FIA hints at progress as FOTA responds

The FIA has suggested that slight progress has been made in its row with the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) over the future of the sport, after claiming that a response to its request for teams to lodge unconditional entries for 2010 was 'not entirely negative.'

With FIA president Max Mosley having asked FOTA's eight members to let him know by this evening whether or not they would remove the conditions attached to their entries to the 2010 championship, the teams' organisation duly wrote to the governing body.

No details of the contents of the letter have been made public, and FOTA was unwilling to comment about the situation, but it is understood that the teams made it clear that they were not in a position to be able to drop the conditions attached to their entry yet.

However, having laid out clearly in the letter and various attachments what teams would like to see in place for them to commit, the FIA says it has seen some signs of encouragement in the latest stance.

A spokesman for the governing body said: "The FIA has received a letter and various attachments from FOTA, the contents of which are not entirely negative, and we are currently examining the details."

FOTA has been keen not to adopt an aggressive strategy with the governing body over the matter, and believes that the cost cut proposals it has put forward are exactly what is needed to help secure the sport's future.

However, the bigger issue for the teams remains governance of the sport. That is why the signing of a new Concorde Agreement to unify the teams, the FIA and the sport's commercial rights holder is so important.

Toyota vice-chairman John Howett said in Turkey last weekend that sorting out how rules are framed in the future was a priority.

"It's about fundamentally governance; there are also one or two issues of methodology of managing, shall we say, resource control, or reduction," he explained. "And I think the FOTA requests are extremely reasonable."

Rossi and Agostini pay Isle of Man TT visit

Italian greats take trip to historic road circuit event.

Two MotoGP greats made a visit to a legendary event this past weekend, as reigning premier class World Champion Valentino Rossi and racing legend Giacomo Agostini made a pilgrimage to the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy.

The two Italian stars watched the event’s Superbike race at the ‘Ago’s Leap’ section of the sweeping road circuit named after Agostini, and headed onto the podium to present awards to the top trio of John McGuinness, Steve Plater and Guy Martin.

An historic first took place on Monday, as Rossi undertook his first ever lap of the circuit. Joined by Agostini and safety marshalls, he swung his leg over a standard issue Yamaha R1 adorned with his typical cartoonish decoration to experience first hand the feeling of road track riding. Originally scheduled for Saturday, the lap was postponed due to bad weather.

“I give big respect to the riders who are competing today. I have always followed the TT and have watched a mountain of DVDs, but watching it live is another thing altogether!” said the Fiat Yamaha rider in conversation with protective gear suppliers Dainese, who organised his attendance at the event.

“The way that these guys pass each other at a high speed is incredible!” said the man renowned for his own daring passes in the premier class.

Dainese held a press conference on riding safety at the Isle of Man TT, during which Rossi talked about the D-Tec airbag system that is being developed with his input.

Also present at the Isle of Man TT was British 125cc star Bradley Smith, the current leader of the lower cylinder category World Championship. He took his own tour of the track by car, in a Jaguar driven by ex-TT entrant Richard ‘Milky’ Quayle.