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Sports Briefs: Toyota says it's out of Formula 1 racing
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Published: November 5, 2009
Updated: 11/05/2009 01:25 am
Toyota announced yesterday that it is pulling out of Formula One racing, saying it needs to cut costs and focus on its core business.
"Based on the current economic environment, we realize we have no choice but to withdraw from Formula One," Toyota president Akio Toyoda said at a press conference in Tokyo. "This has been a very painful decision for the company."
Toyota follows Honda Motor Co., as the second major Japanese automaker to withdraw from the sport in the last 11 months, following Honda's decision last December. Toyota officials called the withdrawal from F1 complete, making a return to the sport when and if conditions improve unlikely.
Toyota is seeking to cut costs as it expects to post an operating loss for the six months ending Sept. 30. It is due to report earnings today. The company posted its worst-ever loss in the financial year at the end of March.
Formula One's governing body, FIA, will review the legality of Toyota's decision. The association says that since the announcement comes only weeks after Toyota committed to the sport through 2012, it will seek "urgent clarification" as to the team's "legal position" in the F1 championship.
More auto racing
■ IndyCar officials are expected to announce today that clothing maker Izod will become the series' title sponsor next season.
A person with knowledge of the deal confirmed the move yesterday to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal had not yet been announced. The league has scheduled a news conference for this afternoon.
It would be the first time since 2002 that the IndyCar series has had a title sponsor, and it comes at a time when some companies have been tight fisted because of the tough economy.
Basketball
■ Sylvia Hatchell, the women's basketball coach at North Carolina, says that Jessica Breland's Hodgkin's lymphoma has gone into remission, but it's still unclear if Breland will be able to play this season.
Hatchell said yesterday that Breland, a senior, finished her five-month course of chemotherapy last week and will have a scan next week that could determine whether she needs additional treatments. Hatchell says she is still leaning toward redshirting Breland and that her return to the lineup would be a "pleasant surprise."
■ Connecticut was a unanimous choice for the No. 1 spot USA Today-ESPN preseason women's basketball poll, receiving all 31 points and outdistancing No. 2 Stanford by 36 points. Also ranked were: North Carolina (5), Duke (6), Florida State (12), Virginia (18) and Maryland (21).
Miscellaneous
■ Seniors Aileen Davis, Melissa Martin and Raisa Schiller of Wake Forest were named to the All-ACC field-hockey team yesterday, and Maryland swept the individual awards, with Katie O'Donnell and Emma Thomas winning the offensive and defensive player-of-the-year awards, and Missy Meharg winning coach of the year.
Other All-ACC selections included Illse Davids, Katelyn Falgowski, Danielle Forword, Jackie Kintzer and Kelsey Kolojejchick of North Carolina and Lauren Miller and Amie Survilla of Duke.
■ Cadel Evans, a world road-race champion, will join Lance Armstrong, a seven-time Tour de France winner, in January's Tour Down Under.
Race director Mike Turtur told The Associated Press that Evans' new American-based BMC team is the first to be offered a wild card entry for the race in Adelaide, Australia.
■ The building of a new stadium for the French Open has been blocked because of political issues, but the French Tennis Federation said yesterday that it is confident it will go ahead as planned. Gilbert Ysern, the general director of the French Tennis Federation, said that the Paris mayor's office "was unsure of the project's outcome," and time was running out to start construction.
"We have been told that it's now a complicated matter," Ysern said. "City hall is facing strong opposition."
But we will keep working very seriously on the project and this is of course our favorite option. We are a strong federation, and we will succeed."
The federation announced this year a project to build a new center court with a retractable roof that could be in use by 2013 or 2014. The new 14,600-seat stadium would be located less than 500 yards from the current center court and surrounded by two other smaller, covered arenas at a cost equal to $177 million.
■ Greg Norman's slower-than-expected recovery from shoulder surgery will force him to miss next month's Australian Open.
Tournament officials said that Norman was advised by his doctors not to play competitive golf again this year after arthroscopic surgery in September.
The Australian Open is scheduled for the New South Wales Golf Club in Sydney from Dec. 3-6. Golf Australia said Norman will also sit out his signature tournament in Florida, the Shark Shootout, in the week after the Australian Open.
Geoff Ogilvy, Adam Scott and John Daly are entered in the Australian Open, the second of three tournaments on the Australian late-year circuit.
The Australian Masters, featuring Tiger Woods' first appearance in Australia since the Presidents Cup in 1998, is next week at Kingston Heath in Melbourne.
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