FOTA starts a breakaway series

[Ray]

Why would Cosworth invest in a hopeless cause?

Because it would be awesome to thumb their noses at Max and company, and everyone would have Cosworth on their tongues. Great advertising.

[gcdugas]

Everyone would agree that Elkhart Lake is in the middle of nowere in cheesehead country, FGD.

But Road Atlanta could be another serious proposal.

Vegas baby! Build it in the hills just outside of town!

[gcdugas]

Wow..

@gcdugas - Good Call. They announced at Silverstone like you predicted.

And they laughed when I said it. I am telling you this is a good sign that FOTA are out-maneuvering Max. They have marketing savvy. Do you remember all those Red Bull GP Preview videos that were totally irreverent and edgy? Remember the one about the French GP and white flags? This was exquisitely timed. It was perfectly ripe to happen at Silverstone which has been eating Bernie and Max's crap for years. While it may be a bit premature to to announce an exact date, expect FOTA to commit to a Silverstone race in 2010 and announce it this weekend.

Red Bull is a member of FOTA and I fully expect them to step to the fore with their marketing expertise and media contacts worldwide. This is one of the brightest days in F1 history.

BTW, I also said it was wise to take a short position on CVC Capital Partners. Their shares are soon to be worthless.

[FGD]

I trade my left nut to see them at Road Atlanta. Haven't been there since I was about 10 years old, and the most glorious sound I heard was a Ferrari 333 (I think, it's been awhile) and it's the best racecar noise I've ever heard. Maybe with this breakaway we'll get decent TV coverage, less politics, and better racing. Not saying this year hasn't been great for the flipping of the heavyweights on the grid, but only two winners? C'mon!

Well... I wouldn't trade any nuts for this. It is just sport, right? Plus, I need and, well... must admit I like having both my nuts.

Regarding a race just outside of Vegas? I can see a grandstand full of bored military personel and coyotes.

[xpensive]

If you follow that thought all the way gc, imagine that the eight FOA teams could easily field three cars each, there's no immediate rush for more.

But of course, should serious prospects such as Lola or Prodrive beg to participate, why not?

As for any FIA F1 series next year, forget it, there is already a GP2 or whatever they call it.

Btw, I was looking into taking my 10 year old to Silverstone this year, but we landed at a thousand EUR for the two of us. Travel from Sweden not counted.

A race OUTSIDE Vegas, find it hard to imagine that?

[jamsbong]

I hope this spells the end of this endless conflict between FIA and FOTA. FIA can entertain the audience with a new inferior F1 all they want. I'm looking forward to see a FOTA race championship with all the names like Ferrari, Mclaren, BMW, Toyota etcs.

I'm not a fan of Honda, but I want to see them in races. In many ways, thats where Honda belongs. I hope FOTA can invite them back. hehe... Let loose the engine development, this will interest Honda.

Goodbye, Max, Bernie and FIA. You've have your share of greed and power grip, but no more.

Just something I've noted, no one on this thread seem to feel sad about the break away. Another words, nobody likes emperor max/bernie. I think FOTA will get their audience! F1 will not.

[Ray]

I trade my left nut to see them at Road Atlanta. Haven't been there since I was about 10 years old, and the most glorious sound I heard was a Ferrari 333 (I think, it's been awhile) and it's the best racecar noise I've ever heard. Maybe with this breakaway we'll get decent TV coverage, less politics, and better racing. Not saying this year hasn't been great for the flipping of the heavyweights on the grid, but only two winners? C'mon!

Well... I wouldn't trade any nuts for this. It is just sport, right? Plus, I need and, well... must admit I like having both my nuts.

Regarding a race just outside of Vegas? I can see a grandstand full of bored military personel and coyotes.

Well maybe not mine. Possibly someone elses though!

[xpensive]

Anyone for a wager on MrM crawling for a last minute compromise today, giving it all up?

[gcdugas]

A race OUTSIDE Vegas, find it hard to imagine that?

Been there? The hills are about 15 miles out of town with roads and access easy to provide. Accomodations, airport, infrastructure already established and no need to improve upon. They just need a track. Steve Wynne, casino owner and F1 buff always wanted to put a deal together. I would think a first rate track could be made for modest sum and they could upgrade it later with planned add-ons, skyboxes etc. down the road. But just the garage, track surface and grand stands could be completed in two years for $100M if the Federal Gov't doesn't interfere with land use ecological crap etc.

[gcdugas]

Anyone for a wager on MrM crawling for a last minute compromise today, giving it all up?

I will bet the farm that he doesn't! How much?

I will bet vast sums that Max starts his revenge campaign in the morning complete with invectives and name calling. How much?

[Giblet]

I'd like to see a switch back to Mosport, if possible.

[modbaraban]

Anyone for a wager on MrM crawling for a last minute compromise today, giving it all up?

It depends on how much MrE squeezes MrM's balls - within or beyond the S&M pleasant pressure. MrE has a lot more to lose than MrM.

[stl0]

I'm new here, but this subject is too good to resist.

If you follow that thought all the way gc, imagine that the eight FOA teams could easily field three cars each, there's no immediate rush for more.

But of course, should serious prospects such as Lola or Prodrive beg to participate, why not?

As to fielding 3 cars, there is another way that gives a low cost entry to new teams without resorting to GP2 or two-tiered regulations . . . customer cars. As I recall the only F1 team to seriously oppose customer cars was Williams, and Prodrive basically had a customer deal in place with Mclaren. The same Prodrive mysteriously missing from the FIA's entry list. I also expect Lola to show up in the FOTA series. As much as I dislike the idea of customer cars on principle, STR has been doing it for awhile now and as a customer team gave us the highlight of the season last year with Vettel at Monza. In any event, whether its 3 cars per team, customer teams, or something else, these guys surely have a plan for full grids.

As for comparisons to the CART/IRL split, that one was more like if Bernie decided to leave F1 to start his own series. It was the greed of one man, and not the will of the majority of the teams in the sport. In that case Tony George had the race that most teams relied on for over half of their sponsorship revenue and all of their prestige. Bernie has no such bargaining chip. There is nothing in F1 that compares to the importance of the Indy 500 to those CART teams in the 90's.

As for venues, FOTA should have plenty of choices. I think most promoters are fed up with begging Bernie for the privilege of giving him all of their money. Indy was not a great venue (I was there every year, I even stayed through tire-gate, but mainly to watch the riots), but Tony is ready to put a race on in the US tomorrow. Canada would come back, Silverstone could stay, and after that who knows?

My vote would be to start the new series under the old Can-Am rules, but with no fenders on the cars.

[xpensive]

Not that FOTA would be interested in no "compromise" gc, when they are going for the man's head.

But history tells my that scum, when I refer to scum which are aware they are scum, always try to find a last resort.

But you might be correct, today could be an ugly day indeed.

And Giblet, I would WALK to Mosport any day of the week to see a GP race there.

stlO, welcome, I like you already. I would have gone with the fenders, but we will discuss that later.

[FGD]

I trade my left nut to see them at Road Atlanta. Haven't been there since I was about 10 years old, and the most glorious sound I heard was a Ferrari 333 (I think, it's been awhile) and it's the best racecar noise I've ever heard. Maybe with this breakaway we'll get decent TV coverage, less politics, and better racing. Not saying this year hasn't been great for the flipping of the heavyweights on the grid, but only two winners? C'mon!

Well... I wouldn't trade any nuts for this. It is just sport, right? Plus, I need and, well... must admit I like having both my nuts.

Regarding a race just outside of Vegas? I can see a grandstand full of bored military personel and coyotes.

Well maybe not mine. Possibly someone elses though!

Let's stop talking about squeezing nuts.