5 million prize fund, but there are also 'races within the race.' ...read more

Formula Kart Productions is proud to announce the continuation of the Skip Barber Raciong School awards program. The Skip Barber awards -- a total of four Three Day Competition Courses (retail value of approximately $16,000.00) -- will be awarded to the points champions in each of the FWT KF2, KF3, Rotax Senior and Rotax Junior categories. Because of the late announcement of these awards, and the introductory status of the KF classes, the FWT points championship for KF2 and KF3 awards will be a best 3 of 4 points championship beginning at the February Moroso rounds. The Rotax awards will be provided based on the normal best 5 of 6 format, including all rounds. "As always, I'm really excited to have the Skip Barber awards program back," states Formula Kart's Bill Wright. "This partnership has brought both our organizations not only some great racers -- most recently epitomized by FWT award winner Joel Miller, who went on to capture the 2007 BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda championship -- but also good business. The awards help bring top-level drivers to FWT as they look to make their mark in cars, while at the same time, the Florida Winter Tour exposes many future drivers to Skip Barber's School and its six different race series. That's a winning combination. Each year, the Florida Winter Tour gets bigger, better and more prestigious," says Rick Roso, motorsports marketing manager for Skip Barber. "The best karters are gravitating to this championship and we relish being part of the show. It's a great way for the karters and their families to see what the Mazda-driven Skip Barber Ladder System can do for them."

Daniel Morad attends BMW Sauber F1 Pit Lane Park in Las Vegas. Daniel's second trip to Vegas with team's lead sponsor Intel. B MW Sauber F1 Team Pit Lane Park visits Las Vegas from 7th to 10th January 2008, as part of main sponsor Intel's participation in the annual International Consumer Electronics Exposition (CES). The team will have the BMW Sauber F1 car and the Formula BMW FB02 on display and will also conduct demonstration sessions. Daniel will be driving the FB02.
In January of 2007, Daniel participated in another CES event when Intel, the official corporate partner of the BMW Sauber F1 Team, invited the 2006 Formula BMW USA Rookie Champion to represent the championship at the World Series of Video Games (WSVG), giving visitors a chance to go head-to-head in a full size Formula One racing simulator against a professional racecar driver at the Intel booth. Featuring the computer game rFactor, Intel has worked in collaboration with the BMW Sauber F1 Team to make the thrill of the speed, G-forces, and exhilaration of a 700-horsepower V8-powered F1 racecar available for everyone, bringing F1 fans even closer to the sport and the team. The International CES is the world's largest annual tradeshow for consumer technology and America's largest annual tradeshow of any kind including manufacturers, retailers, content providers and creators, broadband developers, wireless carriers, cable and satellite TV providers, installers, engineers, corporate buyers, government leaders, financial analysts and the media from around the world. 2,700 exhibitors, fill 1.8 million net square feet of exhibit space to showcase their latest products and services to more than 140,000 attendees.

The BRSCC has kept fees for all BRSCC membership categories for 2008 have been held at last years prices.Racing Membership is pegged at £150 while Club Membership remains just £45.

POWERnights the Thursday evening of summer motor sport events has been given a provisional 2008 calendar, withfour dates at Silverstone. As follows:1. 8th May 2. 19th June.3. 31st July 4. 21st August There wil be a full day’s testing and qualifying, with eight 10-minute evening races, along with other entertainment as in 2007 POWERnights Series DirectorRoger Etcell was pleased to announce the provisional 2008 calendar.

Formula 3 Euroseries team Manor Motorsport plans to usurp reigning Euroseries champion's ART in 2008 and to do this they have annouced what could be the most exciting F3 driver line-up in the team's glittering history...read more

Lest we forget, 40 years ago tomorrow(1st Jan 2008) Jim Clark won his last Grand Prix in South African in his Ford-Cosworth Lotus 49.

Narain Karthikeyan’s Feature race victory for India in Zhuhai has caught the attention of many – even the nation’s Prime Minister publicly congratulated him.Karthikeyan’s win in this month's event in Zhuhai, China was A1 Team India’s maiden victory in A1GP World Cup of Motorsport.A statement just after the race on the website of Dr Manmohan Singh, the Indian Prime Minister, read: ‘The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, has congratulated Narain Karthikeyan for winning the Feature Race in A1GP.‘Applauding Karthikeyan’s victory, the Prime Minister said he is a true representative of India’s young spirit and he has set an example for the entire motorsports fraternity of India to follow.’Since the news of his win spread, local media has been quick to report and praise the news. The story was on the front pages, and a special press conference was held in Delhi to deal with the media demand.‘Narain drove like a man possessed in the 45-lap Feature race on the 4.3km circuit,’ wrote the Times of India. ‘So convincing was his driving on Sunday, that he reeled off three fastest laps of the race, each better than the previous one…the fastest Indian in the world has once again lived up to his reputation...’The Deccan Chronicle, Hyderabad said: ‘Narain Karthikeyan has answered his detractors in an emphatic way by claiming A1 Team India’s maiden Feature win in A1GP.'The Indian racing icon’s finest hour in A1GP World Cup of Motorsport arrived at Zhuhai.’‘Karthikeyan took the circuit by storm,’ wrote the Indian Express. ‘Hard pressed to maintain his lead, Karthikeyan used all his experience ... and survived the late assault to drive his team to glory.’ One other tangible measure of India’s increased interest in A1GP is the fact that A1GP.com has been visited by more users from India than any other nation since the race…

Hitech Junior has confirmed it will run four cars in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Championship and the West European Renault Championships next season. The Silverstone-based team set up by British F3 championship winning Hitech Racing Team Principal David Hayle has already signed two drivers, FPA front-runner Luciano Bachetta and Spanish kart star Miki Monras. The team is expected to announce the other two drivers within the next few days and has also not ruled out an assault on the UK Formula Renault Series next season. At a successful test programme in Spain last week, the first time the team has run against the European opposition, both 16 year-olds impressed immensely leaving Team Owner Hayle confident of a promising European Formula Renault debut when the season kicks off in April. “I can’t believe how quick these two drivers were, said Hayle. “I was so impressed with their maturity which belied their inexperience. They drove as though they both had two years or more already under their belt. If that is how they drive now, imagine how they’ll be with some experience behind them. “I was also pleasantly surprised to be up at the front at our first time in with the European opposition. We did the UK Winterseries which was a good experience but last week we were up against all the best teams in Europe and we were regularly running in the top six. Even when we weren’t, it was only due to not running on new tyres when the others were. So, all in all a very promising start to our first season in the series and this will hopefully see us on the pace from the first round.” Despite it being the first attempt at the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Championship for the experienced team, expectations are high to achieve the kind of results that netted 11 Formula Three race wins en route to the coveted crown this year. “You’d like to think that the experience we’ve got in F3, which resulted in us winning the 2007 title and the 80 days testing we’ve done this season would stand us in good stead for next year. However, realistically we have two rookies, although both very quick, so if we can achieve top ten results I think that would be an achievement although of course, as always, we’ll be aiming for the top!”

Champ Car Atlantic Rookie Franck Perera racked up an impressive list of accomplishments in 2007. From the moment the Frenchman jumped into an Atlantic car during the last two days of preseason testing at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, he set the fastest times in all four sessions, broke the unofficial track record and never slowed down all season. In a mere five months, Perera became the first Champ Car Atlantic driver in 11 years to finish all 12 races in the top five, and was also the first non-North American to win the Toronto Grand Prix in 17 years. He closed the season with an impressive eight podiums, three wins, two poles and one best lap time. That performance was enough to garner Champ Car Atlantic Rookie of the Year honours hands down for Perera. "I really enjoyed racing in America this year." said Franck Perera, "I want to be in Champ Car next year for sure. We had a pre-agreement before Christmas with a Champ Car team, but my management CJMotorsport asked for the contract back so we could be free to do a deal with other teams who are ready to commit now. I hope to announce my new team the first week of January."

A1 Team Switzerland has announced that 20-year-old Tom Dillmann will be the team's rookie driver for the next two meetings – its fourth different rookie so far this season.The championship leader ran Dillmann at the pre-season test at Silverstone last August, however, has chosen not to call him up for an official race weekend until now. He will take part in the Friday morning sessions in the Australasian rounds of the calendar, with A1GP Taupo, New Zealand on 20 January and A1GP Sydney, Australia on 3 February.'I am really happy to be finally joining the team,' said Dillmann. 'I had an initial taste of driving in August and I am looking forward to more in the rookie sessions.‘I will make use of my experience to best help Neel Jani and Switzerland in Taupo and Eastern Creek even if I do not know the track and how to handle the car yet.’Neel Jani will again be the team’s main driver for the weekends.

Don de Graaff has been confirmed as Russell Racing’s second driver signing for the 2008 Formula Renault BARC Championship; the Junior Max kart racer all set to make his single-seater debut in the category’s headline FR2000 Class.De Graaff, who has just four years of national level karting experience under his belt, is delighted to be making the step up to Formula Renault BARC with Russell Racing and is setting his sights high for his maiden season in cars – the teenage sensation aiming to become a top five finisher before the end of his maiden campaign.Joining experienced Formula Renault BARC runner Aaron Steele in the Russell Racing ranks, de Graaff brings a great deal of promise to the Sunbury-on-Thames based squad and is looking forward to his first ever single-seater test which is expected to take place early in the New Year.Speaking on his deal, the Weybridge teenager said: “I can’t wait for the season to start, I’m really excited about my first year in cars and my debut test can’t come soon enough. We had quite a few meetings with Allen Orchard and Matt Russell from the team before we signed the deal so we’ve already built up a good relationship. Plus the team is based, literally, just down the road from where we live so that’s another bonus. We’re confident it will be a good year and I’d be disappointed if I’m not able to secure a top five finish before the end of the season. I’m very pleased to be making my car racing debut with Russell Racing and really looking forward to working with a proven driver like Aaron Steele. I’m certain we’ll all enjoy success in 2008.” Delighted to confirm his team’s second driver signing before the New Year, Russell Racing owner Tim Russell commented: “Announcing Don de Graaff as our second driver signing for 2008 is fantastic news for the whole team and although it will be his first ever season in cars, we’re confident he has the ability to progress very strongly.“I’m confident we already have one of the most exciting and promising driver line-ups of any team in Formula Renault BARC and we’re hoping to confirm more exciting team developments within the coming weeks.”

Two-time Indy 500 Champion Emerson Fittipaldi to Drive Corvette Z06 E85 Concept Pace Car at 92nd Indianapolis 500....read more

Team West-Tec kicked off its attack on the 2008 Spanish F3 Championships with a full five days of end-of-year testing in Valencia last week...read more

Tomas Enge says there is a possibility he could race again for A1 Team Czech Republic this season. The 31-year-old returned to A1GP action for the first time in 10 months at Zhuhai last weekend and by his own admission, overachieved on his return.Enge finished fifth in the Sprint race, the team’s best result for 16 races. He backed that up with an eighth-place finish in the Feature race, moving the squad up to 14th in the championship standings.‘Our results in Zhuhai were better than the car we had,’ Enge said. ‘Before the weekend I said I’ll be happy, and I mean really happy, for any top ten finish looking at the results we’ve had in the first three races. It went that much better, more than we expected."

"ALL SYSTEMS GO" FOR REPSOL MITSUBISHI RALLIART TEAM. The 4 cars which will lead the Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart Team's 2008 Dakar bid successfully completed a special shakedown session at the test venue in Marmagne, northwest of Macon. All four crews braved the freezing weather to give their respective Pajero Montero Evolution MPR13s a final systems check before the vehicles are trucked to Lisbon, Portugal, in time for scrutineering and the official start of the African marathon which kicks off on January 5, 2008. Luc Alphand/Gilles Picard (France), Hiroshi Masuoka/Pascal Maimon (Japan/France) and Stephane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret (France) and Joan 'Nani' Roma/Lucas Cruz (Spain) all profited from the day to bed in a variety of mechanical parts and make a number of fine-tuning adjustments to their cars and seating positions round the maze of gravel tracks that make up the test base. "Everything went perfectly smoothly," reported the team Technical Director, Thierry Viardot. "The intention of the run wasn't to work on the set-up of the cars. That was done some time ago as a function of the results of the different test sessions organised during the year. Our objective was essentially to ensure there were no problems following the cars' build. Certain drivers were happy to call it a day after a brief drive, others spent longer at the wheel, but the exact distance covered by each crew was up to them. When you're talking about an event that lasts several thousand kilometres, it really wasn't a difference of a few of kilometres one way or the other today that will make a big difference once the competitive action begins next month. The beauty of the test facilities we use is that they offer a wide variety of surface types and we are free to make any changes we wish if we want to reproduce certain conditions,"concluded Viardot. "Another advantage is the fact that the tracks never get muddy, even it rains. However, with temperatures ranging from -6C to -3C today, that wasn't a problem this time!" The 16-day 2008 Dakar starts in Lisbon on Saturday, January 5, and is scheduled to finish by the Lac Rose, near Dakar, Senegal, on Sunday, January 20.

The PK Carsport team is already focussing on 2008. "But little will remain the same", explains Anthony Kumpen. "In both FIA GT and the Mediagroep Van Dyck Belcar GT3 championship, we say farewell to the Corvette and in the national championship it will not be PK Carsport entering the new car. But our goal remains the same and that's winning. One thing will return and that's the United4Belgium project. People liked it very much and we'll continue to race as a real Belgian team! PK Carsport as a team will focus on the FIA GT Championship", continues Bert Longin. "We're still a little team compared to the big guns and running two entire series is not ideal. We decided to continue with PK Carsport in FIA GT, while in Belcar Anthony and I will race a car from another team. We have a group of very experienced and motivated people and they'll now have the time to perform even better, by concentrating on one series." The new weapon of PK Carsport in FIA GT will be the American Saleen S7R. The car is the one entered by Zakspeed in 2006, when the German team won two races and conquered pole position on four occasions with this chassis. "Of course the car will get all necessary and possible updates before the start of the season", says Anthony Kumpen. "The Saleen is a highly competitive car and we're convinced that we'll be successful. Let's not forget that Saleen won last's year LMS GT1 championship and winning a long distance championship such as the LMS requires both speed and reliability."

2007 was an excellent season for the Lloyds TSB Insurance British F3 International Series. With over 3o drivers from 20 countries it was a bumper year culminating with Marko Asmer winning the title at the penultimate round at Croft..read more

Niall Breen, who finished fifth in his first British F3 season has signed with top Formula 3 Euroseries team, Manor Motorsport, for the 2008 season. Breen has been setting new standards for Irish drivers this year, having taken a rookie victory in the British F 3 at Snetterton in June, the first Irish driver to win a race since Michael Keohane in April 2002. He also took four runner-up positions during the course of the year, finishing in a fine fifth place with 145 points. Breen, 21, said: "I've had an extremely good rookie season in the British Formula 3 Championship and I'm certain I can be very competitive in the Formula 3 Euroseries with Manor Motorsport next year" He continued: "I'm really looking forward to racing in Europe - it'll be a new challenge to learn the circuits which will stand me in good stead for the future. We'll have the new Mercedes-powered Dallara F308 chassis and I'll be testing it on December 14 at Pembrey. My new engineer, Pete Sliwinski, is very experienced and we got on well at the initial test I did in October with the team. I'm confident we'll be winning races in '08." John Booth, boss of Yorkshire-based Manor Motorsport, commented: "I've been watching Niall for two or three years, since he was in the Formula BMW UK series and won the title in 2006. I'm delighted to have him in the team and pleased that he's had the courage to step up to the Euroseries as it would have been easier for him to succeed in the British F3 Championship. The Euroseries is much tougher and I'm sure he's going to win races in his first year."

Jay Esterer, Vice President of Endura Manufacturing announced that Endura will be providing cash support for entries in the Vintage Automobile Racing Association of Canada (VARAC) Historic Can-Am race at Mosport June 20-22, 2008. Jay, who drives a McLaren Mk6 himself, is well aware of the costs of running these great historic cars and has graciously agreed to provide five hundred Dollars ($500.00) Cdn. for each Historic Can-Am car that makes at least one qualifying session. With the chance to compete at Mosport already a strong draw, this incentive will help to draw an even stronger field. It is expected that more than thirty cars will make the grid for the race. VARAC is excited about the support Endura is providing for Historic Motor Racing and looks forward to working with them. This support, coupled with VARAC’s legendary hospitality, and the challenge that Mosport provides every driver makes this a don’t miss event. Endura Manufacturing Co Ltd, an Alberta, Canada based company and is a multi-million dollar organization. Their distribution network reaches across Canada and into the U.S. They produce industrial coatings and Endura primers and topcoats achieve outstanding performance in aggressive, corrosive, and abrasive environments with outstanding resistance to chemicals and impact. Endura primers and topcoats have been approved for aviation use.

Formula BMW Americas has announced the winners of the four 2008 BMW Junior scholarships. They are; Colombian-born Juan Arenas, 18, of Miami; Mikael Grenier, 15, of Canada; and Alexandre Ruiz, 16, of Brazil. These three were selected from the 23 participants from Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Peru and the United States who competed in the two scholarship shoot-outs held at the Formula BMW Racing Centre in Valencia. The fourth scholarship will be awarded to Brazilian Ricardo Favoretto. who finished as runner-up to 2007 Formula BMW USA Rookie champion Esteban Gutierrez. Each Junior will receive $80,000 towards the championship and automatic complimentary enrollment in the Education and Coaching program. While the balance of the 14-race Formula BMW Americas schedule is yet to be finalized, the season will again be anchored by races at two F1 GPs. Formula BMW will race for a fifth consecutive year in support of the Canadian Grand Prix, on June 6-8, and the Brazilian Grand Prix on October 31 to November 2. The remainder of the schedule will take place at a combination of American Le Mans Series, Champ Car World Series and Rolex Sports Car Series weekends.

Joey Foster will be racing for Embassy Racing in the Lemans Series in 2008." I am extremely grateful to Jonathan France (Embassy Racing Team Principle) for giving me this opportunity. Embassy Racing will be entering their own LMP2 car, named WF01 into the series for next year and I am excited about working with the whole team and the other drivers", said Foster. Foster is now completely fit after the accident he suffered in July 2006 in the German F3 Championship and is fully committed to returninjg to racing.

James Walker got an early Christmas present in the post today when he found out he has been welcomed as a Full Member into the British Racing Driver’s Club. The BRDC is the most prestigious motor racing club in the world and has suitably strict entry criteria; full membership is only given to those ‘who have attained international success over a number of seasons.’ James was awarded ‘Rising Star’ status by the BRDC in 2004 in recognition of his performance in the previous year’s British Formula Ford Championship, where he was Scholarship Champion. He has come a long way since then, winning at international level and still pushing to reach the very top. “It’s an honour for me to be a member of the BRDC as the Club is such an important part of the British motorsport industry,” said James. “I will be announcing my 2008 race programme in the new year and in the meantime would like to say Happy Christmas to everyone who supported me in 2007. It was a great year and I’m already looking forward to getting stuck in in 2008!”

The Karting Show at Autosport International is privileged to be able to introduce the Karting for the Disabled initiative on Friday 11 January, at the NEC, Birmingham. BRDC Stars of Tomorrow will announce its partnership with Karting Endeavour, a group of drivers who do not wish their disability to interfere with their love of motorsport., read more

Australian Chris Wootton,19, Filipino-Swiss karter Marlon Stöckinger, 16, and South African Simon Moss, also 16, have each earned a Formula BMW Pacific scholarship following exhaustive trials held at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit from December 13 to 16. The trio earn the title of Formula BMW Juniors, and will receive expert coaching and tuition throughout the season from BMW Motorsport professionals. A fourth scholarship has been earmarked for 2007 Formula BMW Junior and Rookie Cup winner Kyle Mitchell of South Africa...read more

The John Walko Racing team rolled in to Firebird International Raceway for the Star Mazda Winter Series with no experience at the facility but plenty of expectations. Driver Mike Hill scored an impressive sweep at the previous event, scoring two wins at Buttonwillow, but had never raced at Firebird either...read more

Andersen Racing has been chosen as Van Diemen's factory team for the 2008 F2000 Championship Series presented by Hoosier Racing Tire. The agreement was announced jointly by David Bowes, chief executive officer of Elan Motorsports Technologies (EMT), which owns Van Diemen, and Dan Andersen, co-owner of Andersen Racing. "Van Diemen needed to select a team which was technically world class, had a big vision for the future, and was managed to professional business standards. Andersen Racing meets and exceeds all of those criteria," Bowes said. "Elan has already placed its Indy 500-winning design team at the disposal of Van Diemen and Andersen Racing, and we have a plethora of prototype parts being designed and built in Braselton, Ga. which are due to be tested in January. This new partnership is an exciting move for Van Diemen and for Andersen Racing and forms the central strategy of Van Diemen's continued growth in North America over the next three to five years," Bowes continued. "I firmly believe that results will speak for themselves throughout 2008." Andersen Racing, long a powerhouse in F2000 racing, strives to provide the best training possible for future open-wheel stars. It fields multiple entries in three different series: F2000, Star Mazda and the Indy Pro Series. It is the official development team of Rahal Letterman Racing. The team is headquartered at Andersen RacePark, an 18-acre facility in Palmetto, Fla. that includes a 1-mile test track. "Andersen Racing is delighted to be working closely with Van Diemen, which has long been the car to beat in F2000 racing," Andersen said. "Our agreement means that we'll be the one and only designated factory or 'works' team for Van Diemen's F2000 program," he explained. "We'll work with Van Diemen to test its new cars and components, and we'll help Van Diemen develop updates. We'll work closely with their engineering department, and we'll be on the cutting edge of their new F2000 car." Three Andersen Racing drivers - Terrick Mansur, Noah Bystrom and Ricardo Vassmer - finished in the top five in the F2000 series this year. The team is already hard at work shaking out the new 2008 Van Diemen F2000 car. Vassmer began that testing at Andersen RacePark two weeks ago.

Tickets are now on sale for A1GP’s visit to Durban, South Africa in February. The Durban event is dubbed ‘the Monaco of A1GP’ as is the only street circuit on the calendar. It has the unique location of being the only race track that runs parallel to the beach. Packed grandstands have watched both of the previous two meetings held in the city. This season’s event takes place on 22-24 February 2008. With A1 Team South Africa already being victorious this season, fans are set to flock to the track to watch their team continue their fight for the overall A1GP title. Race day prices for adults start at just 155 R for general admission and there will also be special rates for children under 12 years of age. Special arrangements will again be made for disabled fans.Mike Carroll, general manager of A1 Team South Africa and also of the race’s organising company said: ‘After the sell-out success of the first Durban A1GP when the event won the award for the best round of the inaugural season of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, we have aligned our ticket pricing model and grandstand build model more closely to that season.'Tickets can be purchased at all branches of Computicket online, by clicking the BUY TICKETS NOW section on the top right of A1GP.com, or by CLICKING HERE.

The FIA World Touring Car Championship will visit Mexico again in 2008.After a one-year break the 3.2-km Miguel E. Abed racetrack of Puebla Amozoc will host the championship's third and fourth rounds on April 6th. The WTCC had already raced in Puebla twice: Fabrizio Giovanardi (Alfa Romeo) and Peter Terting (SEAT) shared victories in 2005, while Salvatore Tavano and Augusto Farfus claimed a double for Alfa Romeo the following year. These were also among the most successful WTCC events ever in terms of crowd, with 71,000 and 76,000 spectators attending the two previous editions. Mexico having been reinstated, the 2008 FIA WTCC will be composed of twelve events and 24 rounds.

Success Ballast System revised. The FIA WTCC handicap weight system has been revised in view of the 2008 season, starting from the name that has been changed to "success ballast". The new system was approved by the FIA World Motor Sport Council after a proposal coming from the Touring Car Commission.

Having taken delivery of the new F308 Dallara last week, Carlin Motorsport have already begun work on next year's F3 racing machine. The British squad, who last week announced that they will enter the Formula 3 Euro Series in 2008, have a dedicated Research and Development department working on the F3 car…read more

Euronova Racing concluded this year’s final day of International Formula Master testing with their drivers in the top five. The morning session closed with Daniel Mancinelli, pace setter at Valencia and Vallelunga two weeks ago, at the top of the timesheets closely followed by team-mates Federico Rossi and Michael Meadows.In the afternoon session it was the turn of impressive Japanese driver Yuhi Sekiguchi to record the fastest lap of the day. He was followed by Mancinelli and Rossi who ran only a handful of laps. Crestani and Meadows, fourth and fifth fastest, suffered mechanical problems on their last runs on new tyres and were therefore prevented from improving their lap times. Salvatore de Plano was tenth fastest. Vincenzo Sospiri: I’m really pleased with how winter testing has gone and delighted to close the season with such a strong performance from all our drivers. I was particularly impressed with Sekiguchi who was immediately on the pace despite not knowing the circuit and having only limited experience of the car.The 2008 season kicks off with a two day test at Monza on 20 and 21 March. Euronova will announce it’s driver line-up early in the New Year.The whole team would like to take this opportunity to wish you a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous 2008!

Red Bull racers Mikhail Aleshin and Robert Wickens will remain at Carlin Motorsport for the 2008 World Series by Renault championship. Russian driver Aleshin was a race winner with Carlin last season, while Wickens completed the final two rounds of the 2007 season with the team, following Sebastian Vettel's departure to F1…read more

Kuba Giermaziak finished his 2007 season on a high note, being the fastest of nearly 30 drivers in the second and final day of collective Formula Ranault testing in Barcelona.After a successful debut season in Formula Renault, Kuba has been busy testing with Motopark Academy. The aim of their intensive testing programme is to prepare him for his second season in this ultra competitive category, identifying possible weak points and making sure he is in top form for next year. Kuba worked hard under guidance from the team’s engineers, and the latest results show he is ready to take on the best in 2008! Reflecting on the Barcelona test Kuba said, “I am really happy! We have been working really hard all year and this result shows that we are on the right way. This was the last big test of the year, with many top teams and drivers, and I know I can fight with the best of them for top positions next year! It feels good to have a longer break now, but at the same time I am already thinking about the first tests of 2008!” With the 2007 season now drawing to a close, Kuba’s definite plans for 2008 will be announced soon

Asia Pacific's premier entry-level single seater series has been renamed Formula BMW Pacific in recognition of its increasing popularity across the region. Asia Pacific is witnessing extraordinary growth in the sport, with Singapore joining the FIA F1 World Championship in 2008 making it six rounds in the region. With increasing interest from Australia, nine of the 25 Formula BMW scholarship candidates for 2008 come from Oz, plus other diverse nationalities, the new name is a logical step in the development of the series. There is also increased interest from Japan, and the 2008 calendar includes a race there, with mid-term plans for expansion. The calendar will again include support races to the FIA F1 One World Championship, exposing the racers to F1, as well as visiting Asia’s best race tracks. In addition to the enormous driver interest for the 2008 season, a number of new teams are looking seriously at FBMW Pacific with a view to entering the series. GP2 Team DAMS has already confirmed it will enter two cars next season. In Asia Pacific, Formula BMW has seen champions from China, Hong Kong, Bahrain, New Zealand and Indonesia since its launch in 2003, with many of its graduates now competing in GP2, Formula 3 and A1GP. The ground-breaking Formula BMW Education & Coaching programme, which forms an integral part of the series, is the most comprehensive and professional course of its kind in the region.

Wade Cunningham is the latest Indy Pro Series driver to get an opportunity to test an IndyCar Series car. The 2005 Indy Pro Series champion joined Andretti Green Racing drivers Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti and Hideki Mutoh at Sebring International Raceway Dec. 17. "It was cool to drive an IndyCar Series car for the first time," Cunningham said. "It's something that I've looked forward to since I came over here in 2005. I'm very grateful to (AFS Racing owner) Gary (Peterson) and Andretti Green Racing for the opportunity. It was a bit difficult in the morning with the track still at 50 degrees. After 20 laps or so, it felt reasonably comfortable."

Patrick Long, returns to the Alex Job Racing as its third driver for the upcoming Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Rolex 24 at Daytona Jan. 26-27. Long joins co-drivers Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand in search of the teams first Rolex 24 win in the No. 23 Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team Porsche-powered Crawford Daytona Prototype.

Conquest Racing has solidified its future in the Champ Car World Series with the signing of new marketing partner Opes Prime Group Ltd, an Australian based financial services provider. As a direct result of this new 2-year agreement, Conquest Racing is committed to entering two cars in the 2008 Champ Car Series. Drivers and other marketing partner announcements will be announced in early 2008.

Trident Racing have signed Mike Conway to run in the 2008 GP2 Series. The British driver enters his second season of GP2 with the team owned by Maurizio Salvadori. Conway began his GP2 career last season, proving himself as one of the top rookies in the Series. Winning the British Formula 3 and Formula Renault UK titles has already singled him out as one of the most successful drivers from the British series` and with his victory at the Macau Grand Prix in 2006 he has established himself as a leading British driver.

Essex based Chad Racing is returning to the Avon Tyres British GT Championship next season with a two car assault. The team will run two GT3 class Ferrari F430's, with Matt Griffin and Peter Bamford, who previously raced a Porsche 997, lined up to drive one of the cars. The deal with the second driver pairing is finalised and will be announced in the new year. Team Manager Piers Masarati said: "We are going to run two Ferrari F430's competing in a full season of British GT. The first car arrives on the 10th January, with the second arriving in February. The driver pairing of Matt Griffin and Peter Bamford delivers plenty of racing experience and the deal with the second driver pairing is completed and we'll announce the names in the new year. Throughout the 2007 season the Ferrari was arguably the quickest car and with proven reliability. Potentially we will have a one of the strongest driver line up on the grid next season and we've backed this up by employing key people with Ferrari experience on the engineering side providing strength and depth for next season." Chad Racing will also run a GT3 class Lamborghini Gallardo in the Belcar Series but haven't ruled out selected outings in British GT should the opportunity present itself.

Sam Bird will be competing in the Formula 3 Euro Series with Manor Motorsport in 2008. The 20 year old CJ Motorsport managed driver will enjoy continued support from BP Ultimate in his quest for European success……read more

Silverstone Classic evolves as Motion Works UK is appointed as new organiser and promoter Silverstone has confirmed that it has agreed terms to licence the organisation and promotion of the annual Silverstone Classic event to Motion Works UK Limited for the next five years (2008–12). Motion Works will take over the responsibility for the organisation, management and promotion of the Silverstone Classic from Silverstone Circuits Ltd who, since 2005, have been promoting the event themselves. Richard Phillips, Managing Director of Silverstone Circuits Limited, commented, “Silverstone remains totally committed to the Silverstone Classic and will continue its interest in the event. We will also provide full backing to the special Steering Group that is being established. The Silverstone Classic is one of the leading classic car events on the motor sport calendar and we are confident that the event will continue to go from strength to strength under the guidance of Motion Works UK Limited.” “This is a very exciting addition to our growing portfolio of motor sport events” said Roger Etcell, Managing Director of Motion Works UK Limited. “All the team are looking forward to working, on behalf of Silverstone Circuits and the British Racing Drivers’ Club, towards further developing this important annual festival which celebrates motor sport through the decades at The Home of British Motor Racing.” A record crowd of 41,000 gathered at Silverstone to witness a feast of world class nostalgic motor racing at the 2007 Silverstone Classic which featured twenty two races, spanning eight decades of motor sport and motoring, and covered an amazing variety of single-seater racing cars, sportscars and saloon cars. The 2008 Silverstone Classic on 25-27 July, will celebrate 60 years of Silverstone, to mark the diamond anniversary of the circuit’s first ever meeting - the 1948 British Grand Prix. Motion Works UK will shortly announce their plans for the future development of the event

Alvaro Parente is to test drive the ING Renault R27 F1 car as a reward for winning the World Series Formula Renault 3.5 title. The Portuguese driver will try his hand at the wheel of the R27 at Spain's Jerez circuit on January 17. Parente was actually at the Jerez circuit when the news of his test came through as he was working on the development of New Formula Renault 3.5, due tol make its track debut in World Series by Renault 2008. "It's a dream come true. My aim has always been to drive an F1 car one day," said Alvaro. "I knew that winning the title would lead to a test with ING Renault F1 Team, but still, it was as though Christmas had come early when they gave me the date. For the next month I'll be focussing all my attention on this. It's a very important moment in my career. I'm going to step up my physical training programme so that I'm 100% ready on January 17th."

Reigning Formula Master champion, Jérôme D’Ambrosio, concluded the two-day test at Vallelunga yesterday with an improvement on Wednesday’s times. The GP2 driver was over half a second quicker than second placed Yuji Sekiguchi…...read more

Christmas came early for CR Scuderia this week when the team took delivery of the world's first 2008-specification GT2 Ferrari 430. The team travelled to Fiorano in Italy for a private test with Andrew Kirkaldy on driving duty for the shakedown. "The car felt incredibly good," said Kirkaldy. "Considering the (freezing) conditions the pace was impressive and it ran faultlessly. The new car is a clear step up from this year so I'm excited about our prospects for 2008. Michelotto have pulled out all the stops to deliver the car to us before Christmas; this was important to us as it gives us that extra bit of time to prepare for our 2008 season, so thanks to Cristiano (Michelotto) and his team." CR Scuderia has one more test to squeeze in before the Christmas break. After last week's successful GT3 test CRS will run its second GT3 Ferrari, for the British GT Championship, at Donington today (Thursday).

Jonathan Summerton, in conjunction with Tangled Spider web design, are proud to announce the launch of WWW.JONATHANSUMMERTON.COM, Jonathan’s new website and additional blog. Jonathan said he really appreciated all Jackie and the team at Tangled Spider have done in design work and features in the new site and hopes he can repay them by promoting them when ever possible. Jonathan had just returned from a successful race weekend with team USA A1GP where, despite having his rear tire changer stripped of his air gun and thrown into the middle of the pits by team France driver, Jonathan still managed to get back to 10th place and gain a valuable point. Jonathan said, "It was unfortunate as we went into the 1st pit stop to change tires in 7th place and after the incident we came out 14th". During the next 22 laps and another pit stop, Jonathan worked his way back to 10th with some great racing action. "The team did a great job in China but we were worried about the brakes getting too hot and losing them, but we saved them and they lasted." Jonathan is looking forward to racing in New Zealand where he will be fighting for a podium finish.

Issa Al Kooheji, a 16 years old Bahraini driver took the Bahrain Motorsport community by surprise when he won the Formula BMW Race held at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC)during the Bahrain National Day Festival. The young Bahraini graduating from Formula Thunder Arabia in 2007 where he dominated back in November at BIC with pole, fastest lap and 2 wins. Last week he was in FBMW, where he qualified in second. He then proceeded to take the lead from Alex Longden with a superb start from the inside, out-breaking Alex at the first corner to take the lead which he never lost, setting fastest lap in the process. Issa will returnm to the UK in the spring for his second season in the FR2.0 BARC.. “I am determined to follow the steps of my country man Hamad Al Fardan, I see where he reached and where he is going, and I think with my dedication and the support of my family and sponsors i will get there as well’ said Isa Al Kooheji.”

Changes at Watkins Glen began when Craig Rust, President of WGI, began the demolition of the historic road course's iconic Press Tower during a ceremony this afternoon. Read more

Horag Racing and its two drivers, Fredy Lienhard and Didier Theys, are very optimistic about the 2008 racing season after a flawless shakedown test of their brand-new Lista Office and Lista-sponsored Porsche RS Spyder last weekend at the Catalunya. Veteran Jan Lammers will join the team as its third driver for the 2008 Le Mans Series (LMS) as well as the one or possibly two American Le Mans Series (ALMS) races on its 2008 schedule. Horag Racing will again focus on the Le Mans Series in2008, but before that begins it will debut its new LMP2 car at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring ALMS season opener on March 15. The team may also compete in the ALMS' Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta on Oct. 4.

Multiple Formula Ford Champion Ed Moore made a one off return to karting at the Clay Pigeon kart club Turkey Trot meeting on December 9th where he raced a Kosmic T11 chassis in the Rotax Max 177 class. Moore who has won over 50 Formula Ford races and is the current Castle Combe FF1600 Champion and lap record holder was also a successful karter in the early 90's. Despite 14 years away and only one brief test before the meeting Moore was straight back into the groove and led every lap of the final to win an event he first won 17 years ago. Next season as well as racing in Formula Ford 1600 and running his successful race team, Moore will also be driving a new bio-diesel engined sports prototype in various sportscar events run by the Wiltshire Motorsport College.

Pre-registration has closed for the three Renault Sport UK Championships with the total number of pre-registered cars standing at a staggering 156. Each of the three individual Championships has attracted more pre-registrations than the number of Championship registrations permitted by the regulations. …read more

Work on Silverstone’s new Pit Wall gets underway

The bulldozers were in at Silverstone on Monday (17 December) when work got underway on the new Pit Wall at the home of the British Grand Prix. In stark contrast to the F1 cars that will line up on the start grid for the 2008 Santander FORMULA 1™ British Grand Prix on 6 July, it was the ‘Ferrari’ red construction vehicles that were under starter’s orders before demolishing the existing wall. The new Pit Wall will take up to six weeks to build and, fully complying with the latest FIA regulations, should be completed by the end of January 2008. The new wall will be built with: 10km of steel reinforcing bars 1000 cubic metres of concrete 330 metres of debris fencing and rear tubular handrail Movement joints to control thermal expansion and contraction It has also been designed to withstand considerable impact loadings and speeds of more than 250kph. Circuit bosses have re-iterated that construction of the new Pit Wall is a separate project to the Silverstone Master Plan (the British Racing Drivers’ Club’s long term plan to redevelop the circuit

After topping IFM Testing Jérôme D’Ambrosio, current International Formula Master’s Champions, will move into GP2 in 2008 with DAMS..read more

Asia Racing Team (ART) Motorsports 2007 driver Alexandre Imperatori put in some quick times at the reccent A1GP World Cup of Motorsport event at Zhuhai. In the A1 GP rookie sessions, Alexandre Imperatori drove for the first time the A1 Team Switzerland car, completiong 14 laps with a 5th best lap time (1m24s400). ART two times Asian Formula Renault 2.0 runner-up did a solid job for someone who had never touched an A1GP car before. On Friday he was just one tenth (0,1 sec.) slower than his experienced number one driver Neel Jani on new tyres.

Andersen Racing has signed Juliana Gonzalez for the 2008 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. The 16-year-old from Mexico City raced in 5 rounds of the U.S. F2000 Championship Series with Andersen Racing in 2007 taking a second place in Round 4 at Road Atlanta where she finished 1.572 seconds behind winner Cole Morgan. "Our signing of Juliana comes after her very successful Star Mazda test at VIR last month," said team co-owner Dan Andersen, speaking of a two-day test at VIRginia International Raceway where Gonzalez posted the fastest lap of any driver the team has tested there recently. "We have very high hopes for her in the 2008 Star Mazda championship." Gonzalez was clearly delighted with her new role, "I'm very excited to be with Andersen Racing again for the 2008 season. Having Mike Reggio as engineer is going to be interesting, because we had really good communication during the test and we were able to get up to speed fast. I'm sure we will be a great engineer-driver duo“.By advancing from F2000 to Star Mazda, Gonzalez is the latest driver to move through the ranks via Andersen Racing's comprehensive three-step ladder system utilizing the F2000, Star Mazda and Indy Pro series. Its lead Indy Pro driver, Andrew Prendeville, finished second in the F2000 series just three years ago in one of the team's cars. The Star Mazda season opener is March 14 at Sabring and is support for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring American Le Mans Series (ALMS) race.

Jessica Hawkins will be appearing live on BBC London 94.9 FM tonight, Wednesday, 19th December, where she is to be interviewed on air by presenter Emma Jones between 21.00 and 21.30. After Jessica's tremendous championship victory in the Buckmore Park Club Honda Cadet karting series this past weekend, the folks at BBC London have once again invited her back to the Midweek Sports Show.

Autohaus Motorsports will compete for the 2008 GT championship in the Grand Am Rolex Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16, with driver duo Lawson Aschenbach and Tim Lewis, Jr. Completing the driver lineup for the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona will be Craig Stanton and Max Papis. "We are absolutely thrilled to have a driver lineup with such depth and experience for the 24 hours," said Team Owner Bob Kirland. "We are so excited to be making the change to Grand Am, and I really look forward to what we can accomplish this year with such a strong team." The team will be fielding a brand new Pontiac GXP.R

John Bowe will return to Mount Panorama in February for his second start in the WPS Bathurst 12-Hour. Bowe will again take the wheel of Chris Delfsma's Century 21 Ford XR8, after the pair steered it with former NRL and V8 Ute star Jack Elsegood to a class win and ninth outright in 2007's running of the Event. This time around, Bowe and Delfsma will be joined by West Australian Paul Stubber, with Bowe enthusiastic to be returning to the Event. "I think the WPS Bathurst 12 Hour is a terrific event and I wholeheartedly support it which is why I am doing it really," said Bowe. "I believe in the concept of a production race and last year was a really good experience for me - it was fun and it was meaningful to the motoring industry which I feel is important.”

Hitech Junior has undergone a successful first day of testing at the Spanish circuit of Valencia yesterday(Monday) with Miki Monras, Ashley Walsh and Roberti Mehri completing a number of laps each with Mehri winding up second quickest overall. Walsh finished seventh at the end of the day with Monras 13th and all three drivers will take the wheel again today(Tuesday) before the Silverstone-based team moves on to Barcelona on Wednesday and Thursday. Then, the team set-up by the current British F3 championship winning Hitech Racing Team Principal David Hayle will run Monras again and will be joined by Luciano Bachetta and possibly one other driver. “It’s been a very good test so far,” said David. “All three drivers have driven well and I’ve been impressed with their performances. They’re all out again today and hopefully they will all continue to improve over the course of the day.”

Guillaume Moreau

will stay on for next season’s World Series by Renault 3.5 Championship with KTR ..read more

Vincec leads Sunoco Team Ultra 94 in round four; Vincec 5th, Raimondo 7th in round four After a strong showing in round three of the Skip Barber Southern Regional Series, both Sunoco Team Ultra 94 drivers, Mike Vincec and Gianmarco Raimondo were looking forward to round four on Sunday. Both drivers started on row two Raimondo third, Vincec fourth. With a dry track, both drivers drove good races to finish well and gain valuable championship points. Vincec came home fifth, while Raimondo was seventh. "Sebring is really a difficult racetrack technically," Ron Fellows said. "Mike and Gianmarco gained a great deal of experience this weekend, which will help them down the road. They raced in a variety of conditions, and on Sunday, they started well and were able to run in the lead pack. Both did a great job representing Sunoco and Team Ultra 94, and we'll look forward to the next rounds at Homestead." The Sunoco Team Ultra 94 drivers are finished racing for this year, and will be back in action on January 26-27 at Homestead-Miami Speedway for rounds five and six.

Adam Andretti announced today he will contest the 2008 Indy Pro Series Championship with FuZion Autosport.. Adam Andretti is the son of Aldo and brother of NASCAR driver John. He is excited about his new team and the prospect of a full season in the highly competitive Indy Pro Series with the ultimate goal of the IndyCar Series. "I am very happy to finally be settled in with an Indy Pro Series team." he said. "FuZion was a no-brainer for me. Even though the team is new the engineers, mechanics and management have been around the series since its inception and the ownership group is made up of true red-blooded racers! “ The ownership of the group features longtime Indy Pro Series participant Dave McMillan, Terre Haute native and Formula BMW team owner David Hunt, and Northern California businessman Preston Countryman. The team recently moved into a new race shop in Brownsburg, a few miles west of the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway and an area fast becoming home to many professional racing teams. The bonus for Andretti is he will be close to family and able to visit the workshop daily to develop a strong relationship with FuZion.

The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear, one of the top open-wheel racing and driver development series in North America, announced today that it will implement standing starts for all 12 races in the 2008 season. Read more

Nick Percat has joined the Sonic Motor Racing Services family for the 2008 Australian Formula Ford Championship. Percat,19, signed up with Michael Ritter’s Championship winning operation after the Phillip Island Formula Ford 2007 finale and is already keen to start testing. “We’re delighted to have Nick on board,” says an obviously pleased Michael Ritter, “he’s an outstanding young talent and he brings a lot to the table in many different aspects of motorsport. In the short time he’s been with us he’s already demonstrated an obvious desire to further himself in any way possible. I’m very pleased that Nick is part of our line-up for 08.” Having just spent the year under the watchful eye of Toll HSV’s Garth Tander and Rob Crawford, Nick is also experienced in many forms of race driving including his first love of karts and Superkarts, Aussie Racing Cars and Formula Fords.

Adrian Quaife-Hobbs has signed to drive for top Italian outfit BVM Minardi in 2008 when he will tackle the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Championship and FRenault Italian championship. The MSA British Race Elite/BRDC Rising Star contested a handful of Formula Renault races at the end of his FBMW campaign in 2007 and impressed the regulars in both the Eurocup and North European championship. Using the outings as an opportunity to acclimatise with the car for 2008 he has elected to go with the team with whom he made his FRenault debut in Donington Park’s World Series of Renault support race. Where he set the fifth quickest time in practice followed by a ninth place in the race. He followed this up with a podium in the Northern European Cup Formula Renault 2.0 at Spa. The vastly-experienced BVM Racing team located just a few miles from the Minardi Formula One team, has competed in Italian Formula Renault since 1993 but 2007 marked their first year in the Eurocup. Now for the teenager who is still the youngest ever winner of an MSA sanctioned car racing championship, next season looks set to provide him with the chance to prove his worth with a return to the top step of the podium. “Having tested with several other Renault teams, we decided to return to BVM, who gave me my first chance in Eurocup, said Adrian. “I feel very confident with the team and am looking forward to the start of the season."

Over 70 of the world's top motorsport stars will be at Autosport International, 10-13 January 2008, to help David Brabham's Racing 4 Charity organisation reach his fundraising target of £50,000…read more

Nico Hülkenberg (ASM Formule 3) has succeeded in securing an F1 deal. The German who finished third in this year’s Formula 3 Euro Series season was signed as test driver by Williams Toyota.

Taupo in New Zealand has been confirmed as the setting for the most important environmental initiative in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport's short history. When the rapidly growing nation versus nation series descends on Lake Taupo for the fifth round of the 2007/08 season between 18-20 January 2008, it will become the first truly global motorsport body to switch to a 30 per cent biofuel mix....read more

Championship winning British F3 team Carlin Motorsport will enter the Formula 3 Euro Series in 2008. The Hampshire team will join the European championship for the first time when the season kicks off at Hockenheim in April next year. Following the team's first full season of racing in 1999, Carlin have won 79 races in British F3, to become the most successful team in the history of the championship. They have also competed in Porsche Supercup, World Series by Nissan, Formula BMW UK and World Series by Renault; all with race winning success. The move to F3 Euro Series will further strengthen the presence of the team in Europe, following a race-winning season in World Series by Renault in 2007. Team Principal Trevor Carlin commented, "In the past few years F3 Euro Series has proved to be an immensely competitive championship and a great training ground for tomorrow's stars. The team's move into the European championship compliments our current race programmes of British F3 and World Series and will further strengthen the team's history of running the F1 drivers of the future. "The Carlin team have enjoyed a great history in British F3, and this move into Europe will in no way weaken this. We have the resources and knowledge to be able to compete in both the European and British championships simultaneously and aim to be competitive from the first race. We are currently in discussions with several drivers and hope to announce our 2008 Euro Series line-up in the near future."

Sportscar racer Dominic Lesniewski is planning to run a Porsche 968 RS Turbo in the 2008 Britcar

Series. The car will be run by DAAD Racing/TJ Motorsport with the engine preparation by Geoff Page of Geoff Page Racing. Lesnieski raced in this year's Britcar 24 Hours in a Marcos Mantis finishing 28th after problems delayed the car.

Jessica Hawkins

capped off her 2007 karting season in perfect style yesterday, Sunday, 16th December, by winning the Buckmore Park Club Honda Cadet Championship, the Kent venue where Formula One sensation Lewis Hamilton started his racing career….full report

Frédéric Vervisch took the lead in the Asian Formula 3 Championship at Zhuhai with a dominant display, winning both races…read more

Reigning Pacific F2000 Masters champion Chuck Hulse will contest the 2008 Pacific F2000 Championship with Dave Freitas Racing. Hulse has every intention of successfully defending his Masters title (for drivers aged 51 or older) while still remaining a serious front-runner for overall honours. "I am very excited to race for DFR and feel the team's focus on the series and hands-on approach will be just the tune-up my program needs to put me on the podium regularly in this very competitive series," stated Hulse, who scored eight Masters wins from 12 races in 2007 and scored a best overall finish of second at Miller Motorsports Park while driving for Team G.FRO. Hulse will defend his title in the #21 Silicon Salvage/Dave Freitas Racing Van Diemen and will begin testing with DFR next week at Buttonwillow Raceway Park. "Given Chuck's performance last season I have no doubt he will be up to speed right off the bat," said team owner Dave Freitas. "Despite being in the Masters class, Chuck has shown the speed to compete for podiums and race wins at tracks like Miller Motorsports Park and Infineon Raceway, making the goal for 2008 to consistently have performances like these." Hulse will team up with 2006 Pacific F2000 Champion Robert Podlesni, who is making a return to the sport after a one-year hiatus, as well as fellow Masters contender Peter Hastrup and Ira Fierberg, who won the 2007 Pacific F2000 Expert Championship.

Sunoco Team Ultra 94 drivers, Gianmarco Raimondo and Mike Vincec, both had stellar drives in round three of the Skip Barber Southern Region Championship at Sebring on Saturday. Raimondo led the duo in qualifying with an eighth place starting slot. Vincec was right behind him in ninth. As the two got ready for the first of the two weekend races, the heavens opened, and that changed the complexion of the race. At the start, Raimondo started to move forward straight away. Vincec was held up by another driver, but then he started to move forward. "I think both of them drove very smart races," Ron Fellows said. "Half the battle in any rain race is to make it to the end, and I am proud that they both did that." As both drivers moved forward, they gained confidence and both came home with great finishing positions. Raimondo scored his first podium of the year in third, with Vincec right behind him in fourth. "It went really well," Raimondo said after the race. "It rained like crazy at the start. Lots of drivers were going off the road. I think it was a good drive, and now I am looking forward to tomorrow." Vinec added, "I was glad to see the rain," he said. "My car wasn't that good in the dry, but it was much better in the rain. Now I have a good starting spot for tomorrow's race."

Marco Zipoli and the team Minardi by Corbetta have joine forces for the 2008 Italian Formula 3 Championship. Zipoli finished second in the Formula Azzurra Italian Championship and a few weeks ago won the supercorso CSAI. Marco Zipoli: "I am very satisfied by the agreement with the team Minardi by Corbetta that will allow me to debut in Formula 3 in a professional and full of experience team. The objective for the 2008 is to win some races and to acquire the due experience to aim at the title”

Reigning Champion of Champions Mattias Ekstroem pulled off the seemingly impossible at Wembley Stadium yesterday(Sunday), beating the ever-dominant Michael Schumacher in The Race of Champions final. Team Germany won the ROC Nations Cup…Read more

Raimondo

on the podium - P3 in race 1 at Sebring. First Skip Barber podium for Sunoco Team Ultra 94 driver. The extra day of testing has paid off for Gianmarco Raimondo as he takes his maiden podium place in the first race of the weekend at Sebring in the Skip Barber Southern region series. The morning started with a wet track that cleared in time for qualifying but just before the race, there was a massive downpour that delayed the race. Going out on a very damp track, Gianmarco paced himself working his way through the field. By not putting a wheel wrong and taking advantage of other drivers' mistakes, he made his way from eighth on the grid to finish in an excellent third place.

A1 Team India's Narain Karthikeyan made history today when he took his and the team's first ever A1GP race win in this afternoon's incident-packed Feature race at China's Zhuhai International Circuit. Karthikeyan was joined on the podium by New Zealand's Jonny Reid, who started from 10th on the grid, and South Africa's Adrian Zaugg in third. In the Sprint race Pole sitter A1 Team Germany's Michael Ammermüller raced to his first A1GP victory while China's CongFu Cheng put in an incredible performance on home soil, taking a fantastic home race podium..read more

Leanne Tander had a good two-day test in a Formula V6 Asia car in Malaysia last weekend. The Fleetcare TanderSport driver and runner-up in the 2007 Kumho Tyres Australian F3 Championship completed two full days with Team Meritus and set a best lap less than one second slower than the pole time set at the most recent round held at the Sepang (North) circuit. Tander had nearly two full days of wet running in the 400hp Renault-powered car until the track dried late on the second day of the test. She completed three sessions in the dry on worn tyres before further rain ended the test before she had a chance to run with new rubber. “I really enjoyed the chance to test the Formula V6 Asia car,” Leanne Tander said.”It was a bit disappointing that it rained so much because it’s tough to get a good feel for a new car in the rain. When it did dry at the end of the second day I was able to push on and I was happy with the times I set. The car was good but certainly felt different to the F3 car,” she explained. ”It’s a lot heavier, a bit softer and more powerful than what I’m used to. The F3 car is almost underpowered for the grip that they have, whilst the V6 car was different as the balance between grip and power is a bit more even. Each time I was in the car I went quicker and found more confidence in the car and the team seemed happy with the job I did. I’m pretty happy with the times and I think that if I was actually racing I would be up at, or close to, the front.”

GALLAGHER OR FURLONG? Readers of Motorsport News may have noticed several quotes in recent issues attributed to BRSCC Competitions Director, Drew Gallagher. Rest assured this is of course Drew Furlong, who has taken on the competitions role having been the Club’s Financial Director for many years. Drew will be outlining his views on this new challenge in the January edition of BRSCC Racing News. As for Motorsport News, the BRSCC accepted their profuse apology but it just goes to show you shouldn’t believe everything you read in the press!

TV Formula One commentator Martin Brundle was at Silverstone on Wednesday (12^th December) to launch an exciting new motorsport programme called PF1 - a revolutionary and affordable opportunity for car enthusiasts to own and drive a modern day Formula One car....read more

Defending champion A1 Team Germany qualified in pole position for tomorrow morning's Sprint race at the inaugural Huatai A1GP Zhuhai, China while the Feature race will be led off the grid by current championship leader Switzerland...read more

LMA CHAMPIONSHIP RACKS UP THE NUMBERS . LMA backed Euro Saloon & Sports Car Championship enjoyed a very successful season with record numbers turning out to contest the well established ‘catch-all’ series. 70 different drivers entered 13 races, 7 of which were televised, spread over 9 meetings in 24 different marques. 7 drivers recorded overall race wins and 26 recorded class wins over the 5 classes. The numbers are impressive and owe much to the hard work of championship co-ordinator Sara Pryce. LMA Managing Director Stuart Cumming is keen to thank all those who have contributed to the booming championship, “Sara and the staff at LMA have worked hard to make a success of this year's championship. I'd like to thank everyone who has come out to race & supported us. We’ve set our standards high and we aim to go even higher in 2008”. For more information about the championship visit www.LMAeurosaloons.co.uk

CHAMPIONSHIP DATES FOR 2008. The calendars for all BRSCC championships and race meetings are currently being drawn up and will be issued to championship co-ordinators for distribution to registered competitors as soon as they are available.

FREE AUTOSPORT TICKET FOR BRSCC MEMBERS.It’s not too late for BRSCC members to claim their free ticket to Autosport International, worth up to £28. Members can choose which day they want to attend from any of the four days of the Show, which runs from Thursday 10th to Sunday 13th January, at the NEC in Birmingham. To apply for your free ticket log-on to www.autosport-international.com then click Trade Show and then Admission in the top right hand side of the page and follow the steps from there. You will need to have your BRSCC membership number when applying and you will need to be a current member of the BRSCC at the time of the Autosport Show. Therefore if your membership expires before January you will need to renew it beforehand. If you are not already a BRSCC member you can still join the Club and claim your Autosport Show ticket. Just call Jo Ward on 01732 780100 or download an application form from the website www.brscc.co.uk

All 16 drivers competing in The Race of Champions tomorrow were present at the official press conference at Wembley Stadium this afternoon, where they also found out who they will be facing in the first heats of the competition. ..read more

TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR THE WATKINS LECTURE. ickets are also available for the Motorsport Safety Fund "Watkins Lecture" on Friday 11 January at the Autosport Show. This popular annual event is named after Professor Sid Watkins - F1's safety pioneer - who made the very first presentation. The 2008 Lecture will be delivered by Malcolm Wilson, founder of M-Sport and therefore the architect of BP-Ford's victory in last year's FIA World Rally Championship. A growing highlight of the Autosport International Show, the lecture is these days attended by some 500 delegates. The previous presenters have been: Professor Sid Watkins (twice), Sir Jackie Stewart, Max Mosley, Niki Lauda, David Richards, Dr Terry Trammell, Martin Brundle, Ross Brawn and Bernie Ecclestone - a veritable who's who of motorsport. Tickets, which are free of charge, are now available by sending in an SAE to: Watkins Lecture, Motorsport Safety Fund, PO Box 200 , Sevenoaks, Kent TN15 8WZ

HOWARD FISHER RIP. It is with great sadness that we have to report the death of Howard Fisher, the original eligibility scrutineer for the Ford Saloon Car Championship. Howard’s interest in Fords in motorsport echoed his work for a Ford Main Dealer in North London and this lead him to a lengthy spell on the committee of the Ford RS Owners' Club where his role of Technical Officer was of immense help to those who consulted him. His encyclopaedic knowledge about Ford cars and parts stood him in good stead, when, in 1990 he was tasked with producing the initial Ford saloon championship regulations. He remained with the championship for many happy years and with his wife Sue, was a regular and welcome friendly face in the paddock. Howard Fisher will be missed by all who knew him.

Frederic Vervisch won round three of the Asian F3 2007-8 Series at the A1GP Zhuhai, China event today. Matt Howson was second with Rafael Suzuki third. Pole sitter, Rafael Suzuki, had too much wheel spin at the start and was down in fourth place after the first turn. His Team Goddard team mate, Frederic Vervisch, made a better start from second on the grid and took the lead from PTRS Racing’s Matt Howson and Hamad Al Fardan of Team GFH. Vervisch put in a stunning first lap and pulled out a good lead whilst Howson and Hamad squabbled over second place. The latter attempted to pass around the outside of turn one on the second lap and dropped to sixth place after a grassy excursion. This left Howson to fend off Suzuki, the pair rarely more than a few car lengths apart for the remainder of the race. Several times the Brazilian was very close but was unable to find a way past. Suzuki entertained the crowd with a high speed spin at the final turn on the last lap, losing only a couple of seconds in the process! Meanwhile Al Fardan had got his head down and was on the tail of Aran Racing’s Arturo Gonzales by the penultimate lap. They were side by side through turn nine and into turn eleven Hamad lunged at Gonzales, spinning the Mexican. Al Fardan finished fourth on the road but was given a time penalty for the move and dropped back to fifth behind Gonzales. David Julian was Promotion Class champion, finishing behind Paul Ip.Vervisch goes into the second Zhuhai round tomorrow full of confidence but with Howson, Suzuki, Gonzales and Al Fardan next up on the grid an exciting race is expected.

FORD FIESTA & FORD SALOON AWARDS DINNER . The awards dinner and dance for the Ford Fiesta & Ford Saloon Car Championship will be held at the Holiday Inn, Windsor on Saturday 9th February 2008. For ticket information please Kevin Shortis on 01323 423767 or email fordracinguk@aol.com

TV DATE FOR FESTIVAL . Motors TV have advised us that highlights of this years Formula Ford Festival will be broadcast at 9pm on Friday 4th January.

Lumina CSV Series. UMA/P1-AFR Heads the Action at Dubai for Rounds 3-4..read more

DIARY NOTE FOR 2008 . The 2008 BRSCC Dinner Dance & Awards Presentations Evening will take place on Saturday 22nd November at the Holiday Inn, Stratford-upon-Avon

Team Australia Champ Car driver Will Power has been awarded the prestigious Sir Jack Brabham Award at the CAMS Australian Motorsport Awards in Melbourne, Australia. Power, who is still in the United States preparing for next season’s Champ Car World Series, sent messages of thanks to the dinner, truly humbled by the prestigious honour. The Sir Jack Brabham Award is for outstanding achievement by an Australian in international competition. Last year the award went to Cody Crocker and Ben Atkinson for winning the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship. For 2007, the Board of the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) selected Will Power to be the recipient of the Award in recognition of his successful year in the Champ Car World Series with Team Australia. Power won two races in Las Vegas and Toronto and five pole positions this season on his way to fourth in this year’s Champ Car World Series points standings. In the season opener in Las Vegas in April he became the first Australian driver to win a Champ Car event.

Will Bratt can reflect on 2007 as the year he truly arrived as a racing driver; a superb race-winning season in Formula Renault UK ..read season review

Draft Calendar Sees Porsche Series Continue To Offer Quality Racing. Draft 2008 calendars have been issued for the Porsche Open and Porsche Club Championship, and, building on the success of 2007, the two series will again feature on the bill at some high-profile race meetings. In May 2008 the two series are planned to combine and support the visit of the A1GP series to Brands Hatch, and also at Silverstone's Classic Festival and Britcar 24-Hours meetings to provide fields of over 40-cars and great race action. The season finale will be at Sa-Francorchamps in Belgium in October, the famous Grand Prix circuit again seeing both series share the track. The season is currently scheduled to kick off at Donington Park in March, with a total of nine meetings taking in most major UK circuits. Each meeting will feature both championships - other than Castle Combe in August that will be for the Club championship only - and the Porsche Open will once more feature a number of one-hour races. A key feature of any Porsche Open season is the Bill Taylor Memorial race, which will take place at Brands Hatch in August. calendar

Jeremy Metcalfe made the most of an early Christmas present at Donington Park National Circuit yesterday, Thursday, 13th December, when he was given the opportunity to take his maiden mileage in a stunning Ferrari 430 British GT Championship car. The 19-year-old BRDC Rising Star, who for the past three years has been racing single-seaters in the Formula Renault UK Championship, is eyeing a change of career path in 2008 and couldn't have hoped for a better British GT test debut, Jeremy immediately on the pace inside just five laps of the 1.95-mile Leicestershire track. 'Driving the Ferrari was an awesome experience', said the elated racer, 'I only did about five laps in total but I was on the pace straight away and adapted to the car really well. It handles brilliantly and the run has definitely whetted my appetite for more. Driving the Ferrari in British GT next year would be fantastic, we're looking very seriously at it.' The Ferrari which Jeremy piloted yesterday afternoon is one of the cars which will be run by the newly announced CR Scuderia squad in the British GT Championship next year. Headed by Chris Niarchos and Andrew Kirkaldy, CR Scuderia will also field Ferrari 430s in the FIA GT Championship along with a quartet of cars in Formula Renault UK. With strong links to the team through its previous incarnation as AKA Cobra, having raced for the outfit in Formula Renault UK for the past two seasons, Jeremy has high hopes of continuing his relationship with the squad into 2008 with a potential move into British GTs. He added: 'I'd like to thank Andrew (Kirkaldy) and the guys at CR Scuderia for giving me the opportunity to have a run in the Ferrari, it was fantastic. It only took me a lap to find my braking points and then I was immediately on the pace of the other drivers who had at least double the track time and, in some cases, three times as much running. 'We're working hard to secure the budget for 2008 and my favoured option now is definitely a switch to GT racing. There are a lot of benefits for sponsors, especially with a team as professional as CR Scuderia. Obviously I know Andrew well from my time in Formula Renault UK and it would be good to continue that relationship.'

Proto-Auto completed the first Lola Daytona Prototype chassis test

for the customer Krohn Racing this week. ..read more

Silverstone Circuit was in the international spotlight again on Tuesday (11 December), winning a major international road safety award for its part in the hugely successful Northamptonshire County Council and Northamptonshire Police led CarKraft Young Driver Improvement Scheme...read more

The 2008 Masters and Top Hat calendar has been announced and offers something for every historic racer. With events ranging from 3-day historic festivals at top European Grand Prix tracks to individual evening races on UK circuits. There are many new initiatives from the 40th Anniversary celebrations on the super-fast Thruxton circuit at Easter, via the Ronnie Peterson Masters Festival at Anderstorp in June to a brand new Masters French Festival at Magny Cours at the end of August. Firm favourites such as the Ferrari Festival at Mugello in April, the Silverstone Classic, the Nurburgring Oldtimer Grand Prix and Spa 6 Hour festival will once again offer packed grids and great racing. Entry packs and specific race-by-race information will be available shortly, but in the meantime please check out overall Masters Calendar for 2008 and the individual series calendars which are available from the website at www.themastersseries.com

Sunoco Team Ultra 94 driver anticipates results in Skip Barber. Gianmarco is in Sebring, Florida for the next round of the Skip Barber Southern Region series with Sunoco Team Ultra 94. Heading down a bit early, Gianmarco is taking advantage of a pre-race lapping day to get acquainted with the track and become more familiar with the car."We took a bit of time to adjust to the car during the first race at Road Atlanta" offered Gianmarco. "By the end of the weekend we were getting comfortable but it seemed like a good idea to get as many laps in the car as possible before the next race." Gianmarco will use the extra day to his advantage to get some coaching from Skip Barber Racing School instructors on hand for the event. "We really want to put in a good effort for Team Ultra 94 this weekend" continued Gianmarco. "We hope to come away with a good finish and some points in the championship." Practice starts today(Friday) with racing on Saturday and Sunday

Formula Master’s 2008 single-seater made its track-debut yesterday in Vairano, Italy, with this year’s champion Jérôme D’Ambrosio at the wheel. Featuring new technology the car took to the track ahead of schedule for its first shakedown and is already proving a success according to D’Ambrosio. “This car is great to drive,” said the 2007 Formula Master Champion who completed over 100km today. “The new gearbox is a lot quicker and more precise, which makes the car even more competitive. It also means you don’t have to anticipate gear changes, the whole thing happens much faster. “The engine is a lot easier to manage, its range is bigger and there is a lot more power when in low revs. Everything went really well today, we had no problems at all throughout the day, which is fantastic when you consider that this was the car’s very first shakedown.” Powered by the Honda K20A engine, the single-seater race car also includes a new gearbox and clutch hydraulic actuators as well as the latest Magneti Marelli ECU/GCU Marvel 8 featured on next year’s GP2 Series car.

Andersen Racing is already making good use of its newly purchased 1-mile road course at Andersen RacePark. The team tested some of its F2000 Championship Series cars at its new headquarters there three days last week. …read more

The brand-new CR Scuderia racing team took to the track for the first time yesterday(Thursday) at Donington Park, testing an array of drivers for its 2008 British GT Championship campaign. The team ran the first of the 2008-spec Ferrari 430 GT3 cars and it was CRS Team Director, Andrew Kirkaldy, who took to the track first for a few installation laps. Following Kirkaldy's run the car was driven by Porsche Carrera Cup GB Champion, James Sutton; Formula Renault stars, Dean Smith and Jeremy Metcalfe; and British GT regulars, Ben de Zille Butler, Tom Alexander and Michael Bentwood. CRS Team Manager, Malcolm Swetnam, commented: "We've had a positive and productive day; the car ran faultlessly and all of the guys we tested thoroughly enjoyed driving the Ferrari." The next outing for CRS is at Fiorano next Tuesday when Andrew Kirkaldy will be back behind the wheel; this time to shakedown the world's first 2008-spec Ferrari 430 GT2 car.

Formula Master’s 2008 International Series was approved by the FIA World Motorsport Council last week with one change to the calendar. The ortuguese rounds in Estoril will now take place one week later. Originally planned for 5-6 July 2008, the International Series’ two races will now be on 12 and 13 July 2008 to avoid clashing with the Formula 1 British Grand Prix…calendar

In 2008, Mygale again takes up the challenge to Dallara with the release of its new Formula 3 car, the Mygale M-08F3…read more

The A1GP teams are in Zhuhai this weekend for the first of the two rounds of the World Cup of Motorsport to be held on Chinese soil this season, the fourth of the 2007-08 championship....read more

Following the announcement that Peroni Promotion will act as the Italian Formula Masters Series’ promoters, the 2008 calendar was also unveiled. Featuring only six dates in order to avoid any clashes with Formula Master’s international calendar, the Italian Series is set to feature teams from the International Series alongside possible newcomers...calendar

Formula Renault BARC entrant Russell Racing

have signed up Aaron Steele for the 2008 season …read more

Joel Miller, the Skip Barber National champion has signed up with JDC Motorsports to contest the 2008 Star Mazda Championship as as part of Mazda Driver Development program…read more

Formula Renault BARC Calendar announced , starting out at Brands Hatch on the Easter Weekend...read more

Avon Tyres British GT Champion Bradley Ellis will be attending the world’s biggest motorsport show, Autosport International, 10-13 January 2008. Ellis will be travelling to the NEC in Birmingham to chat about his plans for the 2008 season and take part in a very special charity kart race which aims to raise £50,000. ..read more

The Fortec Motorsport team completed a trouble-free day of running with its new Mercedes-powered Dallara F308 last week as Marcus Ericsson hit the track at Silverstone. The teenager, who will graduate to Formula 3 this season after clinching the Formula BMWUK title in 2007, completed over 50 laps of the Grand Prix circuit, with the day going without a hitch despite damp weather conditions. "The test was incredibly valuable to us at this time of the year in preparation for next season," Ericsson's race engineer Andrew Scott told Crash.net. "It ran faultlessly all day and generated a lot of valuable feedback from Marcus. "It's a step forward in many ways but presents a considerable development from the aero-package of F307." Ericsson will be partnered by another young driver Philip Major during the 2008 season

Mike Vincec,

(pictured right) fresh from the Rotax World Finals in the UAE, heads for Sebring in Florida this weekend \and the next round of the Skip Barber Southern Region race series….read more

Asia Racing Team (ART) Motorsports 2007 driver Alexandre Imperatori will have his first outing as A1 Team Switzerland ‘rookie driver’ in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport at Zhuhai International Circuit in China. The 20-year-old Swiss has never tested for the team or driven an A1GP car, however, his experience from three years of racing in Asia with ART and six past races at Zhuhai International Circuit made him a natural choice for championship leader team principal Max Welti when he was looking for someone to drive in the rookie session.

Safety systems and materials developed for Formula One make the Caparo T1 one of the world’s safest ultra-performance vehicles. The world’s fastest ever track-biased production car is constructed using an exceptionally strong carbon composite tub and an energy-absorbing carbon nosecone, giving extremely high levels of driver protection. ..read more

Helio Castroneves was back at Indianapolis recently with a new trophy, the Mirrorball trophy which he won in the US ‘Dancing with the Stars’ TV Show. "I'm still in shock," said the Brazilian of the glittery as he held the Trophy up outside the Pagoda at Indianpolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday (Dec 11th).

HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship entrant Arkas Racing

certainly made an impact during its maiden season of competition in 2007, an action-packed year which saw Turkish racer Erkut Kizilirmak finish an excellent joint-eighth in the Independents Trophy standings....full review

Fisichella Motor Sport International is delighted to announce the signing of 17-year-old Oliver Millroy to compete in its Formula BMW Europe team in 2008. Ollie is the recent recipient of the highly-coveted BMW Scholarship after impressing judges in an evaluation in October. Just four drivers were awarded the prestigious scholarship this year and Ollie made his mark at the Formula BMW racing centre in Valencia, going head-to-head with twenty other young hopefuls and setting the quickest overall time in the 140bhp Formula BMW racing car. Giancarlo Fisichella: "I want to say congratulations to Oliver and welcome to the Fisichella Motor Sport family. I was excited to start this new venture and it is good to sign Oliver first. We are very proud to have him with us." Ollie Millroy: "I am absolutely over the moon to have signed with FMS International who, without doubt, will be the most experienced team on the grid. My dad and I flew out to the factory in Italy on Wednesday where I met all of the team and Paolo Coloni. I had an amazing day, which included my seat fitting for testing on Thursday. The test was at Magione, near the factory and we had a very good and productive day, getting to know each other, working together and improving our times every time we went out. The car set-up is very different to what I have driven in the UK and feels a lot quicker and better to drive. I had a fantastic time and am very confident that I will be on the pace before the first race and in a position to produce some good results. 2008 will be a very important year for me and I will give 100% to show that FMS International and BMW were right to choose me. I won't let them down."

Emotive Group, a London-based automotive marketing firm that produces high-profile manufacturer events and whose United States division operates a number of driving programs, today announced the launch of the all-new Jim Russell Championship Series (JRCS) -- the official racing series of the newly revamped Jim Russell Racing Drivers School at Infineon Raceway.......read more

BMW Scholarships - Twenty six fledgling racers, all aged between 16 and 21, are preparing to do battle this week to earn one of the three coveted scholarships on offer from BMW Motorsport. The scholarships include a cash contribution of 50,000 Euro (approximately 70,000 USD) towards a season in the region's most professional and prestigious single seater series, Formula BMW, as well as a free, season-long Education and Coaching programme. read more

Britain's winter gloom will be lifted this Sunday (16 Dec) when The Race of Champions blasts into London with the support of newly signed Official Destination Partner, Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority decided to build on its ground-breaking partnership with the 2007 FIA World RallyChampions BP-Ford and the FIA World Rally Championship to include The Race of Champions, in which both the Ford Focus WRC and its retiring lead driver, Marcus Gronhoelm, will be taking part. "Partnering the most prestigious end-of-season motorsport event in the world is a perfect fit for Abu Dhabi and its aspirations," said Ahmed Hussein, Deputy Director General of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, the body responsible for the emirate's presence in the WRC as well as the FIA Middle East Rally Championship. "With Abu Dhabi's key tourism markets in western Europe, The Race of Champions provides a great opportunity to communicate with millions of potential visitors through a dynamic and exciting format. Having this take place in front of 80,000 live spectators in an iconic venue like the new Wembley Stadium significantly enhances the impact."

RDD driver Romain Grosjean will compete in the GP2 Series in 2008 with ART Grand Prix. The much vaunted signing of Romain Grosjean by ART Grand Prix was confirmed this morning. The Frenchman dominated the 2007 F3 EuroSeries with the ASM F3 team, and rumours had placed him at the sister ART squad in GP2 since the end of the season.

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