Eighty teams entered
The Sandblast Rally will be sending the first racers out of the starting gate this weekend, on Saturday February 9th. The annual stage rally event, based in Cheraw, South Carolina, will be storming into the Sand Hills State Forest in the early morning. The rest of the day will see cars and motorcycles blasting down the closed roads at full ... [ more ]

The Central Europe Rally
Amaury Sport Organisation announces the creation of the Central Europe Rally. This new rally organised under the « Dakar Series » certification will take place from April 20th to the 26th in Hungary and Romania. Scrutineering and administrative checks will take place on 19th of April in Budapest.

The Central Europe Rally, between ... [ more ]

Sakhir - Toyota - Test day 1
On a sunny and mild day in the Middle East, the Toyota Formula One team got its first test underway in Bahrain today with Timo Glock and Kamui Kobayashi behind the wheel of two TF108s.

The main item on the agenda for Glock was the continued development of the set-up after solid progress during the last test at Valencia helped ... [ more ]

Sakhir - Ferrari - Test day 1
Testing began today for the Ferrari team at Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir. World Champion Kimi Raikkonen and test driver Luca Badoer enjoyed warm temperatures and clear skies during this opening session, which was also windy as expected.

Both drivers have begun work on a busy technical programme, concentrating mostly ... [ more ]

The 'first shot in negotiations' has been fired
Organisers say the Australian Formula One Grand Prix will not bow to pressure from F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone and switch to a night race, reports said Monday.

Ecclestone stated in weekend reports that, with more lucrative host cities being touted, Melbourne was in danger of losing the event it has staged ... [ more ]

FIA demands report from Spanish GP organisers
Lewis Hamilton has shared his thoughts regarding the racial abuse he was subjected to during last week-end's Formula One group tests at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain. On each occasion the McLaren driver left the pits, insults were thrown at him by a group of spectators, some wearing black wigs with black make-up, ... [ more ]

Measures to be taken
The Circuit de Catalunya wishes to explain its position regarding the actions of a minority of spectators on Friday, February 1st during the test session of Formula One teams:

1. The total number of spectators during the three days of the event was 55,000 fans with a general attitude of respectful and excellent behaviour during the ... [ more ]

Test development driver role
The ING Renault F1 Team is delighted to announce the arrival of Sakon Yamamoto in the role of test development driver for the 2008 season. The 25 year-old from Japan has made 14 Grand Prix starts so far in his career, with Super Aguri and Spyker. His best finish was P12 in last year's rain-soaked Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji Speedway.

Sakon ... [ more ]

Barcelona - Force India - Test day 3
Force India concluded its three-day test at the Circuit de Catalunya yesterday on the outskirts of the vibrant Spanish city of Barcelona.

Adrian Sutil took over driving duties to run through a programme of work on set-up and control systems, long run simulations and aero testing. Sutil also practised starts throughout ... [ more ]

Barcelona - Toro Rosso Ferrari - Test day 3
Today, the two Sebastien Bourdais and Sebastian Vettel swapped cars to better evaluate a new front suspension, and both drivers gave positive feedback about this.

Rain at the end of the final day provided the opportunity to run on Bridgestone Potenza wet tyres.

“This has been another good test for us, ... [ more ]

Barcelona - McLaren Mercedes - Test day 3
The final day of this week’s test saw Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton continue the programme of Bridgestone tyre evaluation and reliability confirmation and aerodynamic and set up development work.

The McLaren team also focused on longer runs with the MP4-23 package, with fewer red flag stoppages at the Spanish ... [ more ]

Barcelona - Honda - Test day 3
Rubens Barrichello rejoined the team’s Barcelona test today for the final day of running alongside team-mate Jenson Button.

This morning, in a continuation of his day one programme, Barrichello evaluated various set-up options and completed 45 laps.

Button’s programme was based around some chassis set-up work over ... [ more ]

Barcelona - BMW Sauber - Test day 3
Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld continued work on the set-up of the F1.08 car today in Spain.

Kubica's car ran without major problems. Heidfeld encountered a minor technical issue in the morning session and did a precautionary stop on the track.

When the car was back in the pits the team fixed the problem and ... [ more ]

Barcelona - Red Bull Renault - Test day 3
David Coulthard and Mark Webber were both driving RB4s today, for the final day of the team’s three day test.

Both cars ran similar programmes, as the team focused on testing some new aerodynamic and mechanical items.

Both cars were able to complete their planned development before rain started falling ... [ more ]

Barcelona - Renault - Test day 3
Renault concluded its three-day test at the Circuit de Catalunya today, the team’s first test with two R28 cars this year. Conditions remained cold and overcast in the morning, with rain arriving late in the afternoon, causing the team to end its programme slightly early.

Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet remained in the ... [ more ]