press release courtesy of marcosambrose.com

Marcos Ambrose is confident his team made big inroads on its way to 14th place in the Carquest 300 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina today.

The Australian driver showed strong pace and while running a conservative strategy to ensure he came home with a solid haul of points towards his 2008 championship campaign, Ambrose’s pace was clear and he ran well on the leap lap all day at the 1.5-mile speedway.

Ambrose jumped one spot in the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series standings after today’s result, now sitting 14th in the championship after 13 of 35 races.

Ambrose qualified 19th in the #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion, which ran a special livery this weekend in support of Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte, in conjunction with Kingsford and Rite-Aid.

Ambrose ran a car livery and helmet paintjob designed by a patient of Levine Children’s Hospital. The helmet will now be auctioned off by JTG Racing, with all proceeds benefiting Levine Children’s Hospital.

During the month of April, Kingsford donated $0.25 to Children’s Miracle Network for every purchase of Kingsford, Match Light or Kingsford Lighter Fluid products at any Rite Aid store in the United States.

Marcos Ambrose - #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion

It was a really good night for us,� said Ambrose.

We’ve made big inroads here on the one-and-a-half-mile program and we had a really conservative race.

“It was good, really good. I was really proud of my guys and it shows that we’re making progress.

“We’re not just talking the talk, we’re actually starting to walk the walk a little bit. We’re much more competitive and we were racy all night.

“We just had a really conservative deal – major conservative. We didn’t really have a strategy apart from just being safe.

“We just wanted to keep working on our car, finish the race intact and then go from there.�

Mark Webber managed to stay out of trouble and despite having to switch to dry tyres to early, finished in a strong 4th place at the Monaco Grand Prix. It is his highest finish of the season and takes his point tally to 15. With David Coulthard crashing out Webber still is the only one of the 2 drivers to score points this season.

With his points Red Bull finds itself tied in 5th with Williams in the constructors championship.

“That was good, a great result which gives us a lot of points. It wasn’t the most exciting race in the world in terms of racing, but it was very difficult early on in the wet conditions and we were aqua-planning at Casino. It was definitely over the edge for the intermediate tyres for a few laps when it was raining hard, but then it started to dry and we had to think about changing tyres. It would have been good to have had a little bit more fuel as we had to change to dry tyres maybe five laps earlier than we would have liked. It wasn’t ideal, but the team did such a good job, both at the track and at the factory in Milton Keynes, it’s great to get a strong result.�

In his Indy 500 debut Will Power managed to finish 1o places higher than he started and finished on the lead lap. The strong showing made him the highest placed aussie with countryman Ryan Briscoe crashing out.

Power, who was making his first start on a super-speedway oval, started in the middle of Row #8 in the 23rd position. He spent the first three quarters of the 200-lap event calmly and patiently continuing to learn the nuances of ovals, especially big oval racing, which began to produce results starting just prior to his last stop. Power was running in 15th place when he pitted for the last time on lap 171. After an outstanding stop by his Aussie Vineyards crew he rejoined the contest in 11th quickly moving into 10th, but his car developed some overseer and went loose dropping him back to 13th on the where he remained until the end of the race.

“It was a good race and I am really happy with the way it went,� Power said. “Aussie Vineyards – Team Australia kept creeping up the leader board the whole race, but the car was becoming pretty loose at the end. I was able to hang on and finish the race which was key, but it was mentally draining. It was a good result because I was able to get a lot of experience and I am relieved to get have gotten through my first Indy 500.�

In an incident that both drivers will feel the other is the cause of, Danica Patrick and Ryan Briscoe have come together in the pits and ended both their races on the spot.

Briscoe had been running a solid if not spectacular 500 up to that point and was back in the top ten.

“From what I can see, there was still plenty of room on the right side for her to get around and there are people pointing fingers, but that's not the way we are,� Briscoe said. “We both have a brake pedal in our cars, and from what I can tell, there was still plenty of room for her to get around me. I was trying to get around (Dan) Wheldon, and I was staying in the middle lane. I got ran up in the back, and it's a shame."

The race was won by Pole sitter Scott Dixon from New Zealand and was his first Indy 500 win for the former series champion.

Well one of the highlight weekends of motorsport lies ahead this weekend.

In Formula 1 we have the Monaco Grand Prix, for many the highlight of the season and the one every driver wants to win. Whilst in the IRL we have the world famous Indy 500.

For Aussies we have three drivers taking part, including Ryan Briscoe on the front row at Indy. With Team Penske behind him Briscoe is a genuine chance and has shown pace throughout the month of May at the circuit.

Speaking in the lead he talked about where the team is at “Helio likes to compare our situation to the one he faced when he first came on board with Team Penske and Gil de Ferran was his teammate,� Briscoe says. “The ages are the same, the situations are similar. Now he’s playing the role of Gil, and I’m playing the role of Helio. Except I’m not Helio, and I never will be. He’s made that clear on more than one occasion.�  

What they share is the same joy and playfulness that Castroneves and de Ferran shared, along with a serious approach to their craft. What Briscoe and Castroneves hope to find in the similarities is the enormous success Team Penske encountered at Indianapolis during the Gil/Helio tenure. Castroneves won the 500 in 2001 and 2002, while de Ferran won it in 2003.  

“We’re going to see some great racing between the two of us, but there’s always a great amount of respect,� Briscoe says. “We are a team, and we work as a team on the track.�  

Like de Ferran, Castroneves likes to keep the mood light, especially when the focus and the work moves away from the racetrack. He instills that notion in his new teammate, trying to maintain Briscoe’s smile and his mood.  

“He really made me feel welcome on the team,� Briscoe says. “He’s always in a good mood, and he always wants people around him to be happy. His philosophy is that people can’t be productive if they’re too serious, and in many ways, he’s right. He’s never made it difficult for me in any way, and that’s really good. He’s openly complimentary, which helps my confidence. A lot of times in racing, your teammate is your biggest rival, but we’ve got a close and open relationship. That’s a big bonus for the entire team.�

Joining him on the grid will be Will Power starting from 23rd place. Power has shown pace also at various times but a large crash in practice seems to have had an effect. He spoke after final practice of where the team were heading into the race.

It was a really productive day,� Power said.  “Even with these windy conditions we had a really good setup and ran close behind cars comfortably.  We were able to do plenty of miles and the Aussie Vineyards – Team Australia car felt good over the whole run, so the KVRT team have done a really good job with the #8 car.  We definitely have a good race pace, but it’s just unfortunate we are going to be starting a little bit further back than where we need to be.�

Meanwhile in Formula 1 Mark Webber will look to continue his great season with more points at Moanco. He no doubt will be boosted by the news that his boss Christian Horner this week said he was in the form of his career. Not bad when you have just opened discussions on a new contract, or at least Mark tells us he has.

On that front things may be a bit tense with his teammate David Coulthard. Coulthard in a regular column for ITV has questioned why Webber would go public at this time of the season about his contract. He was of the view it may be in part to remind some other teams that he is in fact out of contract at the end of the season, as much as getting the ball rolling with Red Bull.

“Speaking of career moves, my team-mate Mark Webber told the media over the Istanbul weekend that he has opened talks with Red Bull to extend his contract. If I try to rationalise why Mark would say that, I can only presume it was either to stimulate talks with the team or to stimulate interest in the rest of the paddock, reminding people that he’s on the market.

When you think about it logically, you do your private negotiations in private and then when you’ve reached an agreement you make an announcement. You don’t normally say, ‘Er, I’m about to enter negotiations…’

So I would conclude that it was a positioning tactic rather than anything else.�

Either way Webber right now is in an ideal place to get a new contract with Red Bull or indeed start talks with other teams. Looking at the grid though I am not sure there would be many seats for Mark given his age. Perhaps Renault and a return to Williams but both would be long shoots in my view.

So make sure your TV is working and your set up to record what hopefully is some great racing this weekend. Lets hope with see some great results for the Aussies and who knows even get to hear the national anthem!

Chris Atkinson battled home in 6th place in a disappointing rally of Sardinia for the Subaru Rally team.

After a solid first day the rally came apart for both drivers on day 2 and Atkinson had an uneventful last day to bring the car home in 6th place.

“OK, it’s good to get more points and to still be third in the championship, but it’s definitely not been an easy weekend� said Chris Atkinson. “I drove the best I could and made no mistakes, and that’s it.�

With Subaru’s all-new Impreza WRC2008 on the horizon, drivers and the team alike are eagerly awaiting its first public appearance.

Will Power posted a average lap speed of 221.136 mph to take 23rd on the grid for the Indy 500. He was 12th fastest on the day, with Townsend Bell posting the fastest time on the day with an average lap speed of 222.539 mph.

Will Power posted a stunning 4th fastest time in the last full practice, before attempting to qualify Saturday for the Indy 500.

The downside was that he crashed 45 minutes into the session and did not return to the track. At the time of the crash he was sitting second with an average lap speed of 223.039 mph. The team were working on the car late into the night, in an effort to make sure he can run in Qualifying Saturday.

"Obviously this is a setback for the team because of the track time we're going to lose," Power said. "But I know the team will do what needs to be done and we will be ready to qualify tomorrow."

Hot on our recent article on Formula One Safety, the issue of the Grand Prix Drivers Association (GPDA) has again been thrown into the spotlight. It seems that the GPDA is going through a rough time right now. Recently Jarno Trulli, Fernando Alsono and Mark Webber has spoken out about the issue by criticising those drivers not in the association. Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa are not members of the GPDA. Also Force India’s Adrian Sutil is not a member.

"There are some drivers who couldn't care less but they take advantage of the work done by others," Trulli told Autosprint. "What these sensationally uninterested drivers don't understand is that the GPDA has a price. We fund it with a fee on the points scored.

"If the top six drivers are the uninterested ones, then there's a lack of money to survive and it's always the unlucky ones, the ones who get paid less, that have to sustain the costs. The figures are little. The entry fee was one thousand dollars, now it's probably one thousand euros, then you pay something like two hundred dollars per point scored.

"But what I don't understand is that you might not want to be part of the GPDA, then you can do what you want, but at least pay the money since you go on track too.�

"I'm not saying they should get involved, I'm saying as a grand prix driver you should be sensible about safety because you are driving," said Trulli.

"It's you getting in the car and going fast so the GPDA is only there not to do any politics. Any time we sit in a room, we discuss privately anything which we have in common – which is racing and safety.

"Apparently, there are some people who do not care about it – but they get the benefit anyway. And what is really concerning me and all the GPDA drivers is at the moment more and more drivers are pulling out of GPDA for no particular reason. But they are getting the benefit of all the work we are still doing.

Trulli expressed his frustration in the interview that the drivers who choose not to be part of the association simply don't understand how important the work it does is.

"The most outrageous thing is that a top driver doesn't give a damn about his safety," he added. "For me, that's unacceptable. Even drivers that were part of the association and left pretend not to understand, and don't read what we do.

"If it wasn't for the GPDA, and for Riccardo Ceccarelli of Formula Medicine, then if one of these guys had an accident during winter testing he would have risked his life. The minimum safety requirements were lacking yet they don't care and leave the association, this means they are truly insane."

Lewis Hamilton however again confirmed at the Turkish Grand Prix that he has no current intentions of joining the association. In addition he does not intend paying any fees to the association.

"I won't go on about whether I'm joining or not because you guys know the deal," he told reporters when asked about the GPDA situation.

"We spoke about it plenty of times, but they've not approached me and asked me if I want to support them. But in all honesty it's like asking you (the media) to pay for our driver salaries, or that sort of thing.

"I don't understand why I need to. I pay for my racing licence, which goes towards the FIA safety regulations. So I don't understand why I need to be paying more."

This lead to the great safety campaigner Sir Jackie Stewart to observe “I think this is one area where Lewis might be feeling he is a bit special,� the triple champion said, “and that is wrong. He should be part of the GPDA.�

Mark Webber indicated that the association remains very interested in having Hamilton involved. "He will be very welcome any day to come along and just flick a couple of views around," he said. "It is good to have someone at the front of the grid in the quick car, to be helping us out and taking the sport forward, because he is the future of the sport.

"Someone like Kimi (Raikkonen), we know he is not interested and that is fine. And some guys in the past were not interested but they paid their way because they knew every single lap they did, whether testing or racing, there were GPDA people saving them."

Felipe Massa has recently rescinded his membership of the GPDA. "I didn't always like the way it was run," the Ferrari driver told the Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport.

However fellow countryman Rubens Barrichello was not impressed "It is a personal decision," the Honda veteran told Spanish newspaper Diario AS in Istanbul, "but it's not good for the rest of us.

"If the association wants to be a strong influence on the FIA, it is very important to have the Ferrari drivers on-board. If we have the 20 guys of the grid discussing these things, then every situation is possible."

All of this lead to Fernando Alonso also coming out saying he could not understand the drivers who did not want to be part of the association. Given the GPDA is really the main vehicle for the drivers to raise safety fears.

"It is true there are drivers not in the GPDA, which is their own decision, but in my opinion it is not good," said Alonso, when asked by autosport.com about the situation regarding GPDA. "As I have said another time, everyone can choose what they want - but it is difficult to understand how drivers don't want to be involved in an association of drivers that want to save our lives when we are racing.

"The accident that Kovalainen had last week, we will work on it with the FIA very closely, we will make some proposals and at the end we will find a solution. And these type of accidents will not be repeated. So drivers who don't want to be involved with that, it makes no sense."

Richard Woods, Director General of the FIA Institute, told the Independant newspaper that there has always been genuine interest in working with the drivers, and that this has frequently been the case.

“There’s a constant dialogue between the drivers and the FIA and they are welcome to attend the key safety research meetings where all the detailed work is done. The GPDA has regularly sent speakers and delegates to FIA Institute events such as this season’s medical summit in Bahrain and Sid (Watkins) and Gerard Saillant (FIA Institute President and Deputy President) value these contributions greatly.

Here at OzRacingWrap we would have to say we agree with Trulli, Webber and Alonso. It is staggering to us that any driver would view the association as optional. In fact we think further the FIA should make it a condition of being sanctioned to drive in Formula 1 that a driver must firstly pay the fee and secondly be a member of the association.

For those drivers who feel the association does not achieve anything, we have only look to the recent Turkish Grand Prix. In the support GP2 race a stray dog wondered onto the track and was collected by Bruno Senna. The GPDA immediately became involved with track officials to agree a work around of the problem. If there was no GPDA it would be much harder to get agreement, However the appropriate officials of the GPDA were able to be contacted and a solution found to allow the Grand Prix to go ahead.

Perhaps it has been to long since the last death in Formula 1 and some of the younger drivers are starting to take safety for granted. We can only hope that such a attitude will not come back to bite them. Motor sport will always be dangerous and the search for safety must be ongoing. What is safe today may not be tomorrow, as the cars find ever increasing speed.

Image Atkinson during the Sardinia shakedown courtesy of swrt.com

With his team mate holding third, Chris Atkinson has had a solid start to the Rally of Sardinia.

Atkinson and Prévot made a strong start to the event, finishing the first three stages of the morning sharing third overall with Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen. Solberg and Mills meanwhile lay fifth. Having made some changes to their car during the midday service, the Norwegian traded position with his team mate in an afternoon of change, snatching third position as Atkinson slipped to fifth with Hirvonen splitting the SWRT crews. The Australian remains within reach of the podium still, promising to keep this battle fuelled into the longest day of competition tomorrow.

Yeah, it’s not been a bad day today� echoed Chris Atkinson. “It’s good to get through the day with no problems though as it’s been tough. The guys behind are going well and are fast, so we’ll have to pick it up a bit tomorrow to stay in the fight. It’s a close battle for third, and there are a few people quite close who will join the fight tomorrow so it’ll be hard, that’s for sure. I hope we can find a bit more to stay in the top five, but it’s not a bad start.�

Will Power posted the 6th fastest time in practice Thursday as the teams get ready for the second qualifying say Saturday. Power averaged 222.657 behind Ryan Briscoe who topped the sheets with a average lap speed of 223.708.

It was nice to get some dry track time today in the KVRT Aussie Vineyards – Team Australia car,� Power said.  “Everyone thought it would rain today, but fortunately it never came.  We were able to get through a few test items, did one qualifying run and a couple of long runs which were interesting.  But all in all, we are still at a similar pace as before.  We are making slow progress, but I think now we really need to focus on the race setup.   I think that is the most critical for us if we are going to finish well in this race.�

The above image of Chris Atkinson and Stephane Prevot, his co-driver and the below article are courtesy of swrt.com

Chris Atkinson has said he enjoys the upcoming Rally Sardinia: “It’s important to drive smoothly and without mistakes in Sardinia as the roads are very technical and narrow but it’s a rally I enjoy. It’s my fourth year here, and my second with Stéphane, so I hope we can have a good event and run competitively. I’m not thinking about another podium finish, but just concentrating on our pace and fighting as high up as we can.�

Sardinia is itself the first of a back-to-back trio of European events, it heralds the start of the most demanding section of the season with three events in just five weeks. The travel and intensified workload will punish drivers, cars and teams alike, and go a long way to setting the Championship scene for the remainder of the season.

Sardinia lies in the Mediterranean sea between Spain and Italy, just 12 kilometres from the coast of Corsica, itself the scene for a World Rally encounter later in the season. As per previous years, the rally is based in the northern tip of the island, in the industrial port of Olbia on the Costa Smeralda coast.

The soft and almost sandy gravel roads wind through a combination of unspoiled green mountainsides that contrast with the sometime dusty and rocky routes of the lower regions. The traction and braking stability of the cars will be really tested by the loose surfaces that can cause the cars to wander as the road beneath them shifts. Eighty per cent of the local area is hilly, and while more rolling than mountainous, the stages steadily undulate.

In the typically lush Italian hills, temperatures are expected to be upwards of 20 degrees Celsius, but routes can quickly become dampened by the ever-present chance of unexpected storms. The stages are very flowing and technical, meaning it is vital that crews get into a good rhythm from the outset in order to attack fully. Crews running first on the road will clean the loose surface to the benefit of those behind them, but as the roads deteriorate and become rutted by the second passes, it will actually favour the front-runners.

The event starts with a ceremonial start in the exclusive resort of Porto Cervo, 30 kilometres to the north of the service park, and consists of 17 stages stretching 354 competitive kilometres across the northern provinces of Olbia, Sassari and Nuoro. Whilst many of the planned routes are very similar to those used in previous years, there have been several significant changes to pit competitors against new challenges, namely that the third and final day is almost completely new.

The history of the island is evident in the numerous ancient ruins that the route will take the World Rally cars past. Abandoned castles, churches and strongholds all hint at the island’s medieval past and contribute to the collapsed carved stone structures and outcrops that typify this most varied of championship events.

Marcos Ambrose has claimed his second top 10 finish of the 2008 season and his first on an oval with a hard fought 10th place in the Diamond Hill Plywood 200 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina today.

Ambrose toughed it out in a demanding race at the track known as ‘Too Tough To Tame’, coming home strong in the first race on Darlington’s new surface.

Ambrose started from 20th position in the #59 Kingsford Hickory Ford Fusion and maintained track position early. The Australian ran a long first stint and was one of the last cars to pit, resulting in Ambrose leading a lap on lap 64.

Seconds before Ambrose was to make his first pit stop the caution flag came out, a stroke of luck for Ambrose that allowed him to pit under yellow.

Ambrose was in 15th position at the restart and maintained a top 20 position for the rest of the race, despite sustaining repairs at each of his pit stops to continue to repair slight right side damage, a common occurrence at Darlington.

After a brief red flag stoppage, Ambrose was in 13th position at the restart with 13 laps remaining. A crash at the restart triggered by Mark Martin’s car running out of fuel caused carnage but Ambrose drove well to avoid damage and survive the wreck.

Ambrose came home strong and was setting some of his fastest laps of the race in the last part of the event, finishing in 10th in a ‘green-white-checker’ finish right behind ninth placed Jason Leffer.

Tony Stewart won today’s Diamond Hill Plywood 200 at Darlington Raceway ahead of fellow Sprint Cup drivers Clint Bowyer and David Reutimann.

Ambrose will participate in the official NASCAR Nationwide Series test at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina on May 12-13 before a rare off-weekend.

The Australian’s next race will also be at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, with the Carquest Auto Parts 300 on May 24.

Marcos Ambrose - #59 Kingsford Hickory Ford Fusion

“We got a bit of damage early but it was a night when plenty of people got a lot more damage than we did,� said Ambrose.

“We fought the car all night and kept making small repairs at our stops and it was at it’s best towards the end of the race.

“This track is so tough that it’s really about fighting the conditions rather than the competitors. That’s what we did for a lot of the race tonight.

“We deserved to finish where we did tonight. We had a really good run in the Kingsford car and we were at the front when it matters in the last part of the race.

“This is a great result for our team and I’m looking forward to testing at Charlotte this week for the two day test there and then running well there for our next race in two weeks time.

“We’ve had a lot of bad luck this year so it was good to have some good luck go our way. That’s what happens in this game, some times things go your way and other times they keep going against you. So you’ve just got to keep fighting and be up there in the front when things go your way.�

London, Great Britain - A1GP World Cup of Motorsport has revealed the first image of its brand new 'Powered by Ferrari' car for use in season four (2008/09). The CAD drawing was released ahead of the car's inaugural shakedown test in Southern England.

A1GP's own tv commentator and Formula One legend, John Watson, will have the honour of driving the car for the first time, powered by a V8 Ferrari engine producing in the region of 600 bhp.

The chassis is based on the design of the highly successful F2004 chassis, incorporating A1GP's core values to deliver close, exciting racing among a competitive field where overtaking is an essential part of the entertainment.

A1GP Technical Director, John Travis, is overseeing the design, development and production of the car from premises in Bognor Regis in the UK, with Rory Byrne acting as a consultant. Meanwhile the work on the manufacture and supply of the A1GP engine is being overseen by Ferrari's Jean-Jacques His.

The Powered by Ferrari project was first announced on 11 October 2007 when the most famous name in motorsport signed a six-year agreement to manufacture and supply all A1GP engines for this unique series and provide consultancy on the design of all A1GP chassis from season four onwards.

Speaking ahead of the shakedown and what will be an intensive testing programme for the new car and engine, Tony Teixeira, Chairman of A1GP, said:

'Everyone is very excited about this project and it will be fantastic to see the new A1GP powered by Ferrari car turn a wheel for the first time on Friday. We obviously still have a lot of work to do as this is just the first step in what will be an intense development and testing programme, but I am very happy with the progress made so far. We have a small, dedicated group of people in Bognor Regis and are very lucky to be able to use some well known motor racing companies for certain areas of expertise. I am pleased to say we are on schedule and we will be announcing the date of the official unveiling of the car soon.'

Ryan Briscoe has qualified third for the Indy 500 behind Kiwi Scott Dixon on poll.

The first day of qualifying saw the top 11 spots decided. Fellow Aussie Will Power is yet to qualify.

“I had a really good run,� Briscoe said. “The car was balanced really well for the downforce level we trimmed out to, and it was a solid gain, for sure. We were on the edge, and it was exciting. I’m really happy to be in the thick of it. This is unbelievable.�

Mark Webber has confirmed to reporters at Instanbul that he is seeking to extend his time at Red Bull.

Hot on the heels of his 5th in qualifying, Webber told reporters "We are talking now," he went on to say "I am free next year, but I am massively keen to stay here. I hope to stay here.

"What I love about this team is that I am employed to drive the car, and if I have to do a track day or a PR day then I would rather skip it - rather than go and talk to people that don't want to see me and I don't want to see them. That is great."

"I have always said I won't be around forever fighting for 12th, 13th or 14th," he added.

"I would just go do something else. I have no interest in doing that anymore, and I am massively motivated at the moment to come up and rack up the points, alongside Fernando (Alonso), and fighting like at Barcelona.

"That is good. It motivates you during the week, and you are looking forward to each race when it is like that.

"When you are getting smoked down the back every weekend and it is tough, then I would rather go ride my mountain bike with my dog."

Super Aguri have today confirmed they will be withdrawing from F1 with immediate effect. The moves comes after Honda decided not continue its support of the team.

In their press release the team noted that a sponsor from last season had defaulted on payment. This combined with the rules that would require the team in 2009 to build its own car meant they did not have the funds to continue.

Whilst a proposal was put to the Honda board for German outfit Weigl Group to take a stake in the team, the board was not prepared to put any further funding or support in.

Whilst not the sole factor the decision not to allow customer chasis in F1 is a large part of the problem. Prodrive abandoned their plans to enter F1 this season when it became clear they would need to build a car for the 09 season.

The future of Toro Rosso is also clouded by the need to build a car with the Red Bull interest in the team up for sale.

The statement from the team reads as follows

Super Aguri Formula One Team has today announced its withdrawal from the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship.

Participating in Formula One since the 2006 season, the Team, which scored its first championship points after only 22 races (Spanish Grand Prix, 2007) and finished ninth overall in the 2007 Constructors’ Championship, will cease all activities as of 6th May 2008. Aguri Suzuki, Team Principal, SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM

“In order to realize my dream to become an owner of a Formula One Team, I applied for a grid position in the FIA Formula One World Championship in November 2005. Since then, I have participated in the championship for 2 years and 4 months as the SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM, but regretfully I must inform you that the team will be ceasing its racing activities as of today.

The team has competed against the many car manufacturer backed teams and has succeeded in obtaining the first points after only the 22nd race finishing in 9th place overall in the 2007 Constructors’ Championship. However, the breach of contract by the promised partner SS United Group Company Limited resulted in the loss of financial backing and immediately put the team into financial difficulties. Also, the change in direction of the environment surrounding the team, in terms of the use of customer chassis, has affected our ability to find partners.

Meanwhile, with the help of Honda, we have somehow managed to keep the team going, but we find it difficult to establish a way to continue the activities in the future within the environment surrounding F1 and as a result, I have concluded to withdraw from the Championship.

I would like to express my deepest thanks to Honda, Bridgestone, the sponsors, all the people who have given us advise during various situations over the past couple of years all the Team Staff who have kept their motivations high and always done their best, Anthony Davidson who has always pushed to the limit despite the very difficult conditions, Takuma Sato who has been with us from the very start and has always fought hard and led the team and lastly our fans from all over the world who have loyally supported the SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM."

Team India won the Feature Race with style and put on a great show for the fans with donuts on the main straight to celebrate their victory.

Early in the race on lap two both Team Pakistan and Team Australia collided on the back straight with major damage on the Team Australia car. John Martin's race was over and Adam Khan left the circuit after a quick medical centre check up.

John Martin was not impressed with Khan's attitude to the shunt and was quick to let Khan know how he felt when they met together in the medical centre.

Team Australia end the 2007-2008 season in 17th place overall.

Next race will be at Mugello on September 21 showcasing the new A1GP car "Powered by Ferrari"

Alan Jones A1 Team Australia Seatholder: "It was not the race result we expected, the accident appeared to be another racing incident. We are now looking to the new season that starts in September to launch our new car with Ferrari"

John Martin: "I was upset with Adam Khan as we were both on the back straight and had room for both of us. All he had to do was stay on his side of the race track and everything would have been fine. Instead he moved over towards me, so I had to move back and we touched. There was no way I could save the car once I hit the grass. We spoke at the Medical Centre and he left the circuit"

The month of May at Indy has kicked off with the Rookie Orientation Program. The Rookie Orientation Program, ROP, requires that first year drivers wishing to contest the Indianapolis 500 must compete four phases.  They must turn 10 laps at each of 200-205 mph, 205-210 mph, 210-215 mph and 215+ mph.  The first three phases must be completed on the first two days the track is open while the fourth phase may be completed during practice later in the month.

Will Power and his teammate Oriol Servia both took part and completed all four stages, with Power posting the fastest time of 220.694 mph the 11 drivers taking part. He also ran the most laps of anyone doing a full 94 laps for the day.

Commenting afterwards Power said, “The KV Racing Technology team wanted to get in as many laps as possible today, which is what we achieved.  To be quick today means we are gradually getting there and I was able to go flat the whole way.  I felt really comfortable with the Aussie Vineyards – Team Australia car and once I was able to go flat, the car felt better and I was able to start letting some of the front wing out.  The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is something I have never driven on and I found it unique because it was so fast.  It’s not really like an oval because of its four corners and flat banking, but almost a mixture between a banked oval and a road course.  It was something more than I had expected…daunting, and as far as ovals go, its more technical and therefore you can’t make a mistake.�

In just the last race we saw a crash that not that many years ago would have left the driver badly injured or dead. The fact that Heikki Kovalainen was able to walk away unhurt is a testament to the improved safety in FORMULA ONE. It is almost unbelievable that he will drive in next weeks Turkish Grand Prix.

His accident comes on the heels of the equally frightening accident in Canada last year, which saw the car of Robert Kubica become completely airborne. Again the driver somehow survived.

Of course it wasn’t always this safe. As Sir Jackie Stewart notes in his autobiography ‘Winning is not enough’ during a 11 year period in his career some 57 drivers died.

Indeed Sir Jackie was one of the first drivers to really demand increases in safety and making the Grand Prix Drivers Association a bastion of safety in FORMULA ONE.

No doubt also the work of Professor Sid Watkins also greatly saw the vast reductions in death, that for so long were an accepted part of the sport.

However motor racing remains a dangerous sport, as we sadly found out in Australia earlier this year. The risk of Death can not be removed from a sport where a car is driven at such speeds. It is important however that the Grand Prix Drivers association continues to push safety issues when they see them.

A example was provided during this years Australian Grand Prix, when the Toyota of Timo Glock was launched over the raised kerb of a access road. Such raised kerbs should not be on the circuit and it was somewhat surprising this was not picked up in any track inspection. The Grand Prix Drivers Association needs to ensure next that bump is not there.

Thankfully we can safely say that no driver should ever again be wishing 57 of their friends good bye in the future but we must not become complacent and let safety drift into the background.

Marcos Ambrose has ensured that he finished in a solid position and continued to add to his 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series points tally with 25th place on a trying day in the Lipton Tea 250 at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Virginia today.

Ambrose qualified in 17th position earlier in the day in the #59 Kingsford Hickory Ford Fusion but unfortunately the Australian was never able to get an effective set-up and did not have the pace he expected in today’s 250-lap race.

Ambrose received the Lucky Dog when a caution was called on lap 67, vaulting him back onto the lead lap just one lap after he had been lapped by leader Carl Edwards.

The Kingsford driver ran in 22nd position for much of the race as he tried his best despite his car’s handling, set-up changes at pit stops doing little to improve Ambrose’s pace.

In the end Ambrose came home in 25th place, importantly staying out of trouble as many others crashed out to score all-important championship points to be 16th in the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series standings.

Ambrose will be back in action next week at one of his favourite venues for the Diamond Hill Plywood 200 at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina.

Hometown hero Denny Hamlin won today’s Lipton Tea 250 at Richmond International Raceway ahead of Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch.

Marcos Ambrose - #59 Kingsford Hickory Ford Fusion

“It was just a tough night for the Kingsford team but we brought it home and got some more points on the board,� said Ambrose.

“We were a little loose into the corners when we came off the truck and it just sort of hurt us here for the race.

“I thought we were going to be better than that, so I’m a little disappointed. We just didn’t have the pace we would have liked and that meant we couldn’t move forward.

“I’m looking forward to Darlington next weekend. I loved running there last year and with the new surface this year it should be even faster.�