• Audi confirms European sportscar racing programme
• Prodrive CEO doubts F1 budget cap viability
• Honda expands ALMS involvement
• Safety changes at Brands Hatch
• Shell appoints new motorsport commercial manager
• Peter Ashcroft dies
• DfT research shows consumers willing to pay more for higher fuel economy
• Spain and Portugal announce joint green car development initiative

Audi AG has confirmed that it will run a factory supported two car team in the European-based Le Mans Series sportscar racing championship in 2008 and will thus be in direct competition with the works Peugeot Sport team which dominated the competition in 2007.

The German Audi Sport Team Joest organisation will race two of the latest generation Audi R10 TDI diesel powered cars in all rounds of the championship which currently comprises five races including an event at the UK’s Silverstone circuit.

Dr Wolfgang Ulrich, the head of Audi Motorsport, said, "We are absolutely delighted that we have been able to create a base together with the ACO over the last few months which will see our diesel sportscars on the grids in the classical European 1000-kilometre races. The Le Mans Series already boasted an extremely attractive field last year. The Audi factory involvement surely will further increase the value of the championship."

In an interview on the autosport.com website Dave Richards, the CEO of Prodrive, the Banbury, UK based automotive and motorsport development company, has cast doubt on the FIA’s plans to introduce a budget cap in the Formula One World Championship.

Richards has previous experience of budget capping through Prodrive’s participation in the Australian V8 Supercars touring car racing series in which such a measure was abandoned after one year.

He told autosport.com, "I don't believe it is going to work. I don't think it is a viable proposition. I have seen it in Australia where it has been abandoned.

"Maybe it plays to my strengths because I started life as an accountant, but I got out of accountancy to go into motor racing and I don't want to go back there."

"I think budget capping is an excuse for poor technical regulations. With proper technical controls, you should be able to manage the costs of F1. It is also about sporting regulations as well.

"It is a bit like a government trying to control a situation through measures that are inappropriate. At the end of the day, you should make sure in motorsport that there is a level playing field as best you can. But you cannot fight market forces and try and artificially influence that the best guys aren't going to come to the front."

Prodrive’s own plans to enter Formula One in 2008 were ended by a dispute over the use of customer cars.

The Honda Motor Company has expanded its involvement in the American Le Mans Series sportscar racing championship to include a fourth car that will be run by the newly formed De Ferran Motorsports team.

The Honda ALMS programme is carried out under its Acura brand name that is used to market the manufacturer’s high performance cars in North America.

De Ferran Motorsport, owned by former Indianapolis 500 winner and two-time CART Champ Car champion Gil de Ferran, will join Andretti Green Racing, Highcroft Racing and Lowe’s Fernandez Racing in running Acura ARX-01b

cars in the LMP2 class of the 12 race championship.

De Ferran, who retired from race driving at the end of 2003 and was most recently the sporting director of the Brackley, UK based Honda Racing Formula One team, will return to racing as a driver for his own team.

He said, “It is extremely exciting to be involved in the new Acura Motorsports program, both as a team owner and as a driver. The American Le Mans Series has a tremendous combination of technology and fierce competition. The cars look fantastic and the racing in the ALMS series is spectacular. I am eager to get back into the driver’s seat and race again.

“I know this program will be a challenge for me both on and off the track. We have already employed veteran racing executive John Anderson as general manager which is a great start for our organization. Together, we are working hard to put all the remaining pieces in place.”

The de Ferran teams ALMS debut event has yet to be confirmed but it will not compete in the season opening Sebring 12 Hour race in March.

The UK’s Brands Hatch race circuit has undergone a number of safety oriented changes that will increase the run off areas for riders and drivers using the short Indy circuit configuration.

The changes have been made at Clearways, the final corner on the circuit that leads into the pit straight, and have resulted in the ground level being raised by one metre to ensure the Armco safety barrier is higher as competitors approach the bend. In addition a five metre wider asphalt run-off area has been created that should reduce instances of cars hitting the safety barrier if they come off the track and also reduce the amount of interruptions during races if an incident occurs.

Jonathan Palmer, the CEO of circuit owner MotorSport Vision said, “This really is a bit of history for Brands Hatch as it is the first time any work such as this has been carried out at Clearways. The changes will make the track even safer for drivers and riders and allow for smoother-flowing race weekends with fewer red flags. This will improve the show for the crowd and with the re-profiling of the bank at Clearways we have made it an even better spot for spectators than before.”

Shell Racing Solutions, the motorsport arm of the Shell oil company, has appointed Don VanValkenburgh as its new global motorsport &automotive commercial manager succeeding David Giblin, who has taken up a post outside the industry.

Van Valkenburgh, who was previously SRS’s US motorsport business development manager said, "Shell Racing Solutions is in a very strong position both commercially and technically. We have established a comprehensive product portfolio of racing fuels and lubricants, under the Shell Racing and Q Racing brands, and we have a very strong technical platform on which to build for the future. I look forward to leading this team in exploiting the many opportunities that are presenting themselves in motorsport and related areas."

Shell supports a number of established and highly successful teams in motorsport around the world, including Ferrari in Formula One, Audi in endurance sports car racing, Ducati in MotoGP and World Superbikes and Richard Childress Racing in NASCAR.

Peter Ashcroft, who was formerly the competitions manager at Ford of Britain has died aged 79.

After serving in the British Army Ashcroft worked as a mechanic in Formula One before joining Ford of Britain as a rally mechanic. He remained faithful to Ford for the remainder of his motorsport career and rose through the company ranks while playing a key role in its race and rally programmes.

When he retired in 1991 Ashcroft was motorsport director at Ford of Europe and he spent his remaining years in the United States.

The Department for Transport has published two new research reports commissioned to enhance understanding of consumers' car purchase decisions and help indicate what policy instruments might best be used to reduce CO2 emissions from road transport.

One study, by Cambridge Econometrics, found that households would be willing to pay £510 more to purchase a car in return for reduced fuel costs of £1 per 100 km. The other study, ('Demand for cars and their attributes') was prepared by Eftec, and uses econometrics to determine various elasticity effects/demand changes in response to price and other changes.

Car purchase costs are expected to rise as a result of the European Commission's proposed regulation to cut CO2 emissions to 120g/km. From a consumer's perspective, however, the EC contends that that price rise would be countered by improvements in vehicle fuel economy.

The Cambridge Econometrics report also confirms the prior beliefs of the DfT that, following a change in either the purchase price of a vehicle or in the costs of motoring , there is likely to be a greater response (higher elasticity) in the middle CO2 bands (121-165g/km) than in the upper ones.

A recent report by Moody's Investors Service covered by Automotive News Europe on 19th January says that the additional cost to manufacturers of meeting the EU’s planned 2012 targets will be in the range £220-£740.

The ACEA European motor industry federation says the additional costs to car makers of compliance with the EC regulations will be more like £2,700, while the EC itself expects the extra cost to average about £970. Moody's says car makers should be able to exploit economies of scale and cost sharing with suppliers by collaborating in research and development.

The ACEA’s position paper on CO2 emissions reduction, Reducing CO2 emissions from Cars - Towards an Integrated Approach – can be downloaded from www.acea.be.

(LowCVP newsletter, 29 January, www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/economics/rdg/cardemand/cardemandreport2.pdf)

The governments of Portugal and Spain plan to cooperate to build a lower-emitting car, reports the LowCVP’s January newsletter. Through the joint initiative, the two countries hope to generate €150 million-worth of investment and 800 new jobs in the region's struggling motor industry, which has been losing jobs to Central and Eastern Europe.

Spain’s Minister for Industry Joan Clos announced that the "green" car, which could be powered by hydrogen fuel cells or batteries, is being developed by two automotive research centres in Portugal and Spain using funds from both the public and private sectors.

Officials hope to produce a prototype by the end of this year.

"Our goal is to create an environmentally friendly car that can be produced with technology from Portugal and Spain," a spokesman said. "We are involving the private sector to take on the challenge of producing the car in the long run and sell it to consumers".