FLORIANOPOLIS, Brazil --- Formula One driver Felipe Massa returned to competition for the first time since his life-threatening accident four months ago, finishing third in a charity karting event won by Michael Schumacher .
Massa started 11th at the "International Challenge of the Stars" race in southern Brazil, which he is hosting for the fifth straight year to aid local charities.
Massa said "it was a great return to racing" and "I felt 100 percent and I'm ready for the next one."
The Brazilian suffered multiple skull fractures during a crash in Hungary with Ferrari on July 25.
Schumacher, Massa's former teammate at Ferrari, started from sixth place and was running third until the final laps of the 30-minute race. But Indy Racing League driver Vitor Meira and F1 driver Vitantonio Liuzzi touched their karts while fighting for the lead, allowing Schumacher to easily move past them and win.
Schumacher, the event winner in 2007, also clocked the best lap at the new track designed by Massa and Renault test driver Lucas Di Grassi , who finished fourth. Liuzzi was second and Meira fifth.
OH CANADA: Montreal is back on the Formula One schedule for five years -- thanks to more than $70 million in public money.
Mayor Gerald Tremblay and federal and provincial politicians said at a news conference an agreement is in place for the race to be held in city from 2010 to 2014.
The race had been held at Montreal's Gilles-Villeneuve track every year since 1978 before being dropped in 2009. It was scrapped after a financial dispute between local authorities and racing impresario Bernie Ecclestone . Ecclestone had wanted $165 million to keep the race in Montreal.
The decision was a blow to civic pride, coming after Montreal lost its major league baseball team and its status as Canada's business capital.
The federal government and Montreal's tourism bureau will each contribute in $24 million over five years, and the province will spend $19 million and the municipal government nearly $5 million.
"We're in pole position for June 13, 2010," Tremblay said, announcing the date of the next race.
BMW SELLS TEAM: German car maker BMW has agreed to sell its Formula One team to previous owner Peter Sauber , provided the team gets a place on the grid next season.
BMW announced in July that it would pull out of Formula One at the end of the season, citing the global economic downturn. The company said Friday that a previous agreement to sell the team to Qadbak Investments has been annulled.
"I'm the sole investor right now," Sauber told reporters at the team's base in Switzerland.
The 66-year-old owner said he planned to lead the team for one season, then find a successor.
Sauber said he was "very confident" that the FIA governing body would find a place on the grid for the team, which would use Ferrari engines. The number of team employees will be cut from 388 to about 250, BMW said.
"That is not an enjoyable solution, but the best one available," Mario Theissen , BMW motor sports director, said.
BMW acquired a majority stake in Sauber in 2005.
"Our relationship with Peter Sauber has always been excellent and marked by absolute respect. We would like to express our thanks to Peter Sauber and the whole team for the excellent cooperation during the recent four years," BMW's development chief, Klaus Draeger , said.
BMW finished sixth in the constructors' championship last season.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
