Honda announcing new team tomorrow
There will be a press conference at Honda headquarters in Tokyo tomorrow announcing that Aguri Suzuki will enter a Honda second team in next year's Formula 1 World Championship. It is expected that this will confirm the involvement of the Softbank company and that Honda has acquired Menard Engineering Ltd, which owns the old Arrows F1 facility at Leafield.
Robby Gordon, the NASCAR owner-driver, has confirmed to the Winston Salem Journal that Menard, which provides him with his NASCAR engines, is in negotiation with Honda.
Menard Engineering Ltd is in effect, a slimmed-down version of the old TWR company, which was acquired by home-improvements billionaire John Menard in 2003 when Menard and Eddie Cheever, a former TWR driver and longtime associate of former TWR boss Tom Walkinshaw, decided to use the business to improve their efforts in the Indy Racing League.
That relationship did not last long and Menard has since tried to make the company profitable and in August last year announced that it was expanding into military and aerospace activities in alliance with Haverstick Consulting. Menard previously had an automotive design office in Worthing (which was also part of the old TWR empire) but this was closed down in 2004 and staff relocated to Leafield. It remains to be seen what Honda will do with the automotive consultancy side of the business.
Gordon says that any deal with Honda will not be affecting his NASCAR engine supply.
Sweet!pSI civicwrong link. http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns15873.html thats the right one.
Whoops!pSI civicwrong link. http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns15873.html thats the right one.
I don't really like Indy either. It's very bland. I do still plan on going in the next couple of years, since i've never been to a Grand Prix. (Assuming it's still on the calendarpSI civicwell i just dont like indy. i prefere tracks like hockenhiem if we're talking speed. i do like the infield layout of indy but it just doesnt feel right.
the only good thing about indy is its right next door so i could go there if i had the money.
I count 5. What's wrong with back-to-back weekends? It's hell for the teams, but nice for us. I always hate the empty week between races. It just feels so lonely... The only thing worse is the three-week breaks.ExigeExcelI counted 6 back-to-back weekends
You know, I checked the rules (both technical and sporting regulations) and I couldnt find anything saying you couldn’t buy a chassis from another team weird.kenseiI can't see Aguri's team running next year unless Honda basically gives them a chassis (a BAR007?). Or this has been in the works for years and he already has a chassis in the works.
I'd love to see a new team on the grid in 06 but this one is cutting it real close.
Actually, I have a question for those of you who geek out on the rules. I know a team isn't allowed to buy a chassis from another (customer car) but does that rule apply to year old (or more) chassis? Wasn't this what Stoddard was basically going to do when he bought those arrows? Until he found that the Minardi chassis was better...
Me either (I looked back when the 2004 Sauber controvery was fresh). Either way, like others have said, who's to stop the BAR 007 blueprints and manufacturing information from somehow ending up at the old Arrows factory with Super Aguri F1? Change a few washers here and there, change the design of the barge board mounts a little, change the shape of the mirrors a tad, change a flip up here, and a flip up there, bada-bing bada-boom, you have a Super Aguri Honda F1 2006 chassis.BlakeYou know, I checked the rules (both technical and sporting regulations) and I couldnt find anything saying you couldnt buy a chassis from another team weird.
Blake
BlakeI thought it might be part of the concorde agreement, and huzaah!
Blake
kenseiOh Joy, "Panoz will provide assistance"...boy that is reassuring.
kenseiMy wife was watching the Japanese news last night and they had a spot on Aguri's launch conference...they showed a car at the launch, however it was from 6 years ago. I found that odd.
Hmm, I dunno. It would be a massive stretch but I think they can probably get something together, if only to spend a season at the back of the field collecting data… not that they have much chance of being anywhere else anyway.kenseiMy gut is saying this is all smoke and mirrors and the chance of this team being on the grid in 06 is slim. 07 I can see though.
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is in Montreal (well, in the middle of the St. Lawrence River, but they refer to it as Montreal).ElegyBack on topic, I notice that the Canadian Grand Prix is said to be at "Montreal" instead of "Gilles Villeneuve". Does this mean it'll be a different circuit, or am I just unfamiliar with the track's history or something (like how the Brazilian GP is still at "Interlagos" rather than "Jose Carlos Pace")?
I believe when it was originally built, it was named Circuit de Il Notre Dame (the name of the man made island it is situated on, created for the Expo '67 along with a series of other man made islands). But when Gilles Villeneuve was killed, they named the track after him in his honor.ElegyGotcha. 👍 I figured that it might've been once called simply "Circuit de Montreal" or something like that.
Not so much a video game, but generally anything Japanese that is coolOmnisDoes anyone else agree that "Super Aguri Formula 1" sounds like a really bad video game?