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I am Adam Feneley, studying for an MEng in Motorsport Engineering at Brunel University, England.

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8 Jul 2009

New Fota row threatens future of F1.. Again!




The eight members of the Formula 1 Teams Association (Fota) walked out of a meeting with the sport's governing body, the FIA, on Wednesday.
The meeting, at Germany's Nurburgring, was held to discuss next year's rules and Fota's proposed changes to them.
But the Fota teams left when told they had not entered the 2010 championship and therefore had no voting rights on technical and sporting regulations.
A Fota statement said the row "puts the future of Formula 1 in jeopardy".
It is the latest incident in a bitter, long-running argument between Fota and the FIA over planned budgetary and technical changes which has threatened to tear the sport apart.
The eight Fota teams - Ferrari, McLaren, BMW Sauber, Renault, Toyota, Red Bull Racing, Toro Rosso and Brawn GP - insist they have entered the 2010 championship.
"It will be remembered all eight active Fota members were included on the 'accepted' entry list as endorsed by the FIA World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) and communicated by FIA press statement on 24 June," said Fota.
The association added that because it was now being claimed they had not entered, they had "requested a postponement of today's meetings".
Fota continued: "This was rejected on the grounds no new Concorde Agreement would be permitted before a unanimous approval of the 2010 regulations was achieved.
"However, it is clear to the Fota teams that the basis of the 2010 technical and sporting regulations was already established in Paris.
"As endorsed by the World Motor Sport Council and clearly stated in the FIA press statement of 24 June 'the rules for 2010 onwards will be the 2009 regulations as well as further regulations agreed prior to 29 April, 2009'.
"At no point in the Paris discussions was any requirement for unanimous agreement on regulations change expressed.
"To subsequently go against the will of the WMSC and the detail of the Paris agreement puts the future of Formula 1 in jeopardy.
"As a result of these statements, the Fota representatives at the subsequent Technical Working Group were not able to exercise their rights and therefore had no option other than to terminate their participation.
"The Fota members undertook the Paris agreement and the subsequent discussions in good faith and with a desire to engage with all new and existing teams on the future of Formula 1."
The FIA insisted in a statement of its own that it had wanted to discuss proposals for 2010.
The FIA added: "Unfortunately, no discussion was possible because Fota walked out of the meeting."
The long-running row between Fota and the FIA appeared to have been resolved in June, when an agreement was reached between F1's governing body and the Fota teams to prevent a breakaway series.
Under the terms of that deal a proposed budget cap was postponed and the teams won significant concessions on rule changes and the governance of the sport, while Max Mosley agreed not to stand for re-election as president of the FIA.
Wednesday's truncated meeting was attended by Williams and Force India, who are suspended from Fota after applying for unconditional entries to race in 2010 at the height of the budget cap crisis.
Formula 1's three new teams, Campos Grand Prix, Manor and US F1, also attended the meeting at the Nurburgring ahead of Sunday's German Grand Prix.

BBC website

By Adam Feneley
Motorsport Engineering
www.motorsportengineering.blogspot.com
-- Post From My iPod Touch
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7 Jul 2009

Fuji raceway pulls out of 2010 F1 Season










The future of the Japanese Grand Prix has been thrown into doubt by Fuji Speedway's decision not to host the race in 2010.
Toyota, the track's owner, has blamed cost-cutting needs amid the global economic downturn for its decision.
Fuji had hosted the race for the last two years but was next due to host it in 2010 after starting a swap deal with Honda-owned Suzuka, its previous home.
Suzuka has not said whether it would be prepared to host the race every year.
Toyota, the world's largest car company, suffered a record £2.8bn loss in the year to March 2009 and is expecting its finances to be worse this year.
"It has become extremely difficult for us to host the F1 Grand Prix as we face the deteriorating economic environment and see few signs showing a swift economic recovery," Fuji Speedway said in a statement.
A spokesman added: "It is not clear at this moment whether a 2010 race in Japan will be hosted by others or if a race will be held in another country."
Circuit president Hiroaki Kato described the decision as "heart-wrenching".
Japan's grand prix is only one of the races under pressure for its place on the calendar as F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone looks to new markets where race organisers are prepared to pay higher fees.
Japan's neighbour South Korea is one country where the 78-year-old is hoping to establish a race.
Fuji first hosted the Japanese Grand Prix in 1976 but was removed from the calendar after two spectators were killed when the Ferrari of Gilles Villeneuve crashed into the crowd during the race in 1977.
The race returned to the calendar in 1987 at Suzuka, which hosted the event until 2006, before a revamped Fuji took over for the last two years.
Suzuka has undergone an expensive revamp for its return to the F1 calendar this season.

By Adam Feneley
Motorsport Engineering
www.motorsportengineering.blogspot.com
-- Post From My iPod Touch

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2 Jul 2009

First glimpse: giant Audi sculpture at Goodwood Festival of Speed 2009





This is the incredible sculture to Audi at this years Goodwood Festival of Speed which starts tomorrow I can't wait to visit it tomorrow even if it does mean a 4am start to get there on time!


By Adam Feneley
Motorsport Engineering
www.motorsportengineering.blogspot.com
-- Post From My iPod Touch
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Preview: What's on at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2009




Try summarising the Goodwood Festival of Speed for the uninitiated and you could get it badly wrong. Calling it a car show risks conjuring up visions of vehicles marooned on show stands, awaiting intimate inspection by strange men with unkempt beards and a whiff of WD-40 about them. You could say it's a race meeting, but when did the drivers at a race meeting last do burnouts in the middle of the track for the crowd's amusement, then hang out with spectators, drinking Pimm's? So what is it,...

Lukily for me I'm about too find out! I've been lucky enough to get my hand on a set if tickets for this years festival and will be posting all my photos on here when I get bak so I your interested please check back on my photography handy work.


By Adam Feneley
Motorsport Engineering
www.motorsportengineering.blogspot.com
-- Post From My iPod Touch
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