Tony George talks about the bid on CART

[rustyfan]

Autosport has posted a lengthy article where Tony George talks about the bid on CART, along with some other issues.

Indy boss explains CART bid -- George expected to outbid OWRS rivals

Indianapolis president Tony George said he would have had to spend an "insane" amount of money on Wednesday to convince a Judge that the Indy Racing League should be awarded CART's assets. Instead, the Judge awarded them to the Open Wheel Racing Series, who plan to run the single-seater championship as planned.

During a break from IRL IndyCar Series testing at Homestead-Miami Speedway, George indicated to autosport.com that he and his lawyers were not fully prepared for last-minute twists and turns Wednesday in Judge Frank Otte's courtroom. Otte eventually awarded the assets to three CART car owners, who plan to continue the series under their OWRS banner.

"It would have taken an insane amount of money for us to prevail," said George. "That wasn't totally apparent to us until very late in the process. The creditors probably got the best deal that they could get. At least there was someone there to bid to cause them to offer more than they originally did. Now they've got a whole new set of issues to deal with. Sometimes you've got to be careful what you wish for; it just might come true."

In his first extensive public discussion about Wednesday's case in an Indianapolis federal court, George said he still believes open-wheel racing will come under one banner. He also reiterated the IRL's intent to hold 20 races in 2005, indicating the four new races will be on road or street courses.

George said he went into court expecting to outbid the OWRS leaders - Gerald Forsythe, Paul Gentilozzi and Kevin Kalkhoven - for CART's assets. However, when Otte took into consideration that CART would waive a $62million loan if the judge awarded the assets to OWRS, George realised that he would have to spend more than expected to outbid them.

"It was disappointing that we didn't really understand the process," George said. "I don't know if it was intentional or unintentional, but I don't think we knew the parameters of what we were dealing with. Some of the things that were thrown up as impediments in the last 24 to 36 hours were clearly not good signs. We had to see the thing through to the end. We were willing to spend a sizable amount of money, but it didn't matter how much money we had."

The decision continued the split among two factions of open-wheel racing, a battle that is entering its ninth season. In 1996, George formed the IRL and changed the specifications and format of the Indianapolis 500. CART teams - saying they'd been locked out - boycotted the race. Since that time, the two sanctioning bodies have run rivaling schedules of single-seat, open-wheel racing in North America.

In recent years, many of CART's top teams and engine manufacturers have joined the IRL. Meanwhile, CART began to struggle financially, racking up an estimated $100 million debt before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year. George and the IRL put in a bid for a portion of CART's assets, including its engines and contracts for five races.

George insisted he was attempting to unify the genre, not destroy one side.

"I don't think we did more damage," he said. "CART was bankrupt. The judge, looking out for the creditors, wanted another bidder. It was a pre-packaged deal. There no doubt that eventually open-wheel racing will be run under one banner. That would make sense. I can speak for everyone in this [the IRL] paddock in saying that this is in the best interest. I can't speak for everybody in CART. We tried to make the argument that there would be opportunity for the teams, sponsors and promoters here."

(Original link: http://www.autosport.com/newsitem.asp?id=25885&s=18)





A rather interesting read I think.

[GP Racer]

Very interesting rusty.

I don't understand the part about CART relieving OWRS of a 65 million dollar loan if they were given the deal. That sounds to me like this was in the works for quite some time, and could be collusion. How does CART even have 65 mil, anyway, there bankrupt?

But in the end, I'm kind of glad that TG didn't win. I think it would have been very messy, as he didn't seem all that prepared to take this thing on. This has to be done where both sides feel that its the right thing to do, and that wasn't the circumstances here. It just seems so doubtful now, that these two sides will ever get it together.

But I like the idea of going road racing. Four races is a good start, and I think it will help attract new drivers that don't want to do all ovals. Also, if OWRS can't make it after 2004, at least the IRL will be there, and be prepared, to take on some road courses.

The future may not be so gloomy afterall...

[3state]

Interesting. I'm not TG's biggest fan (I guess there's a long line of those) but his comments appear to be quite genuine - I think he's sincere when he says was intention to '...unify the genre, not destroy one side'. No doubt many CART fans, myself included would not have been satisfied with the unified series he would have offered in 2004-5, but if I'd been in his position, I would've done the exact same thing and made a bid. I suppose, with his intention to go road-racing in 2005 (it'll be interesting to see how this pans out), in the long term we may have actually had a series which reflected the best of both. Eventually...

Despite the acrimony, which has increased on both sides again in recent months, i do think the decision to award it to OWRS is a fresh opportunity for the two sides to begin working together with a view to forming a unified series in the long term...they'd be crazy not to...