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VW - Here we go again...


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#1 bs

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Posted 01 October 2001 - 18:06

http://espn.go.com/r...01/1257700.html


Nothing much new here, save for the last line - which says that VW has already developed a Formula 1 engine. Anybody heard anything else?

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#2 KinetiK

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Posted 01 October 2001 - 18:13

>poke poke;)

#3 The Mourning Anchor

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Posted 01 October 2001 - 18:20


Hey, bs, you never indicated where you got the John Coltrane avatar from.

You're right that this story is nothing new. Pischetsrieder is a 'notorious' motorsports fanatic who is from the Porsche family school that racing really does improve the breed. As this article mentions, he sheperded BMW back into F1 and we have seen this year what that has done to shake F1 up.

Word earlier this season was that VW, if they opted to go into F1 at all, would do so through their Spanish subsidiary SEAT. At one point several reputable F1 media outlets had EuroMinardi and even Prost actually using SEAT F1 engines in 2003 or 2004.

VW eventually issued some press releases formally squashing that rumour. But it has since popped up again in the Spanish (and Spanish-language US) sporting press. In fact, according to these particular sources as of about a month ago, the issues are supposed to be
  • When, not if, VW will enter F1,
  • Whether they enter as an 'all up' team, as have Ford-Jaguar, Renault, Toyota and, of course, Ferrari; or
  • As an engine supplier only, as have BMW, Cosworth, DaimlerChrysler and Honda,
  • When they do enter, do they enter as VW, Audi or SEAT, or some other entity, and
  • If VW or some entity directly linked to them enter F1, what does that do for and about the related sportsprototype programme at Audi (who also have an 'F1 lobby' inside their company) and even Porsche, who badly want to get back into ALMSELMS-level sportsprotos?

I can struggle through German, so I will track down this article and see what it actually says. Intriguing, all this. As BMW reap huge PR from their early success in F1 - and assuming something similar starts to happen with Honda, Jaguar, RenaultNissan and, eventually, Toyota - it will almost be mandatory for VW to have some involvement in F1. And, with Pischetstrieder in charge, VW will acknowledge that much sooner rather than later. Depend on it.

A VW car or engine in F1. . . ? If they go the 'all up' route, their first car would have to be called Bug-1. . . ;);)

The Faithless Elector
Washington DC

:o Oh!
In direct answer (at last :rolleyes: ) to your question: I don't know about that last line in this piece, referring to VW having

'already developed an engine for a Formula One car.'

Of course, VW, Porsche and Audi have a bewildering array of corporate and family cross-connections. For all any of us knows, this last line refers to the Porsche-TAG engine project that powered those grid-killing McLarens of Alain Prost and Niki Lauda in the early to mid-1980s.
Or, it could even be a reference to the Porsche F1 team project back in the late 50s and very early 60s. Back then the Porsche-VW connection was much closer, especially where motorsports was concerned. :o


#4 Toyoter

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Posted 01 October 2001 - 19:49

Ahh, there's the typically informative post that we're used to from Harald :up:

I'm still fully expecting Minardi to become MinAudi by 2004...

#5 inigo

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Posted 01 October 2001 - 22:07

I think they are referring to the Audi LeMans engine

#6 titrisol

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Posted 01 October 2001 - 22:19

I dont know but it is also here......

http://news.bbc.co.u...000/1573862.stm

#7 bleakuzs

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Posted 02 October 2001 - 00:06

there has been an engine at VW Racing (formerly VW Motorsports ) in Hannover for about 2 years now. I wouldn't call it a VW, Audi or SEAT but a VAG engine. This is simply a rehash of old news now that Pischterieder has been choosen as the next chairman of VAG.

You heard it hear first, Volkswagen Minardi in 2004. :eek: