Japanese car makers face "reality" in Motorsports.

Toyota-Panasonic F1 Team not leaving Formula One.

The economic turmoil has created a huge impact all over the world. Not only the global stock market took the plunge but car manufacturers lost their grip, so to speak. Motorsports have already taken the brunt of the crisis happening. The F1 is just one of them. Japanese car maker Honda has already withdrawn from the sport due to the economic crisis.

And if everybody thought the F1 (Formula One) is the only motorsport losing racing teams, y'all got another think coming. The WRC or World Rally Championship has also fallen prey of the crisis at hand. Seems that Japanese car makers are the most affected of it all. Suzuki was the first to pullout of the WRC then Subaru also followed suit. The announcement came in 24 hours after Suzuki made theirs. Talk about "The Domino Effect."

Head honchos from Fuji Heavy Industries, Subaru's parent company talked about their withdrawal from the WRC:

"We will not contest the 2009 FIA World Rally championship due to the pressures of the global economic crisis that spread from the U.S. financial crisis that began this Autumn," FHI president Kyoji Takenaka told a news conference. "The automotive industry worldwide, whether they are in developed on non-developed countries, have been hit hugely.

"Our company included, our business environment has been dramatically changed due to the quick deterioration of the global economy."

A Fuji Heavy Industries statement said: "In order to optimize the management resources and to strengthen further the Subaru brand, FHI decided to withdraw from WRC activities at the earliest timing."

Going back to Honda's departure from the F1 competition, a British dude named David Richards wants to save Honda and have them rejoin the F1. Word has it that he flew to the Middle East to get some sort of backup.

From The Reuters via Eurosport:

"There are a group of people in the Middle East who want to support a Formula One entry for me and have been very specific about it for a year now," he said. "But we have to agree when the timing is right.

"When you sit down in the cold light of day and realize the liability you would be taking on, and the huge restructuring of staff and resources that will be needed, investors will have to think long and hard before taking a punt.

"You will have to bridge a big gap in finance, probably for three years, before balancing the accounts."

Despite their withdrawal from the F1 last December 5, Honda is still developing their 2009 car in case they come back in time for F1's upcoming season. They are hopeful of their possible return to competition, keeping their fingers crossed of getting a buyer for their team. Chief executive Nick Fry is still positive on the idea.

"Since that time, (team principal) Ross (Brawn) and I have been engaged in ongoing discussions with several serious potential new owners who have expressed an interest in purchasing the team."

"Work on the development and build of our 2009 car continues during the next few weeks to ensure that our objective of being on the grid at Melbourne at the end of March will be achieved."

Now, there are a lot of speculations that Toyota has reportedly left F1. It's actually no surprise if they did join the trend. The pressure must be on for the Japanese car maker but that doesn't seem to be the case. Toyota is hanging tough and is not bailing out of the F1. Bad Idea? Maybe. Toyota doesn't think otherwise and seems to be taking a huge gamble on it. The folks at Toyota believe they have everything under control.

"We have absolutely no plans to withdraw from Formula One," a spokeswoman told the British newspaper The Guardian.

She intimated, however, that Toyota is set to implement its own measures to reduce its annual spend on the sport, over and above the regulated FIA cost-cutting.

"To keep it up at the current level is extremely difficult," Toyota Motor Corporation president Katsuaki Watanabe said in Japan.

Translation: they are not going anywhere. Toyota will still be competing in F1's 2009 season. Toyota F1 team fans can now breathe a sigh of relief. They'll still hang around in Motorsports after all. The haters can now drop the rumors.

The other Japanese car makers Honda, Subaru and Suzuki have a lot of work to do. The economic crisis has taken a huge toll on them. Since the global economy is still on the rocks, the teams who have withdrawn from F1 and WRC respectively, will have to remain in the dog house for now.