Cosworth Snapped Up by Champ Car Owners
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From: Erie, PA
Cosworth Snapped Up by Champ Car Owners
Hi hopefully this isn't a repost but Cart just bought themselves a few more years hopefully they can make some money doing this, well opinions? objections what do you think????????????????????????????
http://speedtv.com/articles/au...3925/
Modified by trigun7469 at 12:28 AM 11/16/2004
http://speedtv.com/articles/au...3925/
Modified by trigun7469 at 12:28 AM 11/16/2004
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From: Greensboro, NC, USA
Re: Cosworth Snapped Up by Champ Car Owners (slammed_93_hatch)
Spec Ford Champ Car. Whee.
The IRL is going to run on road courses in '05 and my money is on them putting on a good show - good enough that they start to put a hurt on what's left of CART's carcass. People forget that some of the very best road racers without F1 budgets are currently in that series. On second thought, some of the very best road racers period, given that typical economical rules apply in GP circles just as they do in the rest of the "pro" series.
K
The IRL is going to run on road courses in '05 and my money is on them putting on a good show - good enough that they start to put a hurt on what's left of CART's carcass. People forget that some of the very best road racers without F1 budgets are currently in that series. On second thought, some of the very best road racers period, given that typical economical rules apply in GP circles just as they do in the rest of the "pro" series.
K
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From: Middleburg Heights, OH
Re: Cosworth Snapped Up by Champ Car Owners (Knestis)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Knestis »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Spec Ford Champ Car. Whee.
The IRL is going to run on road courses in '05 and my money is on them putting on a good show - good enough that they start to put a hurt on what's left of CART's carcass. People forget that some of the very best road racers without F1 budgets are currently in that series. On second thought, some of the very best road racers period, given that typical economical rules apply in GP circles just as they do in the rest of the "pro" series.
K</TD></TR></TABLE>
I disagree. The IRL is going to be in a world of hurt by 2006, with Chevy leaving after '05, Toyota likely on the way, and Honda not having a reason to fund cars with no other competitors. The manufacturers are funding EVERY top team, and when they go, the IRL is going to be in worse shape than CART ever was.
The IRL's business plan is too flawed for it to ever be appealing to sponsors, especially for what it costs to run in the series. I'm not saying Champ Car is much better, but I'd be willing to bet that they are on much more solid ground right now.
The IRL is going to run on road courses in '05 and my money is on them putting on a good show - good enough that they start to put a hurt on what's left of CART's carcass. People forget that some of the very best road racers without F1 budgets are currently in that series. On second thought, some of the very best road racers period, given that typical economical rules apply in GP circles just as they do in the rest of the "pro" series.
K</TD></TR></TABLE>
I disagree. The IRL is going to be in a world of hurt by 2006, with Chevy leaving after '05, Toyota likely on the way, and Honda not having a reason to fund cars with no other competitors. The manufacturers are funding EVERY top team, and when they go, the IRL is going to be in worse shape than CART ever was.
The IRL's business plan is too flawed for it to ever be appealing to sponsors, especially for what it costs to run in the series. I'm not saying Champ Car is much better, but I'd be willing to bet that they are on much more solid ground right now.
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Re: Cosworth Snapped Up by Champ Car Owners (Knestis)
CHAMP CAR WORLD SERIES PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT CONCERNING THE STATUS OF COSWORTH RACING WITH RICHARD PARRY-JONES, KEVIN KALKHOVEN, AND TIM ROUTSIS
http://www.champcarworldseries...=8568
Monday, November 15, 2004
THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen. I'd like to welcome you to the media call. I think probably by now you will have caught up with the news that has been announced earlier today over here in Europe. What we'd like to do on this call is to run through that news again. I'm joined by Richard Perry-Jones, who is the group vice president, chief technical officer, and has overall responsibility for Motorsport at Ford. Also joined by Kevin Kalkhoven who has been confirmed as the new owner of Cosworth today, and Tim Routsis, who is the managing director of Cosworth. The format today is we will just make a few short remarks from the speakers, then we'll hand it over very much to you and take the Q&A over the telephone line.
I'm going to turn it over to Richard Parry-Jones who is going to make a few remarks.
RICHARD PARRY-JONES: Good morning, good afternoon, wherever you are, Ladies and Gentlemen.
This is probably old news by now, but for the avoidance of doubt, I'm going to reiterate the main points of the announcement we made today, that is that Cosworth was purchased by Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe, who as many of you know are co-owners of the Champ Car World Series and PKV and Forsythe Championship Race Car Teams respectively. I personally am absolutely delighted that Kevin and Gerald have bought Cosworth. Many of you will know that since we made the announcement to sell our Formula 1 businesses in September, we've received tremendous support from the management and the employees at Cosworth. We've been working very hard to secure a sale to a reputable buyer.
Kevin and Gerry are very successful businessmen; they have long history in Motorsport and a clear vision of how they want to take Cosworth forward. You can imagine how pleased I am that we've arrived at this outcome.
Of course, separately today we've also announced the sale of our Jaguar racing team to Red Bull. As part of that decision, we've announced that we're very pleased that Red Bull will be racing with the Cosworth Formula 1 engine next year in their car.
From our point of view at Ford, of course, it's a day mixed with sadness and joy. A sadness that we're in the passing of an era after 35 years in Formula 1 with a partnership with Cosworth. Deciding to exit was a very tough decision. But during that time, we should rejoice in the fact that Ford and Cosworth together have experienced the highs and lows of the sport and we've left a very rich legacy of victories and championships that have been won by some of the most famous drivers and teams in Motorsport history. Sadness and joy are mixed up in those emotions.
Just to remind ourselves as we reach this point in our history that this success would not have been possible without the contribution of all our employees. Our partners, our drivers, our sponsors, and last but most important of all, the fans. I'd like to thank them all. I reassure this famous racing name will go forward under the stewardship of Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerry Forsythe. We look forward to a positive relationship in the future with Cosworth and Ford.
Congratulations on your new acquisition.
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: Thank you, Richard.
Good afternoon or good morning, folks, it's Kevin Kalkhoven. When Gerry and I first talked about the situation, it's something that filled us with a great deal of excitement, partly of course because we're both motor racing nuts and also because we're businessmen.
Cosworth is one of the great Motorsports engineering companies in the world. Its legacy, as Richard has said, extends on both sides of the Atlantic to many, many championships and many, many victories.
When we started thinking about it and talking about it, we also began to realize the opportunities of the future because while Cosworth does have a significant heritage and legacy, what is of course as important is where we take it from here.
The first aspect of that was the Formula 1 side. Of course, I'm delighted that the Red Bull team will be on the grid for Formula 1 in 2005 with a Cosworth engine, as will Menardi. So Cosworth will continue to be represented on the Formula 1 grid, and it will continue to the development of Formula 1 capabilities in the engines.
The second pillar of what we wanted to be able to do was, of course, in North America, with the Champ Car World Series. CART, Champ Car, has used Ford-Cosworth for many, many years, incredibly successfully; some of the great victories in the series have been with Cosworth engines.
The Cosworth engine in the Champ Car World Series has proven to be an outstanding engine with significant horsepower, a lot of software capabilities have been built into the engine to allow flexibility in the race formats, and has been an engine that has provided incredibly close and competitive racing this year, which has led actually to an average increase per race in our fan attendance.
The engine has really done everything that we asked of it. We look forward with this pillar of Cosworth for the future for developing more racing engines for North America, including potentially those of our ladder series and also extending the capabilities of Cosworth into this very fast-growing sector called the tuner market, that generation of folks 16 and above, reaching to 60 in my case, but typically ending at about 30, of people who are dedicated fans of motor cars and wish to continue to improve them. While the brand of Cosworth is a wonderful platform to be able to provide tuner accessories for these folks, it is certainly something we will be extending.
So Cosworth is an icon of Motorsports. We're thrilled to be able to continue its development. We look forward to its next generation of technology, and we look forward to having Cosworth engines in the Champ Car series powered by Ford for a long time to come, together with a very successful relationship with Ford.
Thank you very much. I'm now going to hand it over to the managing director of Cosworth, a gentleman who has headed it up and will head it up in the future with the existing management team, Tim Routsis.
TIM ROUTSIS: Thank you very much, indeed.
Good morning, everybody. I thought you might appreciate a short overview of the sort of things that we're going to be doing with Cosworth in the near future now and new ownership.
Just before going into that, I did want to take a moment to express a vote of personal thanks to all of the Cosworth employees on both sides of the Atlantic.
The sale of a sort of nature that has been gone through has attracted a massive amount of interest and attention for all the sort of reasons that Kevin and Richard have touched on. And inevitably, that sort of a process is very distracting for an organization, and inevitably it involves some uncertainties and a degree of worry in the work force.
Given that sort of an environment, it would have been somewhat understandable if people had in any way sort of had slightly sloping shoulders, heads down a little bit. But I'm absolutely delighted to say that the performance and professionalism of the staff of Cosworth, as I say on both sides of the Atlantic, has been absolutely exemplary.
They've continued to do the job in a fabulously professional manner, in a way which I found both inspirational and I would say slightly humbling, because without doubt, today's successful outcome is in no small measure due to their ongoing level of commitment.
When we do these sorts of sales, it's inevitable that there's a great deal of emphasis placed on balance sheets and assets. But I think in this case Gerry and Kevin really have got a first-class off-balance sheet asset in the Cosworth folks, and they are absolutely excited to go now into the future under this new ownership.
So what sort of things are we going to be doing? First of all, as you've gathered, we are going to be very much maintaining and strengthening our position in all of the forms of Motorsport in which we're currently active. What you can expect from us in the not to far distant future will be ongoing announcements of the sort of developments we're planning on undertaking.
In parallel with that, we've got some expansion plans which will be moving Cosworth and the Cosworth brand, which has been acquired as part of this sale, into some symbiotic markets and, in particular, we're expecting to do a lot of activity through the Torrance branch into the North American market.
You will see us in areas such as marine, but above all, the key message with this is that Cosworth knows where its heritage is, we know what we're good at, and you are going to continue to see us in all aspects of Motorsport.
There's a little overview about where we're going to be going in the near term. I think we're heading for some quite exciting times, and I know there's a very talented group of men and women that are really now ready to show the world what they're capable of.
So with that, if I can hand it back now to Stewart, and we'll take some questions, I believe.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Tim.
We'll take the first question, please.
PAUL NEWMAN: I don't have a question, but a comment. I'm delighted that you guys have bought Cosworth. You are great competitors, you're savvy businessmen. I just am glad that you guaranteed that Newman/Haas won't be down on horsepower.
Also, I'm specifically delighted that we'll continue to guarantee a supply of engines from Champ Car, free from any outside interference, which I think is really important.
That's not a question, it's a comment.
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: We thank you and congratulate you on your championship season with Sebastien Bourdais.
Q. Kevin, as everyone knows, Cosworth still has a deal to badge engines for Chevrolet for one more season in the Indy Racing League. Is there going to be any interruption in that contract or will that deal go ahead through this season?
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: Absolutely no interruption at all. We are professional businessmen. This is a contract that is in place and will continue to be serviced to the best of Cosworth's ability in the 2005 season.
Q. Kevin, when you and Gerry and Paul first bought the assets of CART and became Champ Car, there was some discussion that somewhere down the not-too-distant road there would maybe be a switch to a normally aspirated V-10 engine. I know that's kind of the reverse where Formula 1 may be heading. What does this deal do for that possibility or is, indeed, that a possibility somewhere down the road for Champ Car?
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: First of all, we fully expect in the next season we will continue to use the Cosworth XFE engine, which has proven to be so reliable and competitive this year. Of course now with the ownership of Cosworth, we have also some opportunities for us in the future. I think where they will take a little bit of time for us to absorb the full capabilities of what Cosworth has got and feed them into our plans for the future.
But certainly for the 2005 season, the sound of those wonderfully turbocharged XFEs will be resounding through the streets of many North American cities.
Q. A question that stems from comments that you made, Kevin, about how this strengthens the association with Ford, and we will obviously see that Cosworth will be involved in the Champ Car World Series for a long, long time to come. I wondered if you might sort of on a more sort of philosophical level comment on how you see the role of manufacturers involved in racing, how you see that maybe evolving in terms of the Champ Car World Series where, as you said, it would appear for at least for the foreseeable future that it is going to be a single-engine series for as far as we can see.
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: As you probably know, I'm not very good at philosophy. If I were, I wouldn't be involved in Motorsports, let's put it that way.
But I think we see an interesting situation in Motorsports, particularly in open-wheel racing at this moment, which is that the manufacturer support is by definition a significant two-edged sword. The financial support that the manufacturers bring is obviously significant. The financial support, when it disappears, as well we know in CART and now in Champ Car, causes some significant heartburn.
We've lived through this and we've taken a very deliberate approach which is that we worked with one manufacturer very successfully, our partners at Ford, in order to provide something that is increasingly important in Motorsports, which is the fact that it is entertainment, it's not just a purist form of open-wheel racing. We have to provide entertainment for our fans, and that entertainment comes from not just only seeing manufacturers compete with each other but seeing close and competitive racing where the driver is the determining factor, not the manufacturer or the amount of money that they spend.
So what we've achieved in this year, Champ Car, is a series where the driver is very much the king, where any driver, now that they all have significantly the same package, can rise to the top. We've seen that clearly in the racing this year. New teams can come in and rise to the top, as we have seen with, for instance, RuSPORT and AJ Allmendinger.
What we have managed to do this, at least, without the embarrassment of riches coming from the manufacturers in the way that it has in the past, is revert to what we think is important for the future, which is to make Motorsports entertaining, make it exciting, close, overtaking, a lot of incidents on track, and not have it just dominated by money, but by the drivers.
Q. If not philosophy, then pragmatic philosophy. How is that?
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: I'll take that one (laughter).
Q. Tim had referred a little bit to the American market, Torrance and so forth. I wonder if both Kevin and Tim, if there's anything you could say at this stage of the game in terms of how you would see Torrance expanding at the moment, as you go forward.
TIM ROUTSIS: This is Tim here. I think one of the key aspects that Kevin has touched on is the sort of emerging importance of the tuner market. And one thing that is very clear for me is that although we may continue to do some of the design work that will be associated with the sort of genuine performance items that we will be provide to get market in the UK, we will certainly be looking to put much more of the manufacturing and distribution of those sort of components actually into the target market, and I see Torrance as being absolutely pivotal in that.
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: We've already released in the United States three different kits for the Ford Focus, which can take it up normally aspirated to 250 horsepower. We leased those a couple weeks ago. The interest level, the demand for it, has been very, very significant. We're looking forward to expanding our Torrance capabilities to serve this market.
Q. To update us, Tim, what are your total numbers of employees and how many do we have there at Torrance?
TIM ROUTSIS: The total number of employees in Cosworth sort of overall at the moment is just a tad under 600, and of that, we have about 80 in Torrance.
Q. It sounds, Kevin, like you basically said any other manufacturer participation, in the brand form or in the actual development form in Champ Car is probably not in the cards in the next several years?
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: For the 2005 season.
Q. So even though Cosworth will continue in 2005, beyond 2005, there is a possibility that other manufacturers might return to the series?
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: There's always a possibility of that, yes.
Q. Will Cosworth continue to supply Ford WRC?
RICHARD PARRY-JONES: What we have arranged is that for the 2005 WRC season, we will support M Sport, who is the organization that campaigns the WRC Focus, in a manner which enables them to maintain and distribute the WRC V-Tech engine that is currently in the cars.
We are working at the moment with Malcolm Wilson, who is the principal of that organization, with a view to seeing if we can flesh out the terms of the deal whereby Cosworth will develop a variant of the Ford dura-tech alloy block engine for the 2006 WRC car, which will under current plans be the new Focus.
I'm sort of quietly hopeful and optimistic we will be continuing for a long and very successful relationship with Ford and WRC because certainly I think it's true to say that the current Ford-Cosworth WRC engine is still regarded as the class of the field.
Q. For Richard or anybody who can address it. We've heard different rumors about who else might have been involved in buying Cosworth, including gentlemen like Tony George and Chip Ganassi. Can you tell us about that interest and who else might have tried to buy the company?
RICHARD PARRY-JONES: Once we announced our decision on September 17th to exit the business and sell these businesses, we have generated quite a wide variety of interest in people coming forward and expressing to know more about the companies and potentially even make an offer for them.
But we've spent a lot of time sorting through these offers and these expressions of interest with a number of critical criteria in mind. Just to quote a few of them, for a moment, one of them is the buyer must have a history in Motorsport and a really good understanding of the business that's involved in Motorsport. The reason for that is we fear that people who come forward thinking they understand a business like this, who haven't been involved in Motorsport before at a significant level, almost certainly don't know what they're getting into. That could be very dangerous for Cosworth in the future.
The second criteria we had was really, does the buyer have kind of a reasonably coherent view of what they want to do with the business, having understood what there is to understand about it, and a clear vision for taking the business forward.
A third, of course, was their financial capability, financial backup, the wherewithal not only to pay the purchase price, but also to sustain the company through its subsequent period and make sure it has a substantial and stable base from which to grow.
Another critical factor, of course, was the ability to move quickly, to move quickly into action and to conclude the deal at this time. The reason for that criterion was that we needed to know what Cosworth's future was in time to deport the date by which those companies and teams that wish to compete in the 2005 Formula 1 championship need to register. In registering, they need to declare what engine they're using and that they have a valid engine contract.
So we needed to complete the deal on time, both to support our sale of Jaguar racing to Red Bull, using the Cosworth engine, and to allow Menardi to allow their use of the Cosworth engine.
So speed and effective decision-making were also the criteria for selecting the buyer. Suffice it to say that Kevin Kalkhoven, Gerry Forsythe approach was significantly superior against those criteria, and we're very happy that having decided to work closely with them to bring the process to a successful conclusion, we have been able to do that in a very expeditious and smooth manner. This morning's press conference, I complimented Kevin and his team on exemplary performance during the closing process.
So for us, it was not so much a question of who has got the highest amount of money or who is shouting the loudest or who is making the best noises behind the scenes; it was based on solid criteria of where we could find a good future home as custodians of this fantastic company.
Q. Kevin, there's a comment in the press release from Jaguar about the Champ Car ladder series development of engines. I take it to mean that Toyota is at some point on its way out, and when do you expect that a Cosworth engine will appear in series such as Atlantics?
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: Well, first of all, we are completely committed to Toyota for the 2005 season, so that is something that we will be doing.
We will examine the 2006 season and beyond and discuss the engines with a number of manufacturers. Of course, at this moment in time it's just too early to say.
Q. Is it possible to know approximately how much has been paid to Cosworth?
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: I'm actually under a confidentiality agreement, so there's nothing I can add on that situation at all.
Q. Can we say in millions?
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: It depends on what currency. You can say whatever number you like (laughter).
Q. The top level administration. Will you keep the people in place that you have now?
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: Yes, one of the things that impressed about Cosworth was the strength and depth of its management team, which of course is pretty profound. Tim will remain on as the chief executive and managing director of Cosworth together with his team.
Q. You will be providing the new owner of Jaguar for the year of 2005. Do you have any deals with them after that fact, after that year?
TIM ROUTSIS: Yes, you're quite correct; we will be supplying the new owners of what used to be the Jaguar racing team, now Red Bull, with Cosworth engines for 2005. Beyond that, as I'm sure you've picked up through the European press, there are some pretty significant rule changes coming up that affect the engine arrangements for 2006. Right now I and all of our colleagues in Cosworth and our competitors are reviewing the details of those changes very carefully. Together with the teams, we're going to decide exactly what the best type of engine configuration to deploy in 2006 is going to be.
Once we've pinned that down, we'll then be in a better position to see who we will be supplying in 2006 and beyond.
Q. My question is in regards to the support series, comments that you made. I was wondering that perhaps with the stockpile of three-liter normally aspirated engines, maybe you might want to put those into a chassis and run those as a support series for Champ Car.
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: Let the dust settle before we announce some of these other plans on the ladder series, but there's certainly some interesting opportunities around.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much for joining us, Ladies and Gentlemen.
http://www.champcarworldseries...=8568
Monday, November 15, 2004
THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen. I'd like to welcome you to the media call. I think probably by now you will have caught up with the news that has been announced earlier today over here in Europe. What we'd like to do on this call is to run through that news again. I'm joined by Richard Perry-Jones, who is the group vice president, chief technical officer, and has overall responsibility for Motorsport at Ford. Also joined by Kevin Kalkhoven who has been confirmed as the new owner of Cosworth today, and Tim Routsis, who is the managing director of Cosworth. The format today is we will just make a few short remarks from the speakers, then we'll hand it over very much to you and take the Q&A over the telephone line.
I'm going to turn it over to Richard Parry-Jones who is going to make a few remarks.
RICHARD PARRY-JONES: Good morning, good afternoon, wherever you are, Ladies and Gentlemen.
This is probably old news by now, but for the avoidance of doubt, I'm going to reiterate the main points of the announcement we made today, that is that Cosworth was purchased by Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe, who as many of you know are co-owners of the Champ Car World Series and PKV and Forsythe Championship Race Car Teams respectively. I personally am absolutely delighted that Kevin and Gerald have bought Cosworth. Many of you will know that since we made the announcement to sell our Formula 1 businesses in September, we've received tremendous support from the management and the employees at Cosworth. We've been working very hard to secure a sale to a reputable buyer.
Kevin and Gerry are very successful businessmen; they have long history in Motorsport and a clear vision of how they want to take Cosworth forward. You can imagine how pleased I am that we've arrived at this outcome.
Of course, separately today we've also announced the sale of our Jaguar racing team to Red Bull. As part of that decision, we've announced that we're very pleased that Red Bull will be racing with the Cosworth Formula 1 engine next year in their car.
From our point of view at Ford, of course, it's a day mixed with sadness and joy. A sadness that we're in the passing of an era after 35 years in Formula 1 with a partnership with Cosworth. Deciding to exit was a very tough decision. But during that time, we should rejoice in the fact that Ford and Cosworth together have experienced the highs and lows of the sport and we've left a very rich legacy of victories and championships that have been won by some of the most famous drivers and teams in Motorsport history. Sadness and joy are mixed up in those emotions.
Just to remind ourselves as we reach this point in our history that this success would not have been possible without the contribution of all our employees. Our partners, our drivers, our sponsors, and last but most important of all, the fans. I'd like to thank them all. I reassure this famous racing name will go forward under the stewardship of Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerry Forsythe. We look forward to a positive relationship in the future with Cosworth and Ford.
Congratulations on your new acquisition.
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: Thank you, Richard.
Good afternoon or good morning, folks, it's Kevin Kalkhoven. When Gerry and I first talked about the situation, it's something that filled us with a great deal of excitement, partly of course because we're both motor racing nuts and also because we're businessmen.
Cosworth is one of the great Motorsports engineering companies in the world. Its legacy, as Richard has said, extends on both sides of the Atlantic to many, many championships and many, many victories.
When we started thinking about it and talking about it, we also began to realize the opportunities of the future because while Cosworth does have a significant heritage and legacy, what is of course as important is where we take it from here.
The first aspect of that was the Formula 1 side. Of course, I'm delighted that the Red Bull team will be on the grid for Formula 1 in 2005 with a Cosworth engine, as will Menardi. So Cosworth will continue to be represented on the Formula 1 grid, and it will continue to the development of Formula 1 capabilities in the engines.
The second pillar of what we wanted to be able to do was, of course, in North America, with the Champ Car World Series. CART, Champ Car, has used Ford-Cosworth for many, many years, incredibly successfully; some of the great victories in the series have been with Cosworth engines.
The Cosworth engine in the Champ Car World Series has proven to be an outstanding engine with significant horsepower, a lot of software capabilities have been built into the engine to allow flexibility in the race formats, and has been an engine that has provided incredibly close and competitive racing this year, which has led actually to an average increase per race in our fan attendance.
The engine has really done everything that we asked of it. We look forward with this pillar of Cosworth for the future for developing more racing engines for North America, including potentially those of our ladder series and also extending the capabilities of Cosworth into this very fast-growing sector called the tuner market, that generation of folks 16 and above, reaching to 60 in my case, but typically ending at about 30, of people who are dedicated fans of motor cars and wish to continue to improve them. While the brand of Cosworth is a wonderful platform to be able to provide tuner accessories for these folks, it is certainly something we will be extending.
So Cosworth is an icon of Motorsports. We're thrilled to be able to continue its development. We look forward to its next generation of technology, and we look forward to having Cosworth engines in the Champ Car series powered by Ford for a long time to come, together with a very successful relationship with Ford.
Thank you very much. I'm now going to hand it over to the managing director of Cosworth, a gentleman who has headed it up and will head it up in the future with the existing management team, Tim Routsis.
TIM ROUTSIS: Thank you very much, indeed.
Good morning, everybody. I thought you might appreciate a short overview of the sort of things that we're going to be doing with Cosworth in the near future now and new ownership.
Just before going into that, I did want to take a moment to express a vote of personal thanks to all of the Cosworth employees on both sides of the Atlantic.
The sale of a sort of nature that has been gone through has attracted a massive amount of interest and attention for all the sort of reasons that Kevin and Richard have touched on. And inevitably, that sort of a process is very distracting for an organization, and inevitably it involves some uncertainties and a degree of worry in the work force.
Given that sort of an environment, it would have been somewhat understandable if people had in any way sort of had slightly sloping shoulders, heads down a little bit. But I'm absolutely delighted to say that the performance and professionalism of the staff of Cosworth, as I say on both sides of the Atlantic, has been absolutely exemplary.
They've continued to do the job in a fabulously professional manner, in a way which I found both inspirational and I would say slightly humbling, because without doubt, today's successful outcome is in no small measure due to their ongoing level of commitment.
When we do these sorts of sales, it's inevitable that there's a great deal of emphasis placed on balance sheets and assets. But I think in this case Gerry and Kevin really have got a first-class off-balance sheet asset in the Cosworth folks, and they are absolutely excited to go now into the future under this new ownership.
So what sort of things are we going to be doing? First of all, as you've gathered, we are going to be very much maintaining and strengthening our position in all of the forms of Motorsport in which we're currently active. What you can expect from us in the not to far distant future will be ongoing announcements of the sort of developments we're planning on undertaking.
In parallel with that, we've got some expansion plans which will be moving Cosworth and the Cosworth brand, which has been acquired as part of this sale, into some symbiotic markets and, in particular, we're expecting to do a lot of activity through the Torrance branch into the North American market.
You will see us in areas such as marine, but above all, the key message with this is that Cosworth knows where its heritage is, we know what we're good at, and you are going to continue to see us in all aspects of Motorsport.
There's a little overview about where we're going to be going in the near term. I think we're heading for some quite exciting times, and I know there's a very talented group of men and women that are really now ready to show the world what they're capable of.
So with that, if I can hand it back now to Stewart, and we'll take some questions, I believe.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Tim.
We'll take the first question, please.
PAUL NEWMAN: I don't have a question, but a comment. I'm delighted that you guys have bought Cosworth. You are great competitors, you're savvy businessmen. I just am glad that you guaranteed that Newman/Haas won't be down on horsepower.
Also, I'm specifically delighted that we'll continue to guarantee a supply of engines from Champ Car, free from any outside interference, which I think is really important.
That's not a question, it's a comment.
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: We thank you and congratulate you on your championship season with Sebastien Bourdais.
Q. Kevin, as everyone knows, Cosworth still has a deal to badge engines for Chevrolet for one more season in the Indy Racing League. Is there going to be any interruption in that contract or will that deal go ahead through this season?
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: Absolutely no interruption at all. We are professional businessmen. This is a contract that is in place and will continue to be serviced to the best of Cosworth's ability in the 2005 season.
Q. Kevin, when you and Gerry and Paul first bought the assets of CART and became Champ Car, there was some discussion that somewhere down the not-too-distant road there would maybe be a switch to a normally aspirated V-10 engine. I know that's kind of the reverse where Formula 1 may be heading. What does this deal do for that possibility or is, indeed, that a possibility somewhere down the road for Champ Car?
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: First of all, we fully expect in the next season we will continue to use the Cosworth XFE engine, which has proven to be so reliable and competitive this year. Of course now with the ownership of Cosworth, we have also some opportunities for us in the future. I think where they will take a little bit of time for us to absorb the full capabilities of what Cosworth has got and feed them into our plans for the future.
But certainly for the 2005 season, the sound of those wonderfully turbocharged XFEs will be resounding through the streets of many North American cities.
Q. A question that stems from comments that you made, Kevin, about how this strengthens the association with Ford, and we will obviously see that Cosworth will be involved in the Champ Car World Series for a long, long time to come. I wondered if you might sort of on a more sort of philosophical level comment on how you see the role of manufacturers involved in racing, how you see that maybe evolving in terms of the Champ Car World Series where, as you said, it would appear for at least for the foreseeable future that it is going to be a single-engine series for as far as we can see.
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: As you probably know, I'm not very good at philosophy. If I were, I wouldn't be involved in Motorsports, let's put it that way.
But I think we see an interesting situation in Motorsports, particularly in open-wheel racing at this moment, which is that the manufacturer support is by definition a significant two-edged sword. The financial support that the manufacturers bring is obviously significant. The financial support, when it disappears, as well we know in CART and now in Champ Car, causes some significant heartburn.
We've lived through this and we've taken a very deliberate approach which is that we worked with one manufacturer very successfully, our partners at Ford, in order to provide something that is increasingly important in Motorsports, which is the fact that it is entertainment, it's not just a purist form of open-wheel racing. We have to provide entertainment for our fans, and that entertainment comes from not just only seeing manufacturers compete with each other but seeing close and competitive racing where the driver is the determining factor, not the manufacturer or the amount of money that they spend.
So what we've achieved in this year, Champ Car, is a series where the driver is very much the king, where any driver, now that they all have significantly the same package, can rise to the top. We've seen that clearly in the racing this year. New teams can come in and rise to the top, as we have seen with, for instance, RuSPORT and AJ Allmendinger.
What we have managed to do this, at least, without the embarrassment of riches coming from the manufacturers in the way that it has in the past, is revert to what we think is important for the future, which is to make Motorsports entertaining, make it exciting, close, overtaking, a lot of incidents on track, and not have it just dominated by money, but by the drivers.
Q. If not philosophy, then pragmatic philosophy. How is that?
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: I'll take that one (laughter).
Q. Tim had referred a little bit to the American market, Torrance and so forth. I wonder if both Kevin and Tim, if there's anything you could say at this stage of the game in terms of how you would see Torrance expanding at the moment, as you go forward.
TIM ROUTSIS: This is Tim here. I think one of the key aspects that Kevin has touched on is the sort of emerging importance of the tuner market. And one thing that is very clear for me is that although we may continue to do some of the design work that will be associated with the sort of genuine performance items that we will be provide to get market in the UK, we will certainly be looking to put much more of the manufacturing and distribution of those sort of components actually into the target market, and I see Torrance as being absolutely pivotal in that.
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: We've already released in the United States three different kits for the Ford Focus, which can take it up normally aspirated to 250 horsepower. We leased those a couple weeks ago. The interest level, the demand for it, has been very, very significant. We're looking forward to expanding our Torrance capabilities to serve this market.
Q. To update us, Tim, what are your total numbers of employees and how many do we have there at Torrance?
TIM ROUTSIS: The total number of employees in Cosworth sort of overall at the moment is just a tad under 600, and of that, we have about 80 in Torrance.
Q. It sounds, Kevin, like you basically said any other manufacturer participation, in the brand form or in the actual development form in Champ Car is probably not in the cards in the next several years?
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: For the 2005 season.
Q. So even though Cosworth will continue in 2005, beyond 2005, there is a possibility that other manufacturers might return to the series?
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: There's always a possibility of that, yes.
Q. Will Cosworth continue to supply Ford WRC?
RICHARD PARRY-JONES: What we have arranged is that for the 2005 WRC season, we will support M Sport, who is the organization that campaigns the WRC Focus, in a manner which enables them to maintain and distribute the WRC V-Tech engine that is currently in the cars.
We are working at the moment with Malcolm Wilson, who is the principal of that organization, with a view to seeing if we can flesh out the terms of the deal whereby Cosworth will develop a variant of the Ford dura-tech alloy block engine for the 2006 WRC car, which will under current plans be the new Focus.
I'm sort of quietly hopeful and optimistic we will be continuing for a long and very successful relationship with Ford and WRC because certainly I think it's true to say that the current Ford-Cosworth WRC engine is still regarded as the class of the field.
Q. For Richard or anybody who can address it. We've heard different rumors about who else might have been involved in buying Cosworth, including gentlemen like Tony George and Chip Ganassi. Can you tell us about that interest and who else might have tried to buy the company?
RICHARD PARRY-JONES: Once we announced our decision on September 17th to exit the business and sell these businesses, we have generated quite a wide variety of interest in people coming forward and expressing to know more about the companies and potentially even make an offer for them.
But we've spent a lot of time sorting through these offers and these expressions of interest with a number of critical criteria in mind. Just to quote a few of them, for a moment, one of them is the buyer must have a history in Motorsport and a really good understanding of the business that's involved in Motorsport. The reason for that is we fear that people who come forward thinking they understand a business like this, who haven't been involved in Motorsport before at a significant level, almost certainly don't know what they're getting into. That could be very dangerous for Cosworth in the future.
The second criteria we had was really, does the buyer have kind of a reasonably coherent view of what they want to do with the business, having understood what there is to understand about it, and a clear vision for taking the business forward.
A third, of course, was their financial capability, financial backup, the wherewithal not only to pay the purchase price, but also to sustain the company through its subsequent period and make sure it has a substantial and stable base from which to grow.
Another critical factor, of course, was the ability to move quickly, to move quickly into action and to conclude the deal at this time. The reason for that criterion was that we needed to know what Cosworth's future was in time to deport the date by which those companies and teams that wish to compete in the 2005 Formula 1 championship need to register. In registering, they need to declare what engine they're using and that they have a valid engine contract.
So we needed to complete the deal on time, both to support our sale of Jaguar racing to Red Bull, using the Cosworth engine, and to allow Menardi to allow their use of the Cosworth engine.
So speed and effective decision-making were also the criteria for selecting the buyer. Suffice it to say that Kevin Kalkhoven, Gerry Forsythe approach was significantly superior against those criteria, and we're very happy that having decided to work closely with them to bring the process to a successful conclusion, we have been able to do that in a very expeditious and smooth manner. This morning's press conference, I complimented Kevin and his team on exemplary performance during the closing process.
So for us, it was not so much a question of who has got the highest amount of money or who is shouting the loudest or who is making the best noises behind the scenes; it was based on solid criteria of where we could find a good future home as custodians of this fantastic company.
Q. Kevin, there's a comment in the press release from Jaguar about the Champ Car ladder series development of engines. I take it to mean that Toyota is at some point on its way out, and when do you expect that a Cosworth engine will appear in series such as Atlantics?
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: Well, first of all, we are completely committed to Toyota for the 2005 season, so that is something that we will be doing.
We will examine the 2006 season and beyond and discuss the engines with a number of manufacturers. Of course, at this moment in time it's just too early to say.
Q. Is it possible to know approximately how much has been paid to Cosworth?
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: I'm actually under a confidentiality agreement, so there's nothing I can add on that situation at all.
Q. Can we say in millions?
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: It depends on what currency. You can say whatever number you like (laughter).
Q. The top level administration. Will you keep the people in place that you have now?
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: Yes, one of the things that impressed about Cosworth was the strength and depth of its management team, which of course is pretty profound. Tim will remain on as the chief executive and managing director of Cosworth together with his team.
Q. You will be providing the new owner of Jaguar for the year of 2005. Do you have any deals with them after that fact, after that year?
TIM ROUTSIS: Yes, you're quite correct; we will be supplying the new owners of what used to be the Jaguar racing team, now Red Bull, with Cosworth engines for 2005. Beyond that, as I'm sure you've picked up through the European press, there are some pretty significant rule changes coming up that affect the engine arrangements for 2006. Right now I and all of our colleagues in Cosworth and our competitors are reviewing the details of those changes very carefully. Together with the teams, we're going to decide exactly what the best type of engine configuration to deploy in 2006 is going to be.
Once we've pinned that down, we'll then be in a better position to see who we will be supplying in 2006 and beyond.
Q. My question is in regards to the support series, comments that you made. I was wondering that perhaps with the stockpile of three-liter normally aspirated engines, maybe you might want to put those into a chassis and run those as a support series for Champ Car.
KEVIN KALKHOVEN: Let the dust settle before we announce some of these other plans on the ladder series, but there's certainly some interesting opportunities around.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much for joining us, Ladies and Gentlemen.
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Re: Cosworth Snapped Up by Champ Car Owners (RMR)
Dodging Bullets
Written by: Robin Miller
Indianapolis, IN – 11/15/2004
http://speedtv.com/commentary/13927/
It seemed appropriate that Kevin Kalkhoven's plane landed here at Biggin Hill since this airfield figured prominently in the Battle of Britain during World War II. Because, after nearly a year of fighting to keep Champ Car alive, Kalkhoven knows all about sneak attacks and being strafed.
"I have an amazing propensity for dodging bullets, particularly when they're not very well aimed," said Kalkhoven following Monday's press conference to announce he and partner Gerald Forsythe had purchased Cosworth Engineering.
There was no denying Kalkhoven's obvious inference to Tony George and his Indy Racing League. He reckons twice this year George has tried to torpedo Champ Car -- first by bidding on CART's assets in bankruptcy court last January and then taking a run at Cosworth through a bid by Chip Ganassi.
"The first time, in bankruptcy court, they had not fully explored the consequences of contingent liabilities, which amounted to $60 million," said Kalkhoven. "In other words, we were prepared to take the risk on a very substantial sum.
"Either they didn't understand it or didn't research it."
When Ford announced it was pulling out of Formula 1 and selling Cosworth last September, Kalkhoven and Forsythe jumped right into the fire. Even though they owned all the turbocharged Cosworths in Champ Car, the technical support and expertise of Cosworth were obvious.
Just like one of the other bids.
"I have no doubt that Ganassi's bid was Tony's money or maybe Toyota's or both," said Kalkhoven. "Obviously, they spend a great deal of time and energy trying to hurt us and that doesn't seem real productive.
"Thankfully, Ford Motor Company liked our plan."
And while Ford's Richard Parry-Jones refused to discuss Ganassi's bid, he did admit it was any easy decision.
"We had a number of interesting offers but our decision was very heavily weighted on the impact the new owners would have on our employees and the sport," said Parry-Jones, Ford's group vice president of global product development and chief technical officer.
"A majority of the bids had an unclear idea of what they wanted to do and, clearly, Kevin's and Gerry's were the most defined and the best for everyone's overall interest."
Kalkhoven, who sent his right-hand man, Pierre Wildman, and Jim *** of Ernst & Young to England a month ago to research everything from labor laws to Formula 1, said losing Cosworth wouldn't have been fatal, but....
"We could have survived, but it would have made things very difficult."
This Australian-born entrepreneur, who made his fortune with partner Dan Pettit in Silicon Valley and resides in Northern California, may be new to owing a race team and series yet he's anything but green when it comes to business acquisitions and making them work. He's also a pretty good judge of character, as evidenced by the fact it only took him a few months to figure he didn't need Craig Pollock's partnership.
He claims Pettit, Wildman, *** and Russ Johnson make him look good and that his expertise is in hiring the right people.
But he's also identified the enemy.
"I figure they've had three shots at us this year," said Kalkhoven. "The bankruptcy hearing, the Cosworth deal and Long Beach. If (Bobby) Rahal and (Adrian) Fernandez would have waited until the night before Long Beach to defect to the IRL, that would have been a very major problem.
"But I'm not going to hold a grudge. I intend to call Chip (Ganassi). I'd be very happy to build his engines for NASCAR."
Of course the most ironic thing about this entire engine situation is that Kalkhoven and Forsythe will continue to honor the contract with General Motors on its IRL engine for 2005.
"Why wouldn't we," says Kalkhoven with a grin. "It's good business."
And it's not too far-fetched to imagine Honda and Toyota leaving the IRL after 2006 with Kalkhoven and Forsythe still owning a normally-aspirated engine with IRL specs.
"My," drawled Kalkhoven, "wouldn't that be interesting?"
Yes it would.
Modified by RMR at 11:45 PM 11/15/2004
Written by: Robin Miller
Indianapolis, IN – 11/15/2004
http://speedtv.com/commentary/13927/
It seemed appropriate that Kevin Kalkhoven's plane landed here at Biggin Hill since this airfield figured prominently in the Battle of Britain during World War II. Because, after nearly a year of fighting to keep Champ Car alive, Kalkhoven knows all about sneak attacks and being strafed.
"I have an amazing propensity for dodging bullets, particularly when they're not very well aimed," said Kalkhoven following Monday's press conference to announce he and partner Gerald Forsythe had purchased Cosworth Engineering.
There was no denying Kalkhoven's obvious inference to Tony George and his Indy Racing League. He reckons twice this year George has tried to torpedo Champ Car -- first by bidding on CART's assets in bankruptcy court last January and then taking a run at Cosworth through a bid by Chip Ganassi.
"The first time, in bankruptcy court, they had not fully explored the consequences of contingent liabilities, which amounted to $60 million," said Kalkhoven. "In other words, we were prepared to take the risk on a very substantial sum.
"Either they didn't understand it or didn't research it."
When Ford announced it was pulling out of Formula 1 and selling Cosworth last September, Kalkhoven and Forsythe jumped right into the fire. Even though they owned all the turbocharged Cosworths in Champ Car, the technical support and expertise of Cosworth were obvious.
Just like one of the other bids.
"I have no doubt that Ganassi's bid was Tony's money or maybe Toyota's or both," said Kalkhoven. "Obviously, they spend a great deal of time and energy trying to hurt us and that doesn't seem real productive.
"Thankfully, Ford Motor Company liked our plan."
And while Ford's Richard Parry-Jones refused to discuss Ganassi's bid, he did admit it was any easy decision.
"We had a number of interesting offers but our decision was very heavily weighted on the impact the new owners would have on our employees and the sport," said Parry-Jones, Ford's group vice president of global product development and chief technical officer.
"A majority of the bids had an unclear idea of what they wanted to do and, clearly, Kevin's and Gerry's were the most defined and the best for everyone's overall interest."
Kalkhoven, who sent his right-hand man, Pierre Wildman, and Jim *** of Ernst & Young to England a month ago to research everything from labor laws to Formula 1, said losing Cosworth wouldn't have been fatal, but....
"We could have survived, but it would have made things very difficult."
This Australian-born entrepreneur, who made his fortune with partner Dan Pettit in Silicon Valley and resides in Northern California, may be new to owing a race team and series yet he's anything but green when it comes to business acquisitions and making them work. He's also a pretty good judge of character, as evidenced by the fact it only took him a few months to figure he didn't need Craig Pollock's partnership.
He claims Pettit, Wildman, *** and Russ Johnson make him look good and that his expertise is in hiring the right people.
But he's also identified the enemy.
"I figure they've had three shots at us this year," said Kalkhoven. "The bankruptcy hearing, the Cosworth deal and Long Beach. If (Bobby) Rahal and (Adrian) Fernandez would have waited until the night before Long Beach to defect to the IRL, that would have been a very major problem.
"But I'm not going to hold a grudge. I intend to call Chip (Ganassi). I'd be very happy to build his engines for NASCAR."
Of course the most ironic thing about this entire engine situation is that Kalkhoven and Forsythe will continue to honor the contract with General Motors on its IRL engine for 2005.
"Why wouldn't we," says Kalkhoven with a grin. "It's good business."
And it's not too far-fetched to imagine Honda and Toyota leaving the IRL after 2006 with Kalkhoven and Forsythe still owning a normally-aspirated engine with IRL specs.
"My," drawled Kalkhoven, "wouldn't that be interesting?"
Yes it would.
Modified by RMR at 11:45 PM 11/15/2004
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Re: Cosworth Snapped Up by Champ Car Owners (RMR)
Champ Car victory in survival
By JOHN RICE, AP Writer
November 11, 2004
http://sports.yahoo.com/cart/n...=lgns
MEXICO CITY -- A season of tight racing, good crowds and the emergence of a new star, series champion Sebastien Bourdais, helped make the Champ Car series as dramatic on the track in 2004 as it had been in the boardroom.
If the future looks bright, it's mostly because there is a future.
"Last spring I was pretty pessimistic. I really thought it was a difficult thing, it wasn't going to happen," said Carl Haas, who stuck with the series despite its bankruptcy late last year.
The sale of what had been the CART series wasn't finished until mid-February, leaving little time to complete schedules, find sponsors and arrange for racing.
A network television deal collapsed, leaving series telecasts only on the Spike cable network. Teams led by Bobby Rahal, Pat Patrick and Adrian Fernandez shifted -- sometimes reluctantly -- to the IRL.
Yet the reborn Champ Car World Series was back on April 18, racing through the streets of Long Beach, where defending champion Paul Tracy captured his only win of the season.
The disrupted schedule led to more than a month's pause before the 25-year-old Bourdais, who had been Rookie of the Year last season, out-raced Newman/Haas teammate Bruno Junqueira to the checkered flag in Monterrey, Mexico.
Bourdais' car also sported the colors of what had become especially precious for Champ Cars: a prominent new sponsor, McDonald's.
Bourdais went on to win six more races and his teammate two as Newman/Haas dominated.
The championship was decided only at the final race, Nov. 7 in Mexico City, where qualifying runs drew more fans than some IRL races and 345,000 people turned out over three days.
Junqueira was season runner-up for a third consecutive year.
The team could continue its superiority in 2005. Bourdais and Junqueira are signed for next year and former champion Cristiano da Matta says he'd like to return to Newman/Haas after two disappointing years in Formula One.
Champ Car also gained two exciting young drivers, American A.J. Allmendinger for RuSport and Briton Justin Wilson for the Mi-Jack team.
"The season has been a success when you look at where it was this time last year," team owner Derrick Walker said.
"With the new ownership, they have stopped the decay ... and they've propped it up and they are now beginning to turn the company around," he said.
Champ Car has already announced 14 races for 2005, and series co-owner Paul Gentilozzi said two more events should be announced by the end of the month, helping team owners attract sponsors.
"I think you'll see eight races in the United States, three in Canada, two in Mexico and three outside," he said.
He also said that at least five or six races would be carried by network television next year with the rest on cable.
But the bitter, long-term battle with the rival open-wheel series, IRL, continues -- a factor that many believe has weakened overall interest in open-wheel racing in the United States.
"To have two open-wheel series doesn't help anything," Haas said.
The IRL has focused on oval-track races in the United States, though foreign drivers have recently dominated.
Champ Car's focus on road courses across the Americas has drawn fans who like to see right turns occasionally, but it has suffered from IRL's grip on America's most famous race, the Indianapolis 500.
And the bitterness remains.
Gentilozzi complained that "some of our competitors ... spent a lot of time and energy trying to make sure we didn't have a season."
"Every promoter we have has been approached by other open-wheel sanctioning bodies," he said. "They are offering to come for free, they are offering to undermine whatever financial platform we have."
He said engine makers such as Honda and Toyota had been spending money to lure Champ Car teams to the IRL, hoping to boost that series, which had been troubled by poor television ratings and indifferent attendance.
"Oh, no. It hasn't stopped," Gentilozzi said. "It hasn't stopped at all."
By JOHN RICE, AP Writer
November 11, 2004
http://sports.yahoo.com/cart/n...=lgns
MEXICO CITY -- A season of tight racing, good crowds and the emergence of a new star, series champion Sebastien Bourdais, helped make the Champ Car series as dramatic on the track in 2004 as it had been in the boardroom.
If the future looks bright, it's mostly because there is a future.
"Last spring I was pretty pessimistic. I really thought it was a difficult thing, it wasn't going to happen," said Carl Haas, who stuck with the series despite its bankruptcy late last year.
The sale of what had been the CART series wasn't finished until mid-February, leaving little time to complete schedules, find sponsors and arrange for racing.
A network television deal collapsed, leaving series telecasts only on the Spike cable network. Teams led by Bobby Rahal, Pat Patrick and Adrian Fernandez shifted -- sometimes reluctantly -- to the IRL.
Yet the reborn Champ Car World Series was back on April 18, racing through the streets of Long Beach, where defending champion Paul Tracy captured his only win of the season.
The disrupted schedule led to more than a month's pause before the 25-year-old Bourdais, who had been Rookie of the Year last season, out-raced Newman/Haas teammate Bruno Junqueira to the checkered flag in Monterrey, Mexico.
Bourdais' car also sported the colors of what had become especially precious for Champ Cars: a prominent new sponsor, McDonald's.
Bourdais went on to win six more races and his teammate two as Newman/Haas dominated.
The championship was decided only at the final race, Nov. 7 in Mexico City, where qualifying runs drew more fans than some IRL races and 345,000 people turned out over three days.
Junqueira was season runner-up for a third consecutive year.
The team could continue its superiority in 2005. Bourdais and Junqueira are signed for next year and former champion Cristiano da Matta says he'd like to return to Newman/Haas after two disappointing years in Formula One.
Champ Car also gained two exciting young drivers, American A.J. Allmendinger for RuSport and Briton Justin Wilson for the Mi-Jack team.
"The season has been a success when you look at where it was this time last year," team owner Derrick Walker said.
"With the new ownership, they have stopped the decay ... and they've propped it up and they are now beginning to turn the company around," he said.
Champ Car has already announced 14 races for 2005, and series co-owner Paul Gentilozzi said two more events should be announced by the end of the month, helping team owners attract sponsors.
"I think you'll see eight races in the United States, three in Canada, two in Mexico and three outside," he said.
He also said that at least five or six races would be carried by network television next year with the rest on cable.
But the bitter, long-term battle with the rival open-wheel series, IRL, continues -- a factor that many believe has weakened overall interest in open-wheel racing in the United States.
"To have two open-wheel series doesn't help anything," Haas said.
The IRL has focused on oval-track races in the United States, though foreign drivers have recently dominated.
Champ Car's focus on road courses across the Americas has drawn fans who like to see right turns occasionally, but it has suffered from IRL's grip on America's most famous race, the Indianapolis 500.
And the bitterness remains.
Gentilozzi complained that "some of our competitors ... spent a lot of time and energy trying to make sure we didn't have a season."
"Every promoter we have has been approached by other open-wheel sanctioning bodies," he said. "They are offering to come for free, they are offering to undermine whatever financial platform we have."
He said engine makers such as Honda and Toyota had been spending money to lure Champ Car teams to the IRL, hoping to boost that series, which had been troubled by poor television ratings and indifferent attendance.
"Oh, no. It hasn't stopped," Gentilozzi said. "It hasn't stopped at all."
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Re: Cosworth Snapped Up by Champ Car Owners (RMR)
IRL loses Chevrolet; Toyota concerned
November 8, 2004
By Bruce Martin
SportsTicker Contributing Editor
http://sports.yahoo.com/irl/ne...=lgns
AVONDALE, Arizona (Ticker) Although it was not completely unexpected, GM Racing's decision to yank the Chevrolet brand from the Indy Racing League after the 2005 season has sent shock waves through the sport.
Chevy's departure from the IRL leaves the series in the hands of two Japanese engine manufacturers Toyota and Honda. Because its future depends solely on companies based in Japan, the IRL should stand for "Ichiban Racing League."
To make matters worse for the IRL, the future of the series is in control of two companies that have proven in the past that if a sanctioning body makes a decision that is unpopular, they could yank its participation.
That's what happened in 2001 when CART decided to change the engine formula against the wishes of Toyota and Honda. When both decided to leave CART, it left that series in a position to be a single-engine, spec formula.
Chevrolet decided that the combination of higher costs and increased competition didn't justify the lack of exposure its product has gotten in an ever-shrinking sport.
"This situation was one where the investment in the series did not meet our business objectives any more," said Doug Duchardt, director of GM Racing. "We had to make a tough decision on whether to continue.
"At the beginning of the IRL, there was a certain model we could use and we were successful at it. That worked for us. There's no secret that the costs have gone up and the TV ratings and attendance have been flat or down. You have to lay that out. It is what it is. We have to make a decision based on our business model."
Duchardt was promoted to his current role after Herb Fishel retired two years ago. Prior to that, Duchardt was in charge of the GM Racing NASCAR program, which caused concern that he was never really interested in the IRL in the first place.
Chevrolet made a valiant effort in 2003 when it was successful in getting the IRL to adopt the Gen IV engine built by Cosworth after the Gen III engine was nothing more than a high-speed boat anchor.
With Sam Hornish Jr. at Panther Racing, the Gen IV engine proved to be a fast answer to Toyota and Honda. Hornish nearly overcame his deficit in the standings and wasn't eliminated until he dropped out of the final race of the 2003 season.
Unfortunately for both Chevrolet and Toyota, neither engine company could compete against Honda in 2004. Toyota won the first and the last race of the season with Honda winning every contest in between.
Because of Chevrolet's decision to leave, Toyota executives say they may also leave after the 2006 season unless things change within the IRL.
"Chevrolet's departure is very bad for the series," Toyota Motorsports manager Lee White said. "You have open-wheel racing without an American manufacturer and the Indianapolis 500 without an American manufacturer. That's a pretty serious deal."
After giving the bad news to Tony George on Wednesday, Duchardt and GM officials informed teams that used the engine last year that it would leave after 2005 and that Panther Racing would be the primary team it backed next year.
"Panther will be with us next year, and we're both committed to winning," Duchardt said. "We're committed to give them the piece that will help them win. After the other teams have this information, we'll sit down with them and help them decide where they want to go from here."
White and Toyota are dissatisfied with the current state of the IRL. After getting pounded by Honda in 2004, White indicated serious changes have to be made to keep costs under control or they could also leave the sport.
"When we entered the series, we spent two years discussing engine rules, distribution rules, buying, leasing and we signed up for the same program as Chevrolet," White said. "Our level of support is approaching that of what it was in CART. I would say our enthusiasm doesn't match that what it was in CART but the cost is and that is a huge worry for the company."
White said Toyota continues to believe the IRL is the best answer to save an entire form of racing in the United States, but it is time to make some changes before it's too late.
"It's a difficult decision because we support Tony George and we support the series," White said. "Unfortunately, the series business model isn't what it was two years ago. We went to the IRL and embraced the Chevrolet business model. We had people signed up as engine builders, we were prepared to sell engines but no one wanted to buy them. The direction we are going in now is very troubling."
According to numbers derived from the Joyce Julius Sponsor's Report, the average television ratings for IRL races in 2002 was 1.2067. That figure dropped to 1.0250 in 2003 a drop of 15 percent.
Ratings dropped even further in 2004 with an average TV rating of 0.8625 a 16 percent dip from 2003. Included in that rating was a 0.1 for the IRL race televised by ESPN at California this past October, which may be the lowest IRL rating of all time.
Attendance actually has shown an increase for the IRL, but what brings that number up is Joyce Julius' presumption that 400,000 fans were at the Indianapolis 500 in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Even the Indianapolis Motor Speedway admitted there were tickets left for sale the day of the race in 2003 and 2004.
But, using the presumption of 400,000 fans at the Indy 500, average attendance was 67,832 in 2002, 70,702 in 2003 and 74,120 in 2004. The reason for increase can be directly attributed to the additional race in 2003 and 2004 at Twin-Ring Motegi in Japan, where 60,000 fans attended last year and 76,000 in 2004.
The problem with the IRL is no matter how many young, eager types it hires in sales, marketing and promotion, do the folks in the "red states" really want to buy its product?
If someone invents "Onion Gum" no matter how much is spent in sales, advertising and promotion, no matter how many double-truck ads are purchased in USA Today, does anyone really want to buy onion-flavored gum?
The IRL has become motorsports version of "Onion Gum."
"Despite a tough economy, the IndyCar Series enters 2005 in its strongest position yet in terms of its overall economic health, with sponsorship up, attendance showing growth, team sponsorships the highest in series history and the strongest driver talent line-up in series history," said Fred Nation, the executive vice president of communications for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation and the IRL.
"The 2005 season will be the second year of a six-year contract for U.S. television with ABC/ESPN that pays rights and production fees, as well as the strongest worldwide television package in U.S. racing."
According to Nation, "ABC/ESPN and the Indy Racing League are committed to growing the series and ratings through a joint promotional plan that is in place for 2005 using resources of all three parties."
White said he remains extremely concerned for the series of costs involved in what was supposed to be a cost-contained series.
"We entered the series under the idea that you could have one or two works teams that were allowed with our agreement in the IRL," White said. "Now, there isn't a team that comes and talks to us unless they want everything for free and cash. It has absolutely turned into a 100 percent manufacturer head-to-head combat and that is not a comfortable position for us.
"I can't imagine the series is very comfortable with that."
White said Honda's involvement and spending has raised the bar of competition in the IRL. Sources indicate Honda even entered into a wind-tunnel program with its teams to help improve the chassis used in the series for those teams running Honda.
By underwriting such an enormous cost, it has created a gap between Honda and the teams that use Honda and Chevrolet engines.
"The problem is there is no mechanism within the structure of the organization to contain that," White said. "It makes it a very difficult problem unless you have full grandstands and really good TV ratings so that you can justify that type of expenditure."
White said renewing with the IRL is too far away to even consider, and the IRL has yet to consider a rules package for 2007 and beyond. White wants for a stock-based engine something Duchardt and Chevrolet have expressed interest in.
"Certainly we are disappointed in Chevrolet's stated intention to not return for the 2006 season," Nation said. "We understand that General Motors has its challenges both on and off the track. We do expect Chevrolet to review proposed changes to the engine package for 2007 once they are completed.
"It continues to be the IndyCar Series goal to draw the participation of major manufacturers. With two years of experience with Chevy, Honda and Toyota competing fiercely against each other, we are in active communication with all three as we formulate specifications and regulations for 2007 and beyond."
White said there hasn't been an initial meeting with the IRL regarding the engine specifications for 2007 and beyond. Joe Negri of GM Motorsports presented White with a worksheet of some proposals for the next generation engine, but there have been no talks with the IRL.
"The first thing we have to do is get some people together to talk about it and it hasn't happened yet," White said of the IRL. "We haven't decided to leave. We are committed to the program through 2006. I'd hate to say we are in any position to dictate, but certainly I'm extremely concerned for the series.
"We could have left and everything would have been fine. Honda could have left and it would have been fine. But the fact Chevrolet left is a very, very serious problem for the IRL. The IRL doesn't have the strength, in-house, to protect the engine manufacturers' from themselves."
November 8, 2004
By Bruce Martin
SportsTicker Contributing Editor
http://sports.yahoo.com/irl/ne...=lgns
AVONDALE, Arizona (Ticker) Although it was not completely unexpected, GM Racing's decision to yank the Chevrolet brand from the Indy Racing League after the 2005 season has sent shock waves through the sport.
Chevy's departure from the IRL leaves the series in the hands of two Japanese engine manufacturers Toyota and Honda. Because its future depends solely on companies based in Japan, the IRL should stand for "Ichiban Racing League."
To make matters worse for the IRL, the future of the series is in control of two companies that have proven in the past that if a sanctioning body makes a decision that is unpopular, they could yank its participation.
That's what happened in 2001 when CART decided to change the engine formula against the wishes of Toyota and Honda. When both decided to leave CART, it left that series in a position to be a single-engine, spec formula.
Chevrolet decided that the combination of higher costs and increased competition didn't justify the lack of exposure its product has gotten in an ever-shrinking sport.
"This situation was one where the investment in the series did not meet our business objectives any more," said Doug Duchardt, director of GM Racing. "We had to make a tough decision on whether to continue.
"At the beginning of the IRL, there was a certain model we could use and we were successful at it. That worked for us. There's no secret that the costs have gone up and the TV ratings and attendance have been flat or down. You have to lay that out. It is what it is. We have to make a decision based on our business model."
Duchardt was promoted to his current role after Herb Fishel retired two years ago. Prior to that, Duchardt was in charge of the GM Racing NASCAR program, which caused concern that he was never really interested in the IRL in the first place.
Chevrolet made a valiant effort in 2003 when it was successful in getting the IRL to adopt the Gen IV engine built by Cosworth after the Gen III engine was nothing more than a high-speed boat anchor.
With Sam Hornish Jr. at Panther Racing, the Gen IV engine proved to be a fast answer to Toyota and Honda. Hornish nearly overcame his deficit in the standings and wasn't eliminated until he dropped out of the final race of the 2003 season.
Unfortunately for both Chevrolet and Toyota, neither engine company could compete against Honda in 2004. Toyota won the first and the last race of the season with Honda winning every contest in between.
Because of Chevrolet's decision to leave, Toyota executives say they may also leave after the 2006 season unless things change within the IRL.
"Chevrolet's departure is very bad for the series," Toyota Motorsports manager Lee White said. "You have open-wheel racing without an American manufacturer and the Indianapolis 500 without an American manufacturer. That's a pretty serious deal."
After giving the bad news to Tony George on Wednesday, Duchardt and GM officials informed teams that used the engine last year that it would leave after 2005 and that Panther Racing would be the primary team it backed next year.
"Panther will be with us next year, and we're both committed to winning," Duchardt said. "We're committed to give them the piece that will help them win. After the other teams have this information, we'll sit down with them and help them decide where they want to go from here."
White and Toyota are dissatisfied with the current state of the IRL. After getting pounded by Honda in 2004, White indicated serious changes have to be made to keep costs under control or they could also leave the sport.
"When we entered the series, we spent two years discussing engine rules, distribution rules, buying, leasing and we signed up for the same program as Chevrolet," White said. "Our level of support is approaching that of what it was in CART. I would say our enthusiasm doesn't match that what it was in CART but the cost is and that is a huge worry for the company."
White said Toyota continues to believe the IRL is the best answer to save an entire form of racing in the United States, but it is time to make some changes before it's too late.
"It's a difficult decision because we support Tony George and we support the series," White said. "Unfortunately, the series business model isn't what it was two years ago. We went to the IRL and embraced the Chevrolet business model. We had people signed up as engine builders, we were prepared to sell engines but no one wanted to buy them. The direction we are going in now is very troubling."
According to numbers derived from the Joyce Julius Sponsor's Report, the average television ratings for IRL races in 2002 was 1.2067. That figure dropped to 1.0250 in 2003 a drop of 15 percent.
Ratings dropped even further in 2004 with an average TV rating of 0.8625 a 16 percent dip from 2003. Included in that rating was a 0.1 for the IRL race televised by ESPN at California this past October, which may be the lowest IRL rating of all time.
Attendance actually has shown an increase for the IRL, but what brings that number up is Joyce Julius' presumption that 400,000 fans were at the Indianapolis 500 in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Even the Indianapolis Motor Speedway admitted there were tickets left for sale the day of the race in 2003 and 2004.
But, using the presumption of 400,000 fans at the Indy 500, average attendance was 67,832 in 2002, 70,702 in 2003 and 74,120 in 2004. The reason for increase can be directly attributed to the additional race in 2003 and 2004 at Twin-Ring Motegi in Japan, where 60,000 fans attended last year and 76,000 in 2004.
The problem with the IRL is no matter how many young, eager types it hires in sales, marketing and promotion, do the folks in the "red states" really want to buy its product?
If someone invents "Onion Gum" no matter how much is spent in sales, advertising and promotion, no matter how many double-truck ads are purchased in USA Today, does anyone really want to buy onion-flavored gum?
The IRL has become motorsports version of "Onion Gum."
"Despite a tough economy, the IndyCar Series enters 2005 in its strongest position yet in terms of its overall economic health, with sponsorship up, attendance showing growth, team sponsorships the highest in series history and the strongest driver talent line-up in series history," said Fred Nation, the executive vice president of communications for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation and the IRL.
"The 2005 season will be the second year of a six-year contract for U.S. television with ABC/ESPN that pays rights and production fees, as well as the strongest worldwide television package in U.S. racing."
According to Nation, "ABC/ESPN and the Indy Racing League are committed to growing the series and ratings through a joint promotional plan that is in place for 2005 using resources of all three parties."
White said he remains extremely concerned for the series of costs involved in what was supposed to be a cost-contained series.
"We entered the series under the idea that you could have one or two works teams that were allowed with our agreement in the IRL," White said. "Now, there isn't a team that comes and talks to us unless they want everything for free and cash. It has absolutely turned into a 100 percent manufacturer head-to-head combat and that is not a comfortable position for us.
"I can't imagine the series is very comfortable with that."
White said Honda's involvement and spending has raised the bar of competition in the IRL. Sources indicate Honda even entered into a wind-tunnel program with its teams to help improve the chassis used in the series for those teams running Honda.
By underwriting such an enormous cost, it has created a gap between Honda and the teams that use Honda and Chevrolet engines.
"The problem is there is no mechanism within the structure of the organization to contain that," White said. "It makes it a very difficult problem unless you have full grandstands and really good TV ratings so that you can justify that type of expenditure."
White said renewing with the IRL is too far away to even consider, and the IRL has yet to consider a rules package for 2007 and beyond. White wants for a stock-based engine something Duchardt and Chevrolet have expressed interest in.
"Certainly we are disappointed in Chevrolet's stated intention to not return for the 2006 season," Nation said. "We understand that General Motors has its challenges both on and off the track. We do expect Chevrolet to review proposed changes to the engine package for 2007 once they are completed.
"It continues to be the IndyCar Series goal to draw the participation of major manufacturers. With two years of experience with Chevy, Honda and Toyota competing fiercely against each other, we are in active communication with all three as we formulate specifications and regulations for 2007 and beyond."
White said there hasn't been an initial meeting with the IRL regarding the engine specifications for 2007 and beyond. Joe Negri of GM Motorsports presented White with a worksheet of some proposals for the next generation engine, but there have been no talks with the IRL.
"The first thing we have to do is get some people together to talk about it and it hasn't happened yet," White said of the IRL. "We haven't decided to leave. We are committed to the program through 2006. I'd hate to say we are in any position to dictate, but certainly I'm extremely concerned for the series.
"We could have left and everything would have been fine. Honda could have left and it would have been fine. But the fact Chevrolet left is a very, very serious problem for the IRL. The IRL doesn't have the strength, in-house, to protect the engine manufacturers' from themselves."
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Joined: Jul 2001
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From: Orange County, CA
Re: Cosworth Snapped Up by Champ Car Owners (RMR)
OH THE IRONY What a day in motorsports...
by Don Sklenka, posted on 2004-11-15
http://www.champweb.net/headline.php?t=c&id=26749
How long ago was it that the future of Champ Car was in doubt? How long ago was it that Toyota wanted to use Champ Car as their revenue source to provide engines to the IRL? How long ago was it that Tony George said that he is going to put the final nail in Champ Car's coffin?
The irony is perfect.
Cosworth announced, today, the sale of the renown engine manufacturer to Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe. This sale has so many angles and options, I don't even think they have had the time to look at them all. Let's just ponder up a few possibilities.
It's obvious that Kevin Kalkhoven wants to use Cosworth to help Ford emerge as a leader within the tuner market. In doing this, Cosworth has already started to build tuner kits to prep up Ford Focus' to nearly 200hp...quite a feat. What if Kalkhoven and Co. helps Cosworth enter into the consumer market with a production based sports car at a relatively cheap price. Ford would essentially own the car as part of its premier auto group. Kalkhoven and Co. would then be able to both market that car at Champ Car events and use the revenue generated from the sale of that vehicle and put back into the series like manufacturers did in years past. This would give Champ Car an easily identifiable product that could be tuned and changed to various Champ Car liveries and other marketing ventures.
How about Cosworth's Formula 1 involvement? With Red-Bull and Minardi part of Cosworth's F1 customer line, Kalkhoven could have Cosworth design the next Formula 1 engine at cost x, and sell it to Red-Bull, Minardi and whomever at a cheaper cost than any other engine manufacturer in F1 could. Why? Because Champ Car could essentially adopt a similar engine specification for 2006 and beyond giving Cosworth a template to build 1 engine for 2 series! Production costs go down, revenue goes up.
Now here is the kicker in all of this and Tony George has to be going nuts. Kalkhoven now owns the engines that could field cars in the IRL. Kalkhoven isn't going to stop production of that engine in the IRL, rather, he will use the revenue generated from that program and put it back into Champ Car. Sounds like Toyota back with their Normally Aspirated CART plan...
But it gets better. Chevy leaves the IRL in 2006. Kalkhoven takes those IRL engines that aren't in use, puts them for sale as part of the new Chevrolet Cosworth Atlantic Series formula. Now, this puts the IRL teams that will have Toyota engines in 2006 put their involvement in question. If Champ Car has a ladder series that is the same thing as the IRL, it nullifies the IRL's position in motorsport and it gives teams the option to easily run Indianapolis, which will be desperately needed to get the magic number of 33.
This is what Roger Penske saw 6 months ago. He knew Chevy was leaving. He knows Toyota is going to bolt. He's about to lose Marlboro. He saw unification as his last chance. Now, Champ Car is in the driver's seat. Their future is incredibly secure, as their engine manufacture company will be taking on several new revenue streams that feed back into the series. Wonder why Roger has been so quiet lately?
Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe now hold a key in the future of the IRL, how great is that?
by Don Sklenka, posted on 2004-11-15
http://www.champweb.net/headline.php?t=c&id=26749
How long ago was it that the future of Champ Car was in doubt? How long ago was it that Toyota wanted to use Champ Car as their revenue source to provide engines to the IRL? How long ago was it that Tony George said that he is going to put the final nail in Champ Car's coffin?
The irony is perfect.
Cosworth announced, today, the sale of the renown engine manufacturer to Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe. This sale has so many angles and options, I don't even think they have had the time to look at them all. Let's just ponder up a few possibilities.
It's obvious that Kevin Kalkhoven wants to use Cosworth to help Ford emerge as a leader within the tuner market. In doing this, Cosworth has already started to build tuner kits to prep up Ford Focus' to nearly 200hp...quite a feat. What if Kalkhoven and Co. helps Cosworth enter into the consumer market with a production based sports car at a relatively cheap price. Ford would essentially own the car as part of its premier auto group. Kalkhoven and Co. would then be able to both market that car at Champ Car events and use the revenue generated from the sale of that vehicle and put back into the series like manufacturers did in years past. This would give Champ Car an easily identifiable product that could be tuned and changed to various Champ Car liveries and other marketing ventures.
How about Cosworth's Formula 1 involvement? With Red-Bull and Minardi part of Cosworth's F1 customer line, Kalkhoven could have Cosworth design the next Formula 1 engine at cost x, and sell it to Red-Bull, Minardi and whomever at a cheaper cost than any other engine manufacturer in F1 could. Why? Because Champ Car could essentially adopt a similar engine specification for 2006 and beyond giving Cosworth a template to build 1 engine for 2 series! Production costs go down, revenue goes up.
Now here is the kicker in all of this and Tony George has to be going nuts. Kalkhoven now owns the engines that could field cars in the IRL. Kalkhoven isn't going to stop production of that engine in the IRL, rather, he will use the revenue generated from that program and put it back into Champ Car. Sounds like Toyota back with their Normally Aspirated CART plan...
But it gets better. Chevy leaves the IRL in 2006. Kalkhoven takes those IRL engines that aren't in use, puts them for sale as part of the new Chevrolet Cosworth Atlantic Series formula. Now, this puts the IRL teams that will have Toyota engines in 2006 put their involvement in question. If Champ Car has a ladder series that is the same thing as the IRL, it nullifies the IRL's position in motorsport and it gives teams the option to easily run Indianapolis, which will be desperately needed to get the magic number of 33.
This is what Roger Penske saw 6 months ago. He knew Chevy was leaving. He knows Toyota is going to bolt. He's about to lose Marlboro. He saw unification as his last chance. Now, Champ Car is in the driver's seat. Their future is incredibly secure, as their engine manufacture company will be taking on several new revenue streams that feed back into the series. Wonder why Roger has been so quiet lately?
Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe now hold a key in the future of the IRL, how great is that?
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 9,682
Likes: 88
From: Rancho Relacso, CA, USA
Re: Cosworth Snapped Up by Champ Car Owners (RMR)
I wonder how the current IndyCar chassis will fare on a road course. Previous chassis languish at the back of the BOSS fields, and Takagi's run at Suzuka with an '03-spec Dallara-Toyota didn't look that great (though it may have been just a simple demo parade run).
But I'm sure that even a Reynard-Ford would probably be faster than an '05-spec IndyCar on the same road course.
But I'm sure that even a Reynard-Ford would probably be faster than an '05-spec IndyCar on the same road course.
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Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 1,682
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From: Middleburg Heights, OH
Re: Cosworth Snapped Up by Champ Car Owners (Outrun)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Outrun »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I wonder how the current IndyCar chassis will fare on a road course. Previous chassis languish at the back of the BOSS fields, and Takagi's run at Suzuka with an '03-spec Dallara-Toyota didn't look that great (though it may have been just a simple demo parade run).
But I'm sure that even a Reynard-Ford would probably be faster than an '05-spec IndyCar on the same road course.</TD></TR></TABLE>
My guess is that the current spec IRL car would slot in as slower than a Toyota Atlantic, but faster than a Formula Vee.
But I'm sure that even a Reynard-Ford would probably be faster than an '05-spec IndyCar on the same road course.</TD></TR></TABLE>
My guess is that the current spec IRL car would slot in as slower than a Toyota Atlantic, but faster than a Formula Vee.
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 728
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From: CLT, USA
Re: Cosworth Snapped Up by Champ Car Owners (Sean O'Gorman)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Sean O’Gorman »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
My guess is that the current spec IRL car would slot in as slower than a Toyota Atlantic, but faster than a Formula Vee.
</TD></TR></TABLE>I guess when the IRL cars were doing a test at Mid-Ohio this season, before the annoucements, Paul Tracy said their lap times were slower then Toyota Atlantics.
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 4,035
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From: Greensboro, NC, USA
Re: Cosworth Snapped Up by Champ Car Owners (Racerboy03)
How fast they are is a completely different question than, "How good will the racing be." An ALMS Audi is faster than any of the GA DP cars but can it be reasonably argued that the racing is better in ALMS?
K
PS - Procedural note to RMR: The point of hypertext is that we don't have to put duplicate information on multiple servers. This forum is great because it is NOT just the same stuff from the motorsports media...
K
PS - Procedural note to RMR: The point of hypertext is that we don't have to put duplicate information on multiple servers. This forum is great because it is NOT just the same stuff from the motorsports media...
Thread Starter
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 2,701
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From: Erie, PA
Re: Cosworth Snapped Up by Champ Car Owners (Sean O'Gorman)
The rumor thats going around in the IRL is that Toyota may be the next to leave which could be a good opportunity to for Cart, there have even been talk about Penske leaving the IRL if Toyota leaves and going back to Cart. All speculation but will it make that big of difference with Nascrap trying to go International, which could take away more possible fans from Cart and giving even more covereage to the dominante money making machine that is NASCRAP.
Alot of the Road racing isn't being showed on TV for example a 24 hours race is turned into a 1/2 hour clip of nothing. I think that Road Racing should Form a orgnaization and buy Spike Tv and make it a Road racing TV, only in my dreams though, but atleast they would have a better possibility of making money with corporate spots during commercials. We do have SpeedVision which is ten times better then CBS and Spike TV's coverage, but do you really need to watch a nascar race from 1984, or show more then one road race per week? Do you need to watch 5 minute segment on Speednews about roadracing or another 20 minutes of nascar which then follows Nascar news?
Alot of the Road racing isn't being showed on TV for example a 24 hours race is turned into a 1/2 hour clip of nothing. I think that Road Racing should Form a orgnaization and buy Spike Tv and make it a Road racing TV, only in my dreams though, but atleast they would have a better possibility of making money with corporate spots during commercials. We do have SpeedVision which is ten times better then CBS and Spike TV's coverage, but do you really need to watch a nascar race from 1984, or show more then one road race per week? Do you need to watch 5 minute segment on Speednews about roadracing or another 20 minutes of nascar which then follows Nascar news?
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From: Rancho Relacso, CA, USA
Re: Cosworth Snapped Up by Champ Car Owners (Racerboy03)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Racerboy03 »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I guess when the IRL cars were doing a test at Mid-Ohio this season, before the annoucements, Paul Tracy said their lap times were slower then Toyota Atlantics.
</TD></TR></TABLE>
When I was at Mid-Ohio last August I asked some of the track workers there about it. They said there was a test, but they didn't (or maybe couldn't?) give me any more information about it. (ie lap times, which teams were there testing, when the test happened). Did Champ Car do a Mid-Ohio test this year, even though they didn't race there? Maybe the track workers don't know the difference between the two series?
I guess when the IRL cars were doing a test at Mid-Ohio this season, before the annoucements, Paul Tracy said their lap times were slower then Toyota Atlantics.
</TD></TR></TABLE>
When I was at Mid-Ohio last August I asked some of the track workers there about it. They said there was a test, but they didn't (or maybe couldn't?) give me any more information about it. (ie lap times, which teams were there testing, when the test happened). Did Champ Car do a Mid-Ohio test this year, even though they didn't race there? Maybe the track workers don't know the difference between the two series?
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