Dominic Lyncker on motorsports in China + Strategic oil reserves about to be released?

The new Covid variant Omicron caused headaches over the weekend, not only because of its spread but also because of its name. This is because the World Health Organization (WHO) had skipped some letters of the Greek alphabet when naming it. Before Omicron, it would have been Ny and Xi. Ny was dropped because it sounded too much like “new” in English. And Xi? According to the WHO, it was too similar to the Chinese surname, which may not be very common but does have a weighty bearer in the form of the head of state. Critics then accused the WHO of false political consideration. Whether this would also have applied to a variant called “Scholz” is anyone’s guess.

Dominic Lyncker worked for the Volkswagen Group as Motorsport Director for five years. One of his tasks was also to find a new China-Schumacher, to no avail. A few days ago, competitor Alfa Romeo now signed the first Chinese Formula 1 driver, Zhou Guanyu. ” If it is possible to personalize motorsport in China through Zhou and thus to emotionalize it, a large market will open up,” Lyncker explains in today’s interview with Marcel Grzanna. The 49-year-old also talks about the mammoth task of establishing a motorsport culture in the People’s Republic – and his experiences with clueless track marshals.

Several large nations have recently decided to tap their strategic oil reserves due to the current power crisis. China has expressed that it is open to the idea, but a firm commitment has not yet been made, as our author Christiane Kuehl analyzes. The issue is geopolitically volatile. The US rejects cooperation on raw materials, while Beijing does not want to be restricted in its freedom of action. It is also unclear whether the oil from the People’s Republic will find any buyers at all.

We hope you enjoy today’s issue!

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Amelie Richter