USF1

[gizzy]

This team will have an announcement 2/24/09 with a special show on SPEED TV at 1300 hours

Kewl! We need this!

[gizzy]

FROM Yahoo Sport:

Time is right for USF1, claims Windsor.

One of the men steering the nascent USF1 project towards fruition insists that, despite the world sinking slowly into recession, it is the perfect time to be embarking on a Formula One adventure.

Speaking exclusively to Crash.net Radio, Peter Windsor claimed that the business model being set out for the Charlotte-based USF1 operation was more in keeping with the cost-conscious future that Formula One is aiming for, believing that the pinnacle of the sport is likely to ride out the worst of the economic crisis better than some of its rivals.

"Why F1 is an easy question to answer really," Windsor admitted, "It's the world's biggest sport - bigger than the World Cup soccer, bigger than the Olympics, bigger than the Super Bowl. It's got 600m viewers annually and it's beautifully organised - a world championship that begins at the beginning of the year and ends at the end of the year, every year. No other sport has that.

"It has a wonderful team franchise system and a formidable business plan, courtesy of Mr Ecclestone, involving co-ordination of the money derived from television rights, hospitality, freight, signage etc - all of which fuels the Formula One industry - and it's relatively recession-proof in that a lot of the teams are therefore not dependent on sponsorship for their income - unlike, say, NASCAR. It is just the world's greatest sport and that's why we want to be in F1."

Having seemingly eschewed the chance to acquire one of the sport's failing operations, USF1 would be the first 'all-new' grand prix operation since Super Aguri - although Windsor maintains that the Japanese operation was little more than a group fashioned to run provided equipment, rather than a bona fide F1 team.

"If you're going to be doing a start-up team, you need to have something that's compelling," he reasoned, "To do a start-up team that is perfectly in tune with the current economic crisis - in other words, a team that is going to be lean, mean and operate well within the parameters of the F1 financial model - is quite an interesting project.

"Having said that, however, Ken Anderson and I started this project four or five years ago - long before Armageddon was even thought of - and our plan was always to have a lean, mean team to prove that you could do a Formula One team for well under the operating numbers."

Proving established F1 assumptions wrong appears to be a key motivator for Windsor and co-principal Anderson, with low budgets, a US base and American driving talent all high on the list of ingredients. However, unlike other recent newcomers to the grand prix scene, the pair are determined to do what it takes to be contenders.

"All we can do is follow our heart and our passion," Windsor claimed, "We want to build an F1 team, we want to do it differently, we want to prove that a car can be designed and built in the United States and compete on the world stage - and then, beyond that, we want to win. There's no doubt about that.

"Ken's won a lot of races and a lot of championships, I've been fortunate enough to be a part of F1 teams that have won championships as well, and that is our goal. There's no question that we want to win, but we want to win with a nice, small, compact team, with a minimum of people.

"That's going to be the modus operandi of this F1 team - we're going to be small, lean, mean, but we're going to have a lot of fun, and always have smiles on our faces - which is probably going to make us very different from most other F1 teams."

While promising to reveal more significant details about the programme at an official announcement next week, Windsor admitted that USF1 had received a warm welcome from the two main organising entities overseeing the sport, but stopped short of confirming whether or not the team had gone as far as requesting an entry for the 2010 season.

"That's something we can talk about on 24 February," he insisted, "but the response from the FIA and FOM has been fantastic, very supportive from both sides. Both of them have known about this project for some time now."

[gizzy]

I don't know if Peter Windsor will continue to do pit talk on SPEED anymore...since he has a new gig. Or, if he will do his traditional after race interview with the podium drivers. Stay tuned.
-mark

[gizzy]

Is this the best US driver???
sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009_swimsuit/models/danica-patrick/

I think there are other choices...

[gizzy]

Another candidate...
www.eformulacarnews.com/news_info.php?n=4938&sid=a6117e5c27b4831570e20e9448d35374

There are a bunch of others being considered that don't wear bikinis.

[raikkofan]

Feb 19, 2009 1:00:08 GMT gizzy said:

I don't know if Peter Windsor will continue to do pit talk on SPEED anymore...since he has a new gig. Or, if he will do his traditional after race interview with the podium drivers. Stay tuned.
-mark

He might go at it through this year, I haven't heard of a replacement. But,yeah, there will come a day when he has to give the Speed gig the boot. And yes there are a number of drivers better than Patrick for F1. All I've ever heard is that she has no interest in F1 and when offered a Honda test drive some time in the past she said no. I would have done it just for the thrill even if I had no interest in Formula 1 racing.

[knightelcid]

Less than 4 hours for the USF1 to come to life

[gizzy]

Press conference at 12:00 noon eastern time 2/24/09 on SPEED TV. Peter Windsor is to make an official announcement of the USF1 team.
-giz

[knightelcid]

www.usf1.com for those that can't watch it on tv

[raikkofan]

Some possible drivers: Daly, Newgarden,Patrick,Kyle Busch. We'll find out in 1 minute!

[f1diva]

the countdown has begun it seems, would be intresting to know the driver line up. RHR, Rahal, Andretti (though i think his dad may have a thing to say about that) Patrick, so many names come to mind, so much youth and talent in the American driving scene at the moment, Hope they go for talent rather than big buck moves...

Diva

[raikkofan]

A.J. Allmendinger is another possibility. He's currently in Nascar but is having funding trouble. Richard Petty granted Peter Windsor permission to talk with Allmendinger, just in case.

[digital_F1]

9pm here - Doubt we can see it as we outside the US. I'm watching the countdown timer

Edit: The timer reached zero, then added another hour and started counting down again

[fizzycola]

I watched the countdown ticker end at 6pm UK time and nothing happened I was expecting the page to be re-directed to the announcement....

Nothing happened

Dear fellow f1-ers in the USA...please keep us posted

fizzy

[gizzy]

I was disappointed at the announcement today.

What sponsors do you have? hmmmm don't know. A portion of the team will be sponsored by an unknown source.

What engines will you run? unknown.

What drivers are you considering? unknown...could be Marco Andretti.

The only strong point I see is that they have a state of the art wind tunnel.

Target is for a 2010 start date. They better start to kick ass and get plans in place. There is a lot of engineering, testing, planning and infrastructure needed. Maybe I should move to North Carolina and give them a kick in the ass...a lot of work to be done.
-giz

[gizzy]

Summerton has been mentioned as a possible driver too.

I think that Mr. Windsor's USF1 team must solidify engine and sponsors before he announces drivers.

Good luck!

I really hope the best on this venture.

-giz

[digital_F1]

I have information courtesy of F1 Fanatic... USF1 to be ‘poster child’ team

[ Drivers

Speaking for the duo, Windsor did not confirm any driver in any capacity for involvement with USF1. However, he did speak enthusiastically about a young and developing generation of American drivers that includes Alexander Rossi, Connor Daly, and Josef Newgarden. Speaking to a more developed range of drivers, he referenced former F3 Euroseries and A1GP driver Jonathan Summerton, as well as names currently racing in U.S.-based motor sports, including, yes, Scott Speed and Danica Patrick, as well as NASCAR driver Kyle Busch.

“We haven’t made any decision on drivers yet” Windsor said of the question. “Your guess is as good as mine.” ]]

[gizzy]

I think that there is the technical know-how to build a great chassis here in the US. Most of the drivers digitalf1 listed would be good, such as Summerton, Daly and Speed.

We still need a good lump...an engine that outperforms. How about a highly modified Chevy small block? A team is as good as it's engine. GM is broke, but maybe someone out there could destroke this engine and add pnuematic valves to turn 19,000 rpm.

American team, american engine. Apple pie...think of the Can Am engines. 1200 HP...it can be done.

[raikkofan]

Feb 25, 2009 0:40:22 GMT gizzy said:

I think that there is the technical know-how to build a great chassis here in the US. Most of the drivers digitalf1 listed would be good, such as Summerton, Daly and Speed.

We still need a good lump...an engine that outperforms. How about a highly modified Chevy small block? A team is as good as it's engine. GM is broke, but maybe someone out there could destroke this engine and add pnuematic valves to turn 19,000 rpm.

American team, american engine. Apple pie...think of the Can Am engines. 1200 HP...it can be done.

Gizz- Windsor said they would be limited to existing series engine manufacturers, according to current rules(which I don't know or understand). So It won't be an American engine in their first year,unfortunately.

[gizzy]

Do I have to ask the big guy at Mac for an engine? :-)

[raikkofan]

Feb 25, 2009 4:13:44 GMT gizzy said:

Do I have to ask the big guy at Mac for an engine? :-)

Would you,please? It would save Peter and Ken some time and effort They may even comp you some pit passes.

[digital_F1]

The USF1 team, hoping to make the grid by 2010, has been asked by Formula One Management (FOM) to change its name. The team, with Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor at the helm, was sent the request by Bernie Ecclestone's company after introducing themselves to the world at SpeedTV's headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, two weeks ago.

From now on, the squad will be labelled as USGPE (US Grand Prix Engineering); FOM, its logo seen in the corner of all F1 television broadcasts, claims that it objects to the use of the abbreviation 'F1' in the American team's name and should remain solely as a mark of the sport itself.

Renault, Force India and Toyota all use the acronym in their full names although FOM claims that this is accepted as the word 'team' follows it. Williams, on the other hand, uses the title 'WilliamsF1' as its official trading name.

Force India has also made minor modifications to its logo following a communication from FOM; the 'FI' section of the artwork was deemed too similar to 'F1', and will now include a dot above the second letter.
GPUpdate.net

Seems a bit petty.... and it messes up the logo with the F and 1 making the 'A' in 'USA'.... espcially when FOM have been so vocal in supporting the new team...

www.usf1.com now points to www.USGPE.com...

tut, typical stoopid ecclestone strikes again! USGPE doesn't really work!