Autoblog

When Ross Brawn took a sabbatical last year from Scuderia Ferrari, the rumors started flying. Would he return to Ferrari? Would he sign with another team? Or would he retire from racing altogether? The rumor mill can stop churning now, as the mastermind behind Ferrari's dominance of the Formula One circuit, it has been announced, is heading over to Honda.

When Schumacher moved to Ferrari from Bennetton ten years ago, Brawn came with him and took up the position of technical director, the number-two spot on any F1 team, and together the pair built the team up. But when Schumacher retired, Brawn took a sabbatical, leaving his options open for a return. Some pundits speculated that Brawn would return to Maranello and take over management of the team from overworked CEO Jean Todt, but in the post-Schumacher era, Brawn will be hawking his wears elsewhere.

Following the revelation, Ferrari announced some changes of its own, promoting Stefano Domenicali from sporting director to team principal, allowing Todt to focus on the bigger picture. Several other changes in the technical staff were also announced.

Honda, meanwhile, has one of the biggest budgets in F1, but has seen little success in return. This past season, the Honda team has been embarrassed by the comparative success of their B-team Super Aguri... along with just about every other team, big and small. With Brawn behind the proverbial wheel, however, Honda is bound to become a force with which to be reckoned.

[Source: Autosport]

TMZ, and every other celeb-obsessive site on the web, is reporting that Nick Hogan, son of former WWE superstar Hulk Hogan, is in serious condition after crashing his yellow Toyota Supra in Clearwater, Florida.

The crash occurred a little after 7:30 PM tonight, local time, where witnesses say that Nick and his friend were bombing down Court Street when he lost control and slammed into a Jersey barrier. The car spun around, hit a palm tree and was summarily ripped apart.

Both of the occupants were flown in a helicopter to a hospital in St. Petersburg where Nick and his friend are listed in serious and critical condition, respectively.

[Source: TMZ]

It's better than Lee Iacocca saying something like "fo shizzle." Chrysler has joined up with Nickelodeon to shill their newly revamped minivans. With the addition of Sirius TV to beam content off the birds and into the backseat, it makes perfect sense for the two to team up. I'd rather interact with our child, but some parents just need a break from their little monsters, and video screens in the back seem to shut them up for a while. Cartoon characters have been used to sell cars before; even the Peanuts gang promoted Ford Falcons back in the '60s. Perhaps there will be some kind of Joe Camel effect, and the kids will specifically request that mom and pop take a ride at the Chrysler dealer when it's time for a new Wagon Queen Family Truckster. The new Chrysler minis are cool, with their video systems, flexible swivelly seats and if patriotism appeals to you, they're the last US brand in the game.

[Source: Kicking Tires]

You didn't think the Gumball saga was finished, did you? The latest turn: Nick Morley has been completely absolved of responsibility by the family of the Macedonian couple that was killed in a car accident in this year's rally. Morley was the one was was driving the Techart 911 at the time of the 2-car, twin-fatality crash in Macedonia.

We're not conspiracy theorists, but Macedonians are either the most forgiving people on the planet, or the fix is in. The family not only forgave Morley, but retracted their plans to seek compensation of £100,000, asked that Morley be released from custody and allowed to return to Britain, and tacitly blamed Vladimir, the driver of the Golf, for the accident by saying "It was just fate that forced Vladimir to drive wrongly." Morley, for his part, took no responsibility, saying: he was only going 60 kph, he obeyed all laws, it was the other driver's fault, he tried to help the couple, he only got in the other car and left because people started shouting at him, and he planned on stopping at the border to report the accident. Oh, and the Porsche wasn't even his. And he's not rich. And he doesn't know why the media is saying that, because he's "just a simple property developer." And he doesn't feel guilty, but he does "feel regret for the victims."

It turns out, however, that Morley's brother Oliver actually is rich, and has spoken with the family, but there's been no comment on what transpired. Hmmm...

[Source: Daily Mail]

DaimlerChrysler would like to see more of its super-luxe Maybach limousines at local country clubs and has launched a new marketing campaign, principally in Europe, to promote its brand in the golf world.

The campaign includes a sponsorship deal that places legendary professional golfer Nick Faldo as a "brand ambassador" (a marketing maneuver popular with luxury brands), and the launch of the Maybach Golf Cup tournament. Faldo says he's "delighted to be so closely associated with a brand that shares the very same values as my own," which he cites as being "the absolute pinnacle of motoring style and technology." This makes us wonder if he's some sort of golf-playing Transformer, which would be really cool. Faldo has won over 40 worldwide tournaments and was appointed captain of the 2008 European Ryder Cup team.

The Maybach Golf Cup, meanwhile, is open to existing and potential Maybach customers, starting with four European qualifier tournaments in Spain, Russia, Austria and Germany before culminating this December with the finals in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Part of the tournament includes a special hole-in-one prize of an SLR McLaren, whose program is grouped together with Maybach's under CEO Klaus Nesser, pictured above (right) with Faldo (left) as the endorsement deal was announced.

Press release after the jump.

[Source: Maybach]