Indycar News & Rumors.

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by gaaaazFR

That leave us 6 available seats with one almost sure (Karam @CGR).

ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT (Honda)
#27 TBA

CHIP GANASSI RACING (Chevy)
#8 TBA

DALE COYNE RACING (Honda)
#18 TBA
#19 TBA

KV RACING TECHNOLOGY (Chevy)
#17 TBA

SCHMIDT PETERSON (Honda)
#7 TBA

Drivers without seats include Karam, Briscoe, Wilson, De Silvestro, Daly, Rossi, Serviá, Hildebrand, Huertas, Saavedra, Davison and Veach.

[gaaaazFR]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

Drivers without seats include Karam, Briscoe, Wilson, De Silvestro, Daly, Rossi, Serviá, Hildebrand, Huertas, Saavedra, Davison and Veach.

Main question is which team is able to offer a "free" drive and which driver has budget?

I see Andretti, CGR, and one of Dale Coyne being "free" and the others depending on budget.

Except Huertas, Saavedra, De Silvestro and possibly Rossi I don't imagine the others bringing big money into the game...

My guess is Karam @CGR and Daly @SPM (he tested there).

[Salamus]

Originally Posted by mountainstar

In regards to declining interest in cars and motorsport, I don't believe that's the case. Tons of road courses and ovals have been built in the USA over the past 20 years and many of them stay busy.

Do I think that we've gotten too far into our phones, internet and virtual reality? Yep, especially with younger folks. But the car is not dead yet.

In regards to professional motorsport, it's not enough to say "I am the pinnacle of the sport", you have to be it, live it, look like it and right now it is not. The general public has no interest in it because it's totally boring.

As someone who doesn't live in the US, I didn't know that, sounds promising.

I didn't try to say that the car was dead, more that it isn't seen as a luxury anymore, its one of the most common items nowadays. People don't really fantasize about cars anymore. And the gap between a race car and street car is closer than it has ever been.

Indycar doesn't have to call its self "the pinnacle". It just needs to call its self different. It's the only series I can think of that has a fair amount of ovals and road courses. The racing is some of the best right now in the world, certainly better than F1.

It won't appeal to the masses...I don't think any series can do that now. Let's be honest, the only reason F1 is relevant is because of the name and Ferrari. But if Indycar can interest car people, then it can do well.

[BudLightJaguar]

Originally Posted by Salamus

I didn't try to say that the car was dead, more that it isn't seen as a luxury anymore, its one of the most common items nowadays. People don't really fantasize about cars anymore. And the gap between a race car and street car is closer than it has ever been.

In Europe it has become more and more common that high school kids don't get a driver's license at age of 18 and postpone the decision. Of course here in Finland it's not always about one's decision rather than escalating costs (about 2000 euros at the moment!).

Originally Posted by Salamus

It won't appeal to the masses...I don't think any series can do that now. Let's be honest, the only reason F1 is relevant is because of the name and Ferrari. But if Indycar can interest car people, then it can do well.

IndyCar is not in a state that drivers like Hamilton, Vettel or even Bottas would move to US and sign a contract with Penske. But if we forget that and admit that IndyCar is IndyCar, not F1 North America, we can still enjoy the races itself.

The problem with all of this "everything used to be better" talk is that you admit to yourself that you can't live your own time. It's nice to be nostalgic sometimes and share memories from the past but when it comes to a point where everything you've got is bitterness and frustration, then you've chosen a path which leads to a mental state where everything is just black or white and there's only offenders and victims.

[Paradise City]

The car isn't dead it remains indispensible to all our lives and that will continue of course but there is a distinct shift underway. Green technologies is moving in and that doesn't square with motorsport - even a motorsport reinvented to integrate wholly green technologies.

So motorsports will retreat into their local strongholds and the bigwig series will become homogenised and gimmicky in order claw back some of that lost popularity. And we're seeing that now.

[BudLightJaguar]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

The car isn't dead it remains indispensible to all our lives and that will continue of course but there is a distinct shift underway. Green technologies is moving in and that doesn't square with motorsport - even a motorsport reinvented to integrate wholly green technologies.

So motorsports will retreat into their local strongholds and the bigwig series will become homogenised and gimmicky in order claw back some of that lost popularity. And we're seeing that now.

Homogenisation happens all the with street cars as well. In the 80's if you wanted the have a new Mercedes you had to be willing to spend as much money you as you'd spend on two-room apartment. Mercs like W124 or W126 were zero gimmick. But what does Mercedes do now? Front wheel drive super compacts like A or B class.

Not to mention fwd BMW's with 3-cylinder engine.

[Salamus]

Originally Posted by BudLightJaguar

The problem with all of this "everything used to be better" talk is that you admit to yourself that you can't live your own time. It's nice to be nostalgic sometimes and share memories from the past but when it comes to a point where everything you've got is bitterness and frustration, then you've chosen a path which leads to a mental state where everything is just black or white and there's only offenders and victims.

I don't really know if you are directing this at me specifically or not. I'm 21, almost 22, by the time I started watching AOWR around 2002, I witnessed the fall of CART, its resurrection and death as ChampCar, and the maturation of IRL into Indycar. From my perspective, "everything used to be better" is not true. Though, I have watched a ton of races from the 90s and definitely enjoyed them.

Anyway, all I was trying to say was Indycar has to get creative when trying to attract potential fans.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Salamus

I don't really know if you are directing this at me specifically or not. I'm 21, almost 22, by the time I started watching AOWR around 2002, I witnessed the fall of CART, its resurrection and death as ChampCar, and the maturation of IRL into Indycar. From my perspective, "everything used to be better" is not true. Though, I have watched a ton of races from the 90s and definitely enjoyed them.

Anyway, all I was trying to say was Indycar has to get creative when trying to attract potential fans.

I think many people hoped that with unification, AOWR would get back to where it once was but the world was hit by the banking crisis. Money was short and still is to a certain extent and the series trundled on, with an ageing spec car, racing on a lot of cookie cutter ovals. The problem faced since then and despite the new car, is IndyCar hasn't really managed to pull itself out of the rut and now races in a very short and compact season.

Anyway, this discussion belongs on The Current State of IndyCar thread, so feel free to carry it on there.

[BudLightJaguar]

Originally Posted by Salamus

I don't really know if you are directing this at me specifically or not. I'm 21, almost 22, by the time I started watching AOWR around 2002, I witnessed the fall of CART, its resurrection and death as ChampCar, and the maturation of IRL into Indycar. From my perspective, "everything used to be better" is not true. Though, I have watched a ton of races from the 90s and definitely enjoyed them.

Anyway, all I was trying to say was Indycar has to get creative when trying to attract potential fans.

No, it wasn't directed to anyone specifically.

I started in 1998 when - as I said earlier - Finnish channel 4 had late Sunday night live coverage. Somehow it actually was better then; 2,65 litre methanol engines, long wheelbase Swift/Reynard/Lola chassis, two Canadian rounds plus Japanese and Australian rounds. And tobacco sponsorship (equals money).

But when I take the pink glasses off, I also remember there was lots of underlying problems, mostly related to the unnecessary IRL/CART split.

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Anyway, this discussion belongs on The Current State of IndyCar thread, so feel free to carry it on there.

Alright, maybe it's time to quit.

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by gaaaazFR

My guess is Karam @CGR and Daly @SPM (he tested there).

I think that Veach might get an IndyCar seaat at Andretti.

I wish for Wilson and Hildebrand at Dale Coyne, and De Silvestro at KV.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by Salamus

Though, I have watched a ton of races from the 90s and definitely enjoyed them.

Anyway, all I was trying to say was Indycar has to get creative when trying to attract potential fans.

The 1990s CART has gone down in history as a spectacular era of motorsport that is a classic motorsports era and one of those things where everything came together at the right time. It was very successful, especially financially(at one point CART made more money from TV than Nascar) and that is why it was attacked jointly by tony george and nascar.

You can't go back but what you can do is examine history with 20/20 hindsight and look at what worked and what did not. People are people and despite all the changes through history, people are not any different now than Roman times. If they go to a sporting event they want to be entertained. The product that indy dumps out there is not entertaining.

What worked for CART in the 1990's is that they were hard cars to drive fast and they were fast and spectacular cars. Today's cars are not built for F1 champions, rather ride buyers that finished in 20th place in some obscure European formula series. That's a big reason why this series is one big silly amateur circus of a revolving schedule, canceled races, unknown drivers and why the general public could not give a flip about the series. Other than channel flippers, those in indianapolis who are desperate clingers and motorsport nerds, no one in the general USA public knows anything about this series. Nothing.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by Salamus

As someone who doesn't live in the US, I didn't know that, sounds promising.

I didn't try to say that the car was dead, more that it isn't seen as a luxury anymore, its one of the most common items nowadays. People don't really fantasize about cars anymore. And the gap between a race car and street car is closer than it has ever been.

Indycar doesn't have to call its self "the pinnacle". It just needs to call its self different. It's the only series I can think of that has a fair amount of ovals and road courses. The racing is some of the best right now in the world, certainly better than F1.

It won't appeal to the masses...I don't think any series can do that now. Let's be honest, the only reason F1 is relevant is because of the name and Ferrari. But if Indycar can interest car people, then it can do well.

Yes there have been so many road courses built in the USA over the past 15 years I can't even keep track of all that is going on with them. Many of them are oriented towards being country clubs or just for club type racing, however. Some of them have varying success but many stay very busy with a full schedule. So people are still interested in motorsport and cars, just not our current open wheel formula series.

Not appealing to the "masses"(i hate that term)? Nascar has done it successfully over 20 years. When I was a kid in the 1980's into the 1990's, Nascar was a southern hillbilly sport with few races outside that market. They identified what they needed to do and it has long since been a national sport. It's a mainstream product and the drivers are well known. It IS professional motor racing in the USA.

I think people and businesses sell themselves short scratching around for all these small niche groups of people, which may or may not exist.

[bjohnsonsmith]

This is all very interesting in its own right but hardly relevant to this thread. As I've said, if people want to compare IndyCar with CART, or talk about other aspects that affect IndyCar, then they can do so on The Current State of IndyCar thread. So in order to keep this thread relevant I can either delete posts, which I'd rather not do, or move them to the other thread.

Cheers, .

[rwintle]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

This is all very interesting in its own right but hardly relevant to this thread. As I've said, if people want to compare IndyCar with CART, or talk about other aspects that affect IndyCar, then they can do so on The Current State of IndyCar thread. So in order to keep this thread relevant I can either delete posts, which I'd rather not do, or move them to the other thread.

Cheers, .

Thank you!

Back on topic - over here in the "Silly Season" thread it's pointed out that Kevin Magnussen is apparently mooting IndyCar:
http://tentenths.com/forum/showpost....0&postcount=16

That might be interesting if it can be made to happen.

[rwintle]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

I think that Veach might get an IndyCar seaat at Andretti.

I wish for Wilson and Hildebrand at Dale Coyne, and De Silvestro at KV.

Yes on all counts, please.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by rwintle

Thank you!

Back on topic - over here in the "Silly Season" thread it's pointed out that Kevin Magnussen is apparently mooting IndyCar:
http://tentenths.com/forum/showpost....0&postcount=16

That might be interesting if it can be made to happen.

Interesting if true. Any sources?

[NaBUru38]

Kevin Magnussen is supposed to drive for Honda at the Super Formula.

[Formulahistory]

That would be a huge boost for Super Formula.

[gaaaazFR]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Interesting if true. Any sources?

http://www.autohebdo.fr/f1/f1/articl...ns-pour-courir

Source is Auto-hebdo in France (sorry but it's in French).
At the end he is basically saying he doesn't want to stay one year without racing, and that Indycar is an option but not the only one...

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by gaaaazFR

http://www.autohebdo.fr/f1/f1/articl...ns-pour-courir

Source is Auto-hebdo in France (sorry but it's in French).
At the end he is basically saying he doesn't want to stay one year without racing, and that Indycar is an option but not the only one...

Cheers, my French isn't too bad.

[gaaaazFR]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Cheers, my French isn't too bad.

You're welcome! ;-)

I've been looking a little on the web, but I don't find anything about him being linked with SuperGT or Super Formula.
Honda is going to make an announce about their program on Friday... but since there is not so much drive left in Japan, Indy is being more logical for him.

And with Indycar calendar ending pretty early he'll have time to do some simulator/testing at the end of the season for McLaren... Plus he could see his father more often (racing in the US!) history repeating for Magnussen family? ^^

[DS"]

Here's the Chevy aero kit. Well, they tried but as someone said: You can put lipstick on a pig, but it still stays a pig.

[Nick Woodbury]

Oh Brother............

[Down F0rce]

That's some F1 2008 levels of crazy areo.

[David A Scott]

I never thought that it could get uglier.. but dayum..

Looks like it was thrown together overnight. And this is supposed to attract more fans? lol