joe saward sbusinessofmotorsport

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1 Contents: Hamilton leads the way as pre-season testing ends Technical reshuffles at BMW Sauber and Force India Qantas returns as Australian Grand Prix sponsor Team Lotus to return to Indianapolis Indycars test in Alabama WRC - the remake Reinventing rallying (Plan B) NASCAR aiming to scare off start and park teams? Patron backs ALMS An event just for princesses Clutter in NASCAR 1 March 2010 Issue joe saward sbusinessofmotorsport ECONOMIC NEWS AND ANALYSIS FROM THE RACING WORLD Hamilton leads the way as pre-season testing ends Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of the final preseason test in Barcelona. He was three-tenths of a second faster than the second quickest driver, Mark Webber in his Red Bull-Renault. Felipe Massa was third fastest for Ferrari, just a tenth slower. Adrian Sutil was just a tenth slower than the Ferrari in his Force India - an encouraging performance. The times may be significant but it remains to be seen not only who has the fastest car, but more important who has the faster car over a race distance because that could be a very different story. What we can say is who is running cars that are reliable. In the four tests that took place in February Ferrari ended up with the highest mileage with a total of 4418 miles, pulling clear of the others with a huge effort in the final test. Renault ended up second with 6869 but Williams was next with 3769 followed by Mercedes (3696), Toro Rosso (3592), McLaren (3474). The BMW Sauber team ended up with a total mileage of 2886 which was still ahead of Red Bull, which did 2579, having missed one of the three tests. Force India also missed one test and ended up with a mileage of Lotus did two of the four tests and did a decent job with 1765 miles but the Virgin team struggled a lot and ended up with only 830 miles. Technical reshuffles at BMW Sauber and Force India James Key (38), the technical director of Force India, has quit the Silverstone team and will become technical director of BMW Sauber in Switzerland, replacing Willy Rampf (56) who is standing down after 10 years in charge at Hinwil. "When you re Technical Director of a Formula 1 team, the job comes first and everything else is subordinate to it, said Rampf. "I have done my job with a passion for 10 years, but now it s time to hand over the baton. Peter Sauber gave me the chance to enter this league of motor sport and I greatly value all my years spent working with the team. Peter Sauber has known of Rampf's desire to quit for some time and picked Key because of his achievements with Force India. "Despite his young age, James looks back on more than a decade of experience in Formula 1, Sauber said. The 2009 car in particular proved quite a revelation. James comes from a private team and knows how to work around a limited budget. With us he will enjoy high-level technical opportunities. Key (right) says that he was impressed when he visited Hinwil. "I knew straight away the kind of opportunities open to me," he said. "The wind tunnel, the supercomputer, the machine park and the expertise of the team were extremely persuasive. There is significant potential at Sauber, and with the ever-changing

2 Page 2 world of F1 I think the team is very well placed. I am grateful to my old team for the past 12 years I spent with them, but now I very much look forward to starting my new job." Although there have been some cutbacks in staff at Sauber in recent months, Key will find a very international group of engineers, including another former Jordan man, Seamus Mullarkey, who has been the chief aerodynamicist at Sauber since A graduate in mechanical engineering from Nottingham University, Key worked for two years with Lotus as a GT design engineer before being hired to join Jordan by Mike Gascoyne when he was appointed technical director of the team in Gascoyne stayed at Jordan until the start of 2001 when he was lured away to Benetton. Mark Smith, then Jordan's chief designer (left), followed him. Smith had been one of the original design team at Jordan when the team was established in 1990, after cutting his teeth with Comtec and Reynard. He spent the next 11 years with the team before leaving with Gascoyne. In August 2004, however, it was announced that he was going back to become Technical Director of Jordan. He took over the position at the end of that year, but after only a few weeks the team was sold to Midland and Smith resigned, moving to Red Bull Racing. Key was appointed as his successor and has remained in that position for the last five years. Things were made rather uncomfortable in 2006 when Gascoyne returned to the team when it became Force India, taking the role of Chief Technology Officer, and there were further complications a year later when Gascoyne brought back Smith as Design Director. The roles never seemed very comfortable, particularly after Gascoyne departed (again) at the end of It is no surprise at all that Smith has been named as Key's successor. Now would it be a surprise if Key were to turn up at Lotus F1 as he could become Technical Director there, under Chief Technical Officer Gascoyne. "I have spent the majority of my motor racing career within the team and although a difficult decision I felt the time was right for me to move on to new opportunities, said Key. After four owners and various changes and challenges, to field a car that got a pole position and a podium seemed like a culmination of all the efforts. While I m sad to leave a team I know so well, one which has allowed me to realise many ambitions within F1, I m looking forward to a new start." Qantas returns as Australian Grand Prix sponsor Qantas is back! And the Australian Grand Prix once again has a strong title sponsor, after ING's decision to quit the sport after three years in the role. Qantas has been involved in the Australian event since Formula 1 first visited the country in The race was then sponsored by Mitsubishi with Qantas taking on the role of the event's official airline. It has remained in this role ever since but stepped in to become title sponsor in 1997 after the Grand Prix struggled to find a permanent replacement for Fosters, which was the title sponsor between 1986 and After five years in the role Qantas stepped back and in 2002 and 2003 the race was unsponsored before Fosters returned in Qantas was fortunate in that the recession did not have a huge impact in Australia and although profits fell the airline continued to flourish, switching its fleet from the old Boeing 747s to the new Airbus 380s. The return as naming rights sponsor is logical for a number of reasons. Interest in the event in Australia is expected to be higher than ever this year as a result of Mark Webber's successes in 2009, when he became the first Australian since Alan Jones in 1981 to win a Grand Prix. In addition there is an element of "public service" involved in the sponsorship as taxpayers in Victoria will no doubt be pleased to see that Qantas money will help reduce the losses made by the event, which traditionally attract negative comment from the naysayers who continue to attack the event, carefully avoiding to mention all the good things that it has done for Melbourne. It is, of course, also a great opportunity for the company to spread the word about itself in Asia and the Middle East, which will help to attract business in the future. The news Formula 1 fans that are being inspired by races in these regions may eventually decided to venture aboard to watch F1 and Melbourne will be an obvious destination. Team Lotus to return to Indianapolis Team Lotus is aiming to enter the Indianapolis 500 this year with a team badged as Team Lotus USA. The news has been rumoured for some time. Group Lotus, which is not directly related to the new Lotus F1 team, named former Ferrari F1 marketing man Dany Bahar as its chief executive last year and he soon began to pick up other Ferrari people. He hired former Ferrari team manager Claudio Berro to head the Lotus Group's Motorsport department and more recently has hired Ferrari's chief road car designer Donato Coco, who was responsible for cars like the 599XX, the F430 Scuderia coupé and Spider, the Ferrari California, and the F458 Italia. The aim of all of this is to make Lotus a lot sexier than it has been in recent years, particularly in the all-important US market. The company has recently launched the Evora for the US and hopes to use motorsport to increase sales. The idea of Lotus returning to Indianapolis was first mentioned in October when Ferrari F1 logistics man announced to the French Canadian F1 media that he was following Bahar to Lotus. "I sincerely believe that this brand has great potential and I can announce the imminent return of Lotus to Indy, GT and Le Mans Series," Rosato told his fellow countrymen in Abu Dhabi. No-one paid the news much attention at the time as it seemed an odd

3 Page 3 way for such an announcement to be made. Now, however, it seems that Berro is singing from the same song sheet. He says that the team is talking to an existing team about creating an alliance, in order to deal with the logistical problems in the most efficient manner possible. The US market is of key importance to Lotus and there is a clear history of Lotus at Indianapolis that can be used to help the company sell more cars. Team Lotus took Indianapolis by storm in the 1960s, Jimmy Clark finishing second on the team's debut there in 1963 at the wheel of a Lotus 29. He was running second to Parnelli Jones in a JC Agajanian car, which was leaking oil but was not stopped by the officials. The following year Clark took pole position and led until retiring in a Lotus 34. In 1965 he won the race at the wheel of a Lotus 38, while in 1966 there was a famous dispute over whether or not Graham Hill's Lola or Clark's Lotus had won the race after what Lotus claimed was a lap-scoring error. Lotus is a much smaller company than Ferrari with production figures of around one third of the Italian company. Bahar believes that this can be boosted considerably using the sport. IndyCars test in Alabama The first major IndyCar test of the year took place last week at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama with XX cars in action on the 2.3 mile road course. Team Penske led the way, running its three cars in a new livery, as the longterm deal with Marlboro has finally come to an end. The new black and white color schemes are slightly different from car to car. The cars of Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe will run with Team Penske badging, while Will Power will be sponsored by Verizon Wireless. The three drivers set the pace in the first day of testing with Briscoe ahead of Castroneves and Power, all covered by a couple of tenths. On the second day Power went quickest. Chip Ganassi's Scott Dixon was fourth quickest behind the Penskes. Justin Wilson, at the wheel of a Z Line Designs Dreyer & Reinbold car was fifth fastest. A total off 22 drivers took part, including last year's champion Dario Franchitti, who continues with Ganassi. Missing from the test were Panther Racing (Dan Wheldon), which decided to test in Sebring instead as the team believes that it needs to run in higher temperatures. Also missing was the new FAZZT team, which is co-owned by Quebec's André Azzi, Jim Freudenberg, who has a long record as a team and race organiser, and Hollywood actor Jason Priestley. They will be running Alex Tagliani this year. Among those testing were KV Racing Technology whcih ran EJ Viso, Takuma Sato and James Rossiter. Andretti Autosport ran Tony Kanaan (7-Eleven), Marco Andretti (Venom), Ryan Hunter-Reay (Izod) and Danica Patrick (GoDaddy). Newman Haas Lanigan Racing ran Hideki Mutoh for the first time but Graham Rahal was missing, apparently because of problems with the McDonalds sponsorship that the team has had for the last few years. Others present were the new De Ferran Luczo Dragon Racing team with Raphael Matos; Mike Conway in the second Dreyer & Reinbold car; Vitor Meira in the AJ Foyt entry; Sarah Fisher at the wheel of her own cars and Jay Howard. There was also 21-yearold Swiss racer Simona de Silvestro having her first runs with the HVM Racing operation. The test also marked the return to IndyCar of Eric Bachelart's Conquest Racing, which has concluded a deal to run Brazilian Mario Romancini this year. The 22-year-old from Sao Paulo arrives in IndyCar after a decent first season in Indy Lights, when he finished sixth overall. Prior to that he raced in the Renault World Series in 2008 with Epsilon Euskadi, although he ran out of money at the end of the year and was replaced by Filipe Albuquerque. Conquest managed only a few races last year because of funding difficulties. WRC - the remake International Sportsworld Communicators recently rebranded itself as North One Sport, in recognition of its parent company - North One Television, which has owned the WRC rights holder since North One has extended its WRC rights deal with the FIA and has the financial clout of its parent company, All3Media, behind it. This in turn is owned by Damon Buffini's Permira, a major venture capital firm which has holdings in a wide-ranging portfolio of investments, including the Automobile Association,

4 Page 4 Saga, the Valentino fashion group, ProSiebenSat.1 Media, the Birds Eye frozen food company and various hotel and gambling companies. North One made an operating loss of $390,000 last year, but hopes that a major revamp of the WRC will help to drive profits in the years ahead. North One says that its plan is to introduce a new profit-sharing business model that will mirror that of Formula One, with a percentage of the revenues from TV rights, event fees, sponsorships and advertising being shared with the competitors, the event organisers and the FIA. North One now has control of the calendar after a period when the FIA introduced a scheme to alternate events - and thus keep national clubs happy - this meant that a number of big events simply departed and went to the rival Intercontinental Rally Challenge, run by rival Eurosport. The aim now is to standardise the rules which North One believes will result in teams switching to the WRC, simply because of its World Championship status. The WRC has advantages and disadvantages. The cars look like road cars and thus manufacturers see a closer link with car buyers than they get from the exotic Formula 1 machinery. WRC is cheaper but has far less exposure. It is also more difficult to televise because the rally stages tend to be long, and located in remote regions. Thus action can be missed. The events are spread out over a weekend and therefore need to be packaged. It does not help matters that the cars do not run together, but rather compete against the clock. While this allows for the clever use of technology to create "ghost cars" so that the relative performance of the cars can be measured, it means that there is no bumping. There are spectacular accidents from time to time as safety measures are not as advanced as they are in Formula 1. Because it is cheaper, there is more opportunity for WRC to expand in the United States, where F1 has priced itself out of the market. It is also able to go to countries which cannot afford F1. This should lead to growth. One of the problems is that the WRC has been dominated unhealthily by Citroen for the last six years with Sebastien Loeb winning all six titles. It helps that this year Formula 1 refugee Kimi Raikkonen has decided to try his hand at rallying. There will be some F1 fans who will look at the WRC as a result and, inevitably, some will become fans. It is hoped that the arrival of Ken Block's new Ford team, with backing from the Monster Energy drink company will create interest in the United States. Block is a celebrated stunt driver, who has built up quite a following using viral marketing. At 42 he is a little old to be a global motorsport hero but his exploits on the Internet have elevated public awareness of rallying around the world. Re-inventing rallying (Plan B) Eurosport Events and the Cyprus Automobile Association have just announced the creation of an innovative new rallying event which they have called the Golden Stage Rally. This will be run for the first time in Cyprus on November 7. The Golden Stage Rally will feature a single stage on mixed surfaces measuring around miles. It will be run twice. There will be a prize fund for the event of around $225,000, which will be split between the winners. The aim is to showcase the art of rallying in a new and exiting way, while at the same time, reducing the cost of logistics for the teams and, more importantly, for the TV coverage. It will allow the use of more cameras and different angles and will allow spectators a better opportunity to see the cars, without needing to move from place to place. It will also compact all the action into one day, rather than it being spread across the usual three or four days of an event. The Golden Stage Rally will be broadcast in its entirety through Eurosport's network, reaching more than 117 million homes across 59 countries and through Eurosport Asia-Pacific. The event will take place the day after the final round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, Eurosport's rival to the WRC. "With this brand new concept, we want to create a new showcase for our entire sport and an opportunity for the professional and amateur drivers from many series to gather together and take a shot at glory and the prize purse," says Marcello Lotti, the general manager of the IRC. It will be open to all teams and drivers and the action promises to provide a great show in Cyprus, host venue of the final round of the IRC season and renowned as one of the world's most challenging rally destinations." It may be that this is IRC's ultimate answer to the threat that exists from the FIA World Rally Championship. If the WRC manages to sort out the rules, the calendar and the budgets, it is inevitable that the IRC will struggle to compete with the same kind of cars. Thus a new format may the answer. In the end it may create a completely new branch of the sport, as happened in the 1970s when rallycross was invented. NASCAR aiming to scare off "start-and-park" teams? NASCAR appears to be finally making a move against what are known as "start and park" teams involved in its flagship Sprint Cup Series. The NASCAR prize fund is such that a team can, in theory at least, make $2.8m in a year, simply by being classified last in all the races. After buying a car and paying the entry fees, the only real overheads are staffing costs and tyre bills.the budget for such an operation can be as low as $250,000. There is little financial incentive to do better as one earns as much by starting and parking as one does from running the full race distance and finishing towards the tail of the field. Last year, for example, Dave Blaney qualified his Prism Motorsports Toyota for 30 of the 36 races. He retired 29 times, completing just 12% of the total number of laps. The team earned $2.3m in prize money. On one occasion the car was sponsored by Aaron's Dream Machine and at that event Blaney completed a full race distance, collecting $91,175. If he had finished last that

5 Page 5 day he would have pocketed $87,000. The start-and-park business model works in a recession because there are fewer cars around. The only real risk involved is that the car might fail to qualify, thus incurring expenses but not gaining prize money. Given that running a midfield car these days costs in the region of $20m, one can see that "the start-and-park" business model is a sensible option if one has the equipment available. Generally-speaking the sanctioning body will not do anything to stop such teams as it wants full fields, in order to maintain the appearance that it is in a healthy state, despite the economy. If the business model exists and there is no rules against it, teams are entitled to do it. With sponsorship hard to find and the bigger teams sucking in all the available money with alternating sponsor deals, there is little hope for any small teams but they argue that it is best to be there and to be taking part, just in case. Prism Motorsports is owned by former driver Phil Parsons (52), the younger brother of 1973 NASCAR Cup champion Benny Parsons. He raced in the Cup between 1983 and 1997 and continued in the Nationwide Series until After several years as a TV commentator he started his own team in 2008, but it was a tough environment. There were no sponsors and the team had to get along as best it could. "We didn t want to be a start and park last year," Parsons explained. "But we re trying to build something for the future and that s what we had to do to survive without sponsorship." This season Parsons has expanded his operation to two cars. There is no major funding involved. It is simply a question of surviving and hoping that opportunities come along. NASCAR has always championed the idea that teams should be given the opportunity to race and has turned a blind eye. At the Auto Club 500 in California, however, NASCAR inspectors swooped on Blaney's car when it came in to retire after running 43 laps of the event. His team-mate Michael McDowell had already retired at that point. NASCAR says that it will complete its technical checks as quickly as possible but there were no guarantees that they would be done in time for the next race in Las Vegas. Prism has no spare cars and may have to miss the event. Not surprisingly, the inspection is being seen by some as a sign that NASCAR wants the teams to try a little harder, rather than cruising and collecting. Perhaps, they say, one car is OK, but collecting money with two cars is going too far. "Phil s trying to get something established and they are heading in the right direction," says Blaney. "In my situation, my other option is to sit at home. I still don't think that's a better option. At least I'm here. I'm staying in the car and staying current, or whatever you want to call it."if we get some money to race on, I'm here. If something happens to somebody, I'm here. Patron backs the ALMS Tequila Patron has increased its involvement with the American Le Mans Series to become the'presenting sponsor of the US sports car series. The company had previously been involved, funding Highcroft Racing's factory Acura, which was raced by David Brabham and American Scott Sharp. Together they won the 2009 American Le Mans Series championship. Sharp has since moved on to start his own team and Highcroft has hired Simon Pagenaud as his replacement. Patron will also support Sharp's new enterprise which will run a pair of Ferraris in the GT2 class. Among the drivers will be Patron's CEO Ed Brown. Patron was founded in 1989 with the aim of becoming the leader in the premium tequila market. The co-founders were John Paul Dejoria, who had previously made a fortune as the co-owner of John Paul Mitchell Systems, a company which produces haircare products, and the late Martin Crowley, who died in Patron took on Brown, a former Seagram executive, and this led to the decision to get into racing, initially in NASCAR. The success of Grey Goose vodka has led to an increase in interest in expensive superpremium spirits and Patron enjoys a 70% share of sales in the premium tequila market and is expanding from the US into Asia, Europe and South America. With its eye firmly on the luxury markets, Patron could become a potential Formula 1 sponsor in the years ahead. The firm was reorganised in 2008 with Dejoria becoming the principal owner but a minority of the business is now owned by the giant drinks firm Bacardi.

6 Page 6 An event just for princesses At the end of May the one-of-a-kind Rallye des Princesses will be held for the 11th time. It is a nice little earner for its organisers, while also meeting a clear demand in a niche market. It is designed solely for women and the aim is for a convivial event, with a little spice of competition thrown in. For some it is an introduction to the sport - an adventure, for others it provides a chance to escape from normal life and relax, enjoying the backroads of France in beautiful old cars. There are a number of ritzy stopping points along the way, providing the girls with the opportunity to enjoy the sorority and the automobile - without men getting involved. A cross between luxury tourism and an adventure holiday, the Rallye des Princesses is designed to be wholly free of hassle and includes a cocktail party at the Ritz in Paris and a gala awards dinner in Monte Carlo. There is an extensive road book to help those who have a tendency to get lost and two trucks provide all technical back-up and assistance. In addition there vehicles to transport luggage. The modern event revived a tradition which began in 1929 with the first ParisSaint-Raphaël Feminin event. It returned in 1999 when Viviane Zaniroli proposed the idea to her husband Patrick. He is wellknown in France as both a racer and an event promoter. The grandson of pre-war racer Robert Senechal, Zaniroli grew up surrounded by the sport and in the 1970s was a regular competitor in offroad rallies in France. He was one of the pioneers of the ParisDakar Rally, while also establishing Auto Verte, a club for those interested in the offroad world. He then set up Auto Verte magazine to help build up interest in the sport. and this led to the establishment of Patrick Zaniroli Promotion (PZP) in the late 1980s to host an annual 4X4 Show in Paris. At the same time he enjoyed success on the Paris-Dakar with VSD-sponsored Range Rovers although his best result - victory in came at the wheel of a Mitsubishi Pajero. In 1994 he was asked by the Thierry Sabine Organisation to run the entire event, which he went on to do for 12 years. In parallel he began developing other events with PZP, which had been taken over by his wife. This began in 1999 with the Rallye des Princesses, and was followed with the Snow & Ice Rally in 2003 and the TransAfricaine Classic, which revived the spirit of the original Paris-Dakar, which the Zanirolis launched in This year's Rally des Princesses begins in the glitzy Place Vendome in Paris. It will take in the Loire Valley, the Auvergne, the town of Vichy, the Ardeche and a visit to Paul Ricard before arriving in Monte Carlo six days later. Along the way there are tests and trials for those with a competitive edge. Clutter in NASCAR The NASCAR Sprint Cup cars are a right royal mess, when it comes to sponsorship differentiation. Most of the cars feature one or two bigs sponsors, although these days they tend to change from race to race and there are as many as 30 or more stickers placed here and there, to recognise trade sponsors and suppliers. At 200 mph these are a complete waste of space. They do not show up on television and while they may be identifiable in photographs, they look simply awful. For the avid fans, who know the different numbers of the cars, the switches of livery are not a problem. NASCAR, unlike Formula 1, at least has large numbers so that cars can be recognised with relative ease. The numbers are used as brands, although the recent performance of the NASCAR merchandising sector suggests that this is not as lucrative an area as once it was, perhaps because the fans feel that the constant livery changes are designed to get them to part with more money. Some of the teams, notably Red Bull have done away with all of this and have very clear messages on their cars, thus proving that it can be done. Roush Racing seems keen on trying to keep the messages as clear as possible while Hendrick Motorsports has tried to maintain at least the same shapes of livery as the sponsors switch about. Other teams have so many different colour schemes that it is impossible to keep up. The thing that perplexes Formula 1 marketers is why none of the teams have done the obvious thing and created a four-car team with four large sponsors, all enjoying prominent positions and without all the clutter, flames, swirls and so on. The sponsors would thus get four times as much chance of being on the winning car, while the fans would still be able to tell the cars apart

7 thanks to the numbers. This would give a much more professional image for the sport and save money avoiding endless paint jobs and new team uniforms. This would also give the teams the opportunity to build up their own brands and perhaps create commercial opportunities if there are fans who wish to buy road cars that show a particular allegiance to one team or another. While is it not always possible to retain the same sponsors for years on end, it is still possible to create a brand image for the team, using a system like the sponsorship "windows" that McLaren employs. The added benefit of this system is that it would give the teams a little more clout in their negotiations with sponsors. If the big names want to have entire cars then they must pay for it. This would mean that there would be less need for the big teams to suck up all the middle-sized sponsors and thus deprive the mid-grid teams of the money they need to survive. One can argue that the suppliers would not be happy with this, but is there really anything to be gained from the deals that they have now? As Formula 1 has shown, there are many other ways for companies to use an association with racing rather than a shoddy little sticker on every car. Off-car sponsorship is now a very successful part of F1 marketing and could be in NASCAR as well. On the other side of the coin, Formula 1 has something to learn from NASCAR's use of numbers. Yes, avid fans of F1 can recognise one car from another if they know which driver has a yellow fluorescent flash on the car and which has a red one, but surely a few visible numbers would do no harm at all. WHISPER WHISPER WHISPER g A Wisconsin woman was killed last week at the NHRA's Arizona Nationals at Firebird International Raceway, near Phoenix, Arizona. Antron Brown's Top Fuel dragster lost its left rear wheel shortly after the start of a qualifying run. The car slewed out of control, hitting the errant wheel and launching it into the air. This bounced over safety fences and hit 51-year-old Sue Zimmer who was in Phoenix, visiting her son. Brown emerged unhurt from a sizeable accident but Zimmer was later pronounced dead at the Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix. The NHRA is investigating the incident. g De Ferran Luczo Dragon Racing has announced plans to expand to two cars for three IndyCar races in 2010 with plans for veteran Davey Hamilton to take part in the Indianapolis 500, the Bombardier Learjet 550 at Texas Motor Speedway and one other oval event. It will be the 47-year-old's first multi-race IndyCar programme since 2001 when he suffered serious leg injuries in an accident in Texas. Hamilton underwent 21 operations to reconstruct his feet and returned to the cockpit for the Indianapolis 500 in He finished ninth and competed at Indy in 2008 and 2009 as well. Hamilton joins IndyCar Rookie of the Year Raphael Matos at De Ferran Luczo Dragon. g Silverstone Circuits has announced that the Heli Air company is to operate a permanent heliport at the circuit in the future. There are plans for the construction of a permanent terminal, which will provide full heliport facilities, including charter options, flight training and helicopter experiences for visitors. As part of the deal Heli Air Silverstone will have exclusive rights for the British Grand Prix weekend, although private pilots can apply for slots. g Holmatro Inc will be the sponsor of the Indy Racing League Safety Team in The company is a leading player in the world of safety equipment. The team will be led by Dr Mike Olinger, Indy Racing League director of medical services, and Mike Yates, Indy Racing League manager of track safety operations. It will include a team of 24, who have an average of 20 years experience in their roles. At each race there will be two trauma doctors, three paramedics and nine fire marshals. They have four of their own vehicles, equipped with all the latest rescue equipment. g Virgin has named Spain's Andy Soucek, the Formula Two Champion, as its new Reserve and Test Driver, following the news that Alvaro Parente's funding from the Portuguese tourist authorities has failed to materialise. Soucek (24) will attend all the Grands Prix with the team, taking part in technical debriefings and doing promotional work while standing by to deputise for one of the race drivers if required. He will also assist in the ongoing simulator programme with race drivers Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi between Grands Prix. g The Cincinnati-based grocery chain Kroger, one of the largest in the US, has extended its retail licensing partnership with Daytona International Speedway until The company sponsored three cars in the recent Daytona 500, trading floor space in its 2,500 stores with the car's regular sponsors. Kroger operates in 31 states under more than 20 different regional brands but has 850 fuel stations at its stores, in addition to 40 manufacturing units producing its own brand products. The deal helps to market the Daytona brand across the nation, with Kroger using the race as the focus of a major sale in its stores. g Marco Andretti has signed to race at this year's Le Mans 24 Hours with Rebellion Racing. Formerly known as Speedy Racing Team Sebah, the operation has been rebranded in deference to the team's new backer Rebellion Timepieces, a Swiss watch company. The team will field two Lola LMP1 Coupes this year with Andretti joining Neel Jani and Nicolas Prost in one car with the other being driven by Jules Boullion, Andrea Belicchi and Guy Smith. Another Lola will be seen in the hands of Drayson Racing, which will be running five-time Le Mans winner Emanuele Pirro, Jonny Cocker and Paul Drayson, otherwise known as British government minister Lord Drayson. g More details of the 2.6-mile street circuit that IndyCar will use in Sao Paulo have been emerging. The track, which is just to the north of the downtown area, is to be located in an area which is used to events, around the Ahembi Convention Centre and the Sambodromo, a purpose-built grandstand area, which is used for the annual carnival, which can seat 30,000 people. The

8 Page 8 track will use sections of the extensive parking lots around the facility. Teams will be housed in the 780-room Holiday Inn Parque Anhembi Hotel, which is located next to the convention centre. There is going to be some considerable disruption as part of the circuit will be the Avenida Marginal do Tiete, which is a hugely busy piece of road. This runs alongside the Rio Tiete, which can be rather a smelly river and may not be quite as glamourous as the promotional materials suggest. The event will no doubt draw a huge and enthusiastic crowd. g Formula 3 Euro Series racer Jean-Karl Vernay has decided to move to the United States after three years in the European series, driving for the Signature team. Vernay finished fifth in last year's title, the highest placed of the drivers using VW engines. The 22-year-old Frenchman will race in Indy Lights with Sam Schmidt Motorsports, which has won the title three times with Thiago Medeiros (2004), Jay Howard (2006) and Alex Lloyd (2007). In recent years the team has been overshadowed by the Andretti Autosport-backed AFS Racing team which won the titles in 2008 and 2009 with Raphael Matos and JR Hildebrand. g It has come to our attention that people are distributing this newsletter on a widespead scale and that even non-subscribers have taken to pirating the product and sending it on their friends. This is an illegal act. At the bottom of the newsletter there is a very clear statement of copyright that makes this very clear. It is not helpful to be doing this as it undermines the ability of the publication to make a profit. If it does not make sufficient money it will be closed down and no-one will be better off as a result. Please feel free to recommend the title to others but systematic distribution of copies is best avoided. A RACE APART Stories of the races that have been part of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship Dutch Grand Prix 1959 The dunes of Zandvoort played host to the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of May The world was in the grip of the Cold War with Dwight D. Eisenhower was in the White House, Nikita Khrushchev in the Kremlin and Fidel Castro recently installed in Cuba. Harold Macmillan was Prime Minister in London but the old British Empire continued to come apart with Cyprus being granted independence and Singapore preparing for the same. The Americans and Russians were battling it out to see who would be the first to put a man into space. NASA won a minor victory by sending up two monkeys and getting them back alive. Closer to the ground, things did not work out as well for Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper who were all killed in a plane crash in Iowa. Mankind might have proved itself capable of sending primates into space but the British Racing Motor Formula 1 team was still incapable of winning a race, despite almost 10 years of trying. The team's patron Sir Alfred Owen was beginning to lose patience and that year handed over one of his cars to the new British Racing Partnership, which was run by Stirling Moss's father Alfred and his manager Ken Gregory to see if a privateer could do a better job than the factory. Moss drove and the car was quick and in the week before the Dutch GP he was busy doing development work at Zandvoort. For the race Moss returned to his usual drive with one of Rob Walker's private Coopers, leaving the BRMs in the hands of Jo Bonnier and Harry Schell. It was a small field with just 15 cars: there were four Ferraris for Jean Behra, Phil Hill,Tony Brooks and Cliff Allison; there were the factory Coopers for Jack Brabham and Masten Gregory, alongside the Walker cars of Moss and Maurice Trintignant. There were Lotuses for Graham Hill and Formula 1 new boy Innes Ireland and the private Porsche of Carel Godin de Beaufort. The big excitement was the arrival of the new Aston Martin F1 cars with Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby driving. These were not a success. Bonnier set the fastest practice time from Brabham and Behra. From the start Bonnier led while Gregory jumped up to second from the third row of the grid and took the lead on the second lap. He remained ahead for 12 laps until he began to suffer gearbox trouble which allowed Bonnier to get ahead again. Brabham chased while Gregory held on to third as Moss and Behra fought for fourth place. Moss then began a charge and moved up to the leaders and made it ahead but he then suffered a gearbox failure which handed the lead back to Bonnier. The car ran reliably all day and finally Bonnier took the chequered flag to give BRM its first World Championship victory. Brabham came home in second place for Cooper while Gregory managed to to stay third, despite the charging Ireland. JOE SAWARD S BUSINESS OF MOTORSPORT is available only by subscription. 52 issues per year, distributed by on Monday morning of each week. Subscription rates are US$ for a year or $25 per month. If you would like to take out a subscription, or would like further details, please contact us at COPYRIGHT MORIENVAL PRESS, 4 RUE DES TROIS COURONNES, MORIENVAL, FRANCE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE REPRODUCED OR COPIED FOR ANY REASON OR BY ANY MEANS GRAPHIC, ELECTRONIC OR MECHANICAL INCLUDING ING, PHOTOCOPYING, RECORDING, TAPING, INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS OR FACSIMILE TRANSMISSION.