A Rant!

[RacerX]

New small teams like USF1 should be given the opportunity to use a customer chassis, Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said on Thursday.

As the famous marque launched its 2010 car at Maranello, Italian Montezemolo expressed more misgivings about the competitiveness of the new names set to hit the grid this season.

Last year, the 62-year-old belittled the new entrants by facetiously suggesting F1 should be renamed 'Formula GP3' when they make their debuts in 2010.

"I would prefer three McLarens and three Renaults to three 'whatevers'," he said last August.

And on Thursday, Montezemolo added: "Like in the past we would be most happy to give an American team in the colours of the US - or a German team or an Australian team - a Ferrari," he said.

OK, I think one needs to ask, what the heck has happened to racing these days!?

Is it to much to ask for stock car racing to be done in real stock cars?

Is it to much to ask for more than one chassis and one engine supplier in IndyCar?

Is it to much to ask that sports car racing be done in unlimited non spec manufactured sports cars?

Everyone is spec racing! Everything is going spec, spec and more spec! Everyone has the same engines in the same chassis running on the same tires through the same trannies!

And now F1 looks to be going down this very road! First we had the manufacturers supply "customer" engines to the minnows and now Monty is offering them chassis as well! I mean cmon! Is this really racing anymore?

[MSulka]

Agreed.

If USF1 want to race they have to build their own **** car.

[cptkablamo]

x2

[Bumpsteer]

Welp,

It is how any team works within the specifications that will win races. With what went on in 2009 now behind us; just what beacons of light may truly lead the way in 2010?

I guess call me less than jaded but watching even just a day/night worth of practice between "all the same cars" at Daytona yesterday made a very cold night just a bit warmer, a bit more interesting.

In F1? I guess I'll be rooting for a Cosworth in any chassis (and more or less regardless of the driver), while watching some fun with Schummy screwing around the better part of the season. Shunts, offs and broken gearboxes, you watch I honestly expect him to somewhat mirror Kimi's days as an experienced F1 driver. Can he survive the press and return in 2011?

A full season of first corner disasters followed by the pace cars for ten laps is what equality of builds might bring but I don't believe that will be the case, due to teamwork.

Cheers

GC

[FIVE]

There is just something about the engineering,prototyping,and development
of a racing car,whether it be a soap box derby or formula 1, that makes
it come alive.
Spec cars get a number...Racecars get a name!

[f1fan-sky]

Originally Posted by FIVE

There is just something about the engineering,prototyping,and development
of a racing car,whether it be a soap box derby or formula 1, that makes
it come alive.
Spec cars get a number...Racecars get a name!

Well said!

[skidmark]

I guess I'm torn between the two. I mean I appreciate that an open spec brings out the creative juices of not only the race team but the designers, engineers and builders back at the factory who are striving to do one thing: build a better car. That's the sole purpose of racing; to be better in every respect and take the knowledge one gleans at the track to build better cars for the public.

Cripes, three-quarters of the innovation we have in cars today were prototyped on a race track and you won't get that kind of innovation and creative thinking in a spec series.

But a spec series has its advantages as well. The most successful race teams in those series are the ones who do a better job with what they've got. They're the people who can squeeze a little extra out of a defined envelope, can push beyond accepted or conventional limits. It's more about man and machine than mastery of making the machine.

One only has to look back a few years to see how an open series dominated by one maker compared against a spec series where the playing field was far more level. CART vs F1 in the '90s was no contest in terms of race day excitement.

I think Monty has an idea in terms of helping get the minnows up to speed in F1, but were it adopted I don't think things would work out as he figures. I can see many of those newbies going to a top team to buy an established design and then spending their time and money trying to figure out how to go one better.

[Insighter]

Originally Posted by skidmark

But a spec series has its advantages as well. The most successful race teams in those series are the ones who do a better job with what they've got. They're the people who can squeeze a little extra out of a defined envelope, can push beyond accepted or conventional limits. It's more about man and machine than mastery of making the machine.

It's more about money. I know that is not the intent of a spec series, but in my experience, when all the basic bits are the same, the team with the biggest budget wins. They can go to the wind tunnel and tweak every little thing, go to a gearbox rig and get every little bit of efficiency out of it. There isn't much thought into these tests, just trial and error. The small teams can't afford these tests, and they can't get ahead with good ideas because they are all banned.