Chief technical officer for the Lotus Racing Formula One team, Mike Gascoyne, has signed a new contract to stay with the team until 2015.

The team re-entered F1 this season and have yet to score a championship point. Despite this, Gascoyne has signalled his intention to end his career in the team.

Gascoyne said: “Having started the team from scratch with Tony it was always my intention to finish my career here, so it’s great to have formally agreed a five-year deal.

“I’m extremely grateful to everyone involved in Lotus Racing for having the confidence to take this into a long-term contract. We’ve had a great start to our partnership together, and I’m looking forward to continuing that for the next five years, and even beyond that.”

Team principle Tony Fernandes added: “Mike’s five-year deal is a major announcement for the whole Lotus Racing team.

“It shows just how serious we are, not only about how far ahead we are setting our aspirations, but also as a reward to Mike for the incredibly hard work he and the team have already put in to get us from literally four people back in September ’09 to our current position as a serious F1 player with a very bright future ahead of us.”

Gascoyne has previously worked with McLaren, Tyrrell, Jordan, Benetton, Toyota and Spyker,

The R&A has selected Northern Ireland golf course Royal Portrush as the venue for the world’s biggest golf tournament, the Open Championship, potentially in 2019.

This will be the first time the event will return to Northern Ireland since 1951.

The earliest it can be held will be 2019, however, this depends on infrastructure work being completed and approved.

Peter Dawson of the R&A, which organises the Open, said he expected huge interest from the NI public.

He said Royal Portrush was “one of the world’s truly great links courses” and had a “rich golfing heritage”.

A statement from the office of First Minister Peter Robinson also confirmed the news that the tournament could return to the seaside links course.

Robinson said: “This is wonderful news, not only for Royal Portrush Golf Club, but for the whole of Northern Ireland, with an estimated combined tourism promotion and economic return of £70million.

“The decision to bring the Open back to Northern Ireland is a tremendous vote of confidence in the game here and follows the huge success of the Irish Open in 2012, the first in European Tour history to sell out.

“Today’s announcement recognises that Northern Ireland not only has some of the world’s greatest golfers, but some of the world’s greatest golf courses.”

Currently only nine courses, five in Scotland and four in England, are entitled to stage the Open, the oldest of the four major championships in golf.

Nationwide today announced it has selected Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, therapy New York, to develop creative work for its new marketing agreement with  Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning.

The company announced a multi-year marketing agreement with Manning on May 30.

O&M Advertising New York will work with Nationwide to develop a fully integrated brand campaign featuring Manning that promotes Nationwide’s insurance and financial service products. The campaign will also aim to deepen Nationwide’s long-term presence in professional football to better engage with football fans.

“We are proud to add Ogilvy & Mather to our creative family and look forward to developing compelling creative that connects the Nationwide brand with consumers across the nation,” said Matt Jauchius, Chief Marketing Officer for Nationwide. “As the agency that originally helped develop our famous On Your Side slogan 50 years ago, we’re confident in Ogilvy’s unique ability to bring to life the authentic connection that Nationwide shares with Peyton Manning to drive meaningful business results.”

The new campaign featuring Manning will launch during the 2014 football season and the scope of the assignment will cover television, print, digital and out of home.

“We are so proud to be working alongside Nationwide once again, a brand that has deep historical ties with Ogilvy,” said Adam Tucker, President, Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, New York. “As their new partner, we look forward to expanding and building on the success they’ve achieved as a leading brand in the insurance category.”

“Nationwide is a unique company with diverse marketing needs,” Jauchius added. “We partner with a portfolio of creative agencies to help us bring campaigns to life and effectively reach consumers in meaningful and authentic ways.”

French car manufacturer Peugeot has announced it will return to the iconic Dakar Rally in 2015, more than two decades after it enjoyed a dominant spell on the event between 1987 and 1990.

Peugeot has revealed it will enter the gruelling Dakar Rally in 2015 with version of its 2008 small-SUV, driven by former WRC champion Carlos Sainz and Cyril Despres.

Team Peugeot Total’s return comes 25 years after it dominated the annual event between 1987 and 1990, first with the 205 T16 and then the 405 T16. Since then, the event has moved from Africa to its current home in Latin America, traversing a route more than 10,000km in length.

“We are delighted to be returning to the Dakar because it’s an event which enjoys extensive coverage globally,” said Peugeot CEO Maxime Picat. “It is well known in Europe, as well as in such important markets as South America and China. It takes place in South America, with much of the action in Argentina where Peugeot has traditionally enjoyed a strong foothold.”

“[Our decision to compete] obviously follows in the wake of our Pikes Peak victory in 2013. That was a very special moment which showcased what Peugeot Sport is capable of achieving in association with Total and Red Bull. It was a win that gave us wings and led us to take a close look at what other motorsport programmes we could do together. The result of that process was the decision to return to the Dakar.”

Warwickshire County Cricket Club have announced they have entered profit for last season compared to a £668,000 loss in 2012.

The Bears made a profit of £4,500 profit for the year ending September 2013.

Turnover was up £222,000 to £11.74m, helped by the fact that as co-hosts of the Champions Trophy five matches were held at Edgbaston, including the final.

Warwickshire’s catering and hospitality revenues were up 22 per cent year-on-year.

Although Edgbaston was not awarded a Test match this summer, chief executive Colin Povey believes the new T20 Blast competition this season will help their situation continue to improve.

Povey said: “The absence of Test cricket once again in 2014 represents a further challenge before the return of an Ashes Test to Edgbaston in 2015.

“However, hosting India on two occasions and changes to the domestic twenty20 cricket schedule, featuring more Friday night games, are great opportunities that we are looking to make the most of in 2014.”