Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing HQ Raided by FBI

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has had their race shop raided by the FBI and this week in the Business of Motorsport Roundup you will find out why. I also have details on Toyota joining Supercars, the future of IndyCar and details on the evolution of F1 sponsorship. All this and the latest motorsport sponsorship and partnership developments and more.

Motorsport Industry News

Formula 1

British Grand Prix

British Grand Prix organizers are to increase the number of its cheapest general admission tickets available for 2025 and limit dynamic price increases, ahead of sales opening next week reports Autosport.

“Early ticket sales significantly support the operation of Silverstone’s year-round business under the ownership of the British Racing Drivers’ Club – a not-for-profit organization. As such, our ticket strategy will once again incentivise those who book early, as well as reward year-round supporters of the circuit – through their membership of the SRC – and those who pre-book on-site camping.”

Read all the details at Autosport.

In his Green Notebook from Bülbül Avenue, Joe Saward mentions that discussions are continuing with South Africa and Rwanda about potential Grands Prix.

“Domenicali was a busy man (as usual) and also had a meeting with South Africa’s Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, who had flown up to Baku for discussions about a South African GP. This is not unrelated to the fact that a group of executives from the Formula 1 group flew to Kigali in Rwanda, in the week after Monza, to look at the F1 project that Rwanda is proposing. The concept is believed to be similar to that adopted in Malaysia in the late 1990s, with the construction of an international racing circuit close to the new international airport. The project will not be quick, however, with the first race not being for four or five years at the earliest.”

General Motorsport Industry News

Toyota Supercars

The big news from Australia is that Toyota has signed on to become the third manufacturer to race in Supercars. It will partner with Walkinshaw Andretti United to race the GR Supra in the series. Toyota has committed to racing in the Supercars Championship for five years, and will become the third brand to race in the Gen3 era alongside Ford and Chevrolet, extending the famous Japanese marque’s commitment to Australian motorsport.

Below are some articles analyzing the move:

IndyCar 2024

BlackBook Motorsport has published their IndyCar season review and argue that after a promising 2023, IndyCar has encountered several challenges in recent months ahead of its transition to Fox. BlackBook overviews the key off-track storylines from the recently concluded season and outlines why adaptability will help the series achieve its potential. Despite the 2023 season being the most-watched IndyCar campaign since 2011, momentum seems to have stalled this year. There appears to be some tension building behind the scenes, too. You can read their analysis here.

McLaren’s Zak Brown meanwhile has published some thoughts on what he thinks IndyCar needs to grow as a series. His suggestions include expanding further within U.S. markets, especially on the East Coast and in major metro markets, a return of IndyCar to Mexico and to restrict any international expansion to the continents of North and South America. He also thinks there should be a longer calendar, no non-championship races, moving on from “outdated” cars and looking beyond a new franchise system that “doesn’t really move the dial”.

Jack Benyon of The Race wonders whether Brown’s vision for IndyCar is the right one. “You have to remember, in the end, that Brown is a team owner with his own agenda – and some of that does come across in his pitches.”

Speaking of IndyCar charters and the debate over whether they will add value to a team, RACER looks at how Indy NXT racer James Roe is taking an unconventional approach to attracting investors to fund his future IndyCar racing career. He is working a group of investors who want to connect with a team to buy into Roe’s future entry, infusing capital into the team for a stake in that entry’s charter, and bringing traditional sponsorship to the team through other supporters.

“As a result of the charter system announcements, there’s been a mix of Irish and American investors reach out who are interest in supporting me through the charter system,” he said. “And I think that’s the beauty of where the sport’s going. It creates a lot of opportunity for those that can deliver a real business offer to teams. It’s a very different lens to look through.”

Read more about his approach at RACER.

Formula E

As Formula E contemplates a race in Manila, Motorsport Week looks at how the series has defied skeptics and is still racing after 10 years.

“On the evening of March 11, 2011, former FIA President Jean Todt and Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag were sat in a restaurant together, and as legend goes, by the end of the night, the concept for Formula E was written on a napkin. A concept of single-seater cars powered purely by electricity racing through the streets of some of the most iconic cities in the world.”

Read the full story here.

The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) has introduced a new department to ensure a centralized approach to appointing FIA Officials. In place to cover all levels of Officials from the start of the 2025 season and working closely with the FIA Volunteers and Officials Commission, the Officials Department will support the recruitment of officiating talent, empower Officials at a regional level, improve efficiency, and be a cohesive operational process.

The management of Officials via the department will include their appointments against Sporting needs, ensuring they are timely and that there is clarity on license issuing.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem, FIA President, said: “Our sport would not exist without the dedication of our Officials, who are committed to ensuring every level of motor sport competition takes place in a safe, fair, and regulated way.

“This new department will ensure greater efficiency in their appointments, will allow us to discover and nurture officiating talent, and will provide a centralised approach to their management. I am delighted to see FIA Officials increasingly coming from different backgrounds, with the recent Regional Stewards programme attendees representing this via 42% female attendance and an average age of 37.5 years old.”

The Officials Department will be overseen by Italian Matteo Perini. It will be part of Education and Training under the direction of Valerio Iachizzi, FIA Secretary General Sport. Perini began his motor sport career in 2005 and has been a National Steward in Italy since 2015.

As one of the country’s youngest National Stewards he has officiated in a number of series including Rallies, GT racing, F4 and TCR. His international experience began with stewarding roles in a variety of series. He has also acted as a permanent Steward in the F4 Italian Championship and from 2019 in the Formula Regional European Championship. He took part and completed the Global Pathway to become FIA Steward and now serves as a Steward in Formula 1.

Matteo Perini said: “I am delighted to take up the position Sport Officials Manager of the newly-formed Officials Department. Streamlining the operation of officiating will be my key focus as well as providing support for these unsung heroes of our sport. As a graduate of the FIA’s Global Stewarding Pathway, I am also well-placed to oversee the development of the next generation of officials.”

As Mohammed Ben Sulayem explained to Autosport on why the department was created, “You can’t order them on Amazon.”

Quick Takes on the Business of Motorsport This Week

Circuito de Navarra
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing HQ Raided by FBI

The Numbers

Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Formula One’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix was the first race to drop below one million viewers on ESPN in the US since the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in May. 865,000 viewers watched Oscar Piastri take victory on the streets of Baku, down ten per cent on 2023. Click here for the details.

Motorsport Law Roundup

A look at some of the legal and regulatory issues and analysis in Motorsport this week

F1 Sponsorship

This week News Racers Can Use published part one of a two-part series on Sponsorship in Motorsport titled Lessons on the Evolution of F1 Sponsorship by aspiring Motorsport Lawyer, Anirban Aly Mandal. Part one will focus on the stipulations regarding personal sponsors and racing overalls. You can read it here.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation dispatched agents to the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing shop in Zionsville, Indiana on Wednesday morning. The FBI is alleged to have instructed employees within RLL to leave their computers and related electronic devices in place, gather their belongings, and depart the building as agents began an investigation.

According to RACER, the source of the investigation is alleged to involve a former employee of the Andretti Global IndyCar team, who left the team to join RLL in a senior engineering role, and the alleged transfer of intellectual property from their former team to their current team.

More details at RACER.

Formula E chairman Alejandro Agag has called on the European Commission to scrutinize Liberty Media’s impending takeover of MotoGP. “From the point of view of competition law, I think there are significant challenges,” Agag told the Financial Times. “The leverage that this merger will give the resulting entity in terms of negotiating with broadcasters will be significant and I think the European Commission will look very carefully at this deal.” Read more at BlackBook Motorsport.

Last week I mentioned that 23XI Racing was mulling over the possibility of taking legal action against NASCAR over the recent charter negotiations and agreement. This week Dale Earnhardt Jr. downplayed the possibility.

“It’s interesting, interesting times. I honestly don’t see this creating — I don’t see this turning into a clown show, or creating some sort of a legal battle, I don’t. I mean, (23XI Racing) may, but I don’t think anyone’s going to really care (about a legal battle). I don’t, you know, I don’t think the public is going to invest emotionally in any litigation or a legal battle.”

Nürburgring

EU competition regulators will once again investigate alleged German state aid involved in the sale of the Nürburgring racetrack after Europe’s top court in 2021 struck down their decision clearing the German support a decade ago, the European Commission said on Thursday.

The EU watchdog launched an investigation last week, saying it will examine whether the decision to sell the Nürburgring racetrack complex in the context of the insolvency procedure was imputable to the German State. Reuters has more details.

In Guam, the CHamoru Land Trust Commission is required to lease a portion of the Yigo raceway property to the Guam Motorsports Association or its successor entity for the operation of a raceway, related support facilities, and various outdoor events, under the newly signed fiscal 2025 budget law. Under the law, the negotiations for the terms of the lease on Lot 7161-R1 in Yigo is supposed to be within 90 days of the law’s enactment, or by December. More details at the Pacific Daily News.

Motorsport Sponsorship & Partnership News

Here are the latest motorsport sponsorship deals, partnerships and related analysis that were announced this week

Business of Motorsport
Business of Motorsport
Business of Motorsport
Business of Motorsport

Team & Manufacturer News

Here is a roundup of the latest team news from around the world of motorsport

Business of Motorsport
Business of Motorsport
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing HQ Raided by FBI
Business of Motorsport
Business of Motorsport
Mark Boudreau
Author: Mark Boudreau

Mark is the publisher of Motorsport Prospects. As a former lawyer, he applies his legal background and research skills to assist race drivers by showcasing the resources they need to make their motorsport careers happen.