2011 IndyCar silly season

[Andy Roberts]

Not driver related but, no Edmonton race next year - http://www.indystar.com/article/2010...Ctext%7CSports

Bummer...

[JagtechOhio]

Well, this is why I hate silly season threads and should remember to stay out of them. The bisquit who reported Hildebrand testing for Panther was a liar. My apology for repeating it here.

Panther tweeted that they haven't tested anybody.

[Jacques Rabbit]

Originally Posted by JagtechOhio

Well, this is why I hate silly season threads and should remember to stay out of them. The bisquit who reported Hildebrand testing for Panther was a liar. My apology for repeating it here.

Panther tweeted that they haven't tested anybody.

That's a shame. Hildebrand's the only one of the "OMG WE MUST HAS THIS DRIVAR" drivers that I actually like. Great guy with a lot of potential. As Todd Harris would say, I'm definitely possibly biased, for sure, maybe, but I think Hildebrand's a better long-term hire than Rahal. Both are talented; Hildebrand has the better attitude.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by Andy Roberts

Not driver related but, no Edmonton race next year - http://www.indystar.com/article/2010...Ctext%7CSports

Bummer...

And Baltimore is on the bubble as well. My hunch is there are some other bumps coming too.

[marcostraz]

INDYCAR: KV Closing In On New Lotus Deal

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/artic...ew-lotus-deal/

I like Viso and Moraes, but I hope that Lotus/KV Racing will have at least one more competitive driver...

[Canada ALMS fan]

^ The best news to come out of that is they are working on a program for Tracy.

[marcostraz]

Originally Posted by Canada ALMS fan

^ The best news to come out of that is they are working on a program for Tracy.

I hope in a driver better than Tracy for Lotus/KV Racing...I think that Tracy would be the ideal driver for SH Racing/KV Racing...

[icemachine]

Edmonton City Council has told staff to restart negotiations with Octane Management.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sport...730/story.html

[Canada ALMS fan]

Thanks for the link. I hope they save it. I will go in 2012 if they do to see the new cars now that it sounds like there will be some variety. It is the closest big league race to me by a long shot.

[JagtechOhio]

Justin Wilson tells Autosport that he is staying at D&R for 2011:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88151

[Andy Roberts]

Originally Posted by JagtechOhio

Justin Wilson tells Autosport that he is staying at D&R for 2011:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88151

Yey, good news for Justin to get the deal done so early. Good for him!

[marcostraz]

Originally Posted by Andy Roberts

Yey, good news for Justin to get the deal done so early. Good for him!

...and above all good for DRR...

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by marcostraz

INDYCAR: KV Closing In On New Lotus Deal

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/artic...ew-lotus-deal/

I like Viso and Moraes, but I hope that Lotus/KV Racing will have at least one more competitive driver...

Not only does KK make mention that there isn't really much cash changing hands, but that basically he is a pure rent-a-ride-be-a-race-car-driver-today! team and only wants pay drivers.

I think teams following this business model might work for amateur motorsports but for pro sports that rely on fans, this only promotes boredom and disinterest from regular people out there. You'll end up with 2 guys and a dog watching when it's all done with.

[JagtechOhio]

It certainly makes the folks who think a Lotus/Cosworth engine is imminent look a little too optimistic.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by JagtechOhio

It certainly makes the folks who think a Lotus/Cosworth engine is imminent look a little too optimistic.

Dany Bahar reminds me of al pacino in scarface at the end. "The World is Mine". His big spending on taking over the world of high end marques is either going to work, which in my opinion he is taking on way too much, or fail, possibly sucking lotus down the tubes with it. He wants to produce 5 new cars and at the same time spend money on racing, with F1 being the biggest money gobbler? Lotus is not a big manufacturer and really over the recent decades only makes money mostly on it's engineering projects.

Right now at the moment judging on the number of actual cars sold in the USA, there is no way you could make any viable case for spending millions of dollars on anything, much less on an open wheel program with no relevance to your road cars.

I'm befuddled at KK's desire to run with mediocrity. There have always been pay drivers and always will be, but any series that runs with that business model almost exclusively ends up or already is in the amateur category. Should not be surprised though considering how Champcar turned out and he never really grasped that you need to pay for good talent, otherwise getting main stream acceptance is going to be a hard thing to do.

[JagtechOhio]

There now, see that? You know more about both the Lotus and KK details, but every point you just made looks perfectly accurate to me.

[Yannick]

It's surprising to find out that KV Racing want to continue with the same driver lineup. I remember one really good drive each from Viso and Moraes, but not more. Sato was quick, too, but hit too many things. Yes, he filled the house at Motegi but Mutoh with all of his experience has outdriven him over the course of the season. After a season with what is probably the hugest repair bill in IndyCar history, a complete reshuffle of the driver lineup would have been likely. Sadly, KV don't want to alienate its sponsors by replacing their drivers.
Why don't they just hire TK to drive the 2nd Lotus?

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by Yannick

It's surprising to find out that KV Racing want to continue with the same driver lineup. I remember one really good drive each from Viso and Moraes, but not more. Sato was quick, too, but hit too many things. Yes, he filled the house at Motegi but Mutoh with all of his experience has outdriven him over the course of the season. After a season with what is probably the hugest repair bill in IndyCar history, a complete reshuffle of the driver lineup would have been likely. Sadly, KV don't want to alienate its sponsors by replacing their drivers.
Why don't they just hire TK to drive the 2nd Lotus?

If you listen to KK it's all about who brings the check. Moraes is a very wealthy kid from brazil and viso has the backing of a thug's nationalized oil company. As long as those big checks keep getting deposited those guys can do barrel rolls or crash and smash all they want.

As one guy said to me "invoices, invoices, invoices". And what he means is that when you crash you get the bill(at a markup of course), so they really don't care how much you crash.

What KV sponsors? Almost all the funding comes from the drivers.

[marcostraz]

I was thinking about the situation on DRR...with the confirmation of Wilson and rumors about discussions with Beatriz and/or Tracy, what about the future of Conway?

[Alwaysfirst]

D&R have already stated numerous times that they are most interested in seeing Conway return. Beatriz will likely run again as she did this year & Vasser has said that Tracy will most likely run full time at KV.

I see it looking something like this next year, at least at Indy...

Penske [3] Power, Castroneves, Briscoe
Ganassi [2] Franchitti, Dixon
Mike Hull [rumoured to have been created for Rahal:1, possibly 2 at Indy] Rahal, Howard?
Andretti [4] Hunter-Reay, Patrick, Andretti, Kimball or Plowman or ?
Lotus/KV [4] Sato, Viso, Moraes, Tracy
Dreyer & Reinbold [2, 3 at some races] Wilson, Conway, Beatriz
Newman/Haas [2] Mutoh, Wheldon or Kanaan or Doornbos or Scheckter or ?
Panther [2, possibly 3 at Indy] Hildebrand and/or Wheldon and/or Carpenter
FAZZT [1, maybe 2 at Indy] Tagliani, Hinchcliffe or Junqueira or ?
Coyne [2] Lloyd, Duno or ?
De Ferran Dragon [2, 3 at some races] Matos and/or Kanaan, Hamilton
Foyt [1, possibly 2 at Indy] Meira, J. Lazier or Scheckter or Kite or Foyt IV or Simmons or ?
Fisher [1, 2 at Indy] Fisher, Vernay
HVM [1, possibly 2] di Silvestro, Strauss or Saavedra or ?
AFS [1] Carroll
Conquest [2] Baguette or Scheckter or Yasukawa or Tung or Saavedra or Romancini or ?
Walker [possibly 1 or 2] Clarke and/or Summerton or ?
Red Bull [rumoured 1 or 2 or possibly associating with another team] ? And/or ?
Highcroft [1 possibly part-time] Pagenaud
Team Redline Xtreme [1 at Indy] Servia or ?
Rahal/Letterman [1, probably Indy only] Servia or Scheckter or ?
Schmidt [1 or 2 at Indy] Bell and/or Howard or Mann or ?
Petty [possibly 1 at selected races] Andretti or Kite or ?
Robby Gordon [possibly 1 at Indy] Gordon
Herta [possibly 1 at Indy & 1 or 2 others] Scheckter or Servia or ?
Newman/Wachs [Extreme outside chance of 1, maybe at Indy] Edwards

Many of those are still rumours, although I wouldn't be surprised to see around 50 at Indy with teams putting cars out there for anybody who has the cash.

A good final season with the current Dallaras would be great after such a positive winter, especially with Lotus-Cosworth likely to be announced as the 3rd engine supplier for 2012 later today...Alfa Romeo, Ford, Toyota etc still possible for 2013 as well...Bring it on!!!

[marcostraz]

I read that Panther maybe could run tow different drivers, one for ovals one for road/street races...I think that Vernay could be a good choice for road/street races...

[JagtechOhio]

Apologies if this was carved in stone someplace before, but Penske was on Trackside tonight and confirmed that Briscoe will be in the third car for 2011.

[marcostraz]

INDYCAR: Tung Finishes First Test With FAZZT:
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/artic...st-with-fazzt/

[marcostraz]

Sarah Fisher Racing to announce 2011 plans at news conference Nov. 29...

[Yannick]

Originally Posted by marcostraz

Sarah Fisher Racing to announce 2011 plans at news conference Nov. 29...

Sarah Fisher is very much a fan favourite. Here's hoping she'll run at least a limited oval schedule as a driver. Her performance at Chicagoland (I think it was) this year was awesome.