Formula One News — November 2006

Alfa Romeo, which has not been exporting cars to the United States since 1995, is to return to the US in 2009 with a variety of different models which will include the 159, 169, 8C Competizione, Brera and Spider models.

Anthony Crook may be 86 years old but he is still a key figure in Bristol Cars, which claims to be Britain's last remaining luxury car company. Crook, a former Battle of Britain fighter pilot, took part in the first post-war motor race at Gransden Lodge in 1946.

The Dutch financial company ING recently announced its plans to sponsor the Australian Grand Prix and we are expecting another announcement shortly, indicating that the firm is also going to be the title sponsor of the Belgium Grand Prix, the race closest to the company's headquarters in Holland.

There are reports from the Philippines that the Asian Formula 3 Series could be called in to be a support race for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne next year. An announcement is expected shortly.

Gerhard Berger says that he intends to build a new factory for Scuderia Toro Rosso either in Faenza or in nearby Forli, which boasts an airport and would offer a bigger factory with better access to the major motorway that runs through the region.

It has been a wild couple of days in the automotive industry with two chief executives of the seven largest car companies being replaced and while this may all seem to be a long away from the world of Formula 1, it is never easy to predict whether it will ultimately be significant.

WilliamsF1 has announced that Toyota protege Kazuki Nakajima, the 21 year old son of Japan's first regular F1 driver Satoru Nakajima, will be one of its test drivers in 2007.

Bobby Rahal has signed up veteran Indycar racer Scott Sharp to lead his IRL team in 2007. Sharp moves to Rahal Letterman Racing from Fernandez Racing.

Trust, the Dutch IT company that used to sponsor Minardi and Jordan is to return to the sport as a sponsor of the Spyker F1 Team.

French automaker Peugeot Citroen has named former Airbus chief executive Christian Streiff as its new boss. The current CEO Jean-Martin Folz is standing down soon after 10 years in the job and Streiff, who resigned from Airbus last month after just 99 days in the job.

Volkswagen's chief executive Bernd Pischetsrieder is to leave Europe's biggest carmaker at the end of this year. He will be replaced by Audi's chief executive Martin Winterkorn.

BMW Sauber F1 Team will test Timo Glock at the end of the month in Barcelona and then in Jerez in mid-December. The 24-year-old German was due to test in September but that had to be delayed as Glock had injured his hand in the GP2 race at Monza and so the test had to be postponed.

Aguri Suzuka has announced that he is switching his financial support for Kosuke Matsuura from Fernandez Racing to Panther Racing in 2007. Suzuki was the man behind the funding of the team which was created at the end of 2002, initially runner Roger Yasukawa but in 2004 switching to Suzuki protege Matsuura.

Graham Rahal has announced that he is stopping his A1 GP Series races with Team Lebanon because he wants to be in Champ Cars next year - and you can bet that means that a deal is close for the youngster to have given up some more racing experience.

There are still five months to go before the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne but already there is action as Adelaide has started an advertising campaign in the state of Victoria hoping to get race fans in Melbourne to go to the annual Clipsal 500, the opening round of the V8 Supercar Series.

Tony Stewart won his second straight victory in the NASCAR Nextel Cup in Texas, but as he is not one of the 10 championship challengers, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was doing it just for fun while the fight for the title was going on behind him.

The 11 Formula 1 teams recently agreed on a 30,000km per team testing limit for 2007. This is around half the testing that some of the teams have done in the past and with the FIA turning Fridays at each Grand Prix into a testing session, it is logical that some of the teams will reduce their manpower.

Honda Racing F1 has been hiring aerodynamic staff like there is no tomorrow in recent months as it expands its aero programme from one windtunnel to two. In the last nine months the team has taken on 35 staff and more are coming.

The Pi Group has sold its road car division to South African electronics firm, Control Instruments. The Pi Technology division will thus be separated from Pi Research, the company that deals with racing technology.

Superkarts USA (SKUSA) has announced that Formula 1 drivers Scott Speed and Tonio Liuzzi will not be taking part in the forthcoming Supernationals X in Las Vegas on November 9-12.

Our spies in Brackley report that things are now coming to a head in the competition to become the Honda Racing F1 test driver next season.

The Minardi team is almost certain to enter Champ Cars next year with Paul Stoddart planning to make an announcement within the next 10 days. We understand that there are still three options available to the team, all of which will involve acquiring current teams.

Nigel Mansell's plans to upgrade the Dunkeswell karting circuit in Devonshire have been turned down by the East Devon Council after nine months of negotiation.

Justin Wilson will be heading for Mexico for the Champ Car finale on November 12 hoping to be able to race decide a broken scaphoid bone in his right wrist after a crash in Australia a fortnight ago.

The Australian Grand Prix is looking hard at ways to sell more tickets as the ldevel of interest in F1 has flagged in recent seasons - although it may be due to the date-switching and clashing events.