N.Technology shutting doors?

[FIRE]

According Italian magazine Sportauto N.Technology is shutting doors:

N.Technology's team shutting doors

According to the reports from Italian magazine Sportauto, the N.Technology WTCC operation is shutting down. The team, owned by Mauro Sipsz, is in talks with several parties, an important one being Campos Racing, interested in purchasing a car-driver-personnel combo. In the meantime, James Thompson told Autosport he's afraid not to be racing in the 2009 WTCC and, while he received an offer to move in the Swedish Touring Car Championship, he might give a try to GTs or prototypes as well...

http://www.italiaracing.net/notizia.asp?id=21843&cat=18

[werner]

If Campos takes over the bunch it is not to bad. Although it would be a shame to lose the Sipszes from the touringcarscene.

[THIM]

I just read the same :/ The news is here:

http://www.autoklub.pl/23077,news.html

...and it says, that it's decision of shareholders and the reason is pulling out of motorsport by "some manufacturers". Campos Racing will take two Accords and technical gear to take part in 2009 WTCC.

[Icebaby]

What a shame as N-Tech gave us the glorious Alfa's which were the Ferrari of F1, A mistake to go to the Honda this year and not stick with the Alfa they new so well. Great team which will be missed.

[werner]

Why was it a mistake? They have scored some reasonable results given the situation.

[awrb]

The results would have been marginally better if at all had they stayed with the Alfa, but I really couldn't see any Fiat money returning, so that was a dead end road. With the situation as it was, the Honda was the best option, car already built and Honda always seemed on the verge of backing them.

Mario Sipsz did exactly the right thing, it just didn't work out for them.

[10tacle]

But they still built the Formula Master Cars and race @ Speedcars Series!?

[Martin Haven]

Confirmed in press release yesterday... It's going to be a shame not to have the team around - they add a lot of colour, as well as experience...

Good news for Campos to be able to take the entire project on... let's hope the cars work for him...

[stedevil]

Originally Posted by Martin Haven

let's hope the cars work for him...

With a proper budget, that allows them to actually do some testing between races, there should be quite a big opportunity for success. If they are smart, they should also try start up some cooperation and information sharing with Honda Sweden, because they for sure know how to make that Accord perform and this year they'll even be running the same tires.

[BootsOntheSide]

Campos taking over the project is a good fit, as they've got the funding and capacity, and what they're taking over will provide experience and proven ability. The car itself is still a question mark, but a tie-up with Honda Sweden might help there.

[helterskelter]

N Technology, formerly Nordauto Engineering, was like a dream to me as a kid, when I watched the italian supertouring cup, in which the likes of Dindo Capello, Emanuele Pirro, Naspetti, Colciago, GIOVANARDI and many others have raced, and I thought that it was the perfect team. They were really good, hard working, straightforward guys, absolutely italian style. I hope those people will find a job elsewhere, and my thoughts also go to Thompson, whose absence from the 2009 scene would be a waste of talent. All my best wishes to Campos and Porteiro, they are going to succeed someday in the near future, most likely in 2010, with the works support. And it was not a mistake to go with Honda for N Technology, they were forced to because with Alfa they were actual indipendents, no testing during the season or before it, and cars being developed on fridays...

[FIRE]

But if Adrian Campos is serious about this project why not Porteiro and Thompson?

[helterskelter]

Originally Posted by FIRE

But if Adrian Campos is serious about this project why not Porteiro and Thompson?

Two top drivers for a substantially indipendent outfit? Too much maybe... If they get Honda's support, I can't see why another world class driver shouldn't join Campos Racing...

[werner]

Porteiro is not in the same league as Thompson is. I'm sure Campos would rather have Thompson in the car (also for his experience with the Honda offcourse) if he didn't saw more commercial potential in Spain with Porteiro. I wouldn't be surprised if Porteiro takes some money with him as well.

[helterskelter]

Originally Posted by werner

Porteiro is not in the same league as Thompson is. I'm sure Campos would rather have Thompson in the car (also for his experience with the Honda offcourse) if he didn't saw more commercial potential in Spain with Porteiro. I wouldn't be surprised if Porteiro takes some money with him as well.

I completely agree, Thompson is a superstar and Porteiro is a good driver. But he is spanish, it's better for the sponsors. I don't know if he pays to drive.
Anyway I don't think Porteiro is such a bad driver, of course he's not Priaulx, Muller, Huff or Thompson, but he's a good guy to start with, he's really keen on working hard. Maybe he'll grow with the Honda Accord or show a particular talent on front wheel drive cars, we don't know yet. I'd rather wait for the end of the season before knowing if Porteiro was a bad decision or a good one.

[werner]

I to hope he develops into a star-driver. The more, the merrier offcourse. BTW why do you think Huff is in the same league as the champions you also mention. This year he has showed some great racing, but until this year he has done nothing superspecial imo.

[helterskelter]

I rate Huff highly because I see something special in what he's done this year: after all he was the best petrol driver this year, which means he was better than Priaulx in 2008. I think he's a great driver and a wonderful person, intelligent and now mature enough to have a go at the World Championship. But I understand if you are still waiting for confirmation from him: Rob is my bet, I suppose

[werner]

Well, as I do with Porteireo, I surely hope that Huff also will be a star-performer in the coming years.

[helterskelter]

So we share the same hopes. Another bet of mine is Sergio Hernandez, his mentor was Luca Rangoni, and he's absolutely a super driver, trust me.

[werner]

Thet do seem to be quite different characters though. Rangoni is a bit like Farfus: very fast on a good day, doing everything wrong on a bad day. Hernandez seems to be a bit more reiable and taking less risk.

[helterskelter]

I wouldn't say Rangoni is a bit like Farfus. I think he lacks some grit, but he's one of those guys who could have performed very very highly with a works car in his hands. You should have seen him in the Renault Clio Cup Italia, he was absolutely stunning. He has a shocking ability with the setup and is capable to 'read' what the car does in an incredible way. Maybe he lacks some grit in the duels because he spent too many years driving alone in the front in single-make championships
Hernandez learned a lot off Rangoni, I saw them in the Proteam garage and Luca was taking care of Sergio, explaining him how to respect the car and so on. But you have to have the talent a guy like Hernandez has to be able to practice what a great driver tells you to do and improve on that to become a World Champion. I think Sergio is a really promising driver, I hope he does well this year with Italy-Spain.

[FIRE]

MSC Organization Ltd, the company that owns the N.Technology racing team and the International Formula Master championship, has submitted an application to join the 2010 Formula 1 World Championship.

The entry has been requested under the N.Technology banner, the team that ran the works Alfa Romeos three consecutive European Touring Car titles from 2001-03 and, more recently, finished third in the WTCC standings in three successive seasons from 2005-07.

The organisation also created the Formula Master series, which has supported the WTCC since 2007.
...

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/75795