Honda vs. Volkswagen. Now that has a ring to it. And it is looking like that could be the headline act in the 2011 Indy
Racing League.
Ulrich Baretzky, Audi Sport’s head of engine technology, told Racecar Engineering magazine recently that his company is interested in taking on Honda in the IRL, when the open-wheel series comes out with new engine specifications for 2011. While Baretzky said it isn’t clear whether the Audi or VW brand would enter the series as an engine supplier, sources close to the on-going talks said it is most likely to be VW. Talks began between Audi and the IRL in June, and have heated up recently. Sources within the league said an announcement could come as soon as April, shortly before the season begins.
Sources with several IRL teams said it appears that series officials will go with a four-cylinder turbocharged engine, despite Honda’s desire for V-6 engines. Honda is so eager to have another engine builder to compete against, series sources said they are willing to bend a bit on their desires. The IRL is expected to announce the new engine formula in the next 60 days.
Part of the negotiations likely include marketing mandates forwarded by the league that will require VW to inject millions of dollars into the series. Audi officials, sources said, are busy talking to teams to see which ones they might line up as customers. VW's best known product, the Beetle, isn't exactly a picture of performance. Racing insiders said the German company will have to overcome that perception to lure teams away from the well-established Honda stable. A few financial incentives thrown at teams will surely help.
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I still think the IRL needs to look at using fuel economy as a way to stay relevant with the auto industry. Developing fuel efficient race cars is the next technological hurdle. No different than Tesla developing a high performance electric car.
Oh yeah? Why was there zero interest when Nissan/Infiniti and GM were there? Or when Honda, Toyota and Chevy were there?
Same reason there's zero interest now, and it won't change in the future. FTG's 'league' is a steaming pile. No gomer cheerleading and bleating is going to undo that. It's a farce. Rubbish. A failure.
Aside from that, whoever is in favor of this at Porsche/VW should be fired immediately. What idiots. :lol:
With their recent troubles, I wouldn't be surprised if Chrisler of GM cut their stock car programs back drastically.
The future is built on what is happening now and what progress is made in a cooperative spirit. Fortunately, some of that spirit has been restored to open wheel racing. Those of us sitting on the sidelines can only hope that good things will occur in the future. We are the ones who choose not to constantly dwell upon past failures. Those things we cannot change. Positive attuitudes can bring success!
I would hazzard to say there has been as many foreign engine participation at Indy as American. In the last 40 years there has been something like 18 American engines and 22 foreign winners. And at this time in history, if American Racing were counting wholly on the big three, I think we would all be in trouble.
Why did car makers such as Dodge, Pontiac, Buick, Plymouth etc... leave NASCAR. You guys are funny. No matter the news, you will go to desperate ends to find something to complain about. Why so much hate, it is not healthy. Take up a hobby, find something to do with your time. Something constructive. Hate like you guys have is not healthy.
We can't, afterall, mess with the Holy Grail of motorsports, Bernie's F1, now can we? They need to have Burma Shave signs around the road courses to make them interesting.
The Mother Jedi Knight, Yoda, liked CART, left CART, then liked TonyCar, and left. Who knows what might happen to the Yoda Taxi?
LOL x 1000000000000000000000000000
http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/f1-howett-toyota-must-perform/