Doornbos out at Newman Haas Lanigan

Educated citizens are aware that not every former Formula 1 driver is cut out for Indy cars. To say that the jury is still out on Robert Doornbos is to be kind.

Doornbos confirmed today (link to Curt Cavin's article is in title above) that his association with Newman Haas Lanigan Racing has ended following 12 mediocre performances. Commonly believed to receive funding from his father, Doornbos plans to resume his racing career elsewhere, perhaps with HVM Racing.

The man known as Bobby D gave his most impressive performance at the Indianapolis 500 Festival Parade, where he thrilled the locals with a riotous Ivan Drago impersonation. While the other 32 starters, many accompanied by family and friends, waved to an appreciative crowd, Doornbos offered nary a wink, sitting fully erect in his stoic pomposity.

Lighten up, Bobby D, or risk being branded a counterrevolutionary.

The presence of an F1 veteran is not cause for delirium in Indianapolis, for we have seen your kind before. They include World Driving Champions and Grand Prix winners. Some (Jim Clark) adapted seamlessly. Others (Jochen Rindt) did not. The Committee on Public Safety suggests that you not only learn to drive ovals without crashing, but also that you do so with humility. It seemed to work for Emerson Fittipaldi.

Roggespierre

Menard Interested in IRL Engines

Click the story title above for the link to Bruce Martin's full report on Versus.com.

Among the interesting tidbits, Tony George tells Martin that John Menard has "expressed recent interest" in becoming an IndyCar engine provider in the future.

This is very good news.

Honda is an enigma. It might be an enigma that is a net positive for IndyCar Racing, but that is difficult to determine. Roggespierre invites citizens to consider Honda's various positions in the IndyCar Racing supply chain.

1. It is a supplier to all of the IndyCar teams. We do not have sufficient data to say that Honda profits from its supplier role, but a $1.2 million (Ilmor gets some) engine budget per car per season is enough to turn the cerebral wheels.
2. It is a supplier to the IRL Operations Division. Honda supplies pace cars for all races but Indy. It is doubtful that the IRL actually pays for these cars. The question is whether the deal consists of 100% in-kind compensation or does it include a cash payment from Honda to the IRL?
3. It is a customer (type 1) of the IndyCar Series. It pays the series an undisclosed sum in its role as a series sponsor.
4. It is a customer (type 2) of the IndyCar Series. Honda is promoter of the Motegi race. Does it pay a sanction fee? Does it receive "consideration" due to guarantees that it will supply engines for 33 starters at Indy and all cars that can afford to pay the lease?
5. It is a customer of Andretti Green Promotions. Honda is title sponsor of the AGP races in St. Petersburg and Toronto. The issue of whether this is "new money" or merely a transfer of Honda's previously committed sponsorship dollars from the IRL to AGP is not publicly known.
6. It is a customer of Andretti Green Racing. Honda sponsors Hideki Mutoh's "Formula Dream" entry.
7. It is a customer of IRL broadcast partners ESPN and Versus. Honda buys advertising on the IRL telecasts.
   

Roggespierre's Question of the Day: is Honda's Total IndyCar Project cash-flow positive or cash-flow negative? Danton will not guess for fear of losing his head.

This is wise.

Here's the itemized calculus:

1. $1.2 million * 22 full-time season starters = $26.4 million revenue (one-offs not included)
2. plus value of "Honda" on every engine cover of every car in every race
   
3. less portion of rebuilds completed by Ilmor
4. less Direct Sponsorship payments to IRL
5. less St. Pete & Toronto sponsorship payments to AGP
6. less Formula Dream sponsorship payments to AGR
7. less Sanction Fee & costs incurred due to Motegi
8. less broadcast advertising buy
9. we'll assume that the official cars are in-kind compensation
   

That's quite a package. Is the sum of lines 3 through 9 greater than the sum of lines 1 and 2? Maybe, but the cash infusion to Honda from the teams for spec, mileage-restricted engines reduces the cost of sponsorship considerably.

Roggespierre assumes there must be a reason that HPD honcho Erik Berkman has warmed to the idea of remaining sole engine supplier to the series.

Danton notes that Honda's expenditures on Formula Dream and Motegi add exactly zilch to the Total Package Value for the IndyCar Series. Remember, too, that the IRL , via its TEAMS program, redistributes $1.2 million per season to each full-time entry.

Consider all this - a confounding task, we admit - and one questions whether the league would do better with cheaper engines for the teams, a reduced redistribution of cash to the teams through the TEAMS program, and fewer "revenues" from the engine supplier.

An enigma, indeed. Keep talking, Mr. Menard.

Roggespierre

New Milwaukee Mile Promoters

Historic Mile, LLC is the proposed new promoter of the Milwaukee Mile.

The principals are Tony Machi, Steve Jones and the expatriate Jim Beaudoin. The group has signed a letter of intent. It now has 55 days to demonstrate that it has the financial wherewithal to promote the historic oval.

An Opposing View of Dallara

Correspondence with Saint-Just has given Roggespierre pause to reconsider his opinion of Dallara.

Saint-Just points out that no one, least of all IndyCar teams, has been "lining the pockets" of Mr. Dallara. As evidence, he points to the fact that the current chassis is now in its seventh year. Dallara had expected to sell new cars in both 2006 and 2009, but was unable to do so.

The 2008 transition teams were helpful to Dallara, but Saint-Just credibly argues that there is a reason Dallara is now building Grand Am cars.

Given the source, Roggespierre is inclined to concede the point.

Saint-Just did go on to say that Dallara does a solid parts sales business. On that point, conspiracy theories being all the rage here in the Republic, Roggespierre now suspects that Mario Moraes is in fact an agent of Dallara, as he is obviously engaged in a clandestine mission to increase the flow of capital from IndyCar teams to the Dallara parts truck.

Like E.J. Viso, we look forward to seeing the Votorantimian's flowing locks brought before the Committee on Public Safety, where Revolutionary justice shall surely have its way.

Roggespierre

Reflections on the IndyCar Schedule

The Republic is torn.

The Girondists pity Terry Angstadt.

"He put together the best schedule he could," they say.

"The knitters will have his head if he doesn't deliver profits to the IMS next year," they chirp. "He had to chase the quick money."

"It isn't Angstadt's fault that the cars and engines cost too much to run," they plead (with some validity).

The Jacobins are less sympathetic.

"He would have them race in parking lots," they wail.

"He conspires with Cotman and the teams to rid the series of ovals," they claim.

"Tear off the wings!" they clamor.

Between these harried factions stands Roggespierre, the Incorruptible, providing sage clarity and enlightened reason for all citizens of the Republic. Here, now, his analysis of the evenevements de consternation.

The Chosen

Barber Motorsports Park - should have required track improvements. In the Republic you get one chance to make a good impression. Planning to fix the track in Year 2 is not good enough if the stench from Year 1 turns off the paying customers. A permanent facility using a 3rd party promoter (named ZOOM Motorsports, no less) is cause for hesitation.

Brazil - adding this race to the schedule despite not having a venue locked up looks like an act of desperation, which it is. The APEX Brasil cash infusion addresses an immediate need, but the event has no long-term strategic value. Ask yourself this: if the sponsor were to "fulfill its marketing objectives" and leave, could the promoter sell enough tickets to break even? If the answer is no - as it clearly is here - then don't do it.

The Others

Richmond - there was no decision to be made. ISC can't fill the stands for its two NASCAR (sans-culottes) Cup events at RIR, and those will always be priorities 1A and 1B. Marat informs us that the IRL had to furnish a new title sponsor in order to return. Terry Angstadt, welcome to the lives of Paul Tracy and Buddy Rice!

Milwaukee - Roggespierre has confirmed that the head is dead but the body is twitching. In that event, we've found that it's best to withhold judgment.

New Hampshire - Jerry Gappens, you, sir, are a credit to the Revolution! IndyCar needs more citizens like you! That said, Roggespierre was in the NHIS stands, virtually alone, for the IRL race in 1998. Could IndyCar half-fill the place in 2010? It's doubtful, and that's not a slam on Jerry's sales & promotions team. With real growth - meaning fans, not corporate underwriters - NHIS could become a viable option in the future.

Foxboro (Gillette Stadium) - this secretes the foul odor of a potential sponsor's bright idea. A densely populated location is one of very few good reasons to run a temporary circuit, and Foxboro isn't as dense as you think. Forget the Boston Red Sox. Indy cars on a good day couldn't outdraw the Pawtucket Red Sox. Has the IRL brass seen the ratings they get in the Boston TV market? They're darn near hashmarks. And what happens when the thing tanks and the sponsor's marketing guy gets the ox cart trip to Revolutionary justice? Poof!

Baltimore - the locals have a hairbrained scheme to get the IRL to race the Inner Harbor in 2011. The loss of Richmond makes this option seem golden, but it's pyrite, my friends. Baltimore isn't desperate enough to be a good candidate for a street race (more on that another time). Odds of the IRL getting more paying customers than the all-city lacrosse tournament? Not good.

Las Vegas (Motor Speedway) - track management is apparently interested only if there is a threat of a street race nearby. Roggespierre understands. Like NHIS, this track is too big for the IRL in its present state.

Detroit - not at Belle Isle. Here's what IndyCar should do if it wants to race in Detroit: convert a dilapidated manufacturing facility into a small oval track and drag strip. That gets the IRL in the city one weekend each year and keeps some kids from going "The Fast & the Furious" on city streets for the other 51. Make it a community project - politicians, Boy Scouts, Shriners, that sort of thing. Apply for some stimulus money; Danton says there's a lot of it. Replace the old Kentucky date with a race at the new Detroit track - that's also the weekend of the old Buick Open PGA event that likely saw its final round this past Sunday. Roggespierre likes this idea because it would provide some genuine services to people who could really use them right about now. Turn the track over to Detroit Parks & Rec except for the IndyCar race weekend, which can be promoted by Penske, AGP, Lanigan, whomever. In Year One, the marketing tagline should be, "IndyCar & Detroit -Motoring Back Together - and by the way, where's NASCAR? (sans-culottes!)"

Roggespierre