[VRR][B-SPEC] 2018 Vodafone IndyCar Series season

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Cat Devil Racing team owner Kunimitsu Kino****a doesn't believe that Mercedes will be able to join the 2019 grid as a supplier, according to an interview with reporters in Kyoto. "I think VRR are very aware that Ecurie Ecosse cannot carry the Mercedes flag in 2019 without a miracle. It's hard imagining drivers that will sign up with that team even with that prospect, and they haven't shown any performance in any capacity this year. They survived Kentucky and China with no issues, but that's been it. Not even another top 10 so far. I'm not sure how Mercedes is going to manage being in a competitive series with an abysmal front team. Even Cherokee abandoned the Mercedes prospect, and they love the German marques. Hopefully I'm wrong, but I can Mercedes abandoning the effort and sticking to electric cars."
 
Gary Slater has issued a statement to media in response to critical comments made by Kunimitsu Kino****a in regards to Ecurie Ecosse's 2019 Mercedes deal, admitting there are deep running issues that are putting the deal, and the team's future in STICS in jeopardy.

"Kunimitsu [Kino****a] recently expressed doubts about the viability of our 2019 works plans, and to be honest, she is right in many regards." Slater stated, "Our performance just isn't where we need it to be. Okay, we got a podium at Homestead and a couple top 10 finishes in China and Kentucky, but we're just not getting the consistency we're needing. We even agreed with Merc in our talks that if this season was a bust, we will look to terminate the 2019 engine deal on performance and cost grounds."

Slater then told press that the problems mean that his future in STICS is on shaky ground, "There's going to come a point where we have to say 'we can't keep this going any more' and the project becomes too unsustainable. Frankly, if we don't get consistent results in 2018 either, then we will actively seek to withdraw our 2019 entry. It's not looking too promising if I'm honest."
 
"As far as I'm concerned, Mercedes are still our top priority for 2019." Cherokee GP team principal Clayton Hardy stated in response to earlier comments over Mercedes possible abandoning of the IndyCar Series. "If Ecurie Ecosse are in an unstable position, then a merger between us would be very possible to keep Mercedes in the field and happy. The team has no intentions with staying with Alpine. Several sponsors of the team are with us because of our aim to have German power, Mercedes, BMW, or Volkswagon, and we intend on fulfilling those obligations."

Cherokee GP driver, Munich-born Ronald Hahn, backed Hardy's responses, stating "The team will do what it needs to do to get back to having a powertrain from a German company. Clayton is very firm on his stance against the likes of Chevrolet, and Ferrari. But if those plans fall through, we still have a plan B with Alpine so there isn't a need to rush...I think the merger idea is very feasible. We all have a common goal, and united, there's literally nothing holding us from attaining Mercedes support. But the merger talks are a bit over my head so I'll let everyone else involved in that go through those motions. I'm excited to be getting ready for the 2018 season, and that is where my focus must be."
 
26 year old Rachel Koivuniemi has been signed by Highlight Racing to compete in the 2018 Vodafone IndyCar Series. Koivuniemi, who lives in Tampere in southern Finland, has four years of Formula Two experience, as well as endurance experience, having raced in numerous 24 hour events in Europe in GT3 machinery, including races at the Nurburgring, Estoril, Algarve, Imola, and Spa-Francorchamps. She is currently slated to drive the number 35 Honda, with sponsorship from chocolate manufacturer Hershey, American beer brand Budweiser, and international retail chain Wal-Mart, but those have yet to be confirmed. Koivuniemi, throughout her career, has been supported by ACDelco and Microsoft, and both may become main sponsors of her car in the next few days. Koivuniemi is set to be the first Finnish driver to compete in the series since the late Henna Venalainen, who passed away following a crash at the 2016 Indianapolis 500.
 
Striker Motorsports is no stranger to success. The team earned the 2016 VRR IndyCar World Driver's Championship with Stephanie Porter-Kelley, with SPK racking up two wins in the process. In 2017, the team has achieved wins with all three of the team's other drivers, and are standing poised to challenge for the Team Championship as well as the 2017 VRR IndyCar World Driver's Championship again if the surge continues. With Jamie Ngaire-Jardine leaving and Mohammad Ahmed filling the vacancy, SPK gave her thoughts on who the to driver in the team would be moving forward: "I don't think there's a question that Diego has perhaps the best chance of the rest of the team next year to score a championship. He's been on form nearly every race this year. He's calm behind the wheel, and it shows. He hasn't been flustered this year. Jacob has shown glimpses of what we need to get more out of him. We need to work on optimizing his performance on race day. I think I personally had a down year, dealing with personal issues and such, and once I got back into the groove, I had to start thinking of Jamie's championship ambitions and Diego's as well. So I haven't been able to really break out and steal a win or two. And, while Ahmed is a polarizing driver, I think what he's shown while being at Swift Autosport has validated giving him a year in a good team and see where we are going from there. I still think we have potentially the best lineup in the field next year."
 
With Mercedes under question for joining in 2019, VRR CEO Eva Porter opened up on other alternatives should Mercedes fall out. "If Mercedes doesn't happen, there isn't an immediate plan B, and there doesn't need to be. We have five OEMs already for 2019, and yeah, Chevrolet could leave after that year, but we aren't in a rush to have another OEM yet. Depending on how Honda rebounds from the disaster they had in their roster this year, they could be gone by 2020 too, so we need to assess the options...Mercedes shoehorning itself into a series already crowded was a bad idea. But them trying to shoehorn into the series with a very middle tier team was a mistake. There's a massive undertaking to becoming a factory effort, and Ecurie Ecosse trying to adopt that responsibility before being ready doomed that effort. I don't think Cherokee can save it now, even if they threw five or ten million dollars at it. All of the teams need to calm down and take it a year at a time. I've been in talks with companies like Peugeot and Toyota to gauge interest, but until we know what Chevrolet and Honda are doing, we can't be certain on anything."
 
2018 will be the end of the first chapter of American open-wheel racing. In 2019, there will be two open wheel championships, the FICA Vodafone IndyCar World Championship, and the NARC Red Bull Champ Car World Series. Teams will have to pick between the two as to which series they will want to participate in. Details for the Champ Car World Series will be revealed in more detail very soon, but some of the basics are listed below.:
-Honda will leave IndyCar to become the exclusive supplier of Champ Car.
-Champ Car set to use the same chassis as IndyCar, but will only use the road course aero kit configured by Honda.
-Champ Car to be cheaper to manage than IndyCar, with one Champ Car entry requiring $4 Million compared to the $7.5 Million needed for an IndyCar entry.
-Michelin to be the tire supplier for Champ Car, Sunoco to supply fuel.
-Only one scheme will be permitted per entry in the series. Financial details and sponsorship outlines to be published soon with 2019 calendar.
-Full time Champ Car entries will be capped to 30. Grid size per race will be set to 24.
-Teams with low funds or teams new in 2019 will automatically be placed in Champ Car.
-Teams can have up to 4 cars full time, but only two will be eligible to score points in the Team Championship.

How different will IndyCar be in 2019? Well, take a look.
-IndyCar will use the oval and road course layouts in 2019.
-Two paint schemes will be allowed per full time entry. One for the road course kit, and one for the oval kit.
-Normal grid size will be set to 27. Monaco will be limited to 24 entries. Indianapolis will still have 33.
-Teams will be limited to three full time cars with an allowance for a fourth entry limited to 5 races.
-With Honda moving to supply Champ Car, the series will not have Honda power for the first time.

DISCLAIMER: This decision is being made out of respect of everyone that has shown interest in participating in the series. Instead of having a continued large amount of DNQ's, this split will give everyone a better chance at participating. I will manage both series.
 
Upon the announcement that there would be a divide in the open wheel ranks, Striker Motorsports team owner Stephanie Porter-Kelley immediately challenged the rules prohibiting teams from entering cars in both series. Porter-Kelley, a 2009 Indy 500 champion and 2016 IndyCar World Champion, made it immediately clear that preventing teams from trying to enter both series would prevent Champ Car from getting off the ground, stating; "Champ Car brings a very attractive offer to teams that are not interested in a series of flyaway events, and teams that are wholly interested in competing in North America only. But to rob those teams of the ability to compete fairly in the Indianapolis 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix entirely negates any chance of teams wanting to sign up for Champ Car. I would love to see the new sanctioning body (FICA), to lift that restriction, or in the very least meet in the middle and allow teams in Champ Car to enter, say, two full time cars in IndyCar. To me, that makes business sense. Because either Indianapolis gets hurt, or Champ Car is left at stillbirth." Porter-Kelley completely avoided talking about her drivers' future with the team, instead informing the media that the team itself is very much focused on finishing the 2017 season and competing for championships in 2018.
 
Adrian Boddington, Team Manager for Team Pezzarinho, has confirmed that the team are interested in joining Champ Car in 2019 when the tenders for new teams are opened but there has been no strategic planning or serious discussions in getting the project green lit.

Adrian attended the FICA meeting where the 2019 plans were outlined to all present, and could only confirm that he approved of the decision, and that "time" would play a major factor in the coming weeks and months.

"I attended purely out of curiosity and certainly these new plans for 2019 play towards a move that would see Team Pezzarinho join the Champ Car or Indycar field. It isn't something we will rush or take lightly, as there are a lot of gates to navigate before anything happens. Besides, I'm talking to you the media even before I have even discussed this with FICA themselves. For now we will put a pin in this and concentrate on the series we are already participating in."
 
"I'm disappointed that Honda has decided to quit after next season. I was really looking forward to getting a chance for further Phantom Motorsports' involvement with them down the road, but it seems as though they would rather be a big fish in a small pond than try to close the gap to the other manufacturers the good old fashioned way."

"As for this new split that NARC have created... I'm certainly not a fan of dividing sponsorship or media interest, but from a scheduling point of view it can make some sense. I'm not a big fan of 2018's long season and if the calendar for 2019 can be scaled back to around twenty races, with a split of say eleven Road/Street Courses to nine Ovals... But, I cannot comprehend the rules that FICA have implemented to exclude Champcar teams trying to enter Indycar races and vice-versa; All it does is just weaken the new series and undermine entrants for The Indy 500, to the point that it might as well be another civil war like the late 1990's on our hands again."

"With that said, I firmly believe in staying with FICA and the Vodafone Indycar World Championship for 2019. A series with the Indy 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix? I would be a fool to jump ship from that."
 
I'm a bit torn. On one hand it feels like an "equal but not" split, but in the other it seems to help a growing issue. With what we have right now, we don't have enough to call where this is gonna go. There could be provisions in the Indy and Monaco protocols that would allow, perhaps even reserve, CC teams an open shot.

As it pertains to Starion... It's as clear as mud. If 2018 goes well, we'll likely chase the IWC. If not, Relegation may be the word bat around.

Thing is, though, this is still a looong way off. While we are finalizing 2018, the first thing we as a team, and I as a driver, must do is FINISH 2017!
 
I'm honestly unsure how to feel about this. On one hand, I've only ever seen a split do damage to a sport so I'm unsure I welcome that. On the other, there is suddenly a cheaper alternative series where the expenses of doing fly-away races are no longer a concern. I don't believe Kuni has heard these changes yet, but I would be very interested in her thoughts about this.
 
"I would love to field teams in both series..." Cat Devil Racing team owner Kunimitsu Kino****a said to media, "...But if FICA are going to prevent cooperation, then obviously the Indianapolis 500 won't be meaning as much beyond 2018. If the rules don't change, we'll be Champ Car only...For my team it is an interesting dilemma. Both series, from what I've seen, will have races in Japan. And financials we could go anywhere. But I don't think I agree with the heightened focus on international events. What makes American open wheel so different from Europe is the oval racing, the insanity those races provide, and the speeds that even Formula One can't compare to. Doing races in Europe, where the only noteworthy oval (Lausitzring) is being closed down, IndyCar is suddenly no better than Formula Two. That's a downgrade that I'm not sure I want to cling to if there are better options available...With Champ Car, I can keep my entire team together, and with us recently finishing a base here in Tacoma, we could easily move our American operations to that base and focus our efforts in Kyoto on running in Formula One and the IEC."
 
The racing world was set alight by the notion that an American open wheel split would be happening in two years. During a press briefing, FICA officials made comments that led people to believe that teams competing in the spin off series would not be able to compete in the Indianapolis 500. Series promoter Eva Porter has decided to address those concerns as follows:
Q: Is FICA preventing Champ Car teams from competing in Indianapolis and Monaco, and what are their motivations there?
A: FICA is locking down Monaco for IndyCar only entries. Depending on how many entries are in the season, the top couple of teams from Champ Car will be permitted to enter Monaco. As for Indianapolis, we've always remained committed to letting Indianapolis be the showcase for the fastest in the world. Champ Car teams will be permitted to run in Indianapolis, provided they obtain engines from one of the (currently) four IndyCar OEMs.
Q: So Honda will not be participating in the Indy 500 from 2019 onwards?
A: Currently we are not aware of them producing a V8 engine to do so, so no, they are not currently included in those plans.
Q: Would FICA be interested in allowing Champ Car teams to enter full time entries in IndyCar?
A: I have sent forward a proposal to allow Champ Car teams with stellar economic standing the ability to field two full time entries into IndyCar. Whether or not Paris bite on it is a different situation, but the attempt has been made to make middle ground.
Q: Have you seen the proposed schedules? And how many date clashes are there?
A: There are a decent amount of date clashes. Indy and Monaco don't have date clashes as of yet, but Monaco could end up clashing with a race they want in California.
Q: With Honda leaving for Champ Car, have you talked with teams like Phantom Motorsports?
A: I have not. I think this ties back into a conversation I had a week or so ago. They were dead set on becoming Honda's flagship team. But with that now in the wind, and with Chevrolet possibly leaving in that timeframe, I could possibly shoehorn them or another prepared team into a deal with a different OEM. I still stand by the rules mandating that the factory teams need to be multi car, so we'll let time pass and see. It's an awkward position as a team owner because the biggest factor is money compared to legacy.
 
-Factory teams in IndyCar cannot field full time entries in Champ Car. They can lodge entries for Champ Car races at Michigan and Auto Club.
-Teams not in the top 10 in the 2018 IndyCar Team Championship points will be moved to Champ Car by default. This does not apply to factory teams.
-Teams that are in the top 10 of the 2018 IndyCar Team Championship will have the ability to split four full time entries between the two series, provided that they are not factory teams.
-IndyCar teams in 2019 will be restricted to three full time cars and an additional part time entry for Indianapolis, Pocono, and a third race to be determined.
-Champ Car teams can have up to four full time cars. However, only two cars will be eligible to score team and owner points.
-Only IndyCar teams can contest the Monaco Grand Prix.
-IndyCar and Champ Car teams can contest the Indianapolis 500. Champ Car teams must purchase a supply of engines allowed in IndyCar competition as well as oval aero kits.

Example 1: Black Rose Racing is a factory team for Ferrari. If they finish 11th in the IndyCar Team Championship, they would remain in IndyCar.
Example 2: Cherokee GP is not a factory team. They finish 7th in the 2018 IndyCar Team Championship. They then have the ability to field four cars split between the two series as they see fit.
 
Crystal Cove Racing will be withdrawing from competing in the 2018 Vodafone IndyCar Series season, and instead focusing its efforts on competing in the 2019 Red Bull Champ Car World Series, team principal Alexia Frost commented to the media Tuesday evening, stating: "With the enormous roster competing in 2018, we feel like we would be better invested letting Robert and Natalia be reserve drivers for their teams again in 2018 and then have them compete in Champ Car in 2019 where I feel we'll be better able to race." Frost made reference to the field for 2018, which now stands at 40 full time entries and an additional part time entry fielded by Escuderia Aguila. VRR have made it clear that the top 24 in owner points will be exempt from pre-qualifying for the first four races of the season. With Team Kate Upton leaving the grid at the end of 2017, the team could be abandoning up to three exemption passes, which may be provided to some of the new teams as a courtesy gesture. It remains to be seen how this will affect Ford's 2018 preparations, given that Crystal Cove was meant to use and test Ford power.
The following list is of the liveries slated to appear in 2018.
#2 Vodafone
#2 Panasonic
#2 Castrol Edge
#3 Vodafone
#3 Samsung
#3 Dairy Queen
#4 Project Mu
#4 Project Mu Brakes
#4 Repsol
#5 Serene Air
#5 Lux Soap
#5 Walls Ice Cream
#6 Vodafone
#6 Eli Lilly Pharmaceuticals
#6 TAG Heuer
#7 GoDaddy
#7 Jack Daniel's
#7 Coca-Cola
#8 G'zox
#8 Lexar
#8 Coca-Cola
#9 Bambi
#9 Duracell
#9 Coca-Cola
#10 Johnnie Walker
#10 Turn 10 Studios
#10 twitch.tv
#11 Target
#11 T-Mobile
#11 K&N
#12 Vodafone
#12 Shell
#12 Deutsch Post
#13 Adidas
#13 Valvoline
#13 In-N-Out Burger
#16 Okuma Corporation
#16 Arby's
#16 Wrigley's Gum (Juicy Fruit)
#17 GoPro
#17 Mountain Dew
#17 Oakley
#18 Sony
#18 Okuma
#18 Nikon
#19 GameStop
#19 Sony
#19 Pepsi
#22 Chick-Fil-A
#22 Raybrig
#22 San Pellegrino
#23 British Airways
#24 Brembo
#24 Nike
#24 General Electric
#25 Miller Lite
#26 SoftBank
#26 San Miguel
#26 Aeon Japan
#27 Calsonic
#27 Red Bull
#27 TBD
#30 Superchips
#31 Domino's Pizza
#31 Pilot Travel Centers-Flying J
#31 Western Union
#33 Petronas
#33 Moxie
#33 NOS Energy
#39 Fanatec
#39 Snap On
#39 AT&T
#43 Lego
#43 National Geographic
#43 Folger's
#48 The Aroma Cafe
#48 Nationwide
#48 Miller Lite
#55 Amazon
#55 Sabaton
#55 Novitec
#64 Mobil 1
#67 Boost Mobile
#67 Pirtek
#67 Fujitsu
#76 Burger King
#76 Namco Bandai Games
#76 Royal Purple
#77 ACDelco
#77 Microsoft
#77 Wal-Mart
#78 Nuclear Clean Air-Entergy
#78 Energizer
#78 Oreo
#79 The Y Camp Grady Spruce
#79 Dublin Bottling Works
#79 Lenovo
#80 Bass Pro Shops
#80 Red Bull
#80 Old Spice
#81 TE Connectivity
#81 Stanley Dewalt
#81 Coca-Cola
#84 Alienware
#84 Subway
#84 Bethesda Softworks
#86 TBD
#86 TBD
#86 TBD
#90 Bud Light
#96 NOS Energy
#96 Allianz
#96 Gulf Oil
#97 Elf
#97 Total
#97 Rip Curl
Livery-Means livery has been received.

War wagons, or pit boxes, will also be needed for 2018, as stated in the OP. The link for the war wagon to be used is here. Only one wagon per entry is needed.
War Wagons Received
#2 Vodafone Racing Team Impulse-Alpine @tbwhhs
#3 Vodafone Racing Team Impulse-Alpine @Sakura
#4 Striker Motorsports-Chevrolet @Suzumiya
#5 Striker Motorsports-Chevrolet @Smurfybug
#6 Vodafone Racing Team Impulse-Alpine @Zooparker
#7 Black Rose Racing-Ferrari @Formidable
#8 Black Rose Racing-Ferrari @Rebellion765
#9 Black Rose Racing-Ferrari @Whitetail
#10 Ecurie Ecosse-Ford @AudiMan2011
#11 Scuderia Rabia Furiosa-Chevrolet @DcrRaikkonen
#12 Vodafone Racing Team Impulse-Alpine @Pezzarinho17
#13 Phantom Motorsports-Honda @Kingofweasles
#16 Cat Devil Racing-Ferrari @GranTurismo916
#17 Cat Devil Racing-Ferrari @quietgirl
#18 Cat Devil Racing-Ferrari @KuniKino****a
#19 Cat Devil Racing-Ferrari @RACECAR
#22 Striker Motorsports-Chevrolet @GTRacer22
#24 Escuderia Aguila-Honda
#25 Escuderia Aguila-Honda
#26 Cherokee GP-Alpine @Antares26
#27 Eiffel Tower Racing-Alpine @aarror
#30 Equipa Chama Transatlantica-Chevrolet @Michelin
#31 Phantom Motorsports-Honda
#33 Cherokee GP-Alpine @NearCptNitro
#39 Starion Motorsports-Ford @Ph1sher
#43 Starion Motorsports-Ford @Eh Team
#48 Escuderia Aguila-Honda
#55 Perl Speed GP-Ferrari @catamount39
#64 Rainbow Road Racing-Honda @RESHIRAM5
#67 Eiffel Tower Racing-Alpine @PinkKitty13
#76 Equipa Chama Transatlantica-Chevrolet @Niku Driver HC
#77 Highlight Racing-Honda
#78 Highlight Racing-Honda
#79 Starion Motorsports-Ford @BKGlover
#80 Eiffel Tower Racing-Alpine @nascarfan1400
#81 Black Rose Racing-Ferrari @Eva
#84 Striker Motorsports-Chevrolet @amaterasu
#86 Starion Motorsports-Ford @YayoiGT2
#90 Big Blue Motorsports-Chevrolet @ukfan758
#96 Cherokee GP-Alpine @Clayton Hardy
#97 Apex Racing-Ford @LITTLEBLACKO
 
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OK, work's been hell, I'm in the process of gradually moving back to non-🤬 internet (the space and location are nice too), AND I had to go get checked out at the hospital Saturday. I've got mine done, a teammate's done, and I'm working on another team at the moment, but I'm gonna need some time to get any additional request done so the earlier stuff gets lined up the better.
 
When is the livery deadline again? Aware work is required and that I have yet to start, however I have other things I'm doing currently too. I don't get much time in evenings so it helps plan jobs.
 
Pezzarinho17
When is the livery deadline again? Aware work is required and that I have yet to start, however I have other things I'm doing currently too. I don't get much time in evenings so it helps plan jobs.
Click to expand...

Last I remember, December 1st was the deadline for Liveries.


Speaking of which, @Eva the 86 will continue with its same livery for 2018. Also, team liveries shall begin coming this week.
 
Right...Classic case of "My computer programs decided to stick their middle finger's into my eyes and twist." I'll likely have to redownload GIMP because an "update" killed my conversion dll. I can take on jobs, but I can't really go beyond basic setup because **** my luck.
 
Update 1.01

An update for "2018 Vodafone Indycar Series Season" has been released. The following is a list of changes introduced:


- The #10 has been updated with the current series logo as well as new manufacturer logos to reflect the team switching to Ford engines.

- The #86 has been updated with the current series logo as well as new team logo to reflect the merging with Starion Motorsports. Also, the number color changed to reflect the driver no longer being a rookie.

- The #64 has been updated with the current series logo as well as the number color changed to reflect the driver no longer being a rookie.

@Eva
@BKGlover
@AudiMan2011
@RESHIRAM5
@YayoiGT2
 
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RACECAR
Update 1.01

An update for "2018 Vodafone Indycar Series Season" has been released. The following is a list of changes introduced:


- The #10 has been updated with the current series logo as well as new manufacturer logos to reflect the team switching to Ford engines.

- The #86 has been updated with the current series logo as well as new team logo to reflect the merging with Starion Motorsports.

- The #64 has been updated with the current series logo as well as the number color changed to reflect the driver no longer being a rookie.

@Eva
@BKGlover
@AudiMan2011
@RESHIRAM5
@YayoiGT2
Click to expand...
I'm missing something. Was there supposed to be a link somewhere?
 

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