http://speedtv.com/articles/indycar/auto/18204/
Well this should be an interesting evening. Something tells me that this is a good thing for the IRL. I can not see TK and Robert Clarke scheduled on the same night and it being bad news. I would suspect that Robin Miller will be on also to ask some stupid question.
That goes without saying.Originally Posted by OWNUT
It's a Hoosier thing, you wouldn't understand...
Robert |Clarke doesnt owe TK a living
Huh, what the heck are you talking about. Where was it mentioned that robert Clarke owed TK anything.
Just because both are on the same show, doesnt mean that Clarke will feel TK's pleas to stay in the IRL
Ok then you are lost on this post.Just because both are on the same show, doesnt mean that Clarke will feel TK's pleas to stay in the IRL
The Beer Baron must be back from "vacation". He seems to be posting quite a bit this afternoon.
recall any of Clarke's dealings with sanctioning bodies inthe past?
Honda didnt owe CC a living, they sure as hell dont owe the IRL a living.
Wow you are realy lost.
Just because dont believe that Clarke is going to announce that Honda will be in the IRL for 2007 & beyond, that I'm labelled as being 'lost'.
You're right. Here is how it is going to go:
Dave Despain: "Mr. Clarke, welcome to the show."
Robert Clarke: "Why, thanks Dave, thanks for having me. I'm here to make a major announcement. At the end of this season, we are going to terminate our relationship with the IRL and all of the teams that we have been supporting there. As a company, we have reviewed the situation and we have clearly made a huge mistake. Beginning next year, we are going to return to CART and become their sole engine supplier."
Despain: "CART no longer exists....."
Clarke: "Whatever. We're throwing in with that Kalkhauffen guy and his series, you know what it is called. Tony, you are free to look for new employment." Unclips microphone, leaves the studio set.
Robin Miller: "SEE!!! I TOLD YOU!!!"
Despain: "So what's Honda going to do with INDY Car?"
Clarke: "How would I know? It's 4 am in Tokyo."
the man in expensive shoes
or how about this
Depain: Welcome Robert Clarke, we believe that you have an announcement to make;
Clarke: before I have to refute a miller accusation <camera cuts to a shot of a disgruntled and snorting miller> we are announcing that we are going to remain in the IRL from 2007 & beyond.
Despain: Why are you not making this announcement at indianapolis?
Clarke: <abruptly stands up , unclips mike and storms out of the booth>
Also Jim,
Honda doesnt owe CC a living. if they leave the IRL, then why are they going to go back to champcars?
You had me all the way up to we are returning to CART. I think that they will anoounce that Robin Miller has been hired as the new PR person for Honda racing and he will responsible for releasing press releases concerning Toyota.
You stole my line, I doubt he will reveal anything new, and as was said, he probably doesn't know himself.
I've got to check my PM's to see if Honda owes me a living.
"You can't arrest those guys, they're folk heroes"
"They're criminals"
"Well most folk heroes started out as criminals"
Rats, I also didnt win the life paid for by Honda.
Knew I shouldnt have bought that Nissan, and hid it at work for 5 days before I told the wife. I'll know better next new vehicle purchse........ To get divorced first.
"OWRS did not return phone calls."
How about this?
Dave Despain: "Mr. Clarke, welcome to the show."
Robert Clarke:"h"
I ain't quiet, everybody else is too loud.
Did anyone watch? What was said? Any clue on engines?
"Moralism is often the first strength of a weak mind"
-Norman Mailer-
Windtunnel is tommorow.
I have it on good word that both CC and IRL folks should tune in to WT and especially pay attention to SpeedNews and what follows it on WT when Clark takes the mic.
Please tune in, tommorow will be a good show.
Catch Speednews prior to windtunnel too, should be a good lead-in for Clark-
On whether Honda has indeed withdrawn from the IRL -
"Yes, because of a technicality in the IRL rules that I discovered, which automatically renews a contract if no action is taken, we informed the IRL we are withdrawing to keep our options open."
On whether the IRL will renew with the IRL by the deadline of April 1, 2006 -
"We would have to be convinced not to come back. Our intentions are to continue as we have, but we are in a hold pattern until the IRL announces their new engine rules. Unlike our competitors, the IRL program is the only thing we are about. While we were a service company in CART we have changed our program to be a design development and service organization. We are developing our new engine for the IRL and it is scheduled to be released in time for the 2007 season.
"We have had lots of meetings and we made a proposal to the IRL in St Petersburg that is basically a carryover from the current engine with some modifications. The current formula is working and we don't think it would be smart of the IRL to go off in another direction."
On whether Honda would be happy being the sole engine supplier in the IRL after Chevy and Toyota leave -
"No being a sole engine supplier is not what we came into the series for, we obviously came for competition. As you know we were in the CART series, but we were essentially voted off the island in that series. We then looked where we could go and we thought the IRL was going to be the future and the pinnacle of open wheel racing in the US. And with Toyota and Honda coming, our suppliers, our teams, drivers and our sponsors, we thought the IRL was really going to take off and be quite successful. Unfortunately it has not to the degree any of us had hoped to, but we have not given up."
Is it a deal breaker if there is no competition in the IRL in 2007, will Honda commit to being the sole engine supplier? -
"That is a question we are asking ourselves. It is not only my decision. While I think we should stay, we have other constituents like American Honda. We have an awful lot of equity in this IRL program and to walk away from it with all we have invested, to walk away from it would not be the brightest thing to do. If Toyota and GM do in fact leave, and if we walk away as well it could potentially do some serious damage to the IRL and that is not why we came into the league, we came thinking we could enhance it and make it even better. I think it would be a new low point (one engine) for the IRL but I would hope the IRL could then grow from there. I would hope in that worse case scenario Honda would hang in there and wait and see." (i.e. it is not his decision, but others above him).
On what the IRL can do to get to the level of achievement Honda anticipated-
"Unification obviously between the two open wheel series is the best thing that can happen. For whatever reason, the USA fan base does not embrace open wheel racing like NASCAR and to fragment that small fan base into two series will never succeed in my opinion, neither one of them.
"If you ask anyone in either paddock of either series and they are all for unification. It's very unfortunate, very frustrating. I personally have gotten involved. I have had discussions with Brian and Tony George on the IRL side and Kevin Kalkhoven on the Champ Car side. I believe if there is a will there is a way, but it is being hung up over this issue of ownership. Honda is not in a position to dictate or control any of that. Threatening them is no way to enforce that, they have to reach that decision themselves."
Toyota is going stock car racing, does Honda have any interest in following them?
"The short answer, no! NASCAR is not where Honda needs to be, at least near-term. Honda's heritage is built in open wheel racing. We are happy with the IRL, it has been a very good program and from a technical point of view it has been much more challenging than we anticipated, we are happy here."
Rule 1: Kalkhoven's ownership stake in any 'merged' entity cannot ever even approach 50%. He hasn't earned it, and his current actions in the sport and in business are not representative of the professionalism, class or ethics it takes.
Is there any part of this sentiment the IRL bashers fail to adequately comprehend?
Yes, that's the exact same thing he said just before they left Cart.
I mean were voted off.
Link on that, elio?
What we know:
Clarke has a $100+ million budget to spend
Clarke desires to stay in open wheel for a couple reasons: 1) Honda has built up marketing "equity" over the past decade in open wheel & 2) that is where their expertise lies
Clarke desires a brand to compete against
Clarke wants unification
The IRL is underachieving
Speculation:
Clarke sees unification as a way to kill a couple birds with one stone. He gets competition (Ford badged Cosworth) and increases the stature of open wheel by combining the two disparate audiences.
I'm glad I'm not sitting Tony George's seat for this mess.
I wish I knew - Dennis "Cutty" Wise
When its game time, it's pain time! - Terrible Terry Tate
Well, he was the one who created it...
He's tried to end it several times and an offer currently sits on KK's desk.
People love to make fun of the typical motomouths in CART/OWRS/IRL/IMS but to me Robert Clarke has always been at the top of making wishy-washy, pr garbage statements. Honda probably has invested more in open wheel racing the last 12 years than any other outsider, so god bless them, but this guy has always been hilarious. "Voted off"?
It's interesting, that's the second time he's mentioned in public about working on the new engine. Only makes you think how many times he's told IMS that in private? Yet, he doesn't know what the rules are. Obviously, if IMS did/does have in mind something radically different in the engine, Honda certainly has setup their exit if that happened. Some how he'll blame IMS if it did happen, "We were told, why else get the ball rolling on development, All we invested to help this league, etc, etc,"
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