Mickeys

The British Grand Prix has been saved following a deal between Silverstone bosses and Formula One’s Bernie Ecclestone.

F1 fans will get to see champion Jenson Button at Silverstone in 2010

Silverstone Circuits Limited have confirmed the event will stay at their track for the next 17 years.

Next year’s F1 race had been under threat after Donington Park, which was hoping to host it, failed to meet its financial obligations.

Silverstone’s managing director Richard Phillips said: “We’ve always had the belief the British Grand Prix was an important cornerstone of Formula One but, with Bernie, you’re never quite sure.”

“At the end of the day, though, you have to have a British Grand Prix.”

Silverstone, which is in Northamptonshire, was stripped of the race last year because of a dispute over the upgrading of the venue.

Donington Park was awarded the staging rights but failed to raise the £135m needed to bring its track up to standard.

The British GP is the oldest race on the F1 calendar and Silverstone has hosted it every year since 1987.

Bernie Ecclestone

Chiefs at the track continued to plan for the 2010 race even after Donington secured the rights.

President of the British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC) and 1996 F1 champion Damon Hill said: “This announcement is tremendous news.

“It really does cement Silverstone as a motor sport venue and is incredibly satisfying for the BRDC to cement its relationship with F1.”

Commenting on the deal Ecclestone said: “This will ensure Great Britain will remain on the Formula One calendar for many years to come which is something I have personally always wanted to see happen.”

The new arena at Silverstone is expected to be ready in mid-March.

It is hoped work on the pit and paddock will start after christmas and be finished for the 2011 Grand Prix.

Next year’s British race is due to be held on July 11, the same day as the World Cup final in South Africa.

taken from SkyNews

Felipe Massa drives his kart during a session at the charity karting event "International Challenge of the Stars".

Florianopolis – Formula One driver Felipe Massa has beaten Michael Schumacher in a charity karting race on his weekend return to competition four months after a life-threatening accident.

The Brazilian edged his former Ferrari teammate Sunday in the final race of the “International Challenge of the Stars” in southern Brazil, an event hosted by Massa for the fifth straight year to aid local charities.

Schumacher won the first race on Saturday and clinched the overall title after points from both races were added.

Massa finished third Saturday in his first competitive race since seriously crashing his Ferrari in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix on July 25.

taken from Sport24

Former world champion Kimi Raikkonen confirms he will take a one-year sabbatical from Formula One next season and says it’s uncertain whether he will return in 2011.

The Finnish driver was replaced by Fernando Alonso at Ferrari, and says he prefers to take a year off and wait for spot with a competitive team after failing to reach a deal with McLaren. McLaren opted to sign current champion Jenson Button to partner Lewis Hamilton.

Raikkonen, the 2007 champion, said on Thursday that he will “only return in 2011 if I can drive a competitive car.”

The 29-year-old Raikkonen says he hasn’t held talks with Button’s former Brawn team – now Mercedes GP – and will look at competing in rallying next year instead.

taken from Sport24

Tokyo – Japan’s Toyota Motor is to quit Formula One in a bid to slash costs as the company battles to cope with the fallout from the global recession, a newspaper said on Wednesday.

Toyota will hold an extraordinary board meeting on Wednesday to make a formal decision on the pullout, with president Akio Toyoda making the announcement at a news conference in Tokyo, the Mainichi Shimbun said, without citing its sources.

The world’s biggest carmaker declined to comment on the report.

The Mainichi said the auto giant had earlier planned to continue its F1 participation until 2012 but decided to cut costs by making this year’s season – which ended on Sunday in Abu Dhabi – its last, the paper said.

Toyota would consider selling the team, it said.

Toyota entered F1 in 2002. It ended this season ranked fifth in the constructors’ championship.

If the company’s withdrawal is confirmed it would mean there would be no Japanese automakers in the world’s premier autosport.

Toyota in July pulled out of hosting the Japanese Grand Prix at its Fuji Speedway circuit.

The report came just two days after Japanese tyre maker Bridgestone Corp. said it would end supplying tyres to the race next year.

Bridgestone’s exit from Formula One is part of an exodus by Japanese automotive industry giants from the multi-million-dollar sport amid the worst industry slump in decades.

Honda earlier sold its F1 team as the carmaker battled with the effects of a slowing world economy.

taken from Sport24

Tokyo – Japan’s Toyota Motor is to quit Formula One in a bid to slash costs as the company battles to cope with the fallout from the global recession, a newspaper said on Wednesday.

Toyota will hold an extraordinary board meeting on Wednesday to make a formal decision on the pullout, with president Akio Toyoda making the announcement at a news conference in Tokyo, the Mainichi Shimbun said, without citing its sources.

The world’s biggest carmaker declined to comment on the report.

The Mainichi said the auto giant had earlier planned to continue its F1 participation until 2012 but decided to cut costs by making this year’s season – which ended on Sunday in Abu Dhabi – its last, the paper said.

Toyota would consider selling the team, it said.

Toyota entered F1 in 2002. It ended this season ranked fifth in the constructors’ championship.

If the company’s withdrawal is confirmed it would mean there would be no Japanese automakers in the world’s premier autosport.

Toyota in July pulled out of hosting the Japanese Grand Prix at its Fuji Speedway circuit.

The report came just two days after Japanese tyre maker Bridgestone Corp. said it would end supplying tyres to the race next year.

Bridgestone’s exit from Formula One is part of an exodus by Japanese automotive industry giants from the multi-million-dollar sport amid the worst industry slump in decades.

Honda earlier sold its F1 team as the carmaker battled with the effects of a slowing world economy.

story from Sport24

British driver Jenson Button is still celebrating after winning the Formula One world championship in Brazil on Sunday.

Finishing fifth in the Brazilian Grand Prix was enough to give the 29-year-old his first title – and he vowed to wake up today with a hangover.

The Brawn driver also said he wants to sort out his future as soon as possible.

He took a £5m pay cut this season – and is expected to ask for a return to the £8m a season he was on when he raced for Honda.

“I want to be here next year and I want to be with a team that can challenge for victories like this season,” he said.

“Brawn can do that. These guys are not one-hit wonders. We’ve some sensationally talented people in our team.”

He added: “But I haven’t talked to the team seriously about anything for next year. We wanted to get this out of the way.

“I will sit down and discuss it when I’ve got over my hangover!”

Button was meant to be on a flight out of Sao Paulo on Sunday night but instead will leave today as team-mate Rubins Barrichello allowed him use of his private plane

“It’s great to be sat here as world champion and I personally think I thoroughly deserve it,” said Button.

“I’ve been the best over 16 races, and that’s what world titles are all about.

“I am it. I am a world champion, and I’m going to keep saying it, especially after a race that, for me, was the best I’ve driven in my life.

“I know it’s because of the emotion involved with it, but also I knew I had to make it happen, and that’s why I’m sat here as the world champion.

“I’m going to enjoy this moment like you would not believe – and you can do that when you’ve won.”

The 29-year-old is the 10th British driver to claim the prize, inheriting the crown from last year’s winner, fellow Brit Lewis Hamilton.

(continue reading…)

Fekuoe Massa

Sao Paulo – Ferrari driver Felipe Massa arrived in Brazil on Monday, nine days after a life-threatening crash in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Massa waved to photographers just before being admitted to the Albert Einstein Hospital in South America’s biggest city, where he is expected to stay for at least two days to undergo further exams.

“Thanks,” he said briefly. “I can’t talk, I still have to recover.”

Massa arrived on Monday evening on a private jet accompanied by his wife Raffaela, who is six months pregnant with their first child, and family doctor Dino Altmann. He was transported to the hospital from the airport on a helicopter.

Before leaving the AEK military hospital where he was being treated in Budapest, Massa spoke publicly for the first time after the high-speed accident that prompted surgery on multiple skull fractures after he was hit in the helmet by a loose part from another car on Aug. 25.

“Many things have happened over the last days and I want to get back to a normal life,” Massa said in an interview on Ferrari’s website. “I want to get back into the best possible condition – doing things you do every day.”

The 28-year-old Massa, who had said he was feeling well aside from some swelling around his damaged left eye, will be replaced at Ferrari by record seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, who visited the Brazilian on Saturday and is coming out of retirement to race.

“Michael doesn’t need my advice,” Massa said. “It was him who gave me many tips during my career when we were racing together. He knows how to win, he knows how to drive and he’s great.

“It was the best choice handing over the car to such a fantastic person and I’m sure that everybody will be happy to see him back on the track again – although I hope I’ll be back on the track with Ferrari as soon as possible.”

taken from Sport24

Budapest – Injured Formula One driver Felipe Massa will leave hospital on Monday to return to Brazil in a private jet, his personal physician Dino Altman said Friday.

“We have decided that he will go back home on Monday,” the Brazilian doctor said in front of the AEK hospital, adding that the state of the pilot continues to improve.

“He will be transported in a private jet, probably to Sao Paolo,” he noted.

“In Brazil, he will continue his recovery and will go back into racing as soon as possible,” Altman said, although he could not specify how much time the recovery would take.

The Ferrari pilot will not need any special treatment for his recovery, Altman added.

On Thursday, Hungarian state television said the driver would be discharged on Sunday, citing the director of the hospital.

Massa suffered severe injuries when he was struck at around 250 kph by a spring that flew off compatriot Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn car during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday.

The 28-year-old driver underwent surgery on his fractured skull.

He was taken out of intensive care on Wednesday.

Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher has agreed to return to racing to fill in for his friend at Ferrari, starting with the European Grand Prix in Velencia on August 23.

taken from Sport24

Frankfurt – Michael Schumacher hopes the neck injuries he sustained in a motorcycle accident in February will not hinder his attempted comeback to Formula One.

A day after announcing he was ending retirement to temporarily replace injured Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, Schumacher’s return was contingent on passing a fitness and other medical tests that could take several days, his doctor Johannes Peil said on Thursday.

“Had Michael not worked so hard in recent months, all this would not have been possible,” Peil said.

Schumacher was considered one of the fittest drivers until he retired at the end of 2006, and Peil said the seven-time world champion has been working out at home regularly, especially on his neck muscles.

In February, Schumacher crashed during a motorcycle race, but his neck injuries were never described in detail. He has not believed to have raced on two wheels since. Neck muscles are critical for F1 drivers, who experience great G forces during a race.

While the 40-year-old Schumacher hopes to compete in the next race, the European Grand Prix in Valencia on Aug. 23, he and Ferrari were downplaying any chance of him adding to his record 91 victories in 250 starts.

“I hope he’s up to it physically and he can pass the tests that must be administered for the neck muscles, which he hasn’t used in a while,” Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said in Rome.

“But already today, the entire team is working to prepare him. Tomorrow he’ll have his first tests on the track.”

Montezemolo said Schumacher had little time to become accustomed to the Ferrari and new KERS overtaking technology. Also, the circuit in Valencia has been modified since Schumacher retired, and testing has been banned to save costs.

“This will be a big problem, at least for the first race, because he’s going to find himself on a circuit he’s never driven on, with a car he’s never driven, and with technology he doesn’t know,” Montezemolo said. “But, unfortunately, this is the price we have to pay.”

Former world champion Niki Lauda, also a Ferrari alumnus, agreed.

“He doesn’t know the circuit in Valencia, he doesn’t know the car, he is not allowed to do any test driving,” Lauda said. “These are tougher conditions than for his rivals. And on top, Ferrari doesn’t have a top car.”

As a consultant for Ferrari since his retirement, Schumacher was aware of its struggle to develop a competitive car this year.

After winning the constructors’ standings last season, the Italian team was third, languishing 74 points behind leader Brawn GP.

“Last year we were fighting for the championship really to the last race, which made development a little bit more complicated,” Schumacher said. “It made us have to develop the (2008) car and a new one at the same time.

“But we’re preparing a new one, and over the years it has worked out pretty good. We like competition, but we like to be the winner out of it.”

For now, Schumacher’s decision to step in for Massa, who was recovering from skull fractures from a crash in Hungarian GP qualifying last weekend, had triggered a massive media hype, and was considered welcome news for F1.

Auto racing’s premier series has been hit by setbacks, including the withdrawal of two major manufacturers within less than a year. Honda pulled out after last season and BMW announced its withdrawal hours before Schumacher made his decision public. The manufacturers have been feuding with the series’ administrators about cost-cutting moves and other rules in recent months.

Television ratings have also been dropping in Germany, one of its top markets.

“This is the best thing that could happen to Formula One and it’s simply great for our series,” said Mercedes motor sports chief Norbert Haug.

Massa has been warned by doctors that he may never race again, but the Brazilian still hopes to.

“Yesterday, I went for the second time to visit Felipe and I saw big improvement,” Montezemolo said. “I hope Felipe returns soon, and of course whenever he comes back the car will be there waiting for him.

“To have Michael in for us, for the team, and I think Formula One after this, will help the sport bounce back after useless polemics and controversy that has had nothing to do with the sport.

“Let’s hope he’s coming back to win, together with Kimi (Raikkonen).”

taken from Sport24

July 29 – Factbox on seven-times Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher, who will return to racing to replace Ferrari’s injured Felipe Massa if he passes a fitness test.

* Born Jan. 3, 1969 in Huerth-Hermuelheim, Germany

First grand prix:

• Schumacher’s first grand prix was with Jordan in Belgium in 1991, as a stand-in for jailed Belgian driver Bertrand Gachot. Despite completing only 500 metres in the race, he made an immediate impression.
  Snapped up by Benetton after that debut, a move that provoked a bitter legal tussle, and scored points in only his second appearance with fifth place in Italy.
  
• Mexico provided the first podium of Schumacher’s career in 1992, and his first win followed later that year in Belgium. Yet he had to wait until Monaco in 1994 for his first pole position.
  
• Won his first of seven titles later that year, going on to triumph in 1995 (also with Benetton), and 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 (with Ferrari).
  
• He retired at the end of the 2006 season.

Controversy:

• His career was dogged by controversy as well as highlighted by brilliance, the German colliding with Briton Damon Hill to win the 1994 title and trying to ram Canadian Jacques Villeneuve off the track in the 1997 decider.
  
• During the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix qualifying session the German stopped his car towards the end of the circuit, partially blocking title rival Fernando Alonso, who was on a quick lap at the time. Schumacher was later demoted to the back of the grid for the race.

Records galore:

• Schumacher is the only driver to win seven championships in Formula One and he owns most of the sport’s meaningful records.
• In 2002 he finished every race on the podium, winning the title with six races to spare – the fastest championship in Formula One.
• In 2004, when Ferrari were dominant, he won a record 13 races in a single season and finished first in seven successive races, also a record.
• Schumacher won an unprecedented 91 times, one fewer than the combined tally of the next two most successful drivers Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna.

Return to F1:

• Media speculation linked Schumacher with a return to racing after Ferrari’s Brazilian driver Felipe Massa crashed during qualifying for last week’s Hungarian Grand Prix, ruling him out of action for the foreseeable future.
  
• On Wednesday the Italian team confirmed Schumacher would return to racing at the European Grand Prix in Valencia, Spain, next month if he passes a fitness test.

taken from Wheels24

Michael Schumacher will make a shock return to Formula 1 to replace injured Ferrari driver Felipe Massa.

The seven-time world champion, 40, retired at the end of 2006 but has agreed to drive at the European Grand Prix in Valencia on 23 August.

Schumacher will stand in for Massa, who fractured his skull at the Hungarian GP, for as long as he is sidelined.

The German, who is a Ferrari advisor, said: “For team loyalty reasons I can’t ignore this unfortunate situation.” “

His spokesman Sabine Kehm told the BBC on Tuesday that although Schumacher was not willing to make a full-time return to F1 he would not rule out standing in for Massa.

Now, the German racing legend has decided to come out of retirement and make a sensational return despite admitting: “It is true that the Formula 1 chapter has long been closed for me.

“The most important thing first: thank God, all news concerning Felipe is positive, and I wish him all the best again.

“This afternoon I met with team principal Stefano Domenicali and Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo and together we decided that I will prepare myself to take the place of Felipe.

“As the competitor I am, I also very much look forward to facing this challenge.”

The German racing legend has not driven an F1 car since April 2008 and now has just over three weeks to prepare himself for Valencia.

The ban on in-season testing means Schumacher will not be able to turn a wheel of the 2009 specification Ferrari before first practice on Friday 21 August.

However, the team have chosen Schumacher ahead of test drivers Marc Gene and Luca Badoer to drive for Ferrari whilst Massa continues to recuperate.

“Ferrari intends to entrust Michael Schumacher with Felipe Massa’s car for as long as the Brazilian driver is not able to race,” a statement said.

“Michael Schumacher has shown his willingness and in the next few days he will undergo a specific programme of preparation at the end of which it will be possible to confirm his participation in the championship starting with the European Grand Prix.”

Schumacher will undergo an intensive training programme to determine whether he is fit enough to return to the rigours of F1 racing.

Since retiring the German has occasionally taken part in motorcycle events but in February he suffered neck and back injuries in a bike accident.

Those injuries could affect his ability to drive an F1 car which places huge pressures on the neck because of the varying G-forces.

Massa could be out for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on a fractured skull sustained when a spring from Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn hit him on the helmet when he was travelling at more than 160mph during qualifying in Hungary on Saturday.

The Brazilian is due to leave intensive care and is making progress, though there is also concern about damage to his left eye.

Schumacher is close to Massa, who was his team-mate in his final season, and has taken a close interest in the Brazilian’s career.

BBC Radio 5 Live F1 commentator David Croft believes Schumacher is coming back because of his close relationship with the Brazilian.

“I think he’s coming back because it is to replace Felipe Massa, temporarily. He is very close to Felipe, they’ve had a great relationship over the years,” Croft told 5 Live.

“I think it’s his way of doing something to help Felipe, and doing something to help Ferrari at the same time, because if you look at the alternatives Ferrari had, they weren’t really alternatives.

“Who else is there who could come into Ferrari and hit the ground running, who knows the car, who knows the team, who could give them a podium?

“The European Grand Prix, which was not one we were looking forward to at the start of this year, has now got a real spice to it.

“Lewis Hamilton against Michael Schumacher for the first time ever? Jenson Button up against Michael Schumacher? How will Kimi Raikkonen respond? It’s going to be fascinating.”

story from BBC

“The BMW Group will not continue its Formula One campaign after the end of the 2009 season”

BMW rocked Formula One on Wednesday by announcing their exit as a team and engine supplier at the end of 2009.

The Munich carmaker’s abrupt decision, after a dismal season on the track and with the industry in crisis, leaves the glamour sport with just four manufacturers, Fiat-owned Ferrari, McLaren’s partners Mercedes, Renault and Toyota.

However, three new teams are due to enter next year with others on standby.

“The BMW Group will not continue its Formula One campaign after the end of the 2009 season,” the Munich carmaker said in a statement issued before a news conference at their company headquarters.

Team boss Mario Theissen told reporters that the natural scenario would be for a partner to take over the team that BMW bought from its Swiss founder Peter Sauber in 2005.

BMW’s exit is the first prominent withdrawal from the series since Honda quit in December due to tough business conditions. That team was resurrected as Brawn GP, the current championship leaders who now use Mercedes engines.

story from EWN

Injured Formula One driver Felipe Massa is recovering well and could walk out of a Budapest hospital within 10 days, his doctor said on Tuesday.

“My expectation is that he would walk out of the hospital on his own,” Peter Bazso, the medical director of the AEK hospital, told public television M1 on Tuesday.

“If his recovery continues at this pace, I wouldn’t rule out that he could leave within 10 days.”

Brazilian Massa fractured his skull in an accident during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday when he was hit just above his left eye by a bouncing spring, weighing almost a kilo, that broke free from compatriot Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn car.

“He’s spending more and more time awake, talking to family and friends,” Bazso said, adding that they could begin “mobilising him” within a few days.

Doctors brought Massa, last year’s championship runner-up, out of an artificial coma on Monday and also took him off a respirator.

taken from EWN

Felipe Massa was awake and talking on Monday night, making significant improvements after his crash in Hungary.

His doctor said he is now breathing unassisted and moving his limbs.

The Ferrari Formula One driver has been ruled out of racing for the rest of the season. His long-term future in the sport is in doubt.

taken from EWN

Felipe Massa, struck by a component from Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn Mercedes in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix, has undergone surgery this afternoon at the AEK hospital in Budapest.

Brazilian Formula One driver Felipe Massa of Scuderia Ferrari is carried out of his car after his accident …

“My position today is unimportant,” he said with reference to qualifying. “My thoughts right now are with Felipe and his family who are really close friends of mine and I hope he is going to be okay and will be fit as soon as possible.”

Ferrari is expected to make a further medical update late Sunday morning.

story from F1-Live.com

Update:

Massa Remain In Life- Threatening State:

BUDAPEST, Hungary – A doctor says Formula One driver Felipe Massa remains in “life-threatening” but stable condition despite “reassuring” results of his surgery on multiple skull fractures.

Peter Bazso, the AEK hospital medical director, told reporters Sunday that the Ferrari driver would remain in an induced coma for the next 48 hours, but will be woken up periodically during that time.

Bazso said the 28-year-old Brazilian did not sustain any neurological damage as a result of the high-speed crash during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday.

Massa suffered multiple skull fractures when a loose car part ricocheted off the track and hit his helmet, concussing him. He drove headlong into a tire barrier.

taken from Yahoo News

Update:

Felipe Massa remained in “life-threatening” but stable condition on Sunday despite “reassuring” results of his surgery on multiple skull fractures, a doctor said.

Peter Bazso, the AEK hospital medical director, told reporters that Massa would remain sedated until Monday, but will be woken up periodically during that time.

When asked whether Massa’s life remained in danger, Bazso answered: “Yes, of course.”

Bazso said doctors were able to “remove the broken bones and stabilise the area,” which was necessary since Massa arrived with “an open skull fracture and a contusion.”

He did not specify how long it would take Massa to recover, or whether there would be any long-term effects of the injury.

“At the moment, we have to overcome this life-threatening condition,” Bazso said, adding that a CT scan revealed “expected results after an operation of this type.”

Massa’s parents and wife arrived after flying in from Brazil, and doctors woke Massa temporarily to check on his condition and so that he could see his family.

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali and several team staff were also on hand to support Massa’s family, which included pregnant wife Anna Rafaela. Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo was scheduled to visit on Monday, while fellow Brazilian driver Rubens Barrichello was buoyed by the news he received from a doctor at the hospital when he visited after the Hungarian Grand Prix, although he didn’t personally see Massa.

“For me I can leave it in peace because he’s going to be fine,” Barrichello said. “The improvements from yesterday were quite good and that most probably he’s going to be OK.”

At the Hungaroring circuit, Ferrari’s garage displayed a banner reading “Forza Felipe Siamo Con Te” – or “Be Strong Felipe, We Are With You.”.

“Saturday was a quite sad day to not see Felipe with us today(Sunday),” said race winner Lewis Hamilton, who battled Massa for the 2008 championship. “We miss him and wish him well and wish him a speedy recovery.”

A spring which came off Barrichello’s Brawn GP car bounced along the track and into Massa’s helmet as the 28-year-old driver reached speeds of about 190 km/h. The impact concussed Massa, who then ploughed into the protective tyre barrier.

“That’s the job we do. We don’t want to get too carried away with it,” Red Bull’s Mark Webber said. “He’ll be fine. We missed him on the grid but the show must go on.”

The impact of the rear suspension part, believed to be made of steel, damaged the left side of Massa’s helmet, ripping out the visor and leaving a long dent on its side. Blood was visible on Massa’s left brow.

Barrichello said the incident weighed on his mind Sunday.

“I would be lying if, in the middle of the race, it didn’t sometimes come to my mind. (He’s) a friend,” he said. “Not because the spring came from my car – it could have come from any car so I’m not actually (blaming) myself for that.”

The crash came less than a week after Henry Surtees, the son of former F1 champion John Surtees, died in similar circumstances in an F2 race last Sunday. Surtees was struck in the head by a wheel from another car, causing him to lose consciousness and drive into a barrier.

The FIA is investigating the crash.

“It was very unfortunate what happened. (But) we have phenomenal safety in Formula One,” Webber said. “Yesterday was terrifically freakish.”

No F1 driver has died on the track since Ayrton Senna’s crash at Imola 15 years ago. The three-time champion died from head injuries after a violent crash.

taken from Sport24