Well 09's dispensed with we have this lot to look forward to:

Date Site
March 14 Brazil
March 28 Streets of St. Petersburg
April 11 Barber Motorsports Park (Alabama)
April 18 Streets of Long Beach
May 1 Kansas Speedway
May 30 Indianapolis Motor Speedway
June 5 Texas Motor Speedway
June 20 Iowa Speedway
July 4 Watkins Glen International
July 18 Streets of Toronto
July 25 Edmonton City Centre Airport
Aug. 8 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Aug. 22 Infineon Raceway
Aug. 28 Chicagoland Speedway
TBD Kentucky Speedway
Sept. 18 Twin Ring Motegi
Oct. 2 Homestead-Miami Speedway

No need for a new thread.

Good discussion taking place here...

http://forums.autosport.com/index.php?show...&start=1240

This is the 2010 thread, that's the 09 thread, it's the usual transition. This isn't for discussing the season just past.

Hmm, I see your point.

But I'm not sure that IndyCar generates enough traffic to sustain a cross-season thread.

I can fix it for you

I am.

I see there's only one airport this season, but I guess it's better than none.

I don't understand why wouldn't Dario or Scott attempt to test an f1 car and see if they can land a seat with one of the new teams..

Age and why leave a sweet moneypot like the IRL? Also, why risk your reputation at one of the back of the field teams in one of the strictest businesses in the world? It has dented Bourdais' reputation to say the least.

Toro Rosso was the reason for that I think.. Glock is now a competitive driver in F1 after having spend a year in CART with only one podium in that series when Bourdaus was the dominant driver.

Age should not be a problem for driving an f1 car competitively. Rubens is the proof of that.. maybe age is the reason why they are not being considered which is a different story.. but I think they or their agents are not even trying.

If I were Dario I would make efforts to get a drive with usf1. He's already won indy 500 and indy title.. What else can he expect as a career jump in the US when his NASCAR experience was not a very good one.

Not really validing my point, but i do agree that Toro Rosso was the reason Bourdais didn't do well in F1. Would love to see him at Renault or one of the new teams next year.

Age is a big issue to get into F1. Think Bourdais was the oldest rookie in a long while and he was only 29. Can't imagine a new team wanting to build their team round the 36 year old Franchitti knowing he's only got a couple of years in F1 at most.

Dario and Scott's time for F1 has past and i think they and their agents know it.

Joe Saward reports on his blog that the IMS might be sold for $600 million. Curt Cavin hasn't denied it in his October 14th Q&A.

http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2009/10/14/...edway-for-sale/

Looking forward already to the 2010 season.

I know at the moment they aren't really in a position to expand the calendar, but I still await the day Indycar runs a late 1990's CART-sized calendar with a proper split of circuit types.

I'm not really happy with how the ovals are all being bunched together in 2010, but on the other hand I understand it's being done that way to save costs by running them consecutively. Hopefully in future seasons they will also go down the previous CART route of really seriously splitting the circuit types throughout the season.

God, anyone but the Frances. Look at AMA Road Racing, they **** up everything they touch.

Me too. Already ordered tickets for Birmingham. Just wish the offseason wasn't so long.

The IRL should mandate a gas turbine/AWD formula to differentiate themselves from F1 It is EXACTLY what they need in my opinion - something to make them exciting, different, radical and innovative

Supposedly, gas turbines will be able to race for hundreds of races without rebuilds -> surely this will cut costs too?

It was good enough for that great British car maker Rover after all: http://www.rover.org.nz/pages/jet/jet5.htm

Is it 2010 or 11 that the new non horrid looking chasis come online?

Sorry to disappoint you, but it looks like 2012 for now Before the credit crunch, 2011 was set as the date for the switch, but Brian Barnhart realised that it was more important keeping the series afloat during these lean years, than going for something new. The new engines are likely to come into play at the same time, with at least two, maybe even three manufacturers involved (Honda pretty much signed up, VW and Porsche contemplating an IndyCar engine).

Bah... auto car makers in the bin.

It should be Pratt and Whitney and the power-generation based gas turbine unit

They thought planes could not be made - now they are straight forward. Turbine powered cars have been made... with fine tuning they would be affordable. Can't beat F1... make Indycar different and more exciting

How fast would those be around Indy? Would the cars still look like modern open wheel, or like the cars of the 60's? I don't get your reasoning, mate, explain it a bit

I found this interesting article: IRL 2011: New cars, new engines, new teams and perhaps a new philosophy

Give an engineer the task of a open-wheeler with a turbine and AWD for good measure, they will (by definition!) have to come up with something new, radical and exciting

Sure they will converge on a certain look after a while (non spec chassis of course)...

Sure, modern engineers will write some genetic algorithm optimisation routine to optmise the car design

But it will still be a lot of fun, something different and exciting.. forcing the designers to develop a whole new breed of open wheeler race car... something not derivative from old F1 and Indycars

You could specify a small control turbine with 450-600 hp... speeds shouldn't be too excessive



http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm..._TX_Daytona.jpg

Looks just as good as any 60's sportscar.... now seeing that 00's open wheeler don't look so great anyway, so in modern open wheel form it will look at least as good or better IMO than the current indycars

Wheldon continues with Panther for 2010:

http://www.indystar.com/article/20091027/S...ning+to+Panther

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Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport SHOULD be on the shedule, imo



I emailed Robin Miller about that Seward post

"no, that's been the rumor since last May but as long as Mari is alive, IMS is not for sale. after she passes, all bets are off."

When is Dixon going to re-sign I wonder?

He has a deal in place until the end of 2010, so I expect it to come prior to the 500, can't see him going to De Ferran Motorsports at this stage of his career. It's all a question of salary though, but I reckon that the driver of the #9 car can get a pretty decent payment.

From today's Indy Star:

http://www.indystar.com/article/20091030/S...acing+to+afford

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Cavin's take on the lineup for next year, so far, from his blog:

Question: Who is confirmed at this point for 2010? (Justin, Bourbonnais, Ill.)

Answer: Let's see: AGR with three (although Danica not announced), Penske with two (but Cindric says he's planning to run Will Power as well), Vitor with Foyt, Doornbos with HVM, Wheldon with Panther, Tagliani's deal, Dixon and Dario with Ganassi, Graham all but certain with NHL, Wilson all but certain with Coyne, Matos all but certain with Luczo Dragon, Fisher with Fisher (nine races, plus four with Jay Howard) and Carpenter expected to return with Vision. Moraes doesn't have a deal yet, but I think he'll be back with KV. Dreyer & Reinbold will have at least one car, probably two. I'm sure we'll see 3G. Looking for additional cars from NHL, maybe KV, AGR and HVM (seems an opportunity for Dan Clarke).

http://blogs.indystar.com/racingexpert/200...and_penske.html

If you are interested: the San Luis government is working to take Indy Car to Potrero de los Funes in 2010. With the first round being held at Brazil, they could share costs and being financially convenient...

Indy Car confirms it's title sponsor. From today's Indy Star:

http://www.indystar.com/article/20091103/S...sponsor+--+Izod

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They've got as much sense as Danica, and more than Boutsen & Co. There are only 4 teams worth joining; Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull and Brawn - If you can't drive for one of them, you will only do your reputation and self-confidence a lot of damage. Which of those 4 teams would take a punt on an IndyCar driver?

Really?

Agreed. I would love for that to be true - Potrero is an incredible venue - but I don't see it happening. At least not next year.

Any news on Gil de Ferran's team?

Send a question to Curt Cavin

http://blogs.indystar.com/racingexpert/

I'm surprised there's so little activity in this thread. I know IndyCar has dropped off many people's radar but still

Anyway, the IZOD sponsorship deal... reading this, I must say I'm surprised at the level of commitment shown by IZOD. The rumours about title sponsorship have come and gone many times and based on the diminishing popularity of AOWR and sums being demanded from a title sponsor (around $10 million), I would have imagined that the only way IndyCar was ever going to have title sponsorship was to lower its demands by a significant amount, but more than $15 million a year is, franky, amazing imho. Not to mention that IZOD will apparently also aggressively market the series.

Even with cars that are old and ugly and with a weak engine, I still managed to enjoy this year's IndyCar championship, even though the IRL seems to lack any direction and business savvy. But I sincerely wish that AOWR will someday be popular again and this deal with IZOD is perhaps a step towards that direction. Now, if they could just get out of that Versus contract and onto a public network... even if they'd have to buy airtime, I'm sure it would be more than compensated by bigger ratings which means more value to sponsors.

There's just not much going on. On a day when the well-considered musings of Tamara Ecclestone are a hot topic on the board . . .

Also in the Indy Star today:

http://www.indystar.com/article/20091106/S...RL+not+for+sale

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RHR at Andretti would be an interesting addition. He'd certainly push Marco.

Reviewed Robin Miller's weekly mailbag:

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/ind...rs-mailbag-115/

Amidst the rants, learned that Bridgestone's pullout from F1 has no bearing on Firestone's involvement in IndyCar, and there's some anecdotal evidence that hotel rooms in Birmingham, AL, are getting scarce for next season's race weekend. Otherwise, not much to report.

I was also surprised by the level of the cash influx, and I'm pretty sure IndyCar will benefit massively from those extra money, as well as the marketing Izod will commit to. People will still call it IndyCar anyway, so 15 million bucks a year for a cosmetic name change is excellent business from the IRL (for once). Now I hope for 20 races in the near future!

No.

If they really want to be F1 drivers they should pay from their previous IRL salaries to drive GP2, if they win then they may be able to go to F1. It's true!

Unfortunately IRL is too different. The bottom quarter are all terrible drivers so there isn't that much competition. It suits a different driving style. Too many of the top guys in CC/IRL (Doornbos, Wilson etc) have already shown to be nothing more than unexceptional run of the mill F1 drivers before they went over to USA.

Only Glock came to F1 from CC via second attempt at GP2 and proved to be good.

Izod begins to market Indy Car and it's history with new line:

http://www.indycar.com/news/?story_id=15407

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How would you like to have the line-ups for next year? I'd go for something like this, also including teams I wish will be able to start next season.

Chip Ganassi Racing
Dixon
Franchitti

(Marlboro) Team Penske
Briscoe
Power
Castroneves

Andretti Green Racing
Kanaan
Patrick
Andretti
Hunter-Reay (Mutoh let go by Honda to finance a RLR Indy programme for '10) Izod takes over as a sponsor for that car.

Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
Rahal
Lloyd

KV Racing Technology
Moraes
Tracy (Oh, how I wish)

Rahal Letterman Racing
Mutoh
Summerton (young US driver makes sense)

HVM Racing
Doornbos
Hildebrand (temporarily released from AGR)

Vision
Carpenter
Junqueira (brought in to strengthen road course form)

Panther
Wheldon
(some other for Indy)

Dreyer & Reinbold
Scheckter
Conway

Dale Coyne
Wilson
Carroll (why not?)

Luczo-Dragon Racing
Matos

A.J. Foyt Enterprises
Meira
Servià
(Two cars form them would be great).

3G Racing
Antinucci

Fisher Racing
Fisher (part time)
Howard (part-time)

FAZZT Race Team
Tagliani

In a perfect world, we could have 29 cars full-time! Although that's not likely, I still think 25 is not too unrealistic. US Open Wheel is on its way back!

Not until there's any interest from equipment manufacturers, it isn't. Strange thing is, IRL in the last couple of years has had an extremely strong driver line-up, especially if you include a few of the guys of partial schedules.


[tangent]
Indycar needs to wean itself off Honda subsidies, and compete on its own terms. The Daytona Beach-controlled International Speedway Corporation also need to be avoided where possible, and a rear-engined USAC division needs to be created to open up the pipeline of American grassroots talent. Combined with Jeremy Shaw's Team USA scholarship programme, hopefully the extreme paucity of US drivers in top-level open-wheel motorsport can change. This new Izod sponsorship actually gives me some hope that money will be available to put into these self-sufficiency programmes.

[/tangent]

Wonder if they'll ship over here.

Let's see; that would mean no races at:

Chicagoland (ouch, best race of the year)
Homestead
Kansas
Watkins Glen (that hurts too...)

As long as ISC are involved we'd have to avoid Phoenix, Fontana, Michigan and Richmond (pretty much their fault there's no OW racing left there). That could leave IndyCar with just five oval races (one abroad), and that would be disastrous and look Champ Car all over again. In that sense, it's pretty dumb thrashing its relations to New Hampshire when the relationship to the ISC is already that fragile. Someone within the commercial department of IRL must have had a hole in his head or something.

If the ISC was excluded, oval meetings could still be held at Indy, Milwaukee (yes, damn it is gone for next year), Texas, Iowa, Las Vegas, New Hampshire, Nashville, Kentucky, Motegi as well as maybe even Atlanta Motor Speedway. Unfortunately, the management of the commercial duties have been incompetent and ruined the IRL of most of its ovals. As a fan of oval racing, that makes me quite sombre thinking about it

You could add Gateway to the list as well.

Izod seems to be off to a fast start in tying themselves to the Indy Car series. Maybe some truly positive results will come from this association.

http://www.indycar.com/news/?story_id=15417

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Robin Miller on IZOD:

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/miller-a-ray-of-hope/

From today's Indy Star, IMS releases PR director:

http://www.indystar.com/article/20091111/S...released+by+IMS

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