2006 Challenge Initiative Series - Page 5

Peter Wardle · 28 Sep 2005, 22:37 (Ref:1419449)

not really - our race formats are totally different and rely on drivers overtaking for success, (no times qualifying at all) and this also allows us a virtually unlimited capacity for drivers and teams.
Thats why we had to design a car you could overtake with, hence the lack of aero and the switch to cross ply tyres which are both essential to achieve this.
I was delighted with the success of the Brands A1GP event since Ive been tellng the sceptics who keep on saying that spectators dont go to motor racing any more that all it takes is putting on the right show at the right price and then getting the information out can bring them back. Its just that traditinal racing is now so unattractive that no one wants to watch it!

No 4 · 29 Sep 2005, 09:32 (Ref:1419731)

Peter - I certainly agree about your 'right show, right price, right promotion point.

Instead of living in the old petrol head/enthusiast past, national motorsport should wake up to the fact that it's in the entertainment business and that therefore it needs to put on a competitively priced show, which the public will find exciting, and hence that they will want to go and see in preference to other leisure spend choices.

Key to this is utilising marketing and promotional channels, that take the message out to the public, so that they understand whats on offer. Something the organisers of the major national championships seem to be largely unaware of!

Peter Wardle · 29 Sep 2005, 09:38 (Ref:1419733)

Hi No: 4. Yes - exactly right as A1GP so ably demonstrated at Brands.

No 4 · 29 Sep 2005, 17:07 (Ref:1420189)

Agreed. I was talking about it with Paul Cherry, who did the Sky commentary (and who also manages my son, Jamie Morrow!!) and he said they were all very encouraged by the turn out.

Peter Wardle · 15 Oct 2005, 09:59 (Ref:1434258)

I thought you'd all like an update - news which should appear in Autosport & MN shortly but you heard it here first!
We now have 6 drivers signed which is ahead of our expectations, representing Eastbourne, Southampton, Manchester, Corby, London NW, and Kettering. We expect to increase this to ten shortly and with a whole string of others being negotiated.
We've been held up running the first car as ORD wades through a very tight schedule getting their GP Masters cars out and shipped to South Africa in a remarkable short time - Mansell seemed to love it! - but we'll be out very shortly. Meanwhile a lot of people have viewed the car and the almost universal reaction has been "Wow - I didnt think it was going to be as good as this!"
Everything else is coming together well and the web site is being developed and will come live very soon.
We really appreciate the interest being shown on this thread so please ask me if you want to know anything and I'll tell you if I can, but remember that we are committed to this long term and only give you facts as they happen, not fishing bait just to see reactions.
All the best
Peter

Kicking-back · 15 Oct 2005, 10:32 (Ref:1434270)

Good to know there's been progress - I'd been a bit worried about not hearing anything for a while and was suspecting we'd end up getting a "it's been delayed till 2007" announcement

Peter Wardle · 15 Oct 2005, 10:55 (Ref:1434287)

Hi Kicking Back,
Don't worry - you may remember A1GP was scoffed at by plenty of people who should have known better, then they kept saying "well no one wants to watch single seaters any more" which was duly followed by a lot of eating of hats and humble pie.
If this was easy anyone could do it - it isnt - but its so worthwhile now that The Challenge has to happen, will bring in the audience and, for the first time, pay the drivers for being there and performing.
I was at Silverstone for the last F3 event and sitting next to a first time spectator to motor racing who looked totally bemused and kept asking when he was going to see some racing or find out who was who! (yes I did succeed in finding one or two spectators who were not related to drivers....it surprised me too!) He was also dumbfounded to discover how much these guys were having to pay to ride round in a procession.
I was embarrassed for our sport but able to reassure him that we were about to change all that!
Regards,
Peter

Kicking-back · 15 Oct 2005, 11:23 (Ref:1434310)

But there in lies the problem.

Perception.

A1 was launched in early 2004 and said it would begin with the 2005/06 season - a timetable they've delivered on.

Whatever the exact details - the perception is that this is the third time the Challenge Initiative has been launched....

courageous · 15 Oct 2005, 12:10 (Ref:1434335)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter Wardle

We now have 6 drivers signed which is ahead of our expectations, representing Eastbourne, Southampton, Manchester, Corby, London NW, and Kettering. We expect to increase this to ten shortly and with a whole string of others being negotiated. Peter

Obviousley you can't tell us who these drivers are, but any chance you can tell us what sort of level they are from (FPA, FF, F3, GP2)?????????????

Russfeld · 15 Oct 2005, 12:26 (Ref:1434341)

erm..Kettering?

Peter Wardle · 15 Oct 2005, 12:34 (Ref:1434343)

Hi Courageous, All will be revealed shortly, but all have been front runners in their respective Championships and strengthen the entertainment we will be offering to our audience. One is a highly respected muliple kart champion as well as a motor racing champion already, two others have already won motor racing championships, all have multiple podium experience.
They all cannot wait to get their hands on the car for the first time!
Kicking Back: I think Ive covered all that in earlier replies. Please have a look back in this thread.

REALIST · 16 Oct 2005, 15:50 (Ref:1435206)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter Wardle

Hi Courageous, All will be revealed shortly, but all have been front runners in their respective Championships and strengthen the entertainment we will be offering to our audience. One is a highly respected muliple kart champion as well as a motor racing champion already, two others have already won motor racing championships, all have multiple podium experience.
They all cannot wait to get their hands on the car for the first time!
Kicking Back: I think Ive covered all that in earlier replies. Please have a look back in this thread.

Odd that you appear reluctant to name the 'signed up' drivers. Surely the publishing of their names would be the best encouragment to others to sign, if they are what you imply. In my experience one of the key incentives to a driver is the competition and grid size of a Formula.

The only one named is Neill Briggs (Manchester) who, from what I can find, has only limited FPA experience a few years ago and doesn't appear to be covered by your descriptive.

Peter Wardle · 16 Oct 2005, 22:37 (Ref:1435569)

Hi Realist,
not reluctant - just not ready to, wont be long tho. We've had some more stuff to get out of the way first.
I agree with your view that momentum brings in new people (but not necessarily individual driver names). This is different in many ways from traditional motor racing, not the least difference being that we can put driver's budgets together with/for them - who else running any Championship can or will do that!!? Our main target is drivers who have been shut out of the sport by a lack of money but with well proved ample talent - lots of those about! This is about the most wasteful sport in the world for losing talented competitors. We intend bringing some of them back, properly funded and with a bright future. In fact as many as want to join us since we have no limit to the number of competitors who can race with us as our formats can simply be expanded.
Your comments are always welcome.
Regards,
Peter

Peter Wardle · 16 Oct 2005, 22:42 (Ref:1435573)

Hi Russfield,
What's wrong with Kettering? We have a list of around 120 towns and cities in the UK that are appropriate to our marketing objectives and anyway I live close to it! (as does the driver...). Where do you come from?
Regards,
Peter

Peter Wardle · 21 Oct 2005, 16:07 (Ref:1439940)

Hi all,
I couldnt resist drawing your attention to two recent letters, one in Autosport last week and the Star Letter in MN this week.
Michael Skeet in Autosport: "British Motorsport has been crying out for a big banger type single seater category for years......... I am sure with the right organisation, a category like this would be a fantastic success."
R.J.Pullinger in MN is calling for "No downforce. No Traction control.......but surely its simple to reduce the downforce enough to make the cars look as though skill is needed to drive them" He goes on to remind us "That the recent F1 survey revealed that the majority want to see races, not processions, with cars that need skill and finesse to drive."
Thanks Michael and RJ. That's pretty much exactly what the Challenge will give you, and heaps more besides.
I gave the new car its first shake down run yesterday, bedding things in and making sure there were no little glitches before its first scheduled circuit test early next month. Boy is this going to be a real drivers' car, and its seriously quick and sounds glorious!
We have some more testing to be completed before it's ready to be signed off for production, but the potential for entertaining the spectators and drivers alike is spectacular - I loved every minute of it and cant wait to get to the next run.
So far it seems well balanced with easily enough power to have fun - all the things we specified in the original design brief. ORD have done a truly brilliant job.
A smiling Dick Langford (engine supplier) commented to me as we were packing up - "wow! I cant wait to see a full grid of these going into the first corner!"
More news in due course.
Best regards,
Peter.

Kicking-back · 21 Oct 2005, 17:19 (Ref:1439984)

Sounds good Peter, thanks for the update.

When might we get a confirmed calendar?

It's surely difficult for potential drivers to formulate plans without that?

Peter Wardle · 21 Oct 2005, 22:07 (Ref:1440181)

we already have a provisional calendar but no National dates can really be confirmed until the International ones settle down. Most events for 2005 weren't finalised until January this year! (though I think it should be better for 2006).
We have been concentrating on agreeing the deals with tracks first and our actual race dates are on a two week turnround, starting in the spring and running right through until the end of November. (Yes I know it gets dark earlier then...). The calendar is being built up around some immovable dates at the Rockingham Oval.
More news when we have it.
Peter

gixxer · 22 Oct 2005, 00:56 (Ref:1440230)

Peter,when you said the car sounds really good i hope its not too noisey as if the dba rating is above 108dba we won't be seeing your new championship at castle combe,which would be a real shame as the banks to tend to get rather packed on bank holiday's and weekend meetings.Even some saturday's combe has had better turn out than some of the other circuits have when they've got round of the F3/gt.

Peter Wardle · 22 Oct 2005, 11:04 (Ref:1440497)

Hi Gixxer,
Don't worry, this car has been designed for the future, and the environmentalists stranglehold will get worse not better. With open pipies it is deliciously noisy, but we have designed in the ability to fit silencers down to almost any reasonable level if necessary, particularly with Castle Combe in mind. We dont even lose any performance since we are restricting the engine anyway to limit the power to 375bhp, so only need to plug in Langford's lap top (this feature is carefully controlled and totally unavailable to any team....) and raise the rev limit a tad to get back to our required power levels.
We are also looking very seriously at switching to bio-ethanol fuel in due course, though not for 2006, as being seen to be eco-friendly and responsible does no harm at all in our view.
Regards,
Peter.

gixxer · 22 Oct 2005, 16:41 (Ref:1440680)

It seems to me peter that a lot of thought has gone into this, which makes a really nice change with an attitude like you have your championship deserves to succeed.

I agree that the future of motorsport could well be under threat from noise issues,and if you can get your cars to perform at low noise levels there's no reason why other championships can't follow....in the future they may have to!

Peter Wardle · 22 Oct 2005, 23:02 (Ref:1440899)

I hope so Gaxxer - its not for the lack of trying! When I drove the car for the first time I realised Id been planning for that moment for nearly 25 years, and Ive spent the last five years full time on it pretty much.

Peter Wardle · 11 Nov 2005, 12:50 (Ref:1458063)

Hi everyone,
Just to let you know that we'll be running at the Silverstone International Circuit test on the 18th November and at 'Race Car Live' at Brands Hatch on the 26th where I will be available to meet any of you that will be there.
Regards,
Peter

Peter Wardle · 11 Nov 2005, 12:51 (Ref:1458065)

Hi again,
We'll be a bit busy at Silverstone and much more relaxed at Brands which would be a better place to go if you want to chat.
Regards,
Peter

Roninho · 21 Nov 2005, 21:10 (Ref:1466840)

New look for the series website.

ukracing · 21 Nov 2005, 22:25 (Ref:1466936)

is it a good look and have loads of info on it?

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