FIA

London, Great Britain, August 18, 2008 – A1GP World Cup of Motorsport has always prided itself in the fact that its cars are some of the safest on the world’s race tracks. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the season four A1GP Powered by Ferrari car has undergone and passed some of the most stringent crash tests possible.

The car firstly underwent FIA chassis squeeze tests, as opposed to a sudden impact test, with pressure applied to key parts of the car to ensure the necessary strength. Following this there have been roll-hoop load tests, front and rear impact and side impact tests.

Robert Dahlgren returns to his old training ground, driving Volvo's new C30 Green Racer

July 17, 2008 -- Volvo Car Corporation has decided to enter its new ethanol powered Volvo C30 racer in the WTCC (World Touring Car Championship) at Brands Hatch on the 26-27th of July.

Volvo C30 Green Racer

The car, which is in its first year on track, races in the Swedish Touring Car Championship (STCC) as the only ethanol E85 powered car in that series. In STCC, the car has so far secured three out of seven pole positions and has lead close to half of all laps driven.

Now Volvo wants to evaluate the car against the strongest of competition on the circuit at legendary Brands Hatch, Kent, England.

July 6, 2008 -- This was a day to remember for the Jetalliance crew: the first one-two victory in the history of the still-young team from Lower Austria, the 14th FIA GT win (the second this year) for Wendlinger – and the first FIA GT podium for team owner Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer. But this was also a vital race for the championship, as the four top teams are all within just three points.

Sensational One-Two Victory for Jetalliance Racing at FIA GT in Oschersleben

Cologne, July 3, 2008 – All eyes are on the Ford muscle cars competing this weekend in the next round of the FIA GT3 European Championship and the FIA GT4 European Cup racing series at Oschersleben circuit in Germany.

After an excellent start to the season, Ford cars lead both championships and all standings for drivers and teams, despite the torrential rain that dominated the last round in Monza on May 18.

In GT3, the Matech GT Racing team leads the European Teams Championship with 49 points thanks to the success of the Ford GTs driven by Ian Khan/Thomas Mutsch, and Bradley Ellis/Alex Mortimer.

17/06/2008 -- The FIA International Court of Appeal met in Paris on Thursday, June 12, 2008, to examine an appeal lodged by the Royal Automobile Club de Belgique (RACB) on behalf of its licence-holder Prospeed Competition against decision N°28 taken by the Panel of the Stewards of the Meeting concerning the event that was run at Monza (Italy) on 18 May 2008 and counting towards the 2008 FIA GT Championship.

June 2008 -- During 2007, the FIA agreed that kinetic energy recovery systems (KERS) had relevance to Formula 1. Road car electrical systems were probably thought the obvious solution, however mechanical high speed flywheel systems are giving the teams some choice. Xtrac are key to the design, development and integration of the CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission), into a mechanical flywheel KERS, initially for F1 but also for Sportscar and ultimately for mainstream automotive use.

Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS)

Pau, 31st May 2008 -- BMW Team Germany's Augusto Farfus (BR) will start the seventh round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship from pole position. At the "Circuit de Pau Ville" in South-western France the 24-year-old beat the rest of the 25-strong field by setting a best time of 1:21.960 minutes. It's the first time this year a BMW 320si WTCC car will start the first race of a WTCC weekend from pole. At the same time, this is Farfus' maiden pole position as a BMW works driver.

Defending champion BMW Team UK’s Andy Priaulx (GB) was seventh, 0.719 seconds behind his fellow BMW driver. Farfus’ team-mate, Jörg Müller (DE) clocked the tenth-fastest lap of the afternoon. BMW Team Italy-Spain’s Alessandro Zanardi (IT) and Félix Porteiro (ES) were 12th and 15th respectively.

Valencia, 18th May 2008 -- Andy Priaulx (GB) of BMW Team UK claimed his second podium result in this year’s FIA World Touring Car Championship. At Valencia’s “Circuit de la Comunitat” he finished third in the sixth round of the season. In the first race of the day the reigning World Champion finished seventh.

BMW Team Germany driver Jörg Müller (DE) also collected points at what was the series’ maiden event on European soil in 2008. His team-mate Augusto Farfus (BR) and BMW Team Italy-Spain’s Alessandro Zanardi (IT) and Félix Porteiro (ES), however, failed to make it into the top-eight in either race. Victory in the two sprint races at the 4.005-kilometre track went to Chevrolet’s Robert Huff (GB) and Alain Menu (CH).

Gaydon, 22 April 2008 -- Aston Martin triumphed in both GT1 and GT4 categories in front of a 25,000-strong crowd in the first race of the FIA GT Championship at Silverstone over the weekend.

Aston Martin racing

In poor weather with heavy fog and rain, the famous tourist trophy was won by Karl Wendlinger and Ryan Sharp in the number 33 Jetalliance Aston Martin DBR9. Allan Simonsen and Philipp Peter finished 3rd in the Gigawave DBR9 after holding off intense competition in a thrilling climax to the race.

The second Jetalliance car driven by Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer and Alex Müller claimed an excellent 6th place after starting from 9th on the GT1 grid.

10.04.2008 -- In accordance with its agreement with Pirelli, the Italian tyre manufacturer designated by the FIA as the official tyre supplier to the FIA World Rally Championship, the World Motor Sport Council has ratified the proposal presented by the World Rally Championship Commission for the investment of funding in international rallying.

The intent is to invest in the growth of the sport worldwide and, in particular, help younger competitors reach World Championship level.

26.03.2008 -- The World Motor Sport Council met in Paris on 26 March 2008. The following decisions were taken:

FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

The WMSC appointed the Management Committee for the Motor Sport Safety Development Fund, the body which will distribute the $60 million from the McLaren-Mercedes fine, for the benefit of motor sport worldwide. The Committee will control the Fund under the administration of the FIA Foundation.

3/25/2008 -- Citroën Sport is pleased to announce the arrival of Red Bull as a new partner of its programme with the Citroën C4 WRC and its crews Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and Dani Sordo/Marc Marti in the FIA World Rally Championship.

It is the combination of the Citroën brand's international reputation, Team Citroën Total's outstanding performance record and the exceptional personality of the drivers (three Manufacturers' titles, plus four consecutive world titles for Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena) that perfectly matches the vision of Red Bull – creator and global leader of the energy drinks market – which is looking at developing closer ties with the French market.

16.03.2008 -- Formula One drivers showed their support for the FIA’s Make Cars Green campaign at the Australian Grand Prix today, the first event of the 2008 season.

All of the drivers competing in the championship participated in a campaign photocall following the official FIA 2008 season photo session.

Make Cars Green is a global campaign, aimed at helping to reduce the impact of motoring on the environment. The FIA led initiative, supported by global partner Bridgestone, will be rolled-out at campaign events throughout the year.

Max Mosley, President of the FIA, said:

15.03.2008 -- Every season the FIA updates and modifies the F1 Sporting Regulations, sometimes in response to events that occurred the previous year, or with other specific aims such as improving the show or maintaining fairness. Here we analyse some of the major changes that are in place for 2008. For ease of reference they are listed by Article as they appear in the Sporting Regulations, with direct quotes shown in italics. The full regulations can be found on fia.com.

Article 22: Testing
‘No competitor may carry out more than 30000km of testing during a calendar year.’

Mar 12, 2008, KARIYA (Japan) -- DENSO Corporation today announced its motor sport sponsorship plan for the 2008 season. DENSO will continue to sponsor teams participating in the world's top motor sports including FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (F1), FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP (WRC), and FIM ROAD RACING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (WGP). DENSO will also support TOYOTA TEAM SARD in the SUPER GT.

11.03.2008 -- FIA President Max Mosley presented his vision of an energy efficient future for Formula One during a speech to the International Advanced Mobility Forum (IAMF) at the Geneva Motor Show today.

During the IAMF plenary session, to an audience of leading automotive technology experts, the FIA President presented the latest thinking behind new technical regulations in the FIA Formula One World Championship. The new rules are set to introduce a series of energy recovery systems that will be hugely relevant to the car industry and to the increasingly eco-conscious motoring consumer.

Max Mosley, FIA President said:

30.01.2008 -- The following hearing of the International Court of Appeal will take place in Paris:

Hearing

Appeal lodged by the Automobile Club d’Italia/Commissione Sportiva Automobilistica Italiana (ACI/CSAI) on behalf of its licence-holder GPC Sport against a decision of the Spanish National Court of Appeal dated 28 November 2007 relating to the event run at Jerez (Spain) on 27-28 October 2007 and counting towards the 2007 Spanish GT Championship.

On 28 October 2007, the Stewards of the Meeting decided to impose a 25-second penalty on car N°5, competitor RSV Motorsport (drivers Peter Sundberg and Domingo Romero) for having overtaken another competitor while a yellow flag restriction was in place.

25.01.2008 -- The teams in the FIA World Rally Championship have incorporated the FIA Institute’s new side impact safety system in time for the start of the 2008 season, beginning with Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo.

The Advanced Side Impact System, developed by the FIA Institute’s Closed Car Research Group, is designed to help save rally drivers and co-drivers from serious injury in the event of a high speed side-on crash with a solid object.

FIA President Max Mosley said:

16.01.2008 -- The FIA welcomes the European Parliament’s new ‘CARS 21’ report on the European automotive sector as an important policy blueprint for the industry’s future. The report also recognises the leading role played by the FIA in encouraging the development and use of new environmental technologies.

The report calls upon the FIA to continue its work to promote road relevant research in motor sport and recognises the potential role of Formula One in changing attitudes and customer behaviour in bringing green technologies to market more quickly.

The European Parliament’s report refers to the FIA’s activities in the following terms:

15.01.2008 -- The EU must meet its goal of fitting Electronic Stability Control (ESC) on all new cars by 2012 and until then fiscal incentives should be offered to encourage take-up of this life saving technology, FIA President Max Mosley has warned.

In a meeting with Members of the European Parliament today in Strasbourg the FIA President called for the European Commission to honour its earlier commitment to speed up the widest availability of ESC as a standard item of equipment on all cars sold in Europe.

Studies in Europe and the USA show that ESC can reduce passenger car single-vehicle crashes by as much as 35% and yet the system is available on less than 50% of vehicles sold in Europe.