Motor racing-Marussia name disappears from Formula One

By Alan Baldwin LONDON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - The Marussia name will disappear from Formula One this season after the team owners were granted a request to change it to Manor Racing on Tuesday. "Delighted to announce MANOR RACING: that's what we're here for," the British-based team said on their Twitter feed after a meeting of the governing International Automobile Federation's F1 commission in Geneva. A team spokeswoman confirmed the name change had been approved. While the Mercedes-powered team will be known as Manor Racing, sources said the chassis designation would become MRT instead of the previous Marussia. British-based Manor started out as Virgin Racing in 2010 before transferring to Russian ownership and taking on the name of Marussia. The tail-end team hit financial hard times in 2014 and went into administration, missing the final three races of that year, before being rescued in the nick of time and returning for the 2015 season. Stephen Fitzpatrick, who runs the Independent British energy supplier Ovo, took over as owner in March last year. Founder and principal John Booth left at the end of last season along with racing director Graeme Lowdon. The team, who failed to score any points in 2015, have yet to confirm their driver lineup. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)