Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Taking Over The Jaguar Program From RSR

After reading this post from one of my favorite web sites Last Turn Club, it got me to thinking, just who should take over this failure of an operation from an embattled Paul Gentilozzi and the team his son runs, RSR?

The Jaguar Program has been a massive disappointment on all fronts, it has yet to run a complete race without spending at least several laps on pit lane or in the garage area. How is this suppose to improve Jaguar's Motorsport Image or its public image in which parent company Ford spent massive amounts of engineering dollars helping the Coventry based company improve its stock among affluent car buyers?

Using Motorsports to change your company's image has worked very well for companies like Audi. Where was Audi in terms of popularity in this country in the mid 80's? So it can work.

What Jaguar Marketing needs to do TODAY, NOW is develop a short list of current or mothballed racing operations that could do justice to this program.

I have one specific team in mind. A team that has been in the ALMS rumor mill for about 2 years but only recently dropped from mention.

That would be Forsythe Racing; Let me explain why...

Gerald Forsythe, along with Kevin Kalkhoven are majority owners of Cosworth. Cosworth built Jaguar F1's engine (back when owned by Ford) and was the one bright spots in the whole program. One of the main problems with RSR's in-house built engines is reliability. Going against well funded operations such as Porsche Motorsports, BMW Motorsports and GM Power-train; you need your own "firepower" as it were.

Forsythe has his own corporate empire and after spending over 20 years running a front-line CART/CCWS Program, I think they are perfectly suited for the job. On top of that, they have previously shown interest in having a ALMS team.

Do we put pressure on Jaguar USA to do the right thing by their brand? Tell me in the comments below.



UPDATED: Today in IndyCar - 7/20/10

UPDATED: Today in IndyCar - 7/20/10: "A daily recap of the IndyCar happenings from around the web. Today's entry includes Twitter Wars, Danica, and Simona de Silvestro."

AUTO-RACING - ALMS: 10 Questions With Paul Ritchie - SPEED.com

AUTO-RACING - ALMS: 10 Questions With Paul Ritchie - SPEED.com

2010 Dunlop 24h Race Dubai | Sports-car Channel | RaceFansTV

2010 Dunlop 24h Race Dubai | Sports-car Channel | RaceFansTV

The Way Forward: Putting The Fan First | Highlights & General Forum | RaceFansTV

The Way Forward: Putting The Fan First | Highlights & General Forum | RaceFansTV

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

NASCAR's Brian France spouts off without saying much

NASCAR's Brian France spouts off without saying much

Opinions, Opinions, Opinions

Coverage by veteran journalist Gordon Kirby of the recent Indy Car Announcement

Review on the American Le Mans Series Larry H. Miller Grand Prix by Tom Kjos

More Fallout from the Indy Car Announcement from marketing and advertising veteran Peter De Lorenzo

Former Trans-Am, IMSA GTO and Indy Car Driver and until recently the most successful Black Racing Driver, Willy T. Ribbs on Indy Honda Toronto

False Choices?

Are your choices on TV really only NASCAR, its other touring series and Indycar? If you followed Mainstream Media that would almost seem the case. There are other series out there. Better than Grand Am and better than all of NASCAR's lower series. If you're an oval purist you are visiting the wrong blog. I am not anti-Oval or anti-Stock cars, I just believe Sprint Cup is enough exposure to Ovals for a season.

Do you know about the FIA GT1 World Championship? I would be surprised if you did. Check out this video -


Did you know about its companion European GT3 Championship?


If your a supporter and fan of the American Le Mans Series like I am, you should be automatically a fan of this series. The GT1 series goes to some wonderful tracks and all its races are featured on the GT1TV web site. The GT3 series also has live streaming. But those aren't your only options, you both series are available on Bloomberg TV in the US. Check the calendar and your local listings.

I will be posting more and more in the days to come, you are not limited to the choices on Speed, Versus and ESPN.



Monday, July 19, 2010

What I Mean By Unfiltered.

I happen to think when I turn on the TV to specific channels or listen to internet radio, I get press releases and not much real reporting or opinion.

How many knew that Jim Tafel was the victim of the Financial Crisis? How many knew Greg Loles was a criminal? These things directly impact the show you watch, the races.

For example, there is really only one strong Porsche GT team in ALMS GT Competition. That would be Flying Lizard. I thought winning the manufactures championship was the most important thing in this series to these companies? Porsche funded a three car effort in 2008 for Flying Lizard because so many loyal Porsche customer teams switched to the Ferrari F430, including Tafel Racing. I call that "damage control". Come 2010 and with Extreme Motorsports improving and Risi adding a second full time car to the series, Porsche I personally think is in big trouble.

How come this isn't talked about in the media? We have a fierce Manufacturer's Championship, Driver's Championship and Team Championship in GT and all they can talk about on Speed is NASCAR?

I think most of the problem is we don't see much of the GT action. The cameras almost always cut away from the action in GT to go back to the LMP leader who's got a 20 second lead. For as much money as Ferrari, Shell, BMW, GM, Porsche and Falken Tire are dumping into this series, I think they would welcome more media coverage.

Who's fault is this? How come Wheeler TV who handles much of the production of the ALMS broadcast always escape scrutiny?

Most shows spend too much time telling you everything is okay in Motorsports. How come when almost every diehard fan of Indycar is howling about the recent announcement of new car in 2012 when its not much different than the current car? No coverage on ESPN? Does Indycar read all the different forum postings and blogs?

My guess is maybe, but judging by how most series run their programs, they certainly are not listening or taking your concerns seriously.

On top of all of that is the economy. How come Racing is more impacted by recessions than the other sports? That's never talked about!

I am a Fan! I'm tired of not being taken seriously as a fan. Most series figure you're stupid and have no idea what your talking about and you'll continue to watch whatever series is your favorite because you have no other choice.

That's what this blog is about and that's what my forthcoming show will be about, I'm tired of it.

There is no reason we can't be just as critical of Racing Teams, Racing Series and Team Owners as we are of the NFL, NBA or MLB.



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