Mercedes buys Brawn, links with Petronas and signs Schumacher; its a wrap for cars; nanotechnology wins lubes award; farmers low over highs but rally car leaps to a world record.
In motorsport, most of the end of year news focused on 2009 F1 Championship winning team Brawn. Having lost their Champion driver, Jensen Button to rival McLaren, Brawn announced that it had been bought by Mercedes-Benz and Abu Dhabi's Aabar Investments. The team was renamed Mercedes GP.
The news was quickly followed by the announcement that Malaysia's national oil producer, Petronas has signed as the team's long-term partner. This news meant another re-brand to the Mercedes Petronas Formula One Team. As if that wasn't enough a ribbon was added to the pre-Christmas package as the Mercedes team revealed that it had persuaded 40 year-old, seven-times World F1 Champion Michael Schumacher out of retirement to race alongside teammate Nico Rosberg for the 2010 season. While the news may have excited F1 fans around the world, it received an extremely un-festive reception from the Mercedes-Benz Board, who were critical of salary figures involved in a time of recession.
Wrapped Audi Image courtesy of Guy Salmon Prestige Cars |
On the subject of old for new and Christmas wrapping, it would appear that even the wealthiest superstars are finding ways of saving money while still driving the finest cars money can buy. Rather than paper and gift tags, supercar owners are catching on to the 'wrapping' craze, where a thin film is used to recover the existing paintwork and give the car a complete makeover. More dazzle for less dollars.
There was dazzling silverware for niche lubricants manufacturer, Millers Oils, when they beat global competition to lift the 'Most Innovative New Product' Award at the World Motorsport Symposium. Millers beat the likes of Williams and McLaren with their range of gear oils which use nanotechnology to protect high performance motorsport transmissions.
In the US, farmers are continuing to experience the lows of highs. Two Texan famers lost their appeal to farm industrial hemp crops. The plants are used in manufacturing automotive fuels, parts and lubricants and are part of the same family as the cannabis plant. However, unlike marijuana, industrial hemp contains only fraction amounts of the narcotic chemical tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). However, after a two year battle, Appeal Court Judges ruled in favour of the Drug Enforcement Agency for a continued total ban on all hemp growing regardless of type or use. Industrial hemp is grown legally across the border in Canada and the farmers have vowed to continue their fight.
And finally, in Long Beach California, rally driver and thrill-seeker Travis Pastrana experienced a record breaking 'high' after setting a new world record for the longest rally car jump. Pastrana leapt his Red Bull sponsored Subaru Impreza a massive 274 feet (83.5m) from a pier onto a floating barge. The jump smashed the existing record by more than 100 feet (30.4m) and went smoothly - which was more than could be said for one of Pastrana's practice jumps. Brave or barking mad? You be the judge!