• FIA changes F1 notification procedure
• Charges dropped against ex-Toyota F1 team personnel
• Japanese GP circuit refunds money for duff seats and bussing problems
• Polish F1 circuit planned
• ACO tweaks LMP1 air restrictor rules
• A1GP launches without E30
• BMW to enter World Superbikes
• Clifford Thames and Cardiff University devise new environmental rating system for cars

The FIA has changed its procedure for notifying Formula One of instructions following and incident at last weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix in which the Ferrari team claimed not to have received an e-mail requiring all cars to the use extreme wet tyres until after the race had started.

A statement issued by the FIA said, "At a meeting of the Formula One Sporting Working Group held in Monaco on 7th December 2006, all teams agreed to an electronic distribution system to ensure that all competitors received communications simultaneously, with no time advantage for a team by virtue of their location in the pitlane. This system has been used throughout the current championship year.

"To avoid any recurrence of today's problem, the agreed method of using electronic communications will continue to be used but in the future will be backed up by the traditional method of written confirmation."

As a result of the failure of the Ferrari team to receive the e-mail last Sunday both of its drivers were required to make early pit stops to change from intermediate tyres onto extreme wet tyres which dropped them to the back of the field.

German prosecutors have dropped charges against three former members of the Cologne based Toyota Motorsport Formula One team.

In January 2006 the team’s former vice-chairman Ove Andersson, its former chief designer Gustav Brunner and its former head of aerodynamics Rene Hilhorst were charged in relation to the use of technology allegedly stolen from the rival Ferrari F1 team.

According to the Cologne prosecutors the three stood accused of violating German competition law by using a data analysis programme brought to the Toyota team by a technician who joined from Ferrari in 2002.

In April 2007 former Ferrari team members Mauro Iacconi and Angelo Santini who later worked for the Toyota team were found guilty by a Modena court in a case in which they charged with espionage, including gaining unauthorised access to Ferrari's computers and the misappropriation of files.

The cases against Andersson, Brunner and Hilhorst were due to be heard by a court specialising in economic crimes, but during last weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix race meeting it emerged that the charges had been dropped.

According to a report in the Japanese Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper the organisers of last weekends Formula One Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji Speedway will refund a total of 350 million yen paid for reserved seat tickets for the event after receiving complaints from spectators that they could not see the race from their seats.

The organisers plan to give refunds to about 7000 spectators who bought tickets for the seats and will also reimburse the full cost of tickets, transportation, hotel and other expenses for 85 spectators who missed the start of the race due to shuttle bus service delays.

Hiroaki Kato, president of Fuji International Speedway Co., apologized saying, "I'm deeply sorry that our lack of experience has led to so many problems. We plan to investigate the cause of the problems to prevent them from recurring next year."

According to German media reports a Formula One standard race circuit is to be to be built in the city of Gdansk on the Baltic coast of Poland.

The cost of building the 5.7 kilometre circuit is estimated at around 200 million Euros and Gdansk city authorities are said to be seeking sponsorship for the project.

Le Mans 24 Hour race and Le Mans Series championship organiser, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, has confirmed a that cars powered by petrol engines in its LMP1 class will be able to use 3% larger air inlet restrictor in 2008.

A statement from the ACO said, "The ACO has taken advantage of the intervening months (since June) to refine its study of the equivalence between petrol and diesel-engined cars in motor racing.

"We have taken the time to consult all the entrants, and it appears now is the right moment to close the gap between the performance of the petrol engines and the diesel-powered cars.

"This is to maintain a constant and visible level of suspense throughout the race."

The 2007-08 season of the A1 Grand Prix series, which styles itself as the World Cup of Motorsport, began last weekend at Zandvoort in the Netherlands with the cars running on gasoline fuel rather than the intended E30 mix of 30% bioethanol and gasoline.

A statement issued by the series organisers said that they remain committed to switching to a 30 per cent bioethanol fuel mix despite technical issues that have delayed its introduction to the series.

The statement said, “While the E30 fuel mix has been successfully tested over a total of 4,600 kilometers at Silverstone and Snetterton in the UK, the project's technical team, consisting of experts from A1GP, engine suppliers Zytek and fuel provider PetroChem Carless remain unconvinced that the fuel blend will continue to give the required engine performance over a more sustained period of time.

“A1GP has therefore reluctantly reverted to its regular race 102 octane fuel while further development and testing work continues to rectify the situation with the intention of introducing bio-fuels to all A1GP race cars as quickly as possible.”

A1GP's chief executive officer, Pete da Silva said, 'It is highly regrettable that we have not been able to start A1GP's third season running on our planned bio-fuel mix. We have undertaken 4,600 kilometers of testing which has already successfully demonstrated that an international race series can remain exciting and competitive while also taking account of its environmental impact. However, we must ensure that the long term impact of our fuel change does not impact on our on-track action.

'The launch of our THINK Greener Racing policy at Silverstone last month was warmly accepted by the industry and key environmental leaders and remains at the centre of our business strategy moving forward.'

German motorcycle manufacturer BMW looks likely to become the eighth manufacturer to participate in the World Superbike championship following an announcement at the recent Mondial de Deux Roues motorcycle show in Paris, France.

BMW’s development vice president said, "In 2007 BMW returned to road racing after more than 50 years. In 2008 we will continue our activities in the endurance category. At the same time we will be preparing our entry into the World Superbike championship in 2009."

The British automotive consultancy and data company Clifford Thames has been working with Cardiff University to measure the true environmental impacts of individual passenger cars, on the basis that, as Richard Barber, Clifford Thames Strategy and Business Development Director, says: "The current focus on tail pipe emissions does not necessarily fully reflect a vehicle's true carbon footprint".

Clifford Thames is working with the Centre for Automotive Industry Research (CAIR) and the ESRC Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability and Society (BRASS) at Cardiff University to develop a better environmental rating indicator which can be simply expressed, rather like the NCAP safety rating system.

Clifford Thames and CAIR presented an updated analysis on how to better analyse the environmental impact of passenger vehicles last month. Ratings for individual models based on their official fuel consumption/CO2 emissions figures, correlated with available data on their weight and size as a proxy for other environmental impacts including manufacturing materials and energy usage, can be checked online at www.clifford-thames.com.

When a 75 hp Fiat Grande Punto 1.3 16v Multijet is compared on the site with a 75 hp Renault New Clio 1.2 16v, both with 5-speed manual transmissions, the Fiat offers lower fuel consumption (4.5 vs 5.9 litres) and CO2 emissions (119 vs 139 g/km) ratings, but the Renault scores higher by three points or 13% due to its relatively low weight and length/width/height.