Car Porn Deluxe - Ultra Premium Edition - Top Gear Compares Bugatti Veyron vs. McLaren F1

Don't want to spoil the surprise and say who wins, but I will say that there are no losers here. Not much else to say. Enjoy!

Seriously, You Don't Look a Day Over 39 ! Frank Williams honored for 40 Years in Motorsports.

Here's to Frank Williams for surviving forty years of the Circus that is motorsports! Frank Williams will be honored at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, ( held on July 3, 4 and 5th), for his contribution to the world of motorsports. While the last decade hasn't exactly been friendly to Frank and his F1 team, as you can see from the clip, there will be at least three cars run at Goodwood, that will elicit fond memories to those who have followed F1 across the decades. Enjoy!

FIA/FOTA Battle Ended - Let the Healing Begin!

While I think that it was the "Hitler on Formula One (Breakaway Series)..." video that finally did it, apparently the FIA and FOTA have reached an accord and are planning on playing well together for the 2010 season. Apparently one of the terms of the agreement is that Max Mosley will not apply for an additional term with the FIA. It will be interesting to see if this is really the end of this spat between the teams, Max and Bernie. Only time will tell.

Story from CNN International follows.

(CNN) -- Max Mosley, the president of motorsport's world governing body the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), has said there "will be a unified Formula One championship in 2010."

The statement comes after Mosley spoke to the FIA's World Motor Sport Council and the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA), at the governing body's headquarters in Paris.

It seems FOTA, as the representitive of all eight teams that had threatened to set up a rival series, have settled their differences with the controversial racing boss.

Mosley has confirmed a new cost-cutting agreement has been reached with those concerned which has ensured next season's Championship will include the eight breakaway teams - Ferrari, McLaren, BMW Sauber, Renault, Toyota, Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Brawn GP.

"There will be one F1 championship but the objective is to get back to the spending levels of the early 90s within two years," Mosley told a press conference.

It also appears the 69-year-old has now agreed to move aside when his fourth term as FIA president ends in October, saying: "I will not be up for re-election, now we have peace."

Mosley had previously maintained the decision of who should be president should reside solely with the members of the FIA despite growing pressure from the rebel teams for a new man to take charge.

Formula One supremo and sole commerical rights holder Bernie Ecclestone said he was "very happy common sense had prevailed" according to The Times.

The FIA announced on the June 19 they intended to sue the eight teams who had threatened to form a new, alternative championship for breach of contract.

Today's announcement could bring to an end an eight-week disagreement, that has threatened to tear apart the sport, which centered on proposals to introduce a $60 million budget cap for all teams competing in the next campaign.

Though the FIA hoped such plans will make the grid more balanced and easier for the smaller teams to compete successfully, FOTA had complained the wishes of the majority of teams to introduce the plans over a greater length of time had been "ignored."

"Furthermore, tens of millions of dollars have been withheld from many teams by the commercial rights holder, going back as far as 2006," FOTA added in a statement on its official Web site.

FIA / FOTA Battle Continues - Max, Bernie and the Teams have killed Hitler

Given Mox Mosley's proclivities for uniforms we had to guess that this wouldn't be too long inb coming. Enjoy!

Almost a rat rod...

Apparently these youngsters with VWs have started a trend. Of course, if I've heard about it, it is probably done by now. I am halfway there with my roof rack, now I just have to find a source for a pre-rusted steel hood (Maybe Porsche Tequipment is going to offer one?)

Seriously, I have been hard at work recently making my car totally undriveable on public roads. The only solution is to spend more time at the track.

Car Porn Deluxe - Ferrari FXX - Top Gear

Okay. I'm going to skip all of the "...Michael Schumacher is the Stig..." stuff and ask you just to focus on the sight and sound of the Ferrari FXX piloted by Michael Schumacher going around the Top Gear track. This video offer definitive proof that if you have a billion dollars and you don't participate in Ferrari's FXX program, you are wasting your life. Period.

Enjoy!

The FIA Empire Strikes Back - Threatens Legal Action Against FOTA

The Dark Lord, ahem, I mean Max Mosley speaks out about the rebel alliance, I mean FOTA's decision to break-away from Formula One and threatens legal actions, "without delay". I'm not totally certain what Mr. Mosley is thinking here, but I'm guessing that between BMW, Toyota, Renault, Red Bull and Mercedes/McLaren, they might be able to find enough lawyers to drag this battle into perpetuity, and although the auto industry isn't exactly having their best sales year ever, I don't think I'd want to get into a bleeding contest with companies that have spent between $250M and $475M a year to race cars.

FIA press release follows.

The FIA’s lawyers have now examined the FOTA threat to begin a breakaway series. The actions of FOTA as a whole, and Ferrari in particular, amount to serious violations of law including wilful interference with contractual relations, direct breaches of Ferrari's legal obligations and a grave violation of competition law. The FIA will be issuing legal proceedings without delay.

Preparations for the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship continue but publication of the final 2010 entry list will be put on hold while the FIA asserts its legal rights.

So I guess that they weren't kidding - FOTA pulls out of Formula One

So in the ultimate iteration of "my ball, my basket", the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) has announced that they are leaving F1 to develop "... a new Championship which reflects the values of its participants and partners." This move has been a long time coming and unfortunately the FIA didn't pay much attention to the CART/IRL battle that destroyed open-wheel racing in America. While the IRL ultimately won, it was only because CART ran out of manufactures to finance the effort. In this case it appears that the manufactures are the ones leaving the building. I'm sure that there's more to come.

The FOTA press release follows.

FOTA UNITED ON THE FUTURE

Silverstone, 18 June 2009 - Since the formation of FOTA last September the teams have worked together and sought to engage the FIA and commercial rights holder, to develop and improve the sport.

Unprecedented worldwide financial turmoil has inevitably placed great challenges before the F1 community. FOTA is proud that it has achieved the most substantial measures to reduce costs in the history of our sport.

In particular the manufacturer teams have provided assistance to the independent teams, a number of which would probably not be in the sport today without the FOTA initiatives. The FOTA teams have further agreed upon a substantial voluntary cost reduction that provides a sustainable model for the future.

Following these efforts all the teams have confirmed to the FIA and the commercial rights holder that they are willing to commit until the end of 2012.

The FIA and the commercial rights holder have campaigned to divide FOTA.

The wishes of the majority of the teams are ignored. Furthermore, tens of millions of dollars have been withheld from many teams by the commercial rights holder, going back as far as 2006. Despite this and the uncompromising environment, FOTA has genuinely sought compromise.

It has become clear however, that the teams cannot continue to compromise on the fundamental values of the sport and have declined to alter their original conditional entries to the 2010 World Championship.

These teams therefore have no alternative other than to commence the preparation for a new Championship which reflects the values of its participants and partners. This series will have transparent governance, one set of regulations, encourage more entrants and listen to the wishes of the fans, including offering lower prices for spectators worldwide, partners and other important stakeholders.

The major drivers, stars, brands, sponsors, promoters and companies historically associated with the highest level of motorsport will all feature in this new series.