What is Aston Martin up to?

[NightStalk3r]

Originally Posted by deggis

I'm not a subscriber but there's this at DSC:

"News Coming Of A Significant Le Mans Programme
For Aston Martin With Gulf Backing"

Iv'e just read the article, very interesting indeed, looks like the P1 programme is not as dead as we feared.

[CTD]

Originally Posted by NightStalk3r

Iv'e just read the article, very interesting indeed, looks like the P1 programme is not as dead as we feared.

Can you say any more!? :O

[NightStalk3r]

Originally Posted by CTD

Can you say any more!? :O

There isn't anything in the article really, its just a heads up for an announcement to come from Prodrive about a multi year partnership with Gulf at Le Mans being made next week.

[CTD]

Originally Posted by NightStalk3r

There isn't anything in the article really, its just a heads up for an announcement to come from Prodrive about a multi year partnership with Gulf at Le Mans being made next week.

Too bad!, i really need to control my hopes for good news .
This announcement could also be about Aston Martin going F1 with prodrive and Gulf!. Just imagine those cars!

[NightStalk3r]

Originally Posted by CTD

Too bad!, i really need to control my hopes for good news .
This announcement could also be about Aston Martin going F1 with prodrive and Gulf!. Just imagine those cars!

The announcement is specifically a Le Mans Program.

[deggis]

Originally Posted by CTD

about Aston Martin going F1 with prodrive and Gulf!. Just imagine those cars!

Like I posted couple of posts ago, many sites including Autosport, are saying Richards is "expected" to be one of the Honda F1 buyer candidates. You'd think major sites such Autosport would have pretty good crap filters.... But at least Aston Martin in F1 sounds a bit far-fetched at this point.

[SebringMG]

Hmmm Aston is not right for F1 - but you got to remember Aston and Prodrive are not the same operation they are independent entities even if DR happens to have stakes in them both!!

However Prodrive buying the Honda F1 operation would be very good sense - thats a lot of assets for not too much outlay......Remember they were going to enter F1 as a customer team running MB equipment before the whole idea of customer cars died.

Prodrive is big enough to run the programmes separately

[betablocker]

Not to sound too silly but wasnt the prodrive effort not helped by the fact it couldnt find the necessary sponsorship and the customer cars situation was the nail in the head, and as far as i can see honda has didly squat in sponsorship, and its a bit hard to come by at the minute.

[SebringMG]

No - the death knell to the prodrive programme was the revised concord agreement and the legal challenge by Williams and SPyker to ban customer cars. That placed the wording in the concord agreement for all entrants to be constructors not entrants.

Prodrive were going to buy complete Mclaren-Mercedes cars to race (hence customer cars) - they had the budget already in place.

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by SebringMG

Hmmm Aston is not right for F1 - but you got to remember Aston and Prodrive are not the same operation they are independent entities even if DR happens to have stakes in them both!!

However Prodrive buying the Honda F1 operation would be very good sense - thats a lot of assets for not too much outlay......Remember they were going to enter F1 as a customer team running MB equipment before the whole idea of customer cars died.

Prodrive is big enough to run the programmes separately

Yes, this does seem to be a problem, people being able to understand that!

Prodrive looking at F-1, at the supposed discount rate, fire sale, of Honda's team, seems quite possible.



L.P.

[deggis]

Daily Mail (!) reporting more about Richards & F1:

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headline...08090731.shtml

[bil588]

Martin Short from Rollcentre Racing said today that Aston-Martin dismisses 600 employees

Is that true?

[Hugewally]

Old news...

[Audi Racer]

Aston Martin should not go to Formula1. there heritage lies in sportscars. There one of the sports manufacters who have multiple sportscars capable of being converted to GT1 and still look good like the saleen, and corvette. Any of mercedes or bmw's current models would not fit into the GT1 class so they went to F1

[WMUCarGuy]

Originally Posted by Audi Racer

Aston Martin should not go to Formula1. there heritage lies in sportscars. There one of the sports manufacters who have multiple sportscars capable of being converted to GT1 and still look good like the saleen, and corvette. Any of mercedes or bmw's current models would not fit into the GT1 class so they went to F1

Prodrive in F1 doesn't necissarily mean Aston Martin goes to F1. Richards could just have it be a Prodrive team. That happening would probably put an end to Prodrive's Aston Martin Racing.

[andy_b]

people forget. Prodrive and Aston Martin are seperate companies who work together, although as WMU says, AMR is effectively Prodrive. Happens that David Richards is boss of both, but just because Prodrive may enter F1, doesnt mean it will have any Aston Martin branding.

[knighty]

there was a post on ten-tenths about a year ago from someone who seemed well informed........... stating that Gordon Murray was working on an LMP1 design for Aston Martin & Prodrive.........it was about the time that Prodrive & Charouz bought the Lola coupes........since that post I have heard nothing else........me thinks its either a well kept secret, or nonsense????......has anyone heard anything to support this one???

[deggis]

Originally Posted by knighty

there was a post on ten-tenths about a year ago from someone who seemed well informed........... stating that Gordon Murray was working on an LMP1 design for Aston Martin & Prodrive.........it was about the time that Prodrive & Charouz bought the Lola coupes........since that post I have heard nothing else........me thinks its either a well kept secret, or nonsense????......has anyone heard anything to support this one???

These from June and July:

http://www.topgear.com/blogs/motorsp...e-mans-gossip/
http://www.topgear.com/content/featu...ries/17/1.html

[Bentley03]

According to Daily Sportscar, a statement made at the BRDC awards today announced that details of a Le Mans programme for Gulf and Aston Martin will be released next week.

I had assumed that any such programme would be in GT1 (if at all), but there appears to be some speculation over at DSC that the programme may see the Gulf liveried cars racing in a different class, possibly challenging for the overall!

[SebringMG]

Which fits in with what the Bear originally reported before it got hurriedly pulled 60th Anniversary so gotta be next year or it loses all significance and the 2011 rules are not really suited to Aston.

[mattcat]

Originally Posted by Bentley03

According to Daily Sportscar, a statement made at the BRDC awards today announced that details of a Le Mans programme for Gulf and Aston Martin will be released next week.

I had assumed that any such programme would be in GT1 (if at all), but there appears to be some speculation over at DSC that the programme may see the Gulf liveried cars racing in a different class, possibly challenging for the overall!

I would love to see Aston with a full on P1 factory effort as much as everyone else here would, but after reading the article, the quote that is inspiring this speculation was taken some time before Le Mans '08. Given the economic climate at this time, and the fact that they reportedly laid off 600 employees recently, I would doubt it to be more than a GT1 program. But I welcome the opportunity to be proven wrong on this one!

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by mattcat

I would love to see Aston with a full on P1 factory effort as much as everyone else here would, but after reading the article, the quote that is inspiring this speculation was taken some time before Le Mans '08. Given the economic climate at this time, and the fact that they reportedly laid off 600 employees recently, I would doubt it to be more than a GT1 program. But I welcome the opportunity to be proven wrong on this one!

Huh??? This comes out of a statement from this past weekend, from the BRDC Awards!




L.P.

[NightStalk3r]

Originally Posted by mattcat

I would love to see Aston with a full on P1 factory effort as much as everyone else here would, but after reading the article, the quote that is inspiring this speculation was taken some time before Le Mans '08. Given the economic climate at this time, and the fact that they reportedly laid off 600 employees recently, I would doubt it to be more than a GT1 program. But I welcome the opportunity to be proven wrong on this one!

It's a "new" program that will go on past 2009, GT1 will be dead by the end of 2009 so i cant see it being a GT1 program.

[mattcat]

Originally Posted by HORNDAWG

Huh??? This comes out of a statement from this past weekend, from the BRDC Awards!

I am referring to the quote regarding aspirations beyond GT1:

"It will be with the GT1 car at Le Mans this year (2008) it would not be too hard to imagine that we will be working with Aston Martin not just this year, but in 2009 and beyond, in whatever they race in the future - whether that is a GT car, or something that might fight closer to the front of the race."

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by mattcat

I am referring to the quote regarding aspirations beyond GT1:

Oh, sorry, I did not intuit that out of the quoting of Bentley03's post that you used as reference, for your post.




L.P.