2318 replies to this topic

[Nustang70]

Penske Jr hasn't had the best funding over the years, and when it was de Ferran Dragon they basically disappeared. So...

Does anyone know if there is a specific reason that Jay started his own team rather than work within the family business?

[LikeABoss]

Esteban Guerrieri looks a dead cert for the 3rd KV seat. I hope it comes off, he was the moral winner of the 2010 Formula Renault 3.5 championship, missing several races and loosing the championship on a disqualification from a race win for having tape on his car. He certainl should be a Rookie of the year contender.

[ezequiel]

Esteban Guerrieri looks a dead cert for the 3rd KV seat. I hope it comes off, he was the moral winner of the 2010 Formula Renault 3.5 championship, missing several races and loosing the championship on a disqualification from a race win for having tape on his car. He certainl should be a Rookie of the year contender.

The main issue is still the money, but KV surely is interested in him. He was supposed to be at Sebring today with the team as part of KV's first test with the new car, although not driving it. He said in an interview the team will make all the measurements to fit him in the car, but he would test it only at late January and only if he signs the contract.

[InSearchOfThe]

Does anyone know if there is a specific reason that Jay started his own team rather than work within the family business?

He did it all for the nookie.
Seriously. I'd say to show daddy that it was HIS team. And he has way too much money.
Jay is some big publisher in California. I think.

[piercey]

Jay is some big publisher in California. I think.

Oh yeah Jay has his own money alright. He started and still runs PMC.

http://www.pmc.com/

Not to mention Stephen Luczo is still believed to have a small part in Dragon. Luczo is the CEO of Seagate.

[V8 Fireworks]

Those early IRL cars weren't as ugly as Champcar fans would like to imply.

It's far from sleek, but it doesn't look terrible from this angle even with the airbox - http://www.andesign......1997 Web.jpeg . I wonder they didn't make their new car look more like that.

[DanardiF1]

Pics from Sebring

Some the cars look really cool with the right liveries... really like the #12 Will Power Penske, and the Target car looks good as always..

Anyone know why Helio's running in the Chevy test livery? Has he got sponsors for his car lined up or is Penske still taking the hit for it?

[Peat]

Great to see them in action, but that rear wing is comical.

[Peat]

Anyone know why Helio's running in the Chevy test livery? Has he got sponsors for his car lined up or is Penske still taking the hit for it?

The teams only have 1 chassis each at the mo.

Penske are obviously in bed with Chevy and are stealing a march.

[Peat]

Adjusted Rear wing (excuse the wonkiness)


Also, it should be mandated that the protruding front floor and the rear fenders are painted black so as to hide them.

Then were onto a winner! sort of....

Edited by Peat, 17 January 2012 - 07:57.

[Peat]

Don't sound too bad!

[Heat]

Don't sound too bad!

Not at all, the Lotus especially IMO.

Here's a video of Kanaan pulling out of the pits: http://yfrog.com/na52836409z

This cars are slowly starting to grow on me

Edited by Heat, 17 January 2012 - 15:40.

[tkulla]

Not at all, the Lotus especially IMO.

Here's a video of Kanaan pulling out of the pits: http://yfrog.com/na52836409z

This cars are slowly starting to grow on me

I didn't like the looks of the old car, but this one hasn't grown on me yet. It still looks bulky and heavy to my eyes.

[DanardiF1]

Servia confirmed at DRR by nate ryan on twitter. Good to see Oriol keeping a drive, he's been a points machine in recent years.

[Heat]

I didn't like the looks of the old car, but this one hasn't grown on me yet. It still looks bulky and heavy to my eyes.

Yeah it's definitely not ideal. I'm still not a fan of the airbox, hoping it will disappear in the coming seasons.

I wonder much aero kits will factor into the looks if they ever come to play in the future. They've been postponed until 2013 but what is there to stop any further delays? That's what worries me. Maybe the IndyCar panel will decide that it's better off to run the default Dallara kits for whatever reason.

[V8 Fireworks]

This cars are slowly starting to grow on me

The Power car looks quite good.

With normal sidepods it would be a decent looking car, maybe it will be revised in future seasons...

Edited by V8 Fireworks, 17 January 2012 - 23:53.

[wewantourdarbyback]

It is starting to grow on me with the shots of it in action.

[Rob]

I wonder if Rubens Barrichello will start dipping his toe in the Indycar waters now that his F1 career is almost certainly over...

[Risil]

I wonder if Rubens Barrichello will start dipping his toe in the Indycar waters now that his F1 career is almost certainly over...

It's been well-documented in the past few years that the only thing keeping Barrichello out of an Indycar is its safety record and his possession of an F1 contract. The former, sadly, is more prominent a concern than ever. I don't think it will happen, unless Tony Kanaan is super-persuasive.;) If there were a stronger ALMS, I could imagine Rubens ending up there, Emmo-style...

A one-off drive at Sao Paulo would be fantastic though. Provided there's enough support and chassis/spare parts etc. going around that early in the season.

Edited by Risil, 18 January 2012 - 13:33.

[Rob]

It's been well-documented in the past few years that the only thing keeping Barrichello out of an Indycar is its safety record and his possession of an F1 contract. The former, sadly, is more prominent a concern than ever. I don't think it will happen, unless Tony Kanaan is super-persuasive.;) If there were a stronger ALMS, I could imagine Rubens ending up there, Emmo-style...

He might be happy just doing the road courses. I don't think anyone's got any serious concerns with the safety record on the road courses.

[highdownforce]

I wonder if Rubens Barrichello will start dipping his toe in the Indycar waters now that his F1 career is almost certainly over...

Last year Rubens said that he could take a sabbatical year and reconsider his future only for 2013.
I think he'll take a decision on what to do only for next year.

[ezequiel]

Jimmy Vasser on Esteban Guerrieri (video)

What still intrigues me is the "government support" part, as there has been no signs of real interest from the Argentine government to give any sort of support. General Motors Argentina, COLCAR, Vía Bariloche and V Racer seem to be the only sponsors confirmed.

[midgrid]

Last year Rubens said that he could take a sabbatical year and reconsider his future only for 2013.
I think he'll take a decision on what to do only for next year.

After almost twenty years of F1, I could easily imagine him taking a year off to spend time with his family.

I wonder if he would consider a management role in an existing team, or some sort of buy-in? He seems to have so much enthusiasm for the sport that I can imagine him running his own team at some point - if only to drive the car himself at demonstrations and public events.

[MattPete]

From SpeedTV.com:

"between the Chevrolet and Honda camps, lap times fell in the 53-second range, with the Ganassi team reported to be near a best of 53.0 and the Penske team closer to a 53.5. Lotus continued to test the new Engine Developments Limited-built engine, but was not focused on posting fast lap times. "

Compare this to these historic Sebring lap times:


Champ Car, January 2008: Perera, 49.806s (120.636 mph)
IndyCar, February 2008: Kanaan, 53.5174s (112.337 mph)
Atlantics, January 2008: Hinch, 57.366s (104.738 mph)

[piercey]

From SpeedTV.com:

"between the Chevrolet and Honda camps, lap times fell in the 53-second range, with the Ganassi team reported to be near a best of 53.0 and the Penske team closer to a 53.5. Lotus continued to test the new Engine Developments Limited-built engine, but was not focused on posting fast lap times. "

Compare this to these historic Sebring lap times:


Champ Car, January 2008: Perera, 49.806s (120.636 mph)
IndyCar, February 2008: Kanaan, 53.5174s (112.337 mph)
Atlantics, January 2008: Hinch, 57.366s (104.738 mph)

Not bad compared to the old Dallara, all things considered.

[MattPete]

Not bad compared to the old Dallara, all things considered.

I was kinda hoping it would be faster than the old Dallara.

[Peat]

So, JUST faster than a car that was already 5 years old, 4 years ago....

At least there should be room for improvement, but i would wager that if they went back to Motegi RC, they'd still be eating the NIPPON's dust. Not too hot for a 'top' series.

[DanardiF1]

I was kinda hoping it would be faster than the old Dallara.

Give it time, plus if we get the Aero kits in 2013 we could see a jump in performance anyway. Atm they are still learning about suspension settings, aero config etc. when the old cars were pretty much perfected having used them for so long.

[Antonov]

so, how many drivers for 2012 and how many championship rounds?

[Victor_RO]

so, how many drivers for 2012 and how many championship rounds?

15 confirmed rounds so far, contractual push for a 16th. 32 entries expected, 23 drivers confirmed up to this moment in time.

[red stick]

Sorry DanicaFan.

http://msn.foxsports...ola-600-instead

Though there's no surprise here.

[Fulcrum]

[DanardiF1]

Not one of the better ones I'm afraid, if they'd used some more of the white lines in the sidepod areas it might look a bit better.

[Ross Stonefeld]

I like that. Red & Blue is really difficult to do well.

[DanardiF1]

I like that. Red & Blue is really difficult to do well.

I think some more accents with the white would make the sidepods look a little less bulky. My favourite so far has been Will Power's Penske, looks really sharp on the new chassis.

[jonpollak]

I am really liking this Josef Newgarden
Jp

[917k]

That is the worst version of this car yet. It just seems to accentuate the discord between the front and rear of the car, like two cars spliced together at the mid-point........with ungainly results.

[DanardiF1]

I like that. Red & Blue is really difficult to do well.

Having looked back at again though, it has grown on me slightly, and also reminds me a little of the PacWest cars from way back...

[Ross Stonefeld]

It's a little close to the Motorola liveries, but it really makes me think Scott Brayton/Amway.

[DanardiF1]

It's a little close to the Motorola liveries, but it really makes me think Scott Brayton/Amway.

You've got a good point...



The combination is correct for the Amway livery... though I prefer the PacWest ones because of my age...

[racinggeek]

Um, not bad (on the Ganassi/Rahal scheme), but not special either, IMHO. The white swoop separating the red and blue has a nice dynamism. All those lumps, humps, curves and whatnot else will be hard for any paint designer to work around, so -- not bad.

[Fulcrum]

from facebook:

John Oreovicz:
If Rubens Barrichello promised his wife he wouldn't race Indy cars, why is he reportedly doing a seat fitting today at KV Racing?

[Rob]

from facebook:

John Oreovicz:
If Rubens Barrichello promised his wife he wouldn't race Indy cars, why is he reportedly doing a seat fitting today at KV Racing?

He promised he wouldn't race on the ovals. There are still road courses!

[Risil]

from facebook:

John Oreovicz:
If Rubens Barrichello promised his wife he wouldn't race Indy cars, why is he reportedly doing a seat fitting today at KV Racing?

Come to think of it, when was the last time an F1 race-winner transferred to open-wheel racing in America? Alboreto?

(iirc Herbert tried to qualify at Indy one year when he was doing ALMS, but he failed.)

[Rob]

Come to think of it, when was the last time an F1 race-winner transferred to open-wheel racing in America? Alboreto?

Montoya transferred from Europe to America and was later an F1 race winner, but I don't think he really satisfies the criteria.

Mika Salo was the moral winner of Hockenheim in 1999 and did some CART in 2003.

[Risil]

Mm, forgot about Salo. He's as good as a race winner in my head. Mind you as far as I'm concerned finishing second to Nelson Piquet once makes Roberto Moreno a moral race winner too. If Barrichello had been pushed out of the F1 plane a couple of years ago, would he likely have ended up in NASCAR? Or is this seat-fitting business owing to his good relationship with his old South American F3 buddies? Suspect the latter. Like the way newspapers have obituaries for most ageing public figures pre-written and ready to be released at the time of death, the Barrichello-to-Indy stories seem to have been waiting for Williams to announce the end of his career.

Eddie Lawson's another Grand Prix winner who ended up in CART, but he's disqualified owing to the number of wheels he raced on.

Edited by Risil, 25 January 2012 - 16:34.

[DanardiF1]

Come to think of it, when was the last time an F1 race-winner transferred to open-wheel racing in America? Alboreto?

(iirc Herbert tried to qualify at Indy one year when he was doing ALMS, but he failed.)

You might be right there.

Mansell 93
Alboreto 95/96
Herbert 2002
and now Rubens?

And we've got Jean Alesi doing the 500 this year too.

[Muppetmad]

I suspect Barrichello will indeed come to IndyCars to join TK.

[DanardiF1]

I suspect Barrichello will indeed come to IndyCars to join TK.

I think it'd be brilliant if he did. He could seriously kick butt on the road courses.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Alternately, depending on where KV are with their signings at the moment, Rubens would be worth giving some test miles too. With an all new, and tricky, car he'd be a valuable guy to give feedback to try to close the gap to Ganassi and Penske.