2010 Silly Season

[Juarez Jed]

[QUOTE=DanicaFan;2604537]There is news coming out of Indy now that Ana Beatriz will be racing in the IndyCar Series race in Brazil next March. The report I heard didnt state specifics as to what team but said she will be racing in the IndyCar race. Pretty cool.

I think Ana will be the favourite for this event in March Danicafan as I don't think anyone else will be competing. By this stage events such as the Surfers race would have been about to start putting up the first of the concrete barriers and yet this event in Sao Paolo requires major drainage work to be completed before the track surface is laid. Quite a few schedules have this event listed now as a generic "Brazil" event rather than "Sao Paolo Street Circuit" so with 10 weeks to go, and Interlagos not possible, where else could this race be staged at such short notice ? Considering the importance of the Apex-Brasil support to this series, perhaps a rescheduling to later in the season is more likely rather than a cancellation.

[JagtechOhio]

Howdy Jed,Curitiba, two hours south in the high ground. Check out the WTCC videos on Youtube, a phonecall to Alex Zanardi is all it would take for ICS to get confirmation if it was worth looking at.They got the heads-up in October, but I have never seen or heard anything since. Maybe it's a dump, but it was approved for A1GP and used by SA F3 this year. Nice garages, too.

[gomick]

Originally Posted by Juarez Jed

By this stage events such as the Surfers race would have been about to start putting up the first of the concrete barriers and yet this event in Sao Paolo requires major drainage work to be completed before the track surface is laid.

There is no way Surfers would be doing this 3 months out from the race - try 3 weeks

[Juarez Jed]

Originally Posted by gomick

There is no way Surfers would be doing this 3 months out from the race - try 3 weeks

I know they wouldn't be disrupting traffic that far out gomick, but I always thought that the setup and pulldown of the stands in the parklands and the building of pedestrian bridges and setting up all the signage took longer than that. It certainly did back in the early days of the event, there were still concrete barriers on the beachside backstraight long after the circus had left town. Surfers would certainly have been promoting the event and selling tickets 10 weeks out. Maybe Jagtech is right about Curitiba.

[Jacques Rabbit]

Giorgio Pantano appears to have a second Panther seat all locked up. I imagine he will be a factor on the roadies.

[skells22]

link to that please

[Jacques Rabbit]

http://tinyurl.com/yblv8jv

[Fogelhund]

There will be another (new) team/driver announcement, all good news coming in the next little while. I'm not sure of the time table and apologize I can't say more, but it is a young driver, who was a winner in the ladder system.

[JagtechOhio]

If that's a fact, I'd guess (and hope) it will be Simona de Silvestro.

[skells22]

i can confirmed that Ryan Hunter-Reay is with Andretti Autosport but needs to find cash to sort out the IRL season

[awrb]

Originally Posted by skells22

i can confirmed that Ryan Hunter-Reay is with Andretti Autosport but needs to find cash to sort out the IRL season

Surely thats not confirmed if he needs money, surely thats just talking, and that's hardly breaking news anyway. Hope he can find some cash though.

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally Posted by awrb

Surely thats not confirmed if he needs money, surely thats just talking, and that's hardly breaking news anyway. Hope he can find some cash though.

Andretti Autosport issued a news release yesterday stating that they have signed RHR and IZOD for Indy, plus other races TBA before and after Indy, and are "confident" that they will secure the additional $$$ with the intent to run the full season with RHR behind the wheel in their 4th car.

That much of it is confirmed...It was announced yesterday

[marcostraz]

Originally Posted by Jacques Rabbit

Giorgio Pantano appears to have a second Panther seat all locked up. I imagine he will be a factor on the roadies.

Periodically, every six months, there is a new interview with Giorgio Pantano, which he claims to be close to sign an agreement to run in Indycar with Panther...in this summer he talk in the italian television about the same, and few months ago he spoke the same in a newspaper..I'm italian, I hope that is true, but I remain skeptical...but I think that is only a speculation of him and his entourage...for example, it'd be strange to see a second Panther car, when they didn't run a second car even inthe golden years...I never read about their intentions to field a second car next year...Pantano doesn't have any sponsors with him, this is his problem...he's not able to find sponsorship which guaranteed him a place in a good series in recent years...in Indycar there's already a good group of valid and highly regarded drivers without a ride (I think about Servia, Hildebrand, Junqueira, Scheckter, Tracy, Bell, even Bourdais)...why should Panther sign a stranger driver without sponsorship?

[JagtechOhio]

http://blogs.indystar.com/racingexpe...er_and_po.html

Like most of us, I only know what I read...but I don't believe most of it.

Panther sells out of their IndyLights program as soon as the 2009 season ends, without waiting for a ride buyer to appear. That sounds to me like a move to turn assets into cash.

Concentrating resources on the IndyCar program, right? As in keeping the one-car effort solvent, and re-signing Wheldon. So I buy all of that.

As for a second car, I'd guess they are in the same boat as the 50 other guys who want to run even one...if the $5M walks in the door, we're going racing.

I haven't read yet where D&R has one solid deal for any of their seats, never mind all the prospective entrants and wannabe IndyCar drivers.

22 on the grid at Brazil (maximum) is my guess. Right on the edge of a full field for the 500, unless magic beans start to take root.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by JagtechOhio

http://blogs.indystar.com/racingexpe...er_and_po.html

22 on the grid at Brazil (maximum) is my guess. Right on the edge of a full field for the 500, unless magic beans start to take root.

Brazil? That still isn't on the FIA international calendar and they've got two months to go. They better get cracking.

[JagtechOhio]

Dude from Brazil posted a track map just released today. He's the same guy who had written that portions of the site were flooded.

So who knows?

[gomick]

What did Pantano do in 2009? What was his prize for winning GP2 in 2008?

[marcostraz]

Originally Posted by gomick

What did Pantano do in 2009? What was his prize for winning GP2 in 2008?

He raced in Superleague Formula and some races in the Megane Trophy...

[Jimmy Magnusson]

Originally Posted by JagtechOhio

http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/sports/aut...-shutting-down

This is why I laugh when I read the useless speculation and rumors. There are 50 guys who want to field cars, and maybe 20 will start at Brazil.

Conquest's big announcement today was that they have hired a marketing firm to help them find sponsorship. I can't find a website for either one of them to contact. One of my plans is well suited for Nelson Phillipe: no doubt it would also be ignored, the experts have everything under control.

Blink

While laughing may be appropriate at many times, it was hardly so with de Ferran. Believing they'd get a car or two on the grid was perfectly sensible, given his very strong links to Honda. I thought for sure they'd have at least Sato for this year. Remember, Honda was the main driving force in setting up de Ferran's team in the first place, and provided pretty much all the funding (through related sponsors such as Panasonic and through factory backing). Considering how loyal Honda often has been, it was a surprise to many when they cut de Ferran's support entirely. With no external funds, there's not much he can do at this point. I too tire of forum speculation, but I also recognize when things are actually somewhat likely to happen.

About RHR, now that's a good signing. I may rate him higher than others, but if he runs the full season he may well be the best Andretti driver.

[Yannick]

Ryan Hunter-Reay is a proven race winner - and one of the rare winners that have beaten the "Big 3" teams. He'll surely bring back Team Andretti back to winning after a winless season. He really deserves to drive in all the season's events.

It will be interesting to see how Giorgio Pantano performs. He's new to the ovals, but if he gets an experienced team mate like Tomas Scheckter to introduce him to this type of track, he should do well.

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Magnusson

While laughing may be appropriate at many times, it was hardly so with de Ferran. Believing they'd get a car or two on the grid was perfectly sensible, given his very strong links to Honda. I thought for sure they'd have at least Sato for this year. Remember, Honda was the main driving force in setting up de Ferran's team in the first place, and provided pretty much all the funding (through related sponsors such as Panasonic and through factory backing). Considering how loyal Honda often has been, it was a surprise to many when they cut de Ferran's support entirely. With no external funds, there's not much he can do at this point. I too tire of forum speculation, but I also recognize when things are actually somewhat likely to happen.

About RHR, now that's a good signing. I may rate him higher than others, but if he runs the full season he may well be the best Andretti driver.

Honda/Acura has basically withdrawn from ACO-style sportscar racing and the ALMS, because they wanted to race against Audi, Porsche, etc., and they are no longer participating in the ALMS...Porsche basically dropped its LMP2 program and Audi cut back to Sebring, Le Mans and Petit Le Mans last year.

Beating small privateers like Intersport and Autocon proves nothing and does nothing to enhance Honda's image, thus there is no reason for them to go endurance racing anymore.

They are, however, leasing the engines to teams that want to race with them, but the factory support has gone bye-bye.

Unfortunately, Gil was a victim of that exodus.

[Jimmy Magnusson]

Originally Posted by Tim Northcutt

Honda/Acura has basically withdrawn from ACO-style sportscar racing and the ALMS, because they wanted to race against Audi, Porsche, etc., and they are no longer participating in the ALMS...Porsche basically dropped its LMP2 program and Audi cut back to Sebring, Le Mans and Petit Le Mans last year.

Beating small privateers like Intersport and Autocon proves nothing and does nothing to enhance Honda's image, thus there is no reason for them to go endurance racing anymore.

They are, however, leasing the engines to teams that want to race with them, but the factory support has gone bye-bye.

Unfortunately, Gil was a victim of that exodus.

They still support Highcroft for next year though, running a development car. Still, it's not really what they originally had in mind. What I'm saying is there was good reason, considering Gil's involvement and contacts, that the deal would happen. It didn't, but it wasn't the hot air you see from some teams in the off season.

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Magnusson

They still support Highcroft for next year though, running a development car. Still, it's not really what they originally had in mind. What I'm saying is there was good reason, considering Gil's involvement and contacts, that the deal would happen. It didn't, but it wasn't the hot air you see from some teams in the off season.

It is my understanding that Highcroft owns the chassis, that Wirth will service them with spare parts & bodywork if needed, and that Highcroft will lease the engine from HPD.

Hardly sounds like "support" to me...sounds more like a business deal by a privateer.

If my statement is incorect, please provide a link to where it is refuted and I'll retract it, but that is what i have heard, and I have lots of contacts within the sportscar world.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Magnusson

While laughing may be appropriate at many times, it was hardly so with de Ferran. Believing they'd get a car or two on the grid was perfectly sensible, given his very strong links to Honda. I thought for sure they'd have at least Sato for this year. Remember, Honda was the main driving force in setting up de Ferran's team in the first place, and provided pretty much all the funding (through related sponsors such as Panasonic and through factory backing). Considering how loyal Honda often has been, it was a surprise to many when they cut de Ferran's support entirely. With no external funds, there's not much he can do at this point. I too tire of forum speculation, but I also recognize when things are actually somewhat likely to happen.

I think it's fair to say Honda has paid De Ferran plenty of paychecks via one form or another over the years.

However if Honda spends a couple of million on De Ferrans team what return do they get from it? They have to sell a lot of cars to make that couple of million and I doubt few of the general public could care that honda is in bigger letters on De Ferrans car. There is really no return on their investment.

[Jimmy Magnusson]

Originally Posted by Tim Northcutt

It is my understanding that Highcroft owns the chassis, that Wirth will service them with spare parts & bodywork if needed, and that Highcroft will lease the engine from HPD.

Hardly sounds like "support" to me...sounds more like a business deal by a privateer.

If my statement is incorect, please provide a link to where it is refuted and I'll retract it, but that is what i have heard, and I have lots of contacts within the sportscar world.

I only know what people at Radio Le Mans and Daily Sportscar have said, and they usually know their stuff. I don't claim it to be absolute knowledge, but it's the overall imperssion I've gotten. Well, we'll find out soon enough anyway.