Contents: CVC casting around for a new Bernie? HRT completes F1 line-up with Liuzzi Bahrain gets F1 deadline - but more riots Ferrari leads the way in reliability A new contract close for Vettel Firestone changes its mind Bourdais searches for redemption Marrakech cancelled Villeneuve aims for Vegas millions Loeb: a future with VW......while BMW names teams for DTM Saving the Streamline Hotel March 14 2011 Issue 11.11 NEWS, TRENDS, IDEAS AND ECONOMIC ANALYSIS FROM THE MOTOR SPORT WORLD CVC casting around for a new Bernie? There have been reports in the last few days, clearly being leaked from CVC Capital Partners, that suggest that the role of president and chief executive officer of Formula One Management and Formula One Administration could be given to someone other than Bernie Ecclestone. There may be agreements that allow Ecclestone to remain in his current position, but there are also likely to be clauses that would remove him from office if there were serious problems with his health, or legal difficulties. There is also the possibility that he could be forced to resign. Whatever the circumstances, it seems that CVC is looking around and the suggestion is that one name that might be in the picture is that of Sir Stuart Rose (right), who is chairman of retail giant Marks & Spencer. He has not enjoyed a great relationship with the financial world in the past, but is seen as a very strong entrepreneur, taking over the company in 2004 when it had a share price of $640. He restructured the business, bringing in younger customers and making it much more profitable. The share price went up to $1,500 by 2008, before the economic downturn undermined confidence and the shares tumbled to the same level as when he joined the company. The annual profits when he joined the business were around $640 million, but these increased quickly to $975 million in 2005, $1.1 billion in 2006 and $1.6 billion in 2007, before the economic slowdown dropped them back to $1.0 billion in 2008, and $858 million in 2009. The company is expected to report a profit of $940 million for 2010. Rose is thus use to dealing with the same kind of level of business as Formula One, although he has no background in the sport, which would probably not go down well with the teams and the FIA. This is important as the Concorde Agreement needs to be renegotiated in the next 18 months, as the current deal runs out in December 2012. Both the teams and the FIA have made it clear that they are not going to settle for the same level of return as they currently get only 50 percent of the revenues of the business. They believe that a promoter should get 15 percent, rather than 50, and the FIA is also keen to get a share of the revenues as the previous deal landed the federation only $300 million for a 100-year deal, and that money was locked up in the FIA Foundation. A share of one or two percent would give the FIA plenty of money for other programmes, as this would net between $10 million and $20 million a year. Such a balance would give the teams around $850 million a year between them. This might not cover the full budget of all the teams, but it would certainly create value throughout the industry. HRT completes F1 line-up with Liuzzi Hispania Racing has announced the hiring of Vitantonio Liuzzi as team-mate to India's Narain Karthikeyan. The Italian tested for the team in February and was due to take part in last week s Barcelona tests as well but was unable to run because the team did not have all the parts for the new F111 in time. The new car was unveiled in the Barcelona pitlane on Friday but did not run. It is very similar in appearance to the computer-generated pictures published several weeks ago and looks like being a much better car than last year's Dallara. The team will be starting this year on the back foot because of the lack of testing and that will be a big disadvantage but it is hoped that the car will be reliable because it is using proven Cosworth engines and the Williams rear end used last year. The hope is therefore that the team will be bale to make rapid progress as it learns more about how to set-up the car, and with an experienced and highly-rated driver like Liuzzi, there is a chance that it will be able to move HRT from the back of the grid.
page 2 Whether this will be enough to bring in sponsorship is another matter. José Ramón Carabante (right, with his son José Ramón Carabante Aguilera and Narain Karthikeyan on the left, and Tonio Liuzzi and Colin Kolles on the right) hired Juan Villalonga in November to try to find money but the former Telefonica boss has failed to come up with anything of note. Karthikeyan brings money from Tata, but otherwise the car features no major sponsorship. The Spanish economy remains in a very poor way at the moment with rising fuel prices pushing up inflation. The Spanish economy went into recession during the second half of 2008 and the national economy continued to shrink, albeit by just 0.1 percent in 2010. Unemployment is running at 20 percent of the workforce. The country is going to try to raise $5 billion this week by selling bonds but investors remain nervous at the moment because of the upheavals in Libya, the debt problems in Spain and the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, which is bound to have an effect on the global economy. Last week global ratings agency Moody s, cut Spain s credit rating, saying that the cost of restructuring Spain's savings banks in going to be at least $55 billion. The government has introduced austerity measures to try to restore the country's economic health but the unions do not seem to understand the gravity of the situation and are threatening strikes. In the circumstances it is little wonder that José Ramón Carabante cannot find any money. The question is really whether or not he can hold on to the team until the economy begins to improve, or whether he will have to sell shares. The choice of Liuzzi is a positive sign for the team as last year's drivers were based solely on what they could pay. Liuzzi does not have any money to give the team. He is still waiting for Vijay Mallya to settle the broken contract with Force India. I have known Tonio for many years," says team principal Colin Kolles. "He raced with me in lower categories. He is a very professional driver who will bring a lot of benefits to the team. I am convinced about his skills to develop a car and his speed. He has shown this in the past having contributed to a large extend developing and moving a back of the grid car up to the front. Bahrain gets F1 deadline - but more riots The FIA World Motor Sport Council has given the Bahrain Motor Federation a deadline of May 1 to confirm whether or not it is in a position to host a Grand Prix in 2011. The Bahrainis must decide that all is well from a security point of view and then must try to find a suitable date when the race could be held. The teams might welcome more money but the additional race may not bring in that much given the way the F1 revenues are currently divided, and all the teams will need to agree if there is to be an additional race. The major problem, however, remains restoring stability to the kingdom and there are signs that the fragile peace of the first couple of weeks is now beginning to fall apart. On Friday police blocked thousands of protesters in the south of the island as they marched on a royal palace. On Sunday there was a big demonstration in Manama and another at Bahrain University, next to the Bahrain International Circuit. The demonstrations came while US Defense Secretary Robert Gates was visiting the city, trying to talk King Hamad and Crown Prince Salman into getting serious about political reform to quieten down the problems. Gates told the royals that it was impossible to think that they could return to how things were before the crisis began and that they must accept that situation or face increasingly strong opposition. The Bahrain economy is suffering badly at the moment with all tourism having stopped and the banking industry in the process of deciding whether to remain in Bahrain or move to a safer haven. Protesters blockaded the landmark Financial Harbour development in the main business district and were then attacked by police with tear gas and rubber bullets and pushed back towards the Pearl Roundabout, the scene of previous battles. As word got out about what was happening thousands of other protesters took to the streets and the police were forced back into the city and crowds once again took control of the area around Financial Harbour. The US says that it is talking to some of the dissident groups, the majority of which simply want more democracy rather than replacing the royal family.
page 3 Ferrari leads the way in reliability The Formula 1 testing is now finished and while the time sheets suggest that Michael Schumacher ended up fastest overall, the final day of testing was washed out with rain and so it is possible that not all the teams managed to get the best possible times. The answers will come in Melbourne in two weeks. What we can say with certainty is which cars have been trouble-free and should be the most reliable. There is no doubt that in this respect Ferrari is well ahead of the rest with a total of 4,340 miles with the new car. This is equivalent to nearly 24 Grand Prix distances. The cars have been quick throughout, although there have also been modifications along the way, notably with the exhaust systems. Fernando Alonso says that it is impossible to say who will win the first race, but he continues to say that Michael Schumacher will be a force to be recokned with this year. The Spaniard says that the leading group of cars will be Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes, Renault, "and maybe Williams". They may not agree with that assessment in Woking where the MP4-26 has been a real problem child, being neither very fast nor very reliable. Indeed of all the teams apart from HRT, McLaren managed to do the least amount of running, completing just 2,240 miles of running, which is only 51 percent of the running that Ferrari managed. The car is still having reliability problems and it looks like the team in Woking are facing another year of playing catch up with their rivals. Most people seem to think that the team to watch will be Red Bull Racing, which has completed 3,800 miles (86 percent of the total achieved by Ferrari). The Red Bull RB7 has been fast throughout the testing and the car is unlikely to go slower in Australia, where there will probably be new parts put on the cars. Sauber has done a very decent job as well, completing a total of 3,675 miles (85 percent of the Ferrari total). Mercedes is not far behind with 3,590 miles (83 percent), although the cars were not quick until the last tests when new parts were added. It remains to be seen whether this will be translated into success in Australia, but Schumacher's experience should help the team if tyres become the decisive factor in Melbourne. Scuderia Toro Rosso has given a good account of itself thus far in the tests and there is speculation that the team's unique "double floor" concept may be copied by other teams to figure out what it is doing to make the cars so fast. The team has completed 3,325 miles of testing, which is 76 percent of Ferrari's total. Renault is not far behind, with a 72 percent score after 3,125 miles of running. The car has looked good on occasion. The same can be said of the Williams, which did almost the same mileage as Renault. Of the rest, Force India and Team Lotus did the same sort of mileage, both completing around 2,550 miles of running, around 59 percent of Ferrari's total, while Virgin did 2,300 miles of running, 53 percent of the Ferrari total. HRT ended up doing no testing at all with the new F111 because the dampers were stuck in Spanish customs. This will mean that the first few races will be tough for the team, but it also means that the team will possibly make greater progress in the first half of the year than some of the others who have already sorted out their cars. A new contract close for Vettel Sebastian Vettel stays at Red Bull Racing in 2011 and if he finishes in the top 3 in the World Championship and wins two races he will automatically stay with the team in 2012. His salary this year will be $11 million, rising to $13.8 million next year. It remains to be seen what happens in 2013 and beyond but the current year-by-year deal suits both parties as it keeps the pressure on the team and the driver to deliver good results. The team wants to keep Vettel in the long term, while both Mark Webber and the team are currently happy to have year-by-year deals. The latest word is that Red Bull is offering Vettel a retainer of $13.8 million for 2013 with further options based on performance with an automatic increase to $16.5 million in 2014 if all goes to plan. Although this would mean that the money is the same in 2012 and 2013, it seems that Vettel would be given more free time as Red Bull would demand less work away from the racing. There has been speculation in Germany that the deal is agreed and that it will be announced in the next few days.
page 4 Firestone changes its mind It seems that Firestone's announcement that it would be quitting IndyCar racing at the end of the current season was not a definitive decision, but rather a way to concentrate the minds of the IndyCar people and get them to be a little more realistic about the future. A deal has now been struck for Firestone to remain with the series in 2012 and 2013. The decision came after the IndyCar management met with the team owners. "We feel that this new supply agreement will benefit everyone," said Randy Bernard, IndyCar's chief executive officer. "It provides a proven safe and reliable Firestone product for the transition to the all-new cars for 2012. " It seems that the team owners decided that it would be better to accept Firestone's terms on offer and have a guaranteed contract in place, rather than trying to find a new supplier capable of offering a better deal. It remains to be seen what the terms of the agreement will mean, but it could result in the teams paying for tyres. "We will continue to evaluate all options for promoting the Firestone brand inside and outside of motorsports, as the Firestone brand is a very important part of our business," said Al Speyer, the executive director of the Firestone Racing. Firestone has supplied tyres to the series since 1996. Bourdais searches for redemption The IndyCar Series kicks off the new season with an open test, beginning Monday, at the Barber Motorsports Park, in Alabama with 24 cars due to take part in the two-car event. Champions Chip Ganassi Racing will have four cars on hand with Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti winning in the traditional Target liveries while Graham Rahal will have a Service Central-sponsored car and Charlie Kimball will be backed by Novo Nordisk. Team Penske will have Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe and Will Power. The other big team is Andretti Autosport which will be fielding four cars again this year with Marco Andretti, Mike Conway, Ryan Hunter-Reay and, of course, Danica Patrick. This means that the three big teams are fielding 11 cars, which is 45 percent of the entry. The midfield features a very weakened Newman Haas Racing planning to run Oriol Servia and James Hinchcliffe, KV Technology running Takuma Sato and E J Viso in Lotus-branded cars, although some of the budget for these is coming from sponsorship from the drivers. There is much talk at the moment that the team will expand to a third car for Tony Kanaan, who was left in the lurch with the closure of De Ferran Motorsport. Kanaan has been talking to various teams but it seems that KV will be his likely destination. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing will have a pair of cars for Justin Wilson and Ana Beatriz, while Dale Coyne Racing is planning to run Sébastien Bourdais and one other driver. It is anticipated that Bourdais will soon announce a deal. Coyne is believed to have picked up some of the staff from De Ferran Motorsport and Bourdais seems to be interested if Coyne can find the money. The Frenchman wants to rebuild his reputation which was serious damaged by his disastrous decision to race for Scuderia Toro Rosso in Formula 1 in 2008-2009, which ended in him being fired, which was a blow for the four-time Champ Car champion. Bourdais has a commitment to race for Peugeot in the Le Mans 24 Hours on June 11-12, which will mean that he would have to miss the IndyCar race in Texas. Panther has one car for JR Hildebrand, AJ Foyt Enterprises will be running Vitor Meira, Sam Schmidt will keep Alex Tagliani in the game for another season after the takeover of FAZZT assets and HVM will have Simona De Silvestro. There are also plans for a car to be run by Conquest Racing. The recent weeks have seen the disappearance of De Ferran Motorsport. The IndyCar organisation is talking about capping entries at 26 cars but it is not clear whether this will be necessary. There is no sign at the moment of the planned AFS Racing while Sarah Fisher will be a part-time entrant and there will be the usual collection of Indy 500 one-off cars. Marrakech cancelled The World Touring Car Championship race in Marrakech was trumpeted in 2009 as being a sign of the globalisation of the sport, being the first FIA World Championship event to be held in Africa since the days of the South African Grand Prix and the Cote d'ivoire Rally in the early 1990s. The event was not, however, a financial success and after two races it has been cancelled
page 5 because of a lack of funding. Morocco has been trying to keep social unrest to a minimum, despite the overthrow of similarly authoritarian regimes in Tunisia and Libya and unrest in neighbouring Algeria where President Abdelaziz Bouteflika continues to impose an emergency law, while protest is building against him amongst the 60 percent of the population under 30. Protests in January over rising food prices turned to violence but the Algerian military remains a formidable force and is supporting Bouteflika, although there is no doubt that it would drop him very quickly if the situation gets out of hand. There has also been violence in Morocco in recent after unauthorized protests took place in Casablanca. The country is clearly jittery and last week King Mohammed VI said that Morocco will revise its constitution for the first time in 15 years - moving towards greater democracy to diffuse such protests. In the circumstances the goverment was not keen to pour more money into a high profile motor racing event. "After all the hard work and the considerable infrastructure investment made by the local promoter and the government, it is regrettable to see Marrakech dropped from the calendar," said WTCC promoter Marcello Lotti. "I know the organizers did all they could to avoid this sad decision. We are currently in negotiations with a couple of other racetracks in Central Europe to replace the event on the same date. " The event had been promoted by a company headed by Aly Horma (right), a Moroccan who was educated in France and went on to get a BSc at the New York University's Stern School of Business. He went on to get an MBA as part of an INSEAD/Wharton Business School Exchange programme. He then worked in banking before deciding to return to Morocco to try to make a business out of the race. He and general manager Abderrahim Zahid were decorated by the king last year for their efforts. Last year Bernie Ecclestone also visited the event to take a look. Villeneuve aims for Vegas millions Jacques Villeneuve says that he would like to have a try at winning the $5 million prize on offer for a non-indycar driver to turn up at Las Vegas and win the season finale. The 1997 Formula 1 World Champion won the CART title and the Indianapolis 500 back in 1995 and so is no stranger to oval racing. He has been out of Formula 1 since the middle of 2006 when BMW Sauber decided that it preferred to use Robert Kubica. Since then he has tried his hand at a singing career, while also racing at Le Mans with Peugeot and in various stock/touring car championships, notably NASCAR, the Speedcar Series in the Middle East and V8 Supercars in Australia. In recent years he has tried to mount a Formula 1 comeback as a team owner/driver but his application for a entry was rejected last year by the FIA. It is not yet clear with whom he would try to race, but the soon-to-be 40-year-old knows many of the IndyCar team owners and would be good for the Canadian TV audiences. Loeb: a future with VW... There are rumours that Sébastien Loeb may decide to leave Citroën at the end of the current season in order to take up a big offer to race for Volkswagen in a secret World Rally Championship programme. The theory is that Citroën's plans to train up Sébastien Ogier as Loeb's replacement has not gone down well with the seven-time World Rally Champion, who was much happier when he was clear number one, against Dani Sordo. It is said that the atmosphere within the team is now rather strained and Volkswagen is looking for a star name to lead its WRC project - if indeed such a thing really exists. The word is that the Germans are willing to pay Loeb $20 million to switch camps and that he would be partnered with Qatar's Nasser Al-Atilla, the Gulf state being an important VW shareholder and Al-Atilla having now gained credibility by winning the Dakar Rally. It is also suggested that current VW driver Carlos Sainz, would be employed as a test driver for the team....while BMW names teams for DTM BMW Motorsport has confirmed its partner teams for the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters in 2012. Each of the three teams will field two cars. It is no surprise to see the RBM and Schnitzer teams being chosen, but there is more of a surprise with the third choice, which is a new organisation called Reinhold Motorsport, which is run by Stefan Reinhold, who previously worked at Toyota F1 in Cologne. It is believed that many of the staff involved are also ex-toyota people and the link with BMW is probably due to the fact that the new BMW Motorsport chief is Jens Marquardt, formerly the General Manager of the Toyota
Page 6 operation. The new team will be housed in the old Zakspeed factory in Niederzissen, not far from the Nurburgring and within easy reach of Cologne. Zakspeed went bankrupt at the end of 2009, although it had been in financial difficulties for three years, following Peter Zakowski's personal bankruptcy in September 2006. Racing Bart Mampaey (RBM) started out as Juma Racing in Belgium in 1974, headed by Julien Mampaey, Bart's father. The team win three Spa 24 Hours victories in 1977, 1982 and 1983. In 1994 Bart took over the team. It was renamed and won the Spa 24 Hours again in 1998 under the BMW Fina Bastos Team banner. The team turned to the European Touring Car Championship in 2002, under the BMW Team Belgium name and then joined forces with Andy Priaulx in 2003, changing its identity to BMW Team UK and Priaulx won the European title in 2004, when the team ran a second car under the BMW Team Belgium-Luxembourg name. When the World Touring Car Championship began in 2005 Priaulx won the title for three consecutive years. "From a sporting point of view this poses a great challenge," says Mampaey, "but an appetizing one. We are honoured to be able to continue our successful cooperation with BMW Motorsport. " Schnitzer needs little introduction, having worked with BMW since the late 1960s, winning many titles along the way. "Schnitzer Motorsport has enjoyed a successful past in the DTM and achieved many victories together with BMW," said team boss Charly Lamm. "However, past success is no guarantee that we will also be victorious in the future. The bar is set really high in DTM, and our preparations will be intensive to meet this challenge. " The drivers have yet to be confirmed but it is expected that Priaulx and Augusto Farfus will be among them. Saving the Streamline Hotel The Streamline Hotel, on Atlantic Avenue in Daytona Beach, Florida is not the most glamorous of locations these days. The hotel has seen better days. But for racing fans across the United States the Streamline Hotel has much significance for it was in the Ebony Bar at the Streamline that NASCAR was conceived during a series of meetings involving team owners, beginning on December 14, 1947. The building dates from 1941 and at the time was the very latest in hotel design, its elegant Art Deco appearance being the work of a local architect Alan J. MacDonough, who designed many striking buildings in Florida in the era. The Streamline is located "beach-side" in Daytona, on the sand bar that is divided from the mainland by a lagoon. It is just a block away from the beach itself, where in the 1920s land speed records were broken and where the first Daytona stock car races took place in 1936. It was not until 1959 that the Daytona International Speedway was built to replace the beach course. The hotel has 45 rooms and a rooftop terrace and bar. In recent years the area has become rather seedy and the Streamline became known as meeting point for the gay and lesbian community. It has now been purchased by the Victory Lane Racing Association, a not for profit organization, which was established in 2005. The organisaton says that it will maintain the hotel, while turning part of the building into a NASCAR museum. The association hopes that teams will use it for their own promotional activities. WHISPER WHISPER WHISPER g The Superleague Formula has decided to change its calendar significantly, dropping the first two rounds of the series (at Monza and Portimao) and not beginning the season until the end of May when the championship is now due to kick off in Estoril. A week later there will be a race in Assen but there will then be a gap of a month until three races on consecutive weekends at Navarra, Magny-Cours and Zolder. There will then be a race at Donington Park in August, followed by an event at the new Smolensk track in Russia at the end of September and then more far-flung races in Brazil, the Middle East and New Zealand. Circuits for the final three meetings have not been agreed upon.
Page 7 g Shares in Williams F1 fell nine percent in value in the course of the last week on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange as the shares were traded. It is believed that some of the trading was created by speculators who hopes that the price would shoot up after the IPO being disappointed that it simply held steady. g Roush Fenway racing's Greg Biffle had a close call last week at Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky. His Dassault Falcon 20 executive jet suffered a landing gear failure, which caused the planes right wing to scrape along the runway. Fortunately the plane stayed straight and the pilot was able to stop the jet before it reached the end of the runway. Biffle says that he has had the plane for five years and uses it a great deal. g The FIA has agreed to allow F1 teams to have an additional specific of dry weather tyres at certain circuits this year. Teams will be informed of which tracks are involved at least one week before the start of the event. This is in response to fears that the tyres may not be hard enough at some races, depending on the weather and experience with tyres at earlier events. The new rule seems to provide insurance that the sport will not run into a problem where there will be no suitable tyres for a particular race track. g The NASCAR Hall of Fame has announced that its losses to date are up to $1.03 million. The Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority estimated that the facility would make around $700,000 in its first year. The budgets and forecasts have since been revised and it is expected to make a loss around $1.29 million in 2011. g David Brabham is to join the Sumo Power Nissan FIA GT1 World Championship team this year. The 45-year-old Australian will team up with with Jamie Campbell-Walter. Sumo Power has already announced that it will run former F1 drivers Ricardo Zonta and Enrique Bernoldi in its second car. g John Andretti will drive a fifth Andretti Autosport Dallara in the Indianapolis 500 this year, with support from Richard Petty Motorsports. John is the cousin of team boss Michael and uncle of his team-mate Marco. The other cars will be driven by Ryan Hunter-Reay, Mike Conway and Danica Patrick. g The NASCAR Cafe in Las Vegas was opened in the Sahara Casino back in 2000, and it has been one of the city's many attractions ever since, featuring a place to eat and a rollercoaster ride to get your appetite going. The news that the Sahara is to close is therefore bad news for NASCAR. The last of the old generation of 1950s hotels, the Sahara was a hangout of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. It has gone out of business because of the current economic climate and it is not yet clear what will happen to the 50-acre site at the northern end of the celebrated "Strip". g McLaren boss Ron Dennis has been ordered to surrender his driving licence by a court in Woking after pleading guilty to driving through a red light in nearby Bagshot last week. The offence meant that Dennis had used up all the available penalty points on the licence and must now wait for six months before he is allowed to get a new one. g Ulrich Hackenberg the head of research and development at the Volkswagen brand, who is also a member of the main board of parent company Volkswagen AG, says that there are no plans for the Volkswagen brand to be seen in either Formula 1 or in NASCAR. This does not mean that other brands in the VW empire will not get involved. Work continues towards the completion of the Volkswagen Porsche merger, with the latest move being the acquisition by Volkswagen of the automobile trading arm of Porsche Holding Salzburg for $4.5 billion. There have been many rumours suggesting that the most likely brand for a Volkswagen group F1 programme would be Porsche - once the deal is done. Volkswagen recently announced profits for 2010 at an impressive $9.5 billion. g Pedro de la Rosa has returned to McLaren as its official test and reserve driver. The Spanish driver worked with the team for seven seasons, beginning in 2003, before moving to Sauber last year. The team will also be retaining the services of 2005 German Touring Car (DTM) champion and 2002 German Formula 3 champion Gary Paffett. Former British Formula 3 champion and GP2 race-winner Alvaro Parente has been named as the test and development team for the new MP4-12C GT3 racing car. He will assist McLaren development driver Chris Goodwin and Andrew Kirkaldy. g Robert Kubica has undergone a fourth operation since his crash on the Ronde di Andora rally in February. The Santa Corona hospital in Pietra Ligure said that the Polish driver needed more work done on his damaged elbow in order to improve its functionality and asked Professor Luigi Celli, an elbow specialist, to conduct the operation. Formerly the head of Orthopaedic Trauma surgery at the University of Modena, Celli retired last year. The operation took three hours with Celli assisted by three other surgeons. Celli said that the initial work has been done hurriedly after the accident and his team had reconstructed the joint. It remains to be seen how long it will take Kubica to fully recover from the crash and whether he regains full use of his damaged limbs. g Josef Newgarden has signed to drive for Sam Schmidt Motorsports for the Firestone Indy Lights championship. The 20-yearold from Tennessee has spent the last few years racing in Europe but has decided that his career will progress further in the
Page 8 United States as raising budgets to race in Europe is very difficult. Newgarden was the first American to win the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch. g Team Lotus has announced that it will have three test drivers in 2011: Luiz Razia, Davide Valsecchi and Ricardo Teixeira. The first two drive for Tony Fernandes's Team AirAsia in GP2 and it is believed that the F1 testing deal was used as an incentive to sign them for the new GP2 team, thus funding it. g Honda R&D centre at Tochigi was damaged by the recent earthquake. One Honda worker died when a wall collapsed in a cafeteria. More than 30 other employees were injured by collapsing walls and ceilings. Japan's car companies have closed down many of their production facilities since the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that has devastated the Pacific coast of Honshu. Connectivity JOE SAWARD S BUSINESS OF MOTORSPORT is available only by subscription. 52 issues per year, distributed by e-mail on Monday morning of each week. Subscription rates are US$299.00 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 www.morienval.com/businessofmotorsport.html COPYRIGHT 2011. MORIENVAL PRESS, 4 RUE DES TROIS COURONNES, 60127 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 EMAILING, PHOTOCOPYING, RECORDING, TAPING, INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS OR FACSIMILE TRANSMISSION.