MOTORSPORT: Penske legend just keeps growing

The latest accolade for Roger Penske, arguably the greatest achiever in American motorsport history and now the biggest figure in Australia's Supercars championship, is admission to NASCAR's Hall of Fame.

Primarily known for his 17 Indianapolis 500 victories, most recently with Toowoomba ace Will Power, Penske -- who will be 82 on February 20 -- has won four owner championships and 111 Cup races in NASCAR, American stock car racing that by some measures is the world's biggest series.

The automotive tycoon known as 'The Captain' took over the long-running but ailing Dick Johnson Racing in the middle of this decade and the rebranded DJR Team Penske won the Supercar teams championship in 2017 and took Scott McLaughlin to the drivers' title last season.

"Racing has been part of my life almost as long as I can remember," Penske said at his NASCAR Hall of Fame induction.

"It is the common thread that is woven throughout all our Penske businesses.

"Racing is simply who we are.

"The lessons we learn in racing help drive our success in business, and the exposure provided from NASCAR is a source of pride that builds our brand and our entire organisation."

Among the other inductees to NASCAR's Hall of Fame this year were four-time champion driver Jeff Gordon and the late Alan Kulwicki, the last privateer to win the Cup.

Alfa-Romeo, the early pacesetter in the history of Formula 1, is back.

The Italian manufacturer will reappear as a Grand Prix team at Melbourne's season-opener to the F1world championship in the middle of next month.

It has replaced Sauber -- if only in name. The team remains the same, still based in Switzerland and with Ferrari power.

The Alfa and Ferrari names have been associated for almost 100 years.

Enzo Ferrari became a driver for Alfa-Romeo in 1920 and founded a team a team in 1929 that became Alfa's racing division.

Although Ferrari later went his own way, Alfa's Giuseppe Farina won the first F1 drivers' title in 1950 and then Juan-Manuel Fangio the first of his five titles for it the next year.

However, Alfa has had a chequered, stop-start history in F1, while Ferrari has been the sport's great constant and hugely successful before being overshadowed by Mercedes in the five years of the V6 hybrid era.

These days Ferrari and Alfa are both subsidiaries of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

Alfa became a sponsor of Sauber last year as a prelude to its fuller return via this season's rebranding.

The team, founded by Peter Sauber in 1993, has bounced back from the depths a couple of years ago and has 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen and Italian youngster Antonio Giovinazzi as its drivers this year.