Epsilon Euskadi start wind tunnel work on 2011 car

[duke_toaster]

http://formula-one.speedtv.com/artic...rmula-one-car/

Well, it's starting to look like they're the team that are going to get franchise number thirteen, then. It's not as if Durango (even with added JVness) or Stefanovic are easy to take seriously.

[p-matt]

If it isn't Epilson Euskadi there won't be a 13th team in F1 next year I reckon. Durango and Stefan remain extremely dodgy options.

Excellent news that Guerrieri would be considered for a race seat at EE.

[Jamesy-18]

So, when exactly, is the official announcement? It's getting a bit late in the day, isn't it? Good job on EE to get started already. I'm sure by this time last year we'd had the news about the three new teams.

[duke_toaster]

Very soon I think, I heard during this four week break.

[Sodemo]

They will need another team to replace HRT.

[duke_toaster]

That is a factor though, one option would be just to select Epsilon Euskadi and to bring in another for 2012 or 2013 if there is a space.

[I Rosputnik]

Originally Posted by p-matt

If it isn't Epilson Euskadi there won't be a 13th team in F1 next year I reckon. Durango and Stefan remain extremely dodgy options.

Excellent news that Guerrieri would be considered for a race seat at EE.

Depends if Berine likes them. I hope they do get in, but I think a team-up with HRT could allow for a stronger spanish presence. (And save them going through this entry process. Basically I'm saying they should buy their way in.)

[BootsOntheSide]

They're serious, they're working hard, they look superior to Hispania in every way, I hope they get the chance. Could the Basque connection be a problem for them politically getting through the door?

[duke_toaster]

Probably not, if it's the WMSC making the decision the WMSC only has one Spanish member. The other bids aren't serious. Besides, they aren't as explicitly Basque as the Euskaltel cycling team (if Euskaltel sponsor the F1 effort, we'd get a nice and orange car - that would be great).

[p-matt]

Originally Posted by I Rosputnik

Depends if Berine likes them. I hope they do get in, but I think a team-up with HRT could allow for a stronger spanish presence. (And save them going through this entry process. Basically I'm saying they should buy their way in.)

You make a good point about Bernie. I wonder will it be an issue that EE applied last year and didn't get in, especially considering that USF1 and Campos originally made the cut. Were they one of the teams that didn't get an entry because they chose not to run a Cosworth engine?

[duke_toaster]

Possibly, but it's not as if they have any real choice this time round. It's EE or no-one for the thirteenth (or it might even be 12th) franchise.

[jab]

I'd take the no one option

We don't need a 13th team, especially if that 13th team is going to struggle and just leech money from Bernie, because that'll just annoy Bernie and the other teams. And EE, for all their grand facilities and big name tech guys, have struggled for money for a while now. They've not hit the heights of 2005 in the World Series by Renault, and their sportscar programme was a total disaster

I'd give it to Stefan GP. Just for a laugh

[Belatti]

I think that its a wise and prudent step to go to a bigger series than WS by Renault before F1. They should be doing GP2 or LeMans (and have some results) to have F1 aspirations.

To get to F1 you need a lot of support, not only a bunch of "promised" dollars that will go away at the slightest difficulty. With less than a 5 year plan I wont consider a candidate as serious.

The last "new" F1 teams that endured a while were Toyota and Stewart (with huge Ford backing) that then turned to Jaguar/RBR. All the other teams are mutations of past teams and there are only 3 "old" teams. This actually shows how difficult it is. F1 is not an easy task and you only have 1 chance, a wrong shot and you´d never want to try again.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Just as well I keep abreast of what's going on in F1, otherwise I would have thought Epsilon Euskadi was the new Star Trek series, designed to resurrect the franchise.

[Malfunction Junction]

*cough* merge with/takeover HRT *cough*

[pannenmann]

Yeah, the EE/HRT team should then hire Alonso and Alguersuari to form an all-Spanish team. Non-stop complaining by Alonso over radio ensured.

Villeneuve complained about the wind tunnel tests already. Does Durango even have a wind tunnel yet?

[duke_toaster]

No, because Durango don't make their own cars. They'd have to get someone else to make them for them.

[chillibowl]

what exactly are the wind tunnel restrictions now?

EE must surely be benefiting from getting as much scale model testing in as possible before their entry becomes official since then they would have to adhere to the current testing restriction.
im also glad they are not relying only on CFD modeling.

although im still not convinced they can compete with anything that has some "added JVness" in the mix....im totally guessing here but does JVness = awesomeness?

[duke_toaster]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

what exactly are the wind tunnel restrictions now?

The sporting regs say unlimited up to 60%, but you can run 100% if you sacrifice straightline testing days. Speed is limited to 50 metres per second in any case. The RRA may be more restrictive.

[bella]

Originally Posted by pannenmann

Does Durango even have a wind tunnel yet?

they've got a desk fan and an empty bog roll tube?

[duke_toaster]

Originally Posted by bella

they've got a desk fan and an empty bog roll tube?

Seriously, there is only one realistic option for this franchise round, unless there are bidders we don't know about, or Durango are already in a tieup with a very good chassis manufacturer (although we knew what happened when we were about to get the leading single seater constructor in the world with a pretty good GP2 team).