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In an astonishing turn of events, Max Mosley has won a vote of confidence to stay on as president of motorsport's governing body, the FIA, despite having a 5 hour Nazi-style orgy with numerous prostitutes that was splashed across the front page of a British tabloid newspaper.

103 out of 169 voted 'yes' to keep him in his current position, but many names in motorsport have spoken out about their disappointment at the outcome.

Former F1 world champion Damon Hill said he was 'astonished' by the result. "In my position as president of the British Racing Drivers' Club trying to safeguard the future of the British Grand Prix, we really need an organization like the FIA to help us protect our position so that we can have reasonable terms with the commercial rights holders.

"But it's very difficult when you have a president who is as controversial as Max is to go to governments and argue the case for Formula One. "Not taking on board the political atmosphere can be a strength sometimes, but in this case it just seems to be inconsiderate for the sport.

Although Mosley has said he'll stay through until the end of his fourth term, in October 2009, Former F1 team boss, Eddie Jordan, said he hopes Mosley will step down now.

"My hope is he will think about the damage [done]. This is not a moral issue, it's a practical one," he said. "There are a lot of countries where F1 goes and lots of the rulers of those countries don't want to deal with him."

Former owner of the Minardi F1 team Paul Stoddart said he was "totally unsurprised" by the result - but insisted it would be catastrophic for motorsport. "It is a sad, sad day for motorsport and it will signal the end of the FIA as we know it," he said. BBC Sport

Leading from the start is always a good race strategy and one that worked for Kiwi Scott Dixon at this year's 92nd Indianapolis 500. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver battled through 200 laps of open wheel racing at the Brickyard to take the checkered flag 1.75 seconds ahead of Vitor Meira, who came in second.

Alas, Danica Patrick did not fare so well, although through no fault of her own. Hoping to win a second race and make Indy 500 history, her hopes of victory were dashed when Team Penske's Ryan Birscoe tagged her left-rear tire coming out of the pits. The resulting damage left her rear axle un-fixable and Danica steaming. She set off towards Brisco's pit box but was held at bay by a track security officer.

More's the pity. Even with the Champ Car series and IRL having united, open wheel racing needs all the help it can get with regards to audience numbers and general support, so a bit of a punch-up in the pits would surely have made the evening news! AutoBlog

Debuting at the Acropolis Rally that starts May 29th, The Subaru World Rally Team, a partnership between U.K.-based Prodrive and Subaru Tecnica International (STI), will be fighting the competition in the all-new Impreza WRC 2008 rally car.

It's based on the 5-door Impreza hatchback and uses Subaru's signature turbocharged flat-4 engine, plus the all-wheel drive setup. But with Prodrive involved, any other similarities to a normal road car end there.

The team describes the racing car as "the most radically different Subaru World Rally Car in 15 years." At the Acropolis Rally, it will be piloted by Australian Chris Atkinson and Norwegian Petter Solberg. Solberg won the WRC driver's title in 2003 in a Subaru.

"We are very excited to be able to launch the all-new Impreza WRC 2008 ahead of schedule," said Prodrive's David Richards, Subaru World Rally Team principal. "It is testament to the dedication and commitment of the team behind the scenes in the U.K. and at STI in Japan. Just as the latest Impreza road car represents a new era for Subaru, so the WRC 2008 represents a new era for all of us at the Subaru World Rally Team." InsideLine

In a sport dominated by men barely old enough to drink in the States, the elder statesman of Formula 1 - Rubens Barrichello - has a prestigious achievement to celebrate this coming weekend.

The Turkish Grand Prix will mark the 257th race for the Brazilian, surpassing the 256 starts of Riccardo Patrese, held since 1993. In honor of this record, he'll be sporting special '257' livery on his car and helmet throughout the weekend.

Honda got celebrations for their driver started early with "The Rubens Barrichello 257 Golf Tournament" held at Barcelona's Real Club de Golf El Prat. Celebrity players included Patrese, Lewis Hamilton, David Coulthard, plus Honda team principal Ross Brawn and former F1 Champion, Sir Jackie Stewart.

The winner's trophy was made entirely from components of Barrichello's RA108 car and designed by Honda ex-chief mechanic, Alastair Gibson. Barrichello walked off with a prize, too: a Honda CBR 10000RR Fireblade from the team, in recognition of his achievement.

Despite not winning an F1 race since the 2004 Chinese GP, the Turkish GP is sure to prove a career highlight.

Seems this is the month for male detractors of female racers to go shove it! After Danica Patrick's first IndyCar win last week, 25-year old Ashley Force is now the first woman to ever win a National Hot Rod Association Funny Car division race.

In only her second season, Force beat out her Dad, legendary dragger John Force, with a winning time of 4.837 seconds at 320.36mph. She made it to the past 3 finals but this is her first victory and she is leading in the points.

She was suitably modest when talking about her win:

"It's an exciting time, you know, with Danica winning," Force said. "There are a lot of women in a lot of different motor sports and we're getting our practice, we're getting our experience, and we're making our way toward those wins.

"It's a good week for women, and it's exciting for the fans to finally have a woman winner in Funny Car, but I know that it's the 10 guys on my team who got me to this point. MLive.com

F1 racing is some of the most exciting racing in the world...so long as there's some good overtaking. While the 2008 Barcelona Grand Prix over the weekend had some fairly good dicing between the cars, the real excitement came when Heikki Kovalainen's Mercedes McLaren left the track at an extremely high rate of speed.

A suspected front left rim failure sent the Finn hurtling across a gravel pit and straight into the tire wall. Thankfully, after an extended extrication process, Heikki was stretchered off, waving to the crowd. No injuries have been reported, although he did stay in hospital overnight. Jalopnik

In what can most certainly be viewed as a one-finger salute to all her male detractors, Danica Patrick scored her first - and the first for any woman - victory this past weekend in the IndyCar Series.

She took the lead from race leader Helio Castroneves on the 198th lap, taking the checkered flag on lap 200. >p>
"I knew there was a good reason for coming to Japan," Patrick said. "I want to thank my team, the fans and everyone who supported me." ESPN

After a nine year stretch, Formula 1 is once again skipping the US on its world tour. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway failed to reach an agreement with head honcho Bernie Ecclestone.

However, F1 could be back on US soil as early as next year, according to Indy boss Tony George. As with anything, it's mostly about the money, but Indy's also made vast improvements to the circuit and have ensured the FIA approves of the changes so that F1 might make a smooth return to the Speedway.

Now, so long as they don't have another tire debacle repeat, it's something we can all hope for in 2009. Read More

Drag car racing is dead. Drifting is so yesterday. The new hot motorsports championship that drivers are striving to win: Flip a Bitch.

Speed, precision, skill, guts are all requirements for this technically-advanced, highly-dangerous new sport. You might think anyone can do it, but think again.

Or, at least, that's what the makers of Grid Match would have you believe. Check out a preview of "The World Flip a Bitch Contest" over at GT Channel Flip a Bitch

Things aren't looking too good for Max Mosley. Despite issuing an apology (although we're not sure the word 'sorry' actually appeared in the statement or, if it did, it was in a 'oh, but it's the newspaper's underhanded dealings that are to blame' way), there is to be a crisis meeting of the FIA, likely in Paris, as soon as is feasible.

This follows BMW and Mercedes-Benz issuing a joint statement demanding a response from the FIA, while Toyota and Honda both urged that the FIA give the matter 'careful consideration'. BBC

Obviously his new motorcycle racing career isn't quite full-time, so Schumi's taken some time out (and likely a large fistful of Euros) to let us know that when heading to the bar to down a few, tossing your keys to the valet (and stumbling out to retrieve them hours later) just isn't how Champions behave.

Jalopnik

Despite Sunday's expose in Britain's News of the World about his proclivity for prostitutes acting like Nazis, FIA head Max Mosley reportedly has no intentions to step down from his position of power.

And longtime friend and colleague, Bernie Ecclestone, believes that what someone does in their private lives has no reflection on their work and that, perhaps, Max was just having a bit of a laugh.

Ecclestone said, "Assuming it’s all true, what people do privately is up to them. I don’t honestly believe [it] affects the sport in any way. Knowing Max it might be all a bit of a joke. You know, it’s one of those things where he’s sort of taking the p***, rather than anything against Jewish people.”

Right....because we've always found concentration camp humor to be hysterical! Read More

What's a former F1 World Champion to do when he retires? Simple: try a different form of racing. And, if you're Michael Schumacher it goes without saying that winning is involved.

Some eagle-eyed spectators at a race in Barcelona snapped some pics of Schumi in the pits and in action as he raced to victory on his Triumph Daytona 675. He also had a couple of Ducatis with him but no word on whether those were there just for practice sessions or for racing.

Whether this new hobby is going to become a full-time gig is anybody's guess, but we're pretty sure he won't have trouble finding a ride with a team...

The IndyCar Series is about to get a whole lot more exciting for viewers. The Indy Racing League has invested $10 million to make all races available in HD, with the added bonus of at least 6 cars on the grid to be fitted with onboard HD cameras that can pan 360 degrees.

The new technology will debut at Saturday's Homestead-Miami Speedway season opener and cameras will be placed on Helio Castroneves, Danica Patrick and Dan Wheldon's cars, plus 3 more yet to be announced.

The lipstick-size cameras are mounted in a protective shell atop the car's air intake and technicians control the action remotely with joy sticks. The pans allow for a continuous sweep of 360 degrees, great for seeing every corner of the car in the pits, or for seeing who's about to overtake on the track.

If that doesn't get your racing juices flowing fast enough, the IRL has also partnered with MediaZone to provide a live online video production available on personal computer. For an annual fee of $39.99, users can go to indycarracecontrol.com for in-car camera views, onboard telemetry and live timing and scoring.

If you've ever wanted to be a race driver, this is about the closest you're likely to get from the comfort of your couch. Indy Car

What's a racer / rallyer like Tanner Foust to do in the off-season? Simple: along with readying his cars for the upcoming race/rally season, he's been getting behind the wheel of various super-fast, exotic cars.

Over at the network that enjoys all things at high Speed, Tanner's fronting a new show: "Supercars Exposed". Not quite "Top Gear" in production value, the show still has him at the wheel of anything from a Carrera GT to an ALMS GT Saleen S7.

Not entirely automotive in flavor, I'm assured the boys down at Camp Pendelton give as good as they get, so to speak. In return for seeing what a Ford GT can do, they happily showed off the abilities of their 90ft hovercraft and a couple of amphibious tanks. Sweet!

Back in the racing world, Foust will be driving for Rockstar Energy Drink in both the US Rally series, that's already 2 races in, and Formula Drift, that kicks off in April. As the returning Formula Drift Champion, and the Gold medal winner at last year's X Games, Foust has a lot to prove in 2008. Tanner Foust Supercars Exposed