Indycar News & Rumors.

[BootsOntheSide]

Glad it'll be available in the UK, but a shame it's on ESPN, I was hoping to end my subscription to them at the end of the football season, so it's another £10 a month to find throughout the summer.

[HJJ]

Great news on 'Dinger!

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Peat

Also of note is that Sky Sports (UK) have said on their facebook page that ESPN have taken the broadcasting rights for 2013.

I can't say I'm really surprised, the viewing figures must have been so low it wasn't worth Sky Sports while.

[Gilles lives!]

As a Virginmedia customer who would not pay the extra to take on Sky Sports, F1 and all......I'm dead chuffed with this news . Roll on those Sunday nights !

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Gilles lives!

As a Virginmedia customer who would not pay the extra to take on Sky Sports, F1 and all......I'm dead chuffed with this news . Roll on those Sunday nights !

I'm not a fan of the Murdoch media empire, when it comes to sport but this is going to narrow the fan base. This may seem a little contradictory to my previous post but I don't necessarily see it as a good thing if IndyCar wants to attract the casual fan.

[Peat]

I don't really see a difference from where it was before, hidden away in the dungeons of SS4. I doubt it attracted alot of casual fans, as a fan i had to hunt it down to find out which channel and what time it would be, i never saw it trailed on the other SS channels.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Peat

I don't really see a difference from where it was before, hidden away in the dungeons of SS4. I doubt it attracted alot of casual fans, as a fan i had to hunt it down to find out which channel and what time it would be, i never saw it trailed on the other SS channels.

At least Sky Sports could be included in your Sky package but now it's gone to ESPN it's going to make it that much harder to watch.

[Paradise City]

ESPN is included in the Sky package - free, I think, whereas you have to fork out for Sky. Although, it's a bit like a jungle trying to untangle all the various packages.

I also wonder if Dario had won this year would've Sky kept it.

[bjohnsonsmith]

I just went on to the Sky website and

'ESPN is available as a stand alone channel for £10 extra a month if you also take Sky Sports Pack otherwise £13 extra a month.'

I cut and pasted that from their site.

Well it's one way of making a few extra £s out of a series that hardly anyone watches, .

[cos]

Do ESPN show some NASCAR and DTM as well? It's only £6/£8 on Virgin (but included in their top package).

[Paradise City]

ESPN in Europe show NASCAR Now and the NHRA but no NASCAR race at any division. Setanta and Motors TV have the races.

They do bump live DTM if they have something bigger on; they'll probably do the same with Indycar although the timezones will probably make it easier for them to show more live Indycar.

[joeb]

It appears Shank has sold their Dallara.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by joeb

It appears Shank has sold their Dallara.

Don't tell me they've bought a Reynard?

[Paradise City]

They are thinking of reverse grids for the double headers for 2014.

If they do it, they'll reverse the grid based on the championship standings not any race result. And if they'll do it, my last bit of interest in this series will whittle away.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

They are thinking of reverse grids for the double headers for 2014.

If they do it, they'll reverse the grid based on the championship standings not any race result. And if they'll do it, my last bit of interest in this series will whittle away.

Couldn't agree more. Why more gimmicks? C'mon Belskus get it together.

[TheMightyM]

From “Miller’s Mailbag” of February 8, 2013. Looks like there will be fewer full season entries this year:

Q: With the 2013 field coming together, it looks like we will have about 2-3 fewer full time entries for 2013. This is a shame, because 2012 seemed like a year in which the series made a lot of forward progress. I know a lot of this problem is sponsor driven, with even teams like Penske and Ganassi taking a step back due to a lack of funding, but do you think that IndyCar brass could do anything to promote more entries?

Tyler from Fontana, CA

P.S. What race this year, outside of the 500, are you most excited for?

RM: No, the days of buying cars and engines (IRL) appears to be over (of course they do fund just about everyone with Leader’s Circle money) and I just hope the non-Leader’s Circle program continues because it helped people like Sarah Fisher in 2012. But 22-23 full-timer cars are fine. Always like Milwaukee and Long Beach but I’m too old to get excited.

[HJJ]

Good read from Kirby

http://www.gordonkirby.com/categorie..._is_no371.html

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by HJJ

Good read from Kirby

http://www.gordonkirby.com/categorie..._is_no371.html

That's an excellent article and I can't help but agree with Jim McGee and he echos many of the comments made here by various forum members, about the failings of IndyCar and what needs to be done. I think his final analysis is spot on when he says,

"The only way to change is to get rid of everything they've got--which they probably can't because of all the commitments and contracts--and just start a new formula. That's the only way, but I don't think they have the leadership or the courage to make a move like that."

In Gordon Kirby's article, The Way It Is/ Pat Patrick's push for natural gas, Pat Patrick, at the end of the article, talks about using stock block engines.

http://www.gordonkirby.com/categorie..._is_no348.html

[IndyDonut]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

That's an excellent article and I can't help but agree with Jim McGee and he echos many of the comments made here by various forum members, about the failings of IndyCar and what needs to be done. I think his final analysis is spot on when he says,

"The only way to change is to get rid of everything they've got--which they probably can't because of all the commitments and contracts--and just start a new formula. That's the only way, but I don't think they have the leadership or the courage to make a move like that."

In Gordon Kirby's article, The Way It Is/ Pat Patrick's push for natural gas, Pat Patrick, at the end of the article, talks about using stock block engines.

http://www.gordonkirby.com/categorie..._is_no348.html

CNG would be interesting (certainly cleaner to run and less mucking up the sparkies). With modern engine cooling they could find the space to fit the CNG tanks needed for the 18-gallon equivalent in the chassis. Actually, they might as well go for HCNG (CNG with about 10% hydrogen for lower NOx emissions) if they're going to go the gas route.

I'd actually love for them to go with carbon-fiber engine blocks by Matti Holtzberg like Delta Wing is doing for some time this year. If Panoz/DeltaWing can afford to work with Holtzberg to develop a race-ready engine, so can Chevy and Honda (especially with curing times for the block doable to 5 minutes). And you can bet Chevy and Honda would get an ROI there with the need for lighter car components to improve mileage in their road cars.

[Canada ALMS fan]

Originally Posted by HJJ

Good read from Kirby

http://www.gordonkirby.com/categorie..._is_no371.html

Great article, thanks. I am going to post it in the ALMS/GA merger thread. Some sage words...

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Canada ALMS fan

Great article, thanks. I am going to post it in the ALMS/GA merger thread. Some sage words...

Excellent idea and I'll e-mail Belskus. It will be interesting to see if he replies; Ropin' Randy replied a couple of times.

[IndyDonut]

Natural gas is supposed to be cleaner on the fuel injection system and combustion chamber and prevents knock, right? I wonder if Chevy and Honda (both of which have CNG options available for some of their vehicles) would be down with going the natural gas route in Indy. They could even do the whole "American CNG-powered" promotion (more popular than ethanol, though that's not saying much).

[Down F0rce]

What does Pat Patrick make his money in, again?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Down F0rce

What does Pat Patrick make his money in, again?

He's been in the oil business far longer than motorsport.

[HJJ]

INDIANAPOLIS (February 13, 2013) The following statement is issued today from IZOD IndyCar Series driver Katherine Legge:

"I am extremely disappointed that Dragon Racing and sponsor TrueCar have announced a replacement IndyCar driver for the No. 6 car.

I received a letter from Dragon Racing, terminating my services on January the 18th. My legal team had asked for details regarding the reasoning for this termination but none have been provided.

I signed a two year deal for 2012/2013 with TrueCar as a sponsor, and then I took that sponsorship to Dragon Racing shortly thereafter. Jay Penske told Scott Painter (TrueCar CEO) that he would bring the Penske Dealerships onboard with TrueCar if I signed with Dragon Racing, so it seemed like it would be a good fit for all. I firmly believe that Dragon Racing and TrueCar cannot proceed without me and I will be taking legal action to protect my rights.

It was a very difficult season last year, we did very little testing and I was made to sit out of some of the races. Jay Penske's actions in Nantucket really hurt my ability to find additional and personal sponsors, and it was highly embarrassing, especially with the message that we were trying to portray regarding the empowerment of women in motorsport.

I was very much looking forward to 2013, using the experience I gained last year as a spring board for greater success.

I am in a very fortunate position to have the FIA (of which I am a Female Driver Ambassador) and Girl Scouts (STEM Ambassador) onboard with my career and I am working feverishly to put something together. However, having this happen so late in the game has made it virtually impossible.

I am not sure where TrueCar and Virgin stand on the 'Women Empowered Initiative' moving forward. I can tell you that I feel like I have been treated very unfairly in all of this and the last thing I feel at the moment is 'Empowered!' Scott Painter told the press on numerous occasions that it was a two-year deal with me and how he believed women could race on an equal footing with the guys.

I have spent most of this off-season trying to help TrueCar mitigate their costs and bring sponsors onboard with their Initiative, having invested a great deal of my own time, effort and money, so this has come as a huge shock.

I am also not sure whether IndyCar will take a stand on my behalf. I believe that the contracts are between the Teams and IndyCar so I am unsure of whether there is anything they can do apart from lend me their support.

I have fought very hard, every step of my career, to get the opportunities that I have created for myself and I will continue to do so. I want to thank everybody for their support during all of this, it has been very tough for me to watch it unfold."

.

And the response....

http://www.autoweek.com/article/2013...YCAR/130219918