Motorsport: F1's big green push

November 17, 2006Friday motorsport report

"We want to make the research work done in F1 not just cost-effective but also road relevant," FIA president Max Mosley (pictured) says in an announcement with BMW's Professor Burkhard Goeschel, who is chairman of the Grand Prix Manufacturers Association (GPMA).

"New developments in F1 should be directly helpful to the car industry and in particular things which are relevant to perhaps the biggest single issue which confronts the car industry worldwide, namely the reduction of the output of CO2. That's why, in the shorter term, we are looking at energy-recovery and re-use from braking. That will come in 2009. We will come out with a regulation before the end of this year. And then recovery and re-use of the excess heat or waste heat from the engines. We intend to have a regulation for that before 2010. Both those things are fundamental to road car research.

"In the longer term we are looking at the possibility of a completely new F1 engine reflecting the industry tendency which is to have a downsized, turbocharged engine. The capacity would be up for discussion because we don't want to have a ridiculous level of horsepower (but the engines would rev to a minimum of 15,000rpm and use 'bio fuel'."

As the start of a push towards a greener F1 future, the FIA had already announced a five-year freeze on engine development. Now, as part of its efforts to make F1 research more road-relevant, Mosley says: "We will move F1 from the technology of the 20th century to that of the 21st century, to move away from F1 being labelled as a dinosaur. The tide of world opinion has just turned regarding global warming. With the changes we have made we have caught the tide; if we'd missed it F1 could have become irrelevant."

Mosley says that all issues between the GPMA and the FIA have been resolved. He pronounces this week's deal "a major breakthrough -- unquestionably a fundamental change in the way we go about managing the rules. We defined the objectives of road relevance, lower costs and social relevance -- and then we defined the rules."

Prof. Goeschel says "everyone already knows the (F1) engines are losing two-thirds of the energy by heat".

"The first step is that bringing the energy back into the car is one of the most important recoveries," he says. "The second step is to do this without losing the energy of the first step. So not only the engine but also the drive train must be made very efficient. That is the outlook for the future."

Mosley sees 20-GP calendar
The F1 calendar may have to expand to 20 rounds in future if traditional European races are to retain a place alongside the new events in emerging markets, Max Mosley says.

"There are still a disproportionate number of races in Europe," he says. "But we will get to the right balance between European and non-European races as markets develop. Places like India, China, Russia, South America, Central America, they are all very important markets."

The GPMA's Prof. Goeschel says, however, that Europe and the US remain most important for the car makers in the sport. Mosley says that, to satisfy the wishes of both parties, teams may have to agree to an increase to 20 GPs to avoid losing European races. "America and Europe are the two biggest markets for the manufacturers, so we would like to see another race in North America and probably not lose that many in Europe. The ultimate sacrifice may have to be made by the teams having 20 races."

A new document is being drawn up to replace the existing Concorde Agreement, under which F1 operates. The existing agreement expires at the end of 2007. It seems the individual teams are going to lose clout and instead be represented by the manufacturers.

Juan Pablo Montoya, the Colombian winner of the 2000 Indianapolis 500 and an F1 GP winner, makes his debut in NASCAR's premier division, the Nextel Cup, at the final round of the series at Homestead-Miami in Florida.

NASCAR has seen phenomenal growth in recent years although that has stuttered somewhat this year, but the arrival of Montoya opens new horizons for American stock car racing -- in particular in appealing to Spanish-speaking Americans, to whom 31-year-old Montoya is already a superhero. It also will greatly increase international interest in NASCAR, which traditionally has been a very southern American sport, although it has spread its wings to the west coast of the US and to Indianapolis, the centre of American open-wheeler racing.

Montoya will be driving a Dodge for Chip Ganassi. It will be No. 30, although at one point he was going to be in the No. 42, which is guaranteed a place in the field for Sunday's race, the Ford 400, at the 2.4km (1.5-mile) oval track. That idea did not please Casey Mears, who usually drives the No. 42 but has lost the seat to Montoya next year anyway. 

Thirty five cars are guaranteed a start in a field of 43, but Montoya will have to qualify the No. 30. "He'll earn more respect if he qualifies the car than he will if he takes the freebie," Ganassi says. "That's what this has all been about, anyway -- gaining respect. At the end of the day, Juan didn't want a free pass into the race."

Homestead-Miami is the track closest to Montoya's American base and he's looking forward to having lots of support for his debut. "I think this is a good move for me and our team as I continue experiencing the new challenges of racing a stock car. This is just another step in my preparation for the 2007 NASCAR season."

Montoya has had mixed results in five starts in the lesser stock car categories, including three Busch Series races. He made an impressive debut at Memphis but struggled in Texas and at Phoenix. He says this weekend will be the best barometer of where he's at. He's also driving the Busch race too this weekend, as many Nextel Cup drivers do.

"It's been a year of good results, but not great," Ambrose says. "A really fantastic experience, though. It feels like I've barely started. The year has just flown. I've really enjoyed racing so often." This will be his 22nd start. He missed the first three rounds in the 25-race truck series, while the Nextel Cup and Busch Series each have 35 rounds.

Apart from two third places. Ambrose has had four top 10 finishes, one pole position and one lap leader award. And there will be little rest after Homestead. "We have a Busch program to think about for next season," he says. That's already in place with the same Wood Brothers team backed by Craig Gore's Aussie Vineyards/Team Australia.

Andretti drove in 340 Winston/Nextel Cup races from 1993 until last year, winning twice, and -- while he now gets Sundays off to spend with his wife and three children -- would like to get back into that league "and prove something".

Rally NZ has 17 stages and 358km of competition.

Gronholm and Hirvonen only need to score three points in NZ to secure Ford's first world rally championship since 1979. Kronos Citroen is already 16 points behind and its French world champion Sebastien Loeb is on the sidelines for the third straight rally after a broken arm from a bicycle accident.

Bridgestones in short supply
There have been doubts whether Bridgestone, now F1's sole tyre supplier, will have enough tyres for the first F1 test -- over three days in Barcelona at the end of the month -- and that it may have to be curtailed or cancelled. The rumour is that the Japanese company has not had time to make enough development tyres in its proposed 2007 design, although a spokesman insists there will be adequate numbers for every team. In December there will be two tests at Jerez on the other side of Spain, although drivers still have to give that circuit a safety tick as an appropriate test venue.

Heikki pledges personality
Mark Webber tips Renault newcomer Heikki Kovalainen to be one of the finds of 2007. The rookie is already showing form off the track not seen in some of his Finnish predecessors in F1. "I will throw (Fernando) Alonso's shoes out of the cockpit quickly and replace them with my own," Kovalainen says. On having a more sparkling personality than Kimi Raikkonen and Mika Hakkinen, Kovalainen says: "Perhaps it is because I come from a different area of Finland to them. (Kovalainen was born in Suomussalmi). It is often said that Finns from the north are more expressive and open than some others."

Foyt clocks up half century
Next year will be American icon A.J. Foyt's 50th in Indy-style racing as a driver and team owner. He's signed Brit Darren Manning for his Indy Racing League team.