Ecclestone Confident of Bahrain Grand Prix

Bernie Ecclestone is confident this year's Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead on April 22 despite reports of fresh violence in the country this week.
February 14 marked the one-year anniversary of the 'day of rage' when protests escalated into violent conflicts last year, and international media agencies claimed smaller clashes with security forces took place again on this year. According to the BBC a heavy police presence meant the centre of Manama remained quiet, but youths throwing rocks and petrol bombs were met by police hitting back with tear-gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades outside the capital.
"The only message I got was that there were some kids in trouble with the police," Ecclestone told the Daily Telegraph. "We are planning to go. I've always said that if there was going to be any drama it would be on the 'day of rage'. They would have to do something then. People there seem confident that a race two months away will be alright."
He added: "The teams are not the slightest bit concerned. They seem happy that things will go ahead without problems. Last year was a more clear-cut decision not to go but things have changed a lot since then."
In the past week members of the UK parliament have written open letters in the Times newspaper both for and against the grand prix going ahead. Although a decision either way will be seen to have some political connotations, Ecclestone said safety is his only consideration.
"We've always been non-political," he said. "Any decision will be made on grounds of safety."
But an FIA spokesman said the "staging of a grand prix would be beneficial in bridging some of the difficulties Bahrain is experiencing".
A spokesman for the Bahrain International Circuit told CNN: "We are entirely confident that the race can be and will be an excellent event. The FIA has said that there is no reason why the grand prix should not go ahead. Jean Todt [FIA president] has been visiting Bahrain himself, keeping in constant contact. The FIA has said that there is no reason why the grand prix should not go ahead."
The unnamed spokesman also compared Bahrain's problems of the last twelve months with London's riots last August.
"There's no doubt that [in Bahrain] there have been some small riots, nothing like on the scale that we saw in London," he insisted. "There have been some public order disturbances, but on the kind of scale that Britain has endured many times."
He added: "When it comes to being in and around the track, the drivers and the teams will be extremely safe. Absolutely, totally confident about that."

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Your Career After Being Charged with DUI

If you go out parting together with your friends, you need to leave your car behind and employ a taxi instead. In case you leave the party drunk and you get stopped for driving under the influence, DUI charges can ruin your lifetime and have negative effects in lots of facets of your life. Many people believe that the DUI arrest happens when there is some sort of damage or injury. This isn't the case because the officer who pulls you over will arrest and ask you for for just being drunk and driving. Many laws have been put into effect to manage driving under the influence. In lots of countries the Department of Cars will revoke your licence if you're confronted with DUI charges. Whenever your licence is taken from only you get suspended, this can cripple most of your activities. You will have hardships dealing with work and also running your individual life.

If the licence is revoked and also you really should drive in order to restore normalcy in your lifetime, you are able to apply for DUI licence. This can be a special kind of licence which will only allow you to drive back and forth from work. You will not be allowed to use your car for any other reason whatsoever. There is a distinction between suspension and revocation of the licence. You can get restored from suspension in a short while but when your licence is revoked, the issue becomes complicated. You need to look for a phoenix dui attorney who will help in the application in order to retain your work. This is mostly ideal for those who have driving jobs.

When your licence is suspended, it also implies that you can't drive if you don't apply for a DUI licence. A good arizona dui lawyer can help you understand this licence. In case you have a sick one which you are taking proper care of, it can become quite tricky. Most judges will pay attention to the pleas of people that need to drive to work because of the nature of the work or even the distance involved. First time offenders often enjoy leniency in the courts and for these to get the DUI licence will be easy. Unfortunately from frequent offenders, the likelihood of being allowed DUI licence are extremely minimal as nothing appears to convince the court.

Once you have received the DUI licence, you need to remember to be always sober and not end up on wrong side from the law. After a certain period without any DUI incidents, your suspended licence will be reinstated and your record will be clean once again. A good lawyer can tell you about this and help you with the procedure. If you're able to avoid being charged with DUI, that might be the best option. DUI poses an excellent danger to a lot of facets of your life."

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MINI confirms entry to 2012 WRC

The Mini World Rally Team has confirmed its entry in the 2012 World Rally Championship, according to AUTOSPORT's sources.

MINI WRC car during the 2011 season.

The British-based team missed the original December 19 entry, but an announcement is expected this week to clarify Mini's position, joining Ford and Citroen as full manufacturers in the series.

As confirmed by the Monte Carlo Rally entry list - and revealed by AUTOSPORT - the team will only run one of its two factory drivers full-time in this year's WRC.

Spaniard Dani Sordo will maintain his seat in the #37 John Cooper Works WRC, while Kris Meeke misses the season opener in favour of paying private driver Pierre Campana.

AUTOSPORT's source in the FIA said: "We have an agreement that Mini will be registered as a manufacturer for this year's championship. We understand there are existing concerns over the position of the promoter - and particularly the implications for the sport's coverage in Germany, but we are addressing those concerns."

Mini's parent company BMW is known to be unhappy about the level of coverage in Germany and about the ongoing situation with North One Sports and the future of its parent company Convers Sports Initiatives, which is in administration.

While Mini has committed a car to the full world championship, it remains to be seen whether Sordo will compete in the most expensive rounds of the series, such as Rally New Zealand, or whether one of private Mini drivers takes the entry.

The source added: "This is not an ideal situation. Ideally we wanted, in fact everybody involved wanted, the original plan of two cars, two drivers: Sordo and Meeke doing all 13 rounds. That wasn't possible, so we had to find a solution which we have done. The priority here is that Mini is a manufacturer in the 2012 WRC."

Tensions are still believed to be running high between BMW in Munich and Prodrive, the Banbury-based team which developed and runs the factory Mini John Cooper Works WRCs.

As was announced at the team launch last year, Prodrive does has a contract with BMW to run its cars in the world championship until the end of next season.

Nobody from Prodrive was willing to comment on the firm's WRC commitments for the year ahead.
 
 
Article from Autosport.

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F1 2012 - Race Calendar

The 2012 F1 season is nearly upon us and the race calendar has been released with the season kicking off in Melbourne Australia on the 16th of March and ending with the 20th race on the 25th of Novermber in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

This season promises to be full of excitement; I personally hope it will be much more hotly contested, such that the champion will be decided in the last race. Vettel's domination, although impressive, did take the edge off the season towards the end as the result was already obvious; I have everything crossed that he will have some serious competition this year.

Click on the image below to enlarge.

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