MOTORSPORT: Big names, big news

>>>The Gold Coast Indy later this month will be missing one of IndyCar's biggest names, Brazilian Helio Castroneves, because he is in huge strife in the US over taxation and is forbidden to leave that country.

>>>The A1 GP season got underway in horrendous weather conditions in Holland, with a credible fourth place for Australia's John Martin in the main race, but further evidence of the financial woes of the series is coming to light with news that Germany's 2006-07 champion Nico Hulkenberg is still awaiting his prizemoney - despite 10 "reminder" letters from his manager, Willi Weber.

In rallying, France's Sebastien Loeb has won the Rally of Spain for the fourth straight year - his ninth victory in 12 rounds of this year's world rally championship, in which there is another round this weekend on the Mediterranean island of Corsica - where Loeb has won the past three years too.

The Citroen superstar and five-time world champion is 12 points ahead of his Ford rival Mikko Hirvonen with just three rounds remaining.

Australia's Chris Atkinson remains fourth in the championship, despite finishing more than 4 minutes behind Loeb in Spain - in seventh place, just 1.1 seconds later than young Finn Jari-Matti Latvala in a Stobart-Ford Focus.

"I feel I drove well," Atkinson said. "I'm happy with my performance and satisfied with my driving."

Atkinson's Subaru factory teammate Petter Solberg was almost 3½ minutes behind Loeb in fifth - so still a big gap between the Citroens and Fords that filled the first four places (Loeb, his teammate Daniel Sordo, Hirvonven and Francois Duval, who gifted a position to his Finnish teammate at the end to keep up his title hopes).

Some joy though for Subaru in Tasmania at the weekend, where Tony Longhurst notched his first tarmac rally win - in an Impreza WRX STI, tieing with Tasmanian Jamie Vandenberg in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX.

Another Evo IX driven by Tony Quinn tied for third with another WRX STI driven by Simon Gillet, the two-time former world rowing champion who was the husband of Amy Gillet - the cyclist killed in an horrific road accident in Germany in 2005.

But it was a disappointing weekend for tarmac - and former touring car - superstar Jim Richards.

Turbo boost problems on his Porsche 911 GT2 forced Richards to withdraw after just three stages on Saturday and he retired from Sunday's heat while eighth with more turbo problems.

In the Australian Rally Championship round run along with the Tasmanian Tarmac Challenge, Toyota's Neal Bates continued on his way towards an inevitable fourth national title to add to those he won in the 1990s.

There were a few pleasing signs for the sport from the Tasmanian event.

Mitsubishi privateer Spencer Lowndes challenged Bates, finishing runner-up in Saturday's first heat, leading the early stages of heat two and vying for victory when he crashed into a tree on the last stage due to a pace-noting problem.

"Thank God for the HANS device (a yoke-collar safety device designed to reduce extreme head motions and neck loads during high-speed impacts). It really made a huge difference," Lowndes said.

Young Burnie driver Craig Brooks - in only his second event using pace notes - took third place in that second heat in a Subaru Impreza WRX STI behind the factory Toyota Corollas Super 2000s of Bates and reigning champion Simon Evans.

And Victorian teenager Brendan Reeves dominated the Showroom category in a Mazda3 MPS, finishing eighth overall - a result which should firm up a full campaign next season.

The event's success is likely to increase pressure for a national tarmac rally championship - and/or more tarmac events in the ARC.

World Rally Championship driver standings after 12 of 15 rounds - Sebastien Loeb (France, Citroen Total WRT C4) 96 points, Mikko Hirvonen (Finland, BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS) 84, Daniel Sordo (Spain, Citroen Total WRT C4) 59, Chris Atkinson (Australia, Subaru WRT Impreza WRC) 42, Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland, BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS) 37, Petter Solberg (Norway, Subaru WRT Impreza) 36, Henning Solberg (Norway, Stobart/Munchi's Ford Focus) 22, Gigi Galli (Italy, Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Focus) 17, Francois Duval (Belgium, Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Focus) 16, Matthew Wilson (Great Britain, Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Focus) 12.

WRC manufacturer standings - Citroen Total WRT 159 points, BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT 132, Subaru WRT 80 points, Stobart VK M-Sport Ford RT 55, Munchi's Ford WRT 22, Suzuki WRT 20.

Australian Rally Championship driver standings after 5 of 6 rounds - Neal Bates (ACT, Toyota) 364 points, Simon Evans (Victoria, Toyota) 251, Eli Evans (Victoria, Subaru privateer) 226, Spencer Lowndes (Victoria, Mitsubishi privateer) 218, Glen Raymond (Victoria, Toyota) 174, Michael Guest (NSW, Subaru privateer) 155.

The ARC concludes with the Coffs Coast Rally in NSW on November 15-16.

In a quip to London's Mail on Sunday that the newspaper called blunt and savagely to the point (and it could have added "reminding everyone just who still calls the tune in F1"), Ecclestone said: "If the Ferrari president is right about the Singapore GP being a circus, then we have to be grateful to him for providing the clowns."

Felipe Massa's race - and perhaps world title challenge - was wrecked there by Ferrari's pit mix-up that saw him accelerate away with the fuel hose still attached, while reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen was again off the pace and crashed again almost within sight of the chequered flag.

Although Ferrari at the minute is a long way short of the team it was in the days of Michael Schumacher and under the direction of Jean Todt and Ross Brawn, if any proof is needed that it is the team that everyone still wants to drive for here it is.

David Coulthard, now just three GPs from retirement after a long and fairly successful career with Williams, McLaren and Red Bull, is expecting his first child - a boy - with fiancee Karen Minier in December.

Coulthard insists him quitting GP racing and the birth are purely coincidental, but he quipped of his unborn son: "He'll be signed up for Ferrari in 2028!"

After the Spanish dual Formula 1 world champion won Singapore's night grand prix a little more than a week ago we interpreted some of his remarks as an indication he would be staying with Renault next year.

Honda and perhaps BMW-Sauber have been chasing him and any team other than McLaren, where he and Lewis Hamilton infamously didn't get along last year, would love to have him.

From the reports we are seeing out of Europe it is not clear whether the latest speculation would involve Alonso going to Scuderia Toro Rosso, the modern incarnation of the Minardi team where he began his F1 career in 2001, or whether Red Bull Racing may suddenly drop Renault engines for Ferrari power next year.

If it were the latter, what might that mean for Australia's Mark Webber at Red Bull Racing (a move to Renault, run by his ultimate manager, Flavio Briatore, perhaps), or might it be the seat reserved for German wonderboy Sebastien Vettel at Red Bull that Alonso would fill?

That would probably mean Vettel going instead to BMW-Sauber in place of Nick Heidfeld, and as teammate to Robert Kubica.

As much as the Red Bull camp loves Vettel, especially after his shock win for Toro Rosso in the Italian GP three weeks ago, he has connections at BMW too - and Bernie Ecclestone has made it known he does not think Red Bull Racing is a good enough team for him next year and that he will do what he can to steer him into a better seat.

The more experienced Alonso going to Toro Rosso - or Red Bull Racing - with a Ferrari engine would be marvellous. Arguably the sport's best driver in a real underdog team.

Red Bull is said to be offering Alonso complete freedom in the length of any contract, allowing him to leave if things do not work out.

Red Bull tycoon Dietrich Mateschitz is believed to have come close to enticing Alonso a year ago, and he is a man with a chequebook the Spaniard may find irresistible.

Mateschitz has hinted in recent days that he is having second thoughts about what has been perceived to be the inevitable sale of his half stake in Toro Rosso by the end of next year, if  "customer cars" are outlawed in 2010.

Might that rethink be related to Alonso driving a Ferrari-powered Toro Rosso?

Gerhard Berger, who owns the other half of the little team that still operates out of Faenza in Italy, has said: "Of course I am interested in Alonso, but so is everybody else."

Another player in all of this could be Spanish bank Santander, which sponsored McLaren last year when Alonso went there and is believed to want to redirect its dollars to Ferrari, which is widely believed to be the ultimate home of the man many believe to be the most complete in F1 today - despite few opportunities to win races with Renault.

The Ferrari seats look as though they are taken by Massa and Raikkonen for the next couple of years, but surely the Italian team will not tolerate Raikkonen's form from most of this year for another two seasons.

We saw mention in the past few days that it was Raikkonen who exercised the option for an extension of his contract, rather than Ferrari.

The tables may just turn unless the Finn's performances improve, and it may end up being Ferrari exercising an option - to bench him!

So many in the F1 paddock believe that Alonso is eventually going to be in a red car carrying the emblem of the black prancing horse, but might he have a few hundred horses from the Ferrari engine shop roaring behind him before he gets there - as early as next year?

The pair, second and fifth respectively in the IndyCar series this year for Team Penske, went back to sportscar racing for a one-off in a high-revving 3.4-litre V8 direct fuel injection (DFI)-engined Penske Porsche RS Spyder and finished 21 seconds ahead of Penske teammates Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas, who won their second straight drivers championship.

Penske swept the Petit P2 podium with Sascha Maassen, Patrick Long and Emmanuel Collard finishing third. The victory also gave Penske its third straight team championship in class.

Honda's Acura had held a four-point lead over Porsche in the manufacturers points, but 16 laps into the race Scott Sharp crashed the Highcroft Acura, ending his and Australian co-driver David Brabham's participation in the event.

The Highcroft team had only just rebuilt the car from the ground up after a crash in practice.

An Audi R10 TDI driven by Allan McNish, Dindo Capello and Emanuele Pirro took outright honors at Road Atlanta despite dropping two laps at the start for repairs after McNish crashed it on the formation lap.

The Peugeot 908 HDi of Christian Klien, Stephane Sarrazin and Nic Minassian finished 4.5 seconds behind the Audi. Audi's Marco Werner and Lucas Luhr finished third.

Roger Penske praised Castroneves for having remained focused throughout the race despite the weighty matters on his mind.

Castronves said the tax problem - he's accused of avoiding US$5.5 million in taxes between 1999 and 2004, a timeframe that included his Indianapolis 500 victories in 2001 and '02 - was "like a race - and we're going to win".

Apart from being runner-up to New Zealander Scott Dixon in this year's IndyCar series, Castroneves is famous in the US for having won Dancing with the Stars TV program.

Along with Danica Patrick, he is central to the marketing of the rebirth of American open-wheeler racing after the reunification with Champ Car at the start of the year.

Now he faces jail if convicted, although one of the lawyers in the case - which also involves Castroneves' sister and a laywer who also represents some top NASCAR drivers - has claimed the offshore tax structure used is like "a pension plan used by celebrities like the Rolling Stones".

Roger Penske, while supportive of Castroneves, said: "Unfortunately, the advice he got was not proper in setting up his offshore companies."

But, in terms of his racing future and a substitute driver for the Gold Coast later this month because of Castronves being forbiddenf from travelling outside the US, Penske said: "It's not fair to discuss what our options are (at this time)."

The story has had massive coverage, but the most comprehensive and relevant stories we've seen are here, here and here

Prime Minister Tillman Thomas initially said he ordered a probe into a deal done before he took office in which the government transferred property worth US$15 million to Hamilton "free from encumbrances" in exchange for using his image and name for the next four years to promote tourism.

Two days after the Prime Minister's announcement the Tourism Minister Peter David said a review showed Hamilton's deal to be "completely legitimate."

A group Hamilton is involved with paid US$35 million for the Grenada Grand Beach Resort built on the property, according to a deed signed on July 7 this year - a day before the general elections on the island where his grandfather lives.

Britain, India, Germany, Mexico and Canada weren't represented at Zandvoort and, according to the Dutch press, there are big questions marks over the future of Brazil, China, France, Portugal and Switzerland.

Leading manager Willi Weber has told Cologne newspaper Express that he still has not sighted 2006-07 champion Nico Hulkenberg's prizemoney despite 10 "reminder" letters.

Incidentally, Hulkenberg became the Formula 3 Euroseries champion at the weekend - a title Australia's Ryan Briscoe won in 2003 with Italy's Premapower team.

Clearly the A1 series is in deep strife, and its value to the private equity group that owns it has diminished alarmingly, but perhaps that provides an opportunity for a bailout.

Maybe the sheik who was instrumental in its birth, or another oil-rich billionaire? Any other billionaire with a fondness for racing for that matter.

A1 boasted last season that it was the most competitive international open-wheeler series around, and that is hard to dispute. In some places it can pull very healthy crowds - and Zandvoort is one of them.

Despite the torrential rain there at the weekend the race day crowd was reportedly about 50,000 - and in better weather it would have been much more.

We would like to see the series prosper, and just hope it can hang on in the short term and somehow ride out the difficulties.

A series spokesperson, paid to be upbeat, said: "To design, build and test 23 cars (Ferrari-designed and powered) in just 11 months, we were always going to be up against it.

"(But) we don't anticipate anything other than a full grid for the following race (at Chengdu in China on November 7-9)."

Martin thought it an "awesome result".

"The main thing the team wanted was for me to finish and keep it on track and bring it home," he said.

Team Australian head Alan Jones said: "We are absolutely delighted to salvage an excellent result.

"John drove very well, the car is superb and the crew performed exceptionally to prepare the car for him and have it in great shape for the next race in Chengdu."

France's Loic Duval stormed to victory in the rain-soaked feature race, giving his country its 15th win in the category - and its first since Sydney's Eastern Creek last February.

"The weekend was really difficult, we only received the car Saturday morning and we were in the car for the first time during qualifying, so everything was brand new and today it was a really, really tough race," Duval said.

He had stormed through from 11th on the grid to be third in the sprint.

Malaysia's Fairuz Fauzy finished second after winning the sprint race in what he called a "dream start" to the season, which sees France and Malaysia joint leaders.

New Zealand teenager Earl Bamber made a stunning debut and was on the podium in both races - second in the sprint, third in the feature.

Californian Charlie Kimball clocked the fastest lap of the feature for the American team now run by Andretti Green Racing, which has already signaled the Marco Andretti will be its driver for the next round in China - with Danica Patrick likely to race at some rounds.

A1 GP World Cup of Motorsport standings after first of 10 scheduled rounds - A1 GP World Cup of Motorsport standings after first of 10 scheduled rounds - Malaysia 22 points, France 22, New Zealand 18, Netherlands 11, Australia 8, Monaco 5, Switzerland 4, Korea 4, South Africa 3, US 3, Lebanon 3, Italy 2, China 2.

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