MissBehavin'

Did we learn anything?

As I totally agree that to go with Patrick or Speed or even Andretti is asking for a media circus, unless they go that route they'll be shuffled to the back like that other customer car team Spyker was!!
I hope it's Renault, or BMW with McDowell in cockpit. I know Andretti tested twice with Honda, but what ever became of that? Are they just looking to one up Toyota's entrance into Nascar?

Just frustrated we couldn't learn more!

A.Wayne

It would be easier to find Madoff hidden billions, than it would be to start an US F1 team

There is not enuff of an F1 culture here (USA) to make it worth while ...

The revival of Indy/Cart and focusing on getting that series back to what it used to be would be much better for all involved , than this F1 venture .

Soeedvision was Dah Channel and while Speed is more Nascar and crap, Speed is far more commercially successful than Speedvision ever was and there would be no Speed and it's min. F1 and sportscar coverage if not for NASCAR...

So enjoy , unless you want to go back to ESPN 1/2/3/4/ , where we had to wait for some Bowling league crap to get finished before we could see an edited F1 race..

jcb-memphis

I hope they have success and think these guys have the right approach to the situation for success.


JB

ltc

Perhaps Max and Bernie are quietly lobbying in the background to make sure they are successful/survive.

Chads996

I have spread my feelers out to my Motorsports contacts to try and find out more info. There are some interesting happenings going on around this part of the country.

1. Bob Varsha is tied to this...
2. Bob Varsha is a primary stakeholder in the new track Atlanta Motorsports Park (testing facility?) http://www.atlantamotorsportspark.net/
3. Roush Racing / Technical and a couple other shops are relocating to Charlotte, NC
4. There is some talk (rumors) about a Ford partnership regarding engines (see Roush Racing)

More to come as I dig into more...

C.

Ray S

I disagree. The USGP at Indy was well attended the years that it was here and I think some fans are getting fed up with NASCAR. ALMS has never been more popular. I think the US is prime for an F1 tem

That along with the fact that this could spark some US vs. the world type excitement in racing could make this a success.

Personally, I really hope it takes.

smlporsche

Chad-
The motors would have to come from a current engine supplier as per the regs, either Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault or Toyota (did I leave any out?)
The other principle owns the best wind tunnel in the world (located in Charlotte) and that would definitely give them a leg up as they would not be bound by the rules until the actually entered the race so the design should be state of the art.
There are a lot of talented engineers in the greater Charlotte area and some of them are out of work...

Windsor did mention several up and comming names (most of whom I';ve not heard of) I think the mention of Andretti et. al was just to get some buzz going, nothing more.

Chads996

True...per current rules. God only knows where that is going for the 2010 season. I am curious with things changing rapidly how this is going to turn out. A good friend of mine is a former NASCAR team owner who is friends with some folks at Hendrick Motorsports. He is snooping...

I'll post more of what I find out. If anyone will know/find out...he will.

C.

multi21

I think we all hope it take, but realistically, it would be VERY expensive as they want to start from scratch vs. buying an existing, read Honda, team.

The crowds at Indy got smaller and smaller each year and the whole Michelin debacle left a bad taste in everyone's mouth.

Fans maybe starting to be fed up with Nascar, but they don't understand F1 or really care to.

US vs. the rest of the world works in the Olympics, but an F1 team is pretty much a United Nations of individuals. From the drivers to the mechanics to the team principles. For instance, team principle Windsor is a Brit, if you carefully read their statement, they're looking for a European location to supplement their Charlotte base, their engine supplier will be foreign, their tire supplier has to be foreign, realistically, their F1 engineers and mechanics have to be from Europe (probably England) because there is no one here that can jump right in and finally their drivers, if this ever gets started, will bring $$ from a foreign company like a Petrobras and want their own drivers, who would probably be foreign.

multi21

you left out BMW which has a major factory for road cars down the road in South Carolina.

smlporsche

Good point! And unlike Ferrari they don't have a "junior team"

Ray S

All true, but still in spite of your points above the nationalistic nature of F1 persists. The Italian's love Ferrari, the German's like BMW, the Japanese love Honda and Toyota, the French Renault, etc. I'm not saying that there are a not ton of say Ferrari fans worldwide, but the team nationality still shines through and the Italian "Tifosi" love Ferrari even if the driver is from Finland or Germany and the parts come from all over the world.

There is a reason that the name of this team is "USF1". Most Americans are very patriotic, and I think the organizers are wisely trying to capitalize on that very fact.

A.Wayne

Ray , there is no F1 racing culture here , travel outside of the US or North America for an F1 race and you will understand my statement .

It would take 3 yrs of F1 to have the same crowds as the Indy 500 , get US open wheel racing back on track as it was before and F1 @ indy would be nothing but a footnote.

PS: We saw how Patriotic Americans were in their Support of Scott Speed

boss351

Is Ken Anderson serious?

A.Wayne

This is true my friend .........................................