News in brief, January 2008

Heikki Kovalainen completed the New York Marathon in three hours, 36 minutes and 56 seconds. GP2 driver Lucas di Grassi finished in 4848th position compared to Heikki’s 5370th. Alex Zanardi finished in fourth in the disabled class, 15 minutes behind the winner – particularly impressive considering he only started training a month before.

The 2008 Motorsport Safety Fund ‘Watkins Lecture’ will be delivered by the Ford rally supremo Malcolm Wilson. It takes place on January 11 at the Autosport International show at the NEC, Birmingham.

The Wings For Life Foundation is due to auction on Ebay the Red Bulls driven by Webber and Coulthard in the British GP, each car adorned with 30,000 pictures of fans who raised over $1 million for the charity.

Vijay Mallya, who took over the Spyker F1 team, has renamed the squad ‘Force India Formula One team’. He has said that he would be keen to sign two Indian drivers.