Formula One’s growing restrictions have made the sport less attractive and reduced Honda’s incentive to rejoin a series it abandoned due to the global economic downturn, the company’s new chief executive said Monday.
Honda withdrew backing for its under-performing team last December, only to see new owners Brawn turn the outfit into championship leaders, and Japan’s second largest automaker said it would consider a return once it had recovered financially.
“It was a real shame that we had to leave Formula One,” Takanobu Ito, who took over as chief executive last month, told a media gathering in Tokyo.
“On the other hand, F1 is becoming …Â Details
Long Beach, Calif. – July 12, 2009 – Formula DRIFT returned to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Round 4: All In.
Champion Tanner Foust takes the victory in his Rockstar / Hankook Scion Racing tC, while Chris Forsberg in the NOS Energy Drink / Maxxis Nissan 350Z moves to the top position overall in the chase for the Formula DRIFT Pro Championship.
For the 2nd consecutive year, Formula DRIFT returned to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The 2-day weekend event was filled with non-stop Formula DRIFT and Pro Am action. Fans were also treated to the Jtuned Auto Gallery car show, Wicked H.P. drag competition, and Bikini Jam.
“Las Vegas continues to be one of the top destinations for the circuit despite the triple digit weather,†said Ryan Sage, vice president of marketing and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “The fans continue to come out in droves and we had another sold out event. The drivers continue to step up their level of drifting and we’re seeing a real chase for the Championship.â€Â … Details
The Acura Sports Car Challenge will officially mark the start of a new era in Corvette Racing with two new Corvette C6.R entries set to debut in the American Le Mans Series’ annual visit to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Wearing the familiar Nos. 3 and 4, cellulosic E85-fueled, V8-powered Corvettes will go head-to-head with Ferrari, Porsche, Panoz, BMW, Ford and Dodge among others throughout the second half of the 2009 season.
Johnny O’Connell and Jan Magnussen will drive one Corvette C6.R at Mid-Ohio with Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin in the other. The team is transitioning to GT2 from GT1 where Magnussen, O’Connell and Antonio Garcia won in class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and gave Corvette Racing its sixth victory in the world’s greatest race since 2001… Details
The momentum in Formula One’s championship fight has appeared to shift significantly after Red Bull collected its third 1-2 finish and Brawn GP had it worst performance of the season at the German Grand Prix.
Mark Webber picked up victory No. 1 in race No. 132 on Sunday, edging teammate Sebastian Vettel for Red Bull to close in on Brawn GP in both championships.
Brawn GP driver Jenson Button’s lead over Vettel is down from 32 points to 21 with 80 points still available. Webber is 22.5 back from Button. Brawn GP’s constructors’ lead is down to 19.5 points.
Button won six of the first seven races but has since been shut out as Brawn GP failed to reach the podium for the first time this season…Â Details