• F1 car manufacturers criticise FIA president
• Mosley calls FIA EGA
• Call for 20 race F1 limit
• Apex Motorsport to continue
• Motorsport aerodynamics to be discussed at SAE Congress
• MIA Media Day 2008
• New rapid prototyping material has motorsport applications

Four of the car manufacturers involved in the Formula One World Championship have issued statements that criticising FIA president Max Mosley following allegations published about him in a UK tabloid newspaper.

The German manufacturers BMW and Mercedes-Benz issued a joint statement that said, "The content of the publications is disgraceful. As a company, we strongly distance ourselves from it.

"This incident concerns Max Mosley both personally and as President of the FIA, the global umbrella organisation for motoring clubs. Its consequences therefore extend far beyond the motor sport industry. We await a response from the relevant FIA bodies."

A statement issued on behalf of Honda Racing said, "It is necessary that senior figures in sport and business maintain the highest standards of conduct in order to fulfil their duties with integrity and respect.

"The Honda Racing F1 Team is extremely disappointed by recent events surrounding Mr Mosley and we are concerned that the reputation of Formula One and all its participants is being damaged.

"We request that the FIA gives this matter careful consideration and reaches an immediate decision in the best interests of F1 and Motorsport."

A statement by Toyota Motorsport said, "Toyota Motorsport does not approve of any behaviour which could be seen to damage Formula One's image, in particular any behaviour which could be understood to be racist or anti-Semitic.

“Senior figures within any sport or business, including motorsport, must adhere to high standards of behaviour. When all the facts are known, it will be for the FIA to decide whether Mr Mosley has met the moral obligations which come with the position of FIA President."

Mosley has written a letter to the FIA apologising for any embarrassment caused by the allegations that were published in the News of the World and signalled his intention to continue in his role with the governing body of international motorsport.

An Extraordinary General Assembly of the FIA has been called by the organisation’s president Max Mosley in order to discuss the impact of allegations published about him in a UK tabloid newspaper.

A statement issued by the FIA on Thursday said, "The full membership of the FIA will be invited to attend the meeting at which the widespread publicity following an apparently illegal invasion of the FIA President's privacy will be discussed.

"The FIA has noted that Mr Mosley is preparing legal proceedings against the newspaper in question.

"It is anticipated that the meeting will take place in Paris. It will be held on the earliest practicable date. No further comments will be made by the FIA regarding the matter at this stage."

In a speech to delegates at the Motor Sport Business Forum that took place in Bahrain ahead of this coming weekend’s Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix Ron Dennis, the team principal of the Woking, based McLaren F1 team, called for a 20 race limit for future F1 World Championships.

Lauding moves to bring Formula One into new markets such as Russia, India, South Korea, Abu Dhabi and Qatar, Dennis said, "I welcome this expansion, and heartily commend Bernie Ecclestone for spearheading it, but I have two provisos: Firstly, that the season never expands to more than 20 grands prix, which I regard as a natural logistical limit and, secondly, that we preserve a closed season over the winter.

"The closed season is essential not only for logistical reasons but also in order to stir up a sense of anticipation in the hearts and minds of F1 fans. The best-selling editions of Formula One magazines are always the season preview editions, for example, not the editions that are published during the season.

"And that's because a sense of anticipation has been stirred up in the hearts and minds of Formula One fans over the preceding winter. So, as I say, we must preserve that."

The Milton Keynes, UK based Apex Motorsport team has confirmed that it will continue with its programme to race GT3 versions of the Jaguar XKR in the 2008 FIA GT Championship despite the deaths of team principal Richard Lloyd, driver David Leslie, and data engineer Chris Allarton in an aircraft accident last Sunday.

Team owner Harry Handkammer said, "While our first thoughts are with their families, we know that motor racing never stops, and that Richard and David would not have wanted it to stop

"Apex will forge ahead with the Jaguar XKR GT3 programme and our entries in the FIA GT3 Championship. Before we were racing to win, now we will be racing with an added purpose - in memory of Richard, David, and Chris."

Next week’s 2008 Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) World Congress in Detroit, USA will include the presentation of several papers on motorsport aerodynamics.

The presentations, which will take place on April 16, are ‘Aerodynamics of High-Lift Wings with Ground Effect for Racecars’ by Wael Mokhtar of Lake Superior State University; ‘The Aerodynamic Characteristics of a Race Car Wing Operating in a Wake’ by Michael Wilson, Robert Dominy and Adam Straker of the UK’s Durham University; ‘CFD Simulation of NASCAR Racing Car Aerodynamics’ by Rajneesh Singh of General Motors; and ‘The Influence of Motion Aerodynamics on the Simulation of Vehicle Dynamics’ by Peter Aschwanden & Juerg Mueller of RUAG Aerospace and Gian Claudio Travaglio and Timo Schoening of GTV Fahrzeugdynamik GmbH in Germany.

The paper presentations will be followed by an oral presentation titled ‘Overview of the SAE Motorsports Engineering Conference and The Aerodynamic Challenge’ by Thomas Ramsay of Honda R&D Americas Inc and Bob Welge of Robert's Engineering Development.

The 2008 SAE World Congress takes place at the Cobo Center in Detroit, Michigan on April 14-17.

The UK’s Motorsport Industry Association is to hold its second Media Day in association with the Guild of Motoring Writers at the Rockingham Motor Speedway, Corby, Northants on July 8.

In addition to the MIA member company exhibits, opportunities for one-to-one interviews with the industry's top executives and use of the oval circuit for the appraisal and demonstration of road and competition cars, there will be activity on a specially-created road course and a new feature, the EU-wide safety campaign urging drivers to 'Choose ESC': a partnership between Rockingham, BOSCH, RoadSafe and the Department of Transport using the state-of–the–art wet grip area. The day is also expected to include a number of major product and niche car launches are expected on the day.

Prior to the event the MIA is hosting a members' Media Workshop (provisional date – May 27) to help them get the best from the event. This will comprise presentations by motorsport PR and media experts and will aim to explain precisely what the media look for in the way of stories and how to create and distribute them in the required way.

The MIA's event organiser Katie-Anne Ray said, "Some motorsport media find members of our industry rather inaccessible. Conversely, some of our members readily admit they are not well versed in communicating with the press, even when they have something important to say. Our Workshop and Media Day seek to break down these barriers and get the two sides working more efficiently together, to mutual benefit.

All members of the media are welcome and invited to register their interest by e-mailing

The American 3D Systems Corporation, based in Rock Hill, South Carolina which supplies 3-D modelling, rapid prototyping and manufacturing solutions to a number of sectors including the motorsport industry, has launched its new Accura Greystone Material, a new engineered nanocomposite material for its Stereolithography (SLA) systems.

The new material which is designed for motorsport and aerospace applications, is claimed to provide exceptional accuracy, stiffness, thermal performance as well as long-term stability in uses such as high pressure wind-tunnel testing and other uses requiring high thermal resistance including insulating electrical components.

Abe Reichental, 3D Systems president and chief executive officer said, "Accura Greystone Material is our latest breakthrough in material science and technology as we continue to emphasize the importance of engineered materials and composites to our business. We believe that it takes breakthrough materials like Accura Greystone to push and expand the end-use applications' envelope and broaden the adoption of additive manufacturing technology into the mainstream of automotive and aerospace design, development and manufacturing.”