New teams - the rumours...

[3state]

Greetings. There are so many rumours flying around at the moment I thought I might list them here to get everyone's feedback on their probability or improbability.

*Any confirmation on the rumour of the European F3000 team joining the series?

*Will there Team St George become a fully-fledged team with Darren Manning as a driver next year?

*Is Emerson Fittipaldi stating a two car team?

*Is Mario Andretti also starting a team?

*Any truth to the Coors/Scheckter move to CART?

*Is Barry Green going to go it alone with possibly a one or two car team?

*I read somewhere on this site that Panther Racing in the IRL are looking at coming over to CART from the IRL. Any news? Incidentally there has been talk of IRL teams moving across or at least fielding cars in CART, if so, any idea which teams and how many?

Alrighty, I think I've covered them all...Just thinking, given the support for CART here in Australia, it would be great to have an Australian team (to replace TCG) but with Australian crews, drivers, and sponsors (with an international profile)...

ok that's all for now!

[macdaddy]

There's been no confirmation on anything you've listed. Team St. George is hoping to field two cars next year. But then again, weren't they supposed to field Manning at Miami? I've not really heard anything about Emmo forming a team. I believe that much of his energy is right now being spent on trying to get an event in Brazil. Mario, on the other hand, has everybody's fingers crossed. He and N/Haas may field three cars. Your mention of Coors coming to CART with Scheckter is the first I've heard of it. As for Barry Green, nobody seems to know nuttin'. Rumours of he and Molson surfaced and then faded. And then there's the Target sponsorship. Staying with Chip or staying with CART? The Panther switch is something I find unlikely. Some suggested they would trade Hornish for deFerran and bring Gil back to CART. Perhaps these rumours were fuelled by Shell's purchase of Pennzoil. But that's all any of this is - rumours. As far as F3000 or FAtlantic teams, we'll just have to wait and see. Apparently, in addition to some notable F1 talents, there were several teams from other series at the Miami event.

[macdaddy]

Of course, there are also rumblings of teams being started by such names as Gugelmin, Coyne, Arciero, and Johansson.

And then there's this to consider:
http://www.teammorello.com/

[3state]

there's the recent postings on Champweb.net regarding the Emerson and Scheckter for Coors/Ganassi(??!!). thanks for the others macdaddy. Hadn't heard these ones. If even half of these turn out to be true then I think it won't be so gloomy next year.

[3state]

oooh, teammorello...tantalising. A new team in the pipeline. That looks fairly concrete to me... excellent!!!

[Liz]

Max Papis was interviewed on the CART radio broadcast yesterday and stated that Emmo was indeed looking to start a team and that Max was being interviewed as his driver. He said that this was not a done deal yet and he had other options, but he sounded fairly confident.

[3state]

any news on possible IRL teams coming across? I have heard that there have been rumblings about the preferential treatment the CART 'defectors' are getting in terms of their engine packages and the blow-out in costs. I read somewhere on the forum recently that Panther may be involved in CART next year???? Oh, and the European F3000 team. Any further news?

[Tiresmoke]

3state, i've heard all those rumors. Any strenghts to those vary quite a bit. champweb is stating that emmo's team is pretty much locked up. i find that hard to believe with the state of the south american economy, but then again, there are quite a few large companies down that do well in any economic state. Emmo has the brazilian political connections and the relationships and i wondered if he somehow got a hold of the F3000 teams sponsor, Petrobras.

Mario's working hard, but lots of pieces have to fall, and a lot depends on other series decisions.

My uncle lives in Denver and has connections with a few Coors people as a vendor, and when CART was there, he says they were pretty darn happy with CART and the Dixon car. With Hemelgarn losing Coors, supposedly to Target, I wonder if the Coors budget allows for a CART entrant.

I still maintain that Barry has the old TKG reynards and is working to set up a team of his own, though it looks like it would take some serious capital. Halliday leaving Fernandez makes me wanna believe he's going with Barry to start another new team.

Indy Regency Racing may be in CART next year. The big IRL teams wont be coming to CART. The little IRL teams won't be running a full IRL schedule, many just the 500, and a few getting squeezed out completely and perhaps funneled to the ultra-weak Infiniti pro series.

[Greg Cummins]

If I was Coors I would be happy too, that car looked fantastic...

[Russfeld]

I think new teams will be a short term thing. Yeah the price of entry went down, but the price of competing hasnt. newman-haas is still going to be spending 10-12mil a car, so they'll clean up on guys spending 6 a year. So we'll maybe have some new teams for a season or two then they and their sponsors will realise they're getting very little return for the investment and will go away frustrated.

[Liz]

A beer can and a Red Bull can on the same track will be lovely.

[Evilsenna]

There's also a rumor saying that Craig Pollock is looking to start a team too

[Flatspot]

The glass is always half empty eh,Russ?

[f1manoz]

Russ just loves to spread bull**** negativity.

[macdaddy]

Yeah, the cost of entry has gone down. So has the cost of engine leasing. And the cost of aerodynamic devolopment. So too all the costs associated with testing. Safe to say that the cost of competing has gone down at least ten bucks.

[Russfeld]

its not bull****, its the facts of the market. Newman-Haas will be attracting 9-12mil per car in sponsorship next season, you can take it to the bank. They certainly will, and they will have a huge advantage over guys spending 6mil a year on a car.

[BootsOntheSide]

Smaller teams swhitching from IRL to CART should make sense now, as Honda and Toyota are clearly going to stop at nothing to make sure one of their crack teams wins through. As for Panther, I think their best bet might be to run one CART entry, maybe for De Ferran if this switch with Sam comes off, and 2 in IRL, allowing Wheldon to learn from an experienced driver (Buzzy Lazier could well be on the market).

And as for Russfeld's negative remarks, what about all the prizre money the new teams will earn, and the increase in publicity if CART regains a strong position, which should lead more sponsors to enter.

As has been said, even if only half these rumours come to be, it will be good news for the series, makign the 22-car target feasible, and perhaps half of those from committed new and returning entrants, maybe including Mario, Emmo and Barry.

[ghinzani]

Cheever said that Ganassi and Coors want Scheckter to drive for them - I guess in CART.

[racer69]

From what i read in the 'Ganassi - outta here' thread it would seem he could be with Ganassi and Coors in IRL.

At the end of the day at the moment there are loads of rumours but not many facts.

[Liz]

Too true.

[Tiresmoke]

It seems to me that nothing Russ has said is "negative". It's the facts that might be a bit negative. We can't lie to ourselves about the facts.

It's very true that CART has gone to lengths to make the series a bit easier to enter and compete in. There's no cap on spending though, and the team's that have it and want to win, will spend it. That's not unfair, its how the game is played. Fortunately CART has made itself look semi-attractive with the new rules and support program and we see rumors of teams taking a look at that. So these teams take a look at CART, then take that to potential sponsors. Unfortunately, the sponsors see weak TV ratings and poor media coverage.

[Lee Janotta]

I figure it comes down to this:

If CART puts together a good, highly visible product again, they'll win back the oil and beer companies.

But to do that, it's going to be crucial that they have good racing, an exciting mix of street and road courses... And most of all, colorful drivers who stick with the series long enough for people to get to know them. We need Moreno back, we've got Tracy, sadly we're probably going to lose DaMatta... But we need at least 6 Americans in the series, I think, to keep the viewers here interested. And let them develop rivalries, don't try to turn them into mindless drones. CART's lost a lot of personality since the days of Bobby Rahal, Rick Mears, A.J. Foyt, Emmerson Fittipaldi, and Mario Andretti. Sure, we've had Zanardi and Montoya since then... But they weren't around for the peripheral fans to really become attached to. CART has to slow down their rate of turnover to give people something to really settle in and start to enjoy it again.

One more thing... Speed Channel's going in the right direction, trying to humanize the drivers, especially with Christiano and Bruno... We need more coverage like that porta-potty incident!

We at least need to know who the heck the drivers are... Something ESPN was _horrible_ at... I still don't know where half the field drove before they came to CART!

[Flatspot]

The facts are also that there have always been the well and not so well funded teams. What makes todays situation any different than in the past? Not just in CART but any high end series. I think the difference is the cost of admission.

It may (and I beleive will) turn out that CART turns around and grows. The new sponsors will see the value of their investment and be willing to spend more. I think this is what Pook beleives too. If not why even go through the excercise.

You must plant the seeds to grow the tree. I prefer to view the glass as half full.