Anything That Familee Touches Turn Becums JINXED!

[makapaaa]

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=452><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Published September 21, 2009

</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>FORMULA ONE
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>F1 credibility on the line
FIA faces delicate balancing act in deciding on the punishment to dish out to Renault

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(PARIS)

THE Singapore race-fixing scandal, which has plunged the world's most glamourous sport into a bitter spiral of recriminations and resignations, will push Formula One's credibility to the brink today.

<TABLE class=picBoxL cellSpacing=2 width=100 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR class=caption><TD>Awaiting fate: World Motor Sports Council's decision will help Renault decide whether to continue in a sport which bleeds 300m euros from its stretched budget every year </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>It will also go a long way in helping disgraced paddock superpower Renault decide whether or not it really wants to continue in a sport which bleeds 300 million euros (S$624.5 million) from its stretched budget every year.
The French team hope that the resignations of flamboyant team principal Flavio Briatore and engineering chief Pat Symonds, following allegations they ordered ex-driver Nelson Piquet Jr to deliberately crash in Singapore in 2008, will guarantee clemency when the World Motor Sports Council meets. Having admitted they will not contest the charges against them, the likelihood is that a heavy fine and a points deduction will be the preferred sentence rather than outright banishment from the championship. However, even that hasn't stopped the clamour for blood from respected voices within a sport which, in the aftermath of other recent acts of skulduggery, are exhausted by the damage caused to F1's image.
'When I first heard the accusation that Renault had asked Nelson Piquet to crash deliberately, the question was whether it was true or not,' former champion Niki Lauda told the Daily Mail. 'If it was true, then it amounted to the worst thing that has happened in Formula One.'
Lauda believes Piquet's crash, deliberately engineered so as to help teammate Fernando Alonso take a surprise victory, is a worse scandal than even the 'Spygate' affair of 2007 where McLaren were found to be in possession of technical data belonging to rivals Ferrari.
McLaren were fined a record US$100 million and stripped of their constructors points for the season.
'Yes, the McLaren spying scandal two years ago was extremely serious but mechanics have always discussed technical data among themselves.
'This, though, is new. The biggest damage ever. Now the FIA must punish Renault heavily to restore credibility in the sport.'
As well as the public thirst for retribution in a sport watched by an estimated 600 million people worldwide, the FIA also faces a delicate balancing act today.
Renault's future in Formula One has been the subject of speculation for a long time. The loss of another manufacturer would be hard to stomach following last year's withdrawal of Honda and the impending departure of BMW.
Renault's title sponsor ING will pull out at the end of the season while their parent company reported losses of 2.7 billion euros in the first half of this year.
Former world champion Alonso, meanwhile, doesn't come cheap with a salary of around US$25 million although the Spaniard is widely expected to move to Ferrari in 2010.
Renault's form on the track this season hasn't created any great optimism.
After 13 races Alonso is trailing in tenth place in the drivers' standings while the team are eighth of ten in the constructors' title race - 126 points from leaders Brawn GP. -- AFP

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[makapaaa]

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=452><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Published September 21, 2009

</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>FORMULA ONE
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>S Korea readies 'Asia's best track' for F1 debut
Yeongam circuit has unique design, scenic location

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(YEONGAM, South Korea) At a spectacular seaside venue, South Korea is spending tens of millions of dollars on its latest foray into world sport - a Formula One (F1) motor racing track billed as Asia's best.

<TABLE class=picBoxL cellSpacing=2 width=100 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR class=caption><TD>'Speed mecca': Organisers say the main circuit at Yeongam county will include Asia's longest straight stretch of 1.2 km which will allow speeds of up to 320 kmph </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The country has hosted the Olympics, the Asian Games and a football World Cup, but F1 will be a novelty despite a major domestic auto industry.
Officials, however, are confident the Korean Grand Prix will quickly make its mark after its expected debut next year.
During a recent tour of the site in Yeongam county, 320 kilometres south of Seoul, a giant crane lifted huge concrete blocks as work progressed on a 13,000-seat grandstand.
More seating to accommodate a total of 135,000 spectators will also be built along a 5.6-kilometre circuit being constructed on 172 hectares of reclaimed land alongside an artificial seaside lake.
After the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) designated South Korea in 2006 as a host country, contractors installed more than 800,000 drainpipes and shifted six million tons of earth to form the site.
Renowned German track designer Hermann Tilke is supervising the project launched by the Korea Auto Valley Operation (Kavo), a joint venture between private firm M-Bridge Holdings and the South Jeolla provincial government.
'Construction is half-completed. We will do our best to build a 'speed mecca' both in name and reality when the track opens in July next year,' said Kavo chief Chung Yung-Cho.
The province is providing 176 billion won (S$206.5 million) to build the country's first international racetrack plus up to 60 billion won for infrastructure.
Organisers say the main circuit will include Asia's longest straight stretch of 1.2 kilometres which will allow speeds of up to 320 kilometres per hour. A separate three-kilometre circuit will be used for domestic events.
Mr Chung's office announced this month it has secured agreements for bank loans totalling 198 billion won, enough to cover about 46 per cent of the total cost.
And the national Parliament approved a special law last Wednesday to help the province host the F1 championship as a national event for the next seven years. South Korea currently has just two modest tracks for stock cars and touring cars.
'F1, considered one of the world's three most popular sports, is a new thing in South Korea,' said Kavo general marketing manager Kim Jae-Ho. The track will help the country take another leap forward, he added.
'We are building the biggest sports arena in our country,' Mr Kim said, predicting that Yeongam's unique design features and scenic location would make it the best track in Asia.
Kavo will host the F1 race once a year for seven years under the FIA deal, with an option to extend for five years if arrangements are satisfactory. 'Every year we hope to host four international events including Formula One and up to 20 domestic events here,' Mr Kim said.
Provincial governor Park Joon-Young is more ambitious, envisaging an environmentally-friendly leisure and commercial town around the track to lead regional development. 'I believe the track will become an icon representing South Korea,' he said.
South Korea has spent enormous sums in the past hosting prestigious but unprofitable international sporting events. 'However, our venture will be a role model as it is expected to yield a profit, probably from 2013,' Mr Park said. 'Our F1 track will also boost South Korea's image as the world's fifth largest car-making country.'
Park Sang-Woon, secretary general of the Korea Automobile Racing Association (Kara), said it would train about 700 personnel for the F1 race and invite more than 100 experienced foreigners.
The country also needs to start looking for race drivers. -- AFP

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[lovesamleong]

Korea GP seems to be better. Their cha boh also good.