De Ferran Motorsports in Indy??

[DanicaFan]

Where is our 2009 silly season thread ?? I thought for sure we had one but we didnt, so Im posting a new thread on this..

Some interesting news here...

Gil De Ferran, owner of De Ferran Motorsports is looking to expand into IndyCar. They currently run in the ALMS Series. Gil won the Indy 500 back in 2003. He says he could have things set up by this year's Indy 500. He also stated he will not be the driver of the car.

[The instant classic]

Where is our 2009 silly season thread ?? I thought for sure we had one but we didnt, so Im posting a new thread on this..

Some interesting news here...

Gil De Ferran, owner of De Ferran Motorsports is looking to expand into IndyCar. They currently run in the ALMS Series. Gil won the Indy 500 back in 2003. He says he could have things set up by this year's Indy 500. He also stated he will not be the driver of the car.
:eek: i didnt even know Gil De Ferran had a team? the last remember he was
doing play by play, in 2005, well i hope he, find a driver alot of indycar guys ridless for the season im sure he can pick someone up

[MDS]

It's been an open secret for a while now that de Ferran is looking at going full time in the IRL in two years or so. ALMS is a great base that one can use to jump into the IRL. I'm sure he would have technical help from Penske and his racing credits would likely help him bank some sponsors.

Another thing to consider is he's employing Simon Pagenaud, who showed a lot of speed in the last year of Champ Car and at 24 is one of the young guns I would go after if I were looking at forming a team. There's a good amount of chatter about de Ferran putting together a one-off for Indy with Pagenaud in Penske equipment this year and maturing along a similar pattern to Luczo-Dragon, which would be great news for the series if de Ferran went full time in 2011, with the new equipment, and a two-car team.

[Chamoo]

It's been an open secret for a while now that de Ferran is looking at going full time in the IRL in two years or so. ALMS is a great base that one can use to jump into the IRL. I'm sure he would have technical help from Penske and his racing credits would likely help him bank some sponsors.

Another thing to consider is he's employing Simon Pagenaud, who showed a lot of speed in the last year of Champ Car and at 24 is one of the young guns I would go after if I were looking at forming a team. There's a good amount of chatter about de Ferran putting together a one-off for Indy with Pagenaud in Penske equipment this year and maturing along a similar pattern to Luczo-Dragon, which would be great news for the series if de Ferran went full time in 2011, with the new equipment, and a two-car team.

As I would love to see de Ferran run at Indy this year, if Helio is available, I doubt he receives any Penske support since he will most likely be running 3 cars.

This is a little bit of old news, in regards to de Ferran looking at returning. He stated this in an interview a month or two ago. Said he wouldn't be driving, and it had to be the right situation for the team.

[trinksuk]

It is not so surprising that Gil is considering IndyCar; his CEO is the ex head of Honda, his Team Manager was in the same role as part of the all conquering AGR outfit and a number of the crew guys are very familiar with the IndyCar scene.

With Gil's old connections back to Honda F1, how about one of the ex Honda F1 drivers heading this way, Anthony Davidson and James Rossiter were seen in Detroit last year (James won the ALMS race) and Takuma Sato too is without a drive.

I think Indy might be a stretch particularly with an ALMS race in the middle of the month of May but I wouldn't be surprised if they showed up later on in the year. I agree with Chamoo, Penske support is highly unlikely (they probably are helping Luczo already) despite the old relationship.

I doubt Gil has much interest in picking up one of the IndyCar drivers without a ride - he is more likely to try and develop some new talent which I think is a better investment in the long run.

[MDS]

As I would love to see de Ferran run at Indy this year, if Helio is available, I doubt he receives any Penske support since he will most likely be running 3 cars.

I know if Helio is acquitted a lot of people believe Penske will run three cars, perhaps with Verizon or Avis as sponsors. That assumes two things, Helio is found guilty and The Captain wants to run three cars. Right now we don't know if either of those are true.

What I think will happen is either Helio is going to prison, Will Power will be Penske's new driver and with the extra equipment sitting there Gil and Roger work out a lease deal for a one-car team and Simone Pagenaud qualifies for his first Indy 500. OR... Helio is acquitted of all charges, takes his seat back and Will Power runs what is essentially a third Penske car for Gil de Ferran.

The other options are Penske is either willing to A: Run a third car out of pocket. B: Has enough sponsorship sitting in a down market waiting on a last minute decision to justify running a third car and is just waiting on the outcome of the trial. C: Has enough sponsorship for a third car and has a driver silently waiting in the wings on Helio's verdict. D: If acquitted, Helio will pay Roger to run a third car out of all that money he supposedly plans to pay taxes on in May.

[Mark in Oshawa]

I cant see Helio getting out of the mess he is in. Funnier things have happened but the feds in the US usually get their man on convicitions of this sort. That said, Gil did a great job in ALMS last year with his team and I do think if he goes to the IRL he will be competitive. Pageneuand would be the best choice in the long run but for a one off ride at Indy I would think someone like a Paul Tracy just might be in the conversation.

[Chamoo]

I can't see Pagenaud doing the 500 this year if this all does indeed come to fruition. Simon is a key member of the ALMS team and they will be in Utah May 17th, which would be the third qualifying day and bump day.

If you take Gil for his word (and who wouldn't), he won't jeopardize his ALMS team for his non-existant Indycar team.

[dataman1]

Where is our 2009 silly season thread ?? I thought for sure we had one but we didnt, so Im posting a new thread on this..

Some interesting news here...

Gil De Ferran, owner of De Ferran Motorsports is looking to expand into IndyCar. They currently run in the ALMS Series. Gil won the Indy 500 back in 2003. He says he could have things set up by this year's Indy 500. He also stated he will not be the driver of the car.

Link Please.

I have seen quotes that he admits his desire but in same statement says there are not plans.

[bblocker68]

They're all over the place.

http://www.google.com is a great place to start.

[garyshell]

Link Please.

I have seen quotes that he admits his desire but in same statement says there are not plans.


http://lmgtfy.com/?q=de+ferran+motorsport+indy

Gary

[Mark in Oshawa]

I doubt highly he is serious for this year. He isn't going to start spending money like water to set up an IRL team in this soft economy without a big sponsor on board. That hasn't happened and isn't likely to happen...IMO of course.

[dataman1]

Gary, That was a cute trick.

From what I read thanks to the google hints is the same thing that was put out on IndyCar. He points to his passion and the possibilities of the future.

Granted he has a lot of talented and experienced people working with him. I don't see him putting all the trust (read dollars) from Acura at risk, while they move up to P1 with a totally new chassis. Acura has too much at stake to let him try to run two programs any time soon.

I'll see him this week in Sebring and will ask.

[Chamoo]

I doubt highly he is serious for this year. He isn't going to start spending money like water to set up an IRL team in this soft economy without a big sponsor on board. That hasn't happened and isn't likely to happen...IMO of course.

Agreed, however, maybe Acura can transfer some of that XM Satellite money to the ICS team?

[garyshell]

Gary, That was a cute trick.

From what I read thanks to the google hints is the same thing that was put out on IndyCar. He points to his passion and the possibilities of the future.

Granted he has a lot of talented and experienced people working with him. I don't see him putting all the trust (read dollars) from Acura at risk, while they move up to P1 with a totally new chassis. Acura has too much at stake to let him try to run two programs any time soon.

I'll see him this week in Sebring and will ask.


Tis rather fun, yes! The site is www.lmgtfy.com (http://www.lmgtfy.com) for others who wish to use it.

Gary