Brazilian race car driver and “Dancing With The Stars†champ Helio Castroneves was acquitted Friday of most charges that he worked with his sister and lawyer to evade more than $2.3 million in U.S. income taxes.
A federal jury acquitted Castroneves on six counts of tax evasion but hung on one count of conspiracy. The jury also acquitted Katiucia Castroneves, 35, who is her 33-year-old brother’s business manager, on the tax evasion counts but also hung on the conspiracy. Michigan motorsports attorney Alan Miller, 71, was acquitted on all three counts of tax evasion and one count of conspiracy. The jury deliberated six days after a six-week trial.
Castroneves, speaking in his native Portuguese, expressed profound relief.
“I just want to thank God, and my fans, and all of the people who prayed for me,†he said outside the courtroom, still fingering a rosary… Details
The 35th grand prix offers a party atmosphere and the chance to see the greats on one stage after the reunification of two series. Supporting races also are a big draw.
Long Beach will play host to its grand prix auto race again Sunday and, for the first time in several years, all of the sport’s top drivers will be there.
Danica Patrick, Scott Dixon, Marco Andretti, Tony Kanaan and Ryan Briscoe are among the IndyCar Series drivers racing in the 35th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach now that the two major U.S. open-wheel racing series have reunified.
The race has a great vibe, almost a carnival party atmosphere,” Dixon, the reigning IndyCar Series champion, said of the 1.97-mile, 11-turn race on the city’s seaside streets.
The weekend also features several support races …Â Details
Formula 1 World Championship leader Jenson Button set the fastest time of the second practice session at the Chinese Grand Prix on Friday.
However, Williams’ Nico Rosberg posted a late last lap – narrowly slower than Button’s best – to take second place off the Englishman’s team-mate Rubens Barrichello, who finished up third.
The German, fastest in several free practice sessions already this season, may even have nicked first place away from Button, if not for a…Â Details
Ferrari will not use the new KERS energy recovery system for this Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix, team boss Stefano Domenicali said on Thursday.
“We found a problem with the KERS on Kimi’s (Raikkonen) car in Sepang and we have therefore decided not to run KERS this weekend,” he said.
“We need to understand what happened to the system from the point of view of safety and reliability … if it is not running safely and reliably, we can no longer take the risk of running it.”
KERS, which gives drivers an extra boost of power at the push of a button, was used by four teams at the season-opening race in Melbourne last month.
But 2007 world champion Raikkonen had a problem with it in … Details