The Province from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada • 46

rn A46 I SPORTS i the PROVINCE THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2006 MOTORSPORT MANIA, EVERYTHURSDAY AUTO NOTES F1 commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone is no stranger to controversy, -getty images file photo FORMULA ONE Ecclestone tells teams to cut costs Jimmie Johnson works out kinks In his No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet during NASCAR preseason testing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. getty images in W(S(p iffiscnn: Drivers get to know their cars in 'Preseason Thunder' BY DEBBIE ARRINGTON BERLIN Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone re-ignited his row with the sport's constructors Wednesday, blasting them for failing to keep spiralling costs under control. Ecclestone told German weekly magazine Sport-Bild that teams should be able to remain competitive on a budget of 50 million euros ($69 million Cdn) a season, roughly a quarter of the average amount spent by top-ranked Formula One constructors. "Teams now have to spend 200 million euros to be competitive but I want to reach a figure of 50 million," said Ecclestone.

"Cosworth can make a competitive engine for 14 million euros a year, so the others should be able to. The average of 100 salaried staff per team is completely crazy." AWARD Honoured to the Max PARIS Formula One chief Max Mosley has been awarded France's highest decoration, the Legion d'Honneur, for his services to motor-sport as president of its ruling body the FIA for the past 12 years. Fl TESTING Rossi in touch VALENCIA World motorcycling champion Valentino Rossi kept up with the pack in Formula One testing at the Ricardo Tormo circuit outside Valencia here on Wednesday. Just a day earlier, the Italian's Ferrari veered off the track only 2.8 kilometres into his new experience in e- wet conditions. News Services decals.

To the drivers, it's feel not looks that count. "I'm happy with how it feels," Earnhardt said of his new Monte Carlo. "It's good to get a new nose and new tail. Now, we're just trying to get a little more speed." The real work happened after the track closed for tests Tuesday night. "Our Hendrick engineers and crew chiefs all get together and compare notes," Johnson said.

"That's when you really see the benefit of a four-car team." So far, the Chevrolet teams seem pleased with the test results. "We've got to tweak the nose a little," said Earnhardt, who had a best lap Tuesday of 167.525 mph in his No. 8. "We're talking tenths of a per cent not a whole lot." Sacramento Bee back," he said. "I had my first spin of 2006.

Thankfully, we didn't hit anything. There's just something relieving about when you spin out and drive off. It's like, All right, now that's behind me, now I can go I feel very accomplished this morning." Johnson noted all 13 templates used to create his Monte Carlo's body had been reconfigured, especially the nose and tail. "We actually have just as many changes to our car as Ford has for theirs," he said. On Day 2 Tuesday, 46 drivers in 76 cars hit the track.

In his No. 26 Fusion, Jamie MacMurray posted the fastest speed in the morning session at 1 69.3 1 6 mph. Several hundred fans turned out to watch their favourite drivers, which wasn't easy. Most of the cars were painted primer gray with no son kickoff at the Daytona 500. "This test right here is very important, very key for our team, not only just for this race March 12 at Las Vegas, but for a lot of tracks," driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.

said. "We'll need to learn as much as we possibly can, not only for Las Vegas, but for other tracks that are similar." The Ford teams tried out the new Fusion, which replaces the Taurus this season in Nextel Cup racing. "It was hard to tell a lot of difference between the two cars," Biffle said of his No. 16 Fusion versus last year's Taurus. "The balance seems really good on it, and I'm real happy with it so far." Johnson, the defending Las Vegas champion, also worked out some kinks in his No.

48 Chevrolet "It's been fun to get out in the car and get that racing feeling SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE LAS VEGAS After his first three hours in his new Ford Fusion, driver Greg Biffle declared it seems pretty much like the old Taurus at least on a superspeedway. Although the nameplate is the same on his Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Jimmie Johnson felt like he had "a whole different car" with its own set of challenges. And there's precious little time to work out any issues. Preseason Thunder NASCAR's final three-day test session before Daytona's Speedweeks lets drivers get to know their cars, often for the first time. It's why this trial run at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is considered the most important test session of 2006 two weeks before the sea.