thx...
Posted on 08/05/2009 7:57:45 PM PDT by Chode
This will be a general purpose thread for F1 news and pings that really don't require a thread of their own.
thx...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14213249Bernie Ecclestone in Formula 1 bribe probe
Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has been named by prosecutors in Germany as allegedly bribing a former banker during the sale of the sport in 2006.
Gerhard Gribkowsky, in charge of the sale of BayernLB's stake in F1, stands accused of taking a $44m (£27m) bribe.
In return, prosecutors allege, Mr Ecclestone received $41.4m in commissions from the bank, as well as a large payment to a family trust.
Mr Ecclestone said he expects to be cleared of any wrongdoing.
A court will now decide whether Mr Gribkowsky will stand trial on the charges.
The allegations revolve around the sale of BayernLB's stake in Formula 1 to private equity group CVC Capital Partners, which still owns the commercial rights to the sport.
CVC said it had no knowledge of any alleged payments to Mr Gribkowsky.
The firm bought majority control of F1 from Bernie Ecclestone's family trusts and a group of investment banks.
Mr Ecclestone remains F1's chief executive and retains a large shareholding in the sport.
.....Bernie finally gets his.......
i hope so...
very nice, but, i know a couple race tracks that that would have a hard time not bottoming out the front end and destroying the rear bits a millisecond later... the road would be murder
IMRRC receives National Speed Sport News archives WATKINS GLEN, Aug. 9 -- The archives of National Speed Sport News, the nation’s leading motorsports newspaper, have been donated to the International Motor Racing Research Center at Watkins Glen.
The archives include bound volumes dating back to the publication’s earliest days and negatives taken by its legendary editor and publisher, Chris Economaki, recognized as the founding father of the American motorsports media.
The archives were officially given to the Racing Research Center on Tuesday by Economaki's daughter, Corinne Economaki, president and owner of National Speed Sport News, and the Dyson Foundation, represented by Foundation President Rob Dyson.
NSSN published its final print edition on March 23 after nearly 77 years. About a month later, motorsports memorabilia collected over the years and housed at National Speed Sport News were sold, along with the publication’s own accumulated materials.
Corinne, who succeeded Chris Economaki as owner and publisher, and Rob Dyson together determined that the NSSN archives should go to the Racing Research Center.
“It was not a difficult choice to pick the Research Center,” Corinne Economaki said.
The donation was made possible by funding from the Dyson Foundation.
“The archives have to be in the public realm. People have to have access to them, for whatever reason. The library was the only logical place,” Dyson said.
“This will be for the library the most comprehensive compendium of auto racing in the pre-Internet age,” he said.
Since opening in 1999, the Racing Research Center has operated with the mission to be the world-class leader in the collection of materials representing the documentary heritage of amateur and professional racing of all series and at all venues.
The core of the Center’s collection comprises more than 3,500 rare and reference books, as well as hundreds of films, race posters and programs, magazines, rare documents, club records and thousands of photographs. The Center is open to the public free of charge, and all materials are available to all visitors, from the serious researchers to the casual fan.
The NSSN archives will add to the Center’s collection 97 bound volumes of issues going back to the 1930s; 30 boxes of photographs back to the 1950s; and negatives of decades of racing photographs taken by Chris Economaki. Additionally, the NSSN archives include issues from the 1930s through the early 2000s on microfilm.
“The scope of the National Speed Sport News archives is spectacular. The Racing Research Center staff is extremely honored that Corinne Economaki and the Dyson Foundation have selected us to be the caretakers of these materials that truly tell the story of racing in America,” J.C. Argetsinger, president of the Racing Research Center, said.
“Their confidence in us is an affirmation of the valuable work the Center is doing to preserve the history of motorsports,” Argetsinger said.
Corinne Economaki said the newspaper’s archives have been used extensively over the years by a myriad of researchers, from authors to racers to fans.
“The Research Center is the right place now. I know the archives will be well cared for,” Economaki said.
The archives represent her father’s lifetime of work and “love affair with motorsports.”
Chris Economaki, who celebrated his 90th birthday last October, saw his first race in 1932, when he was 12 years old. Two years later, his daughter said, he was selling copies of National Auto Racing News, which would become National Speed Sport News.
At age 16, Chris had his first byline, launching his career in motorsports reporting. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he continued to be involved with racing and was hired full-time to write for NSSN.
Over the years, his commitment to the newspaper grew, and when publication ceased in March, it was wholly owned by the Economaki family, Corinne said.
National Speed Sport News has a continuing presence on-line.
Chris Economaki’s weekly column, “The Editor’s Notebook,” was a must-read in the newspaper, noteworthy as “a potpourri of inside information, editorial comment and the odd bit of gossip,” according to a fellow motorsports journalist. He started the column after being named NSSN editor and continued it for 60 years, through the end of 2010.
“Chris had contacts and sources second to none, and it made NSSN the most influential news source in American racing,” Rob Dyson said. “His column was a must-read for race drivers, owners, team managers and industry leaders and often it was the place they first learned of changes within their own organization.”
Dyson established Dyson Racing in 1974. Over the years, the team has competed in IMSA GTO and GTP, SCCA, Trans-Am, Grand-Am, CART and today, the American Le Mans Series.
Rob Dyson serves as president of the Dyson Foundation, founded in 1957 and based in Millbrook, NY, to work toward improving people's lives through grant funding, promoting philanthropy and strengthening the capacity of non-profit organizations.
For more information about the International Motor Racing Research Center, visit the website at www.racingarchives.org. For more information about the Dyson Foundation, visit the website at www.dysonfoundation.org.
Rob’s a real class act.
that he is...
http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews/2011/8/12407.html
F1 on film - Q&A with Hollywood director Ron Howard
Over the last six decades Formula One racing has entertained millions of fans around the world, but the sport’s impact on the silver screen has been surprisingly minimal. Aside from 1966 blockbuster Grand Prix and the recent Senna documentary, there have been very few serious attempts to capture the essence of F1 on celluloid for cinemagoers. But that’s all about to change, thanks to a new project headed up by Hollywood director Ron Howard. Expected to tell the story of the thrilling title fight between Niki Lauda and James Hunt during the 1976 season, the film has been scripted by Frost/Nixon writer Peter Morgan. Speaking exclusively to Formula1.com, Howard discusses the forthcoming project…
Q: Ron, how did the director of Hollywood blockbusters like Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind and The Da Vinci Code fall for the idea of making a movie about Formula One racing?
Ron Howard: There are two reasons. Firstly, I am a huge fan of sports - almost any kind of sport - not just motor racing. Secondly, I am always in search of a good story with great characters. Peter Morgan, who did the script for Frost/Nixon, has known Niki Lauda for quite some time and started digging for information about 1976, when Niki had his accident and then literally rose again like a phoenix to fight James Hunt for the title. Peter has written a mesmerizing script - not only for Formula One fans, but also for everybody hooked on sports and drawn to extraordinary characters.
Q: But it’s not going to be a documentary like the Ayrton Senna film…
RH: No, it’s going to be a motion picture. It will be fascinating, sizzling, sexy and entertaining in the mould of Apollo 13, Frost/Nixon and A Beautiful Mind.
Q: Real life seems to write the best scripts…
RH: Absolutely! There are stories that, if you tell them, people struggle to believe they are really real. That’s the stuff that makes incredible movies. Some will argue that is a typical Hollywood-style answer, but I know better because A Beautiful Mind, Frost/Nixon and Apollo 13 were all real. And the 1976 Formula One championship is also real.
Q: Will American audiences flock to the cinema to watch it though?
RH: This film is going to be a European production with a really big budget. And if we do our job well, and concentrate on the story and the characters involved, it will be a motion picture fit for the whole world. The story has so many elements that everybody can be interested in. Take for example James Hunt’s personal environment. While he was fighting for the championship, Richard Burton pinches his wife. That made headlines in the press for weeks! And it is not true that we in the US don’t understand anything about Formula One. We had two champions - Phil Hill and Mario Andretti - maybe it’s just that we’ve forgotten about it! (laughs)
Q: Do you have any actors in mind for Lauda and Hunt?
RH: No, that would be a little premature. Right now the project is in the pre-production phase. But of course when you start such a project you have some ideas about the cast.
Q: What about Tom Hanks playing Enzo Ferrari?
RH: (laughs) Let’s wait and see!
Q: How many Formula One races have you attended?
RH: Some time ago I visited the Monaco Grand Prix with my good old friend George Lucas, but that was just for fun. I was at Silverstone last month for my first field study and I am planning to visit some more races over the course of this season. I really enjoy it, even if I have to work hard to boost my knowledge of Formula One. But then I had no idea about astronautics before making Apollo 13. And had only rudimentary knowledge about mathematics before shooting A Beautiful Mind. Formula One racing has made a huge leap forward since 1976 and in some ways you have to acknowledge this fact. From all I have been told it seems to me that the protagonists of the past were adventurers with a kind of carefree innocence. Today Formula One is a mega business.
Q: Have you been met with Lauda a lot?
RH: We have had some very good conversations and I really found Peter Morgan’s script character in the real life Niki. He’s a fascinating character who stands for what he’s done in life and who is proud of what he has achieved.
Q: Are you planning to shoot at the Nordschleife?
RH: We will have to wait and see. Nowadays we do have the ability to do everything in the studio so going there is not a necessity. But, as I said, let’s wait and see.
hate his politics- love his movies...
bingo...
I think Ron Howard could make a really good F1 movie. I just hope it has track action that rivals “Grand Prix.”
you and me too... it rained all weekend here when the original one was made so all it showed was the trophy
http://autos.yahoo.com/news/u-s--blocks--1-million-italian-supercar.htmlItalian automaker Pagani was to begin selling its $1 million, 700 horsepower Huayra supercar in the U.S. later this year but federal safety regulators have said "Not so fast."
Figures. Bureaucrats are the quintessential fun killers. Besides, only rich people can buy $1M cars!
WOW....now I have to lie down and recover
yup, nobody under 21 will ever sit in that right seat... you want a girl that's street legal in all 50 states 8^)
just damn, that sounds God-awful... they should let it breath a little more
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