CC News & Rumours

[indycool]

How is the schedule "to be confirmed in a week" and the TV schedule is "done?"

[SurfaceUnits]

Originally posted by indycool
How is the schedule "to be confirmed in a week" and the TV schedule is "done?"

P K G

[SurfaceUnits]

A Little Background on KK

CHAMP CAR: From Hackney to 300 in a hurry
By STUART INNES
27feb04
A FORMER Adelaide man turned billionaire businessman in the United States is now running the Champ Car World Series motor racing.

Kevin Kalkhoven grew up in Hackney in inner-suburban Adelaide and went on to remarkable business success in fibre optic telecommunications in California's Silicon Valley.

He began racing sports cars, and still does at age 60, and owns the PKR team.

Champ Car is essentially America's version of Formula One which has a round in Queensland each year in October called the Lexmark Indy 300.

Kalkhoven's biography notes usually say he was born in Adelaide. "That's easier for the media," he said in a telephone interview from San Francisco yesterday. "I was born in India and moved to Adelaide when I was six weeks old.

"I was raised in Adelaide, living at Hackney.

"I lived there until I was about 14 and we went to the UK. My father as in the Australian Army and after Word War II was invalided out. My mother was a nurse.

"I do well remember the Adelaide Zoo. We lived almost opposite it. I was very keen about the zoo and very keen about playing cricket."

He said he had discovered an in-built interest in motor racing when he first got a driving licence in Britain: "I got my first speeding ticket within three hours."

"I'm still racing regularly in Series D sports cars," he said. "I come to Adelaide once a year (after each Indy race at the Gold Coast) to see business friends, including those at Yalumba.

"We had Yalumba sponsorship on the (Champ) car last year."

When The Advertiser phoned Kalkhoven he was in a meeting with Emerson Fittipaldi, two times Formula One world champion and later an Indy Car champion.

Kalkhoven, who in 2000 was named as one of America's top 50 chief executives, pilots his own business jet.

"We consider the Lexmark Indy 300 as the crown jewel in the series and we cannot wait to get down there for what will be one hell of a show in October," he said.

[Ticketboy]

Originally posted by indycool
How is the schedule "to be confirmed in a week" and the TV schedule is "done?"

Sorry Indycool I misspoke, mistyped whatever.

The race schedule to be confirmed next week and the TV DEAL is done.
The TV schedule is 4pm EST on sunday race days. I have further info but I will share that with you at a later date. Now back to Trackforum with you

[SurfaceUnits]

Thu, February 26, 2004
The fight will continue ...
New Champ Car owners didn't buy series 'to merge it with somebody'
By DEAN MCNULTY, TORONTO SUN

[excerpts]
Paul Gentilozzi, one of three business tycoons who won a court battle to buy the former CART series, said that he doesn't expect to be invited to Indy Racing League owner Tony George's private suite at Indianapolis Motor Speedway any time soon.

"We didn't buy Champ Car to merge it with somebody else," Gentilozzi said. "We bought it because we believe in the product and we're confident about what it is."

"We were not very good at promoting our own events," Gentilozzi said. "We learned we should leave that to the professionals like Molson."

Gentilozzi was in Toronto yesterday to meet with Molson Indy brass about this year's event and about extending its contract beyond 2005.

"We bought this series to make it successful," he said. "And Toronto, Vancouver and Toronto are a big part of that."

Gentilozzi admits the series is three months behind in terms of having teams in place for the April 18 opening race in Long Beach, Calif.

"But we are catching up quickly," he said. "We are committed to having 18 cars in Long Beach and we will have them."

As of yesterday Champ Car had firm deals for just 12 cars -- two each from Forsythe, P-K, Rocketsports, Newman-Haas and Herdez and a single entries from Rahal-Letterman and Rusport.

Gentilozzi said the rest of the field will be in place by mid-March.
[/excerpts]

[Full Article]
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Toront...26/361162.html

[indycool]

Think maybe I'm being misunderstood, Ticket Boy. If the TV schedule is done, you hafta know when and where the races are going to be ahead of time, so the schedule must be done.

[Dov]

Welcome to 10/TENTHS, TicketBoy and thanks for posting that info at CW yesterday! In the Toronto Sun article that Surfaceunits just posted, it says that there is only 12 cars (seats) confirmed but PG told you guys that there was 15?!:confused:

Cheers

Dov

[MLM]

Originally posted by Dov
Welcome to 10/TENTHS, TicketBoy and thanks for posting that info at CW yesterday! In the Toronto Sun article that Surfaceunits just posted, it says that there is only 12 cars (seats) confirmed but PG told you guys that there was 15?!:confused:

Cheers

Dov

"Lost in Translation"? :confused:
But according to Ticket Boy, PG told them yesterday it was 15. Then he told the Sun it was 12?
You're not the only one who's confused Dov....join the club.:confused:
I guess we wait until March 8 and see what the tally is then.

[chris42]

Originally posted by Ticketboy
The race schedule to be confirmed next week and the TV DEAL is done.
The TV schedule is 4pm EST on sunday race days. I have further info but I will share that with you at a later date.

Any news of the international (particularly the european / UK) TV deal?

[codename_47]

Originally posted by chris42
Any news of the international (particularly the european / UK) TV deal?

Taken from Recs.autosport.CART (Champ Car newsgroup...I don't know really, I don't understand them) apparently Long Beach coverage has turned up on Eurosports TV listings...

All of half an hours coverage!

[SurfaceUnits]

Feb 26, 2004 - 09:54 AM

Had the same question and contacted the Comunication Office of Eurosport early February and they wrote me "the races are planned to be shown live."

[Ticketboy]

PG said there is 15 confirmed with 6 drivers looking for 3 seats. If you look carefully at that article from the Sun, Fernandez is not mentioned and he was the first in. As well Conquest is not mentioned and Eric Bachelart has confirmed 1 car maybe 2. If Conquest is 2 cars that makes 15. As to the schedule and TV deal they are both done deals

[Tim Northcutt]

Question:

How many of those cars are being paid for or have the involvement of PG, KK and/or GF???

Beyond their normal contingents in previous seasons????

[SurfaceUnits]

It won't be long now. For you Forsythe fans, the Players-Forsythe signage is being removed from their building as I type. What could replace it? And, since Forsythe is rumoured to be running a third car, wouldn't it be keen if Tags were to return.

[indycool]

Tags is already confirmed at Rocketsports. And Ticket Boy, if schedule and TV are done deals, they'd be announced. Kalkhoven said from Brazil three weeks ago "next week." Gentilozzi said in the Sun "in a week." Surface Units reported here yesterday or today that South Africa was still being ironed out over the next few days. So it's NOT done.

[SurfaceUnits]

He's confirmed at Rocketsports next year, and the year after that, and the year after that?

[SurfaceUnits]

Just because they haven't announced it doesn't mean it isn't done.

[SurfaceUnits]

http://www.betelgeuse.com

[norman-normal]

I'm very pleased to find something about K.K. Thank you surfaceUnits.
He seems yo be the ideal type for this venture.

I really like it, self made mature men with strong sports-racing interest, compares quite well with oppisition.
Can't wait to get rolling.

[f1manoz]

You must understand, SurfaceUnits, indycool is the voice of negativity around this place.

It's all coming together now. TV deal, a good schedule, 18 cars, good quality drivers and three owners who know what they are doing.

All the series needs now is a couple of good sponsors and it's all set.

[chris42]

Originally posted by codename_47
Taken from Recs.autosport.CART (Champ Car newsgroup...I don't know really, I don't understand them) apparently Long Beach coverage has turned up on Eurosports TV listings...

All of half an hours coverage!

Oh !!!

But does this mean that someone else might have live rights?

[codename_47]

Originally posted by chris42
Oh !!!

But does this mean that someone else might have live rights?

Yeah....Eurosport!!

BRITISH Eurosport will continue to be even worse than their parent channel, if possible!

[MLM]

Originally posted by f1manoz
You must understand, SurfaceUnits, indycool is the voice of negativity around this place.

I respectfully disagree and find your assertion a little unfair.
What happened to "attack the post and not the poster" rule?
Isn't that what the MODS say?

Some of us do have questions and concerns about the future and wonder when and/or if things will happens.
If I remember, this is a discussion forum. Why can't people question the status quo without being pegged as a "doom and gloomer" or "negative" all the darn time? If discussions and counterpoints aren't encouraged here, people might wonder "why bother"?

We're getting different pieces of information about various subjects (15 cars? 12 cars? )It is getting VERY close to April 18 and things need to happen...and SOON.
Some of us are antsy and nervous about the future.
Some of us are tired of the nitpicking and the acromony among fans.
And we need to hear good things.....not about people getting let go or feuding and fussing and snipping at each other or things supposed to be happening and their not,etc...

[SurfaceUnits]

I disagree that there are any questions about the future and I also disagree that there is anyone who is wondering about the future. I disagree that things need to happpen soon. I was out and about today and could find no one who was antsy or nervous about the future. In fact, I seem to remember that the guys who were taking the Players signs off the Forsythe building were whistling and humming a rather cheerful tune. I disagree that there is any nitpicking or acrimony among fans. Show me the proof of these things. I disagree that we need to hear good things.

[indycool]

Well, SU. I respectfully disagree with you on most of your points. There are INDEED questions.

You can start with "When do I book my airline tickets for Las Vegas and where do I buy tickets?" You can continue with "When are the races going to be shown on TV?" With the mix of rumors about it, it may even be "ARE they going to be shown on TV?" You can be a Portland or Cleveland resident and ask, "Are we going to have a race here this year?" There are rumors of Mid-Ohio coming back. If you're a race fan in central Ohio, you ask "Is the series coming back now and when?"

Some fans and indeed some teams and sponsors would be very naive to think these questions shouldn't be answered by Feb. 27.

And some, like myself, would like to see "a little less talk and a lot more action" to build confidence in the OWRS principals.