TV Times for December 8 – 10 2012

There have been several reports around stating that NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion car owner Roger Penske is offering NASCAR standout driver Tony Stewart an Indy 500 ride.  Could this be an attempt to heighten NASCAR fans’ interest in the event?  Perhaps so.  No doubt that Stewart has developed a strong base of fans over the years during his open wheel racing, compounded by the fact that he’s added still more fans after he successfully transitioned from open wheel and become a top NASCAR driver. This is an obvious effort to sell more tickets to the Indy 500 and to kick up TV ratings.

We’re not sure if Tony will accept the offer because running both the Indy 500 and the Coca Cola 600 is one of the toughest deals in racing. That’s over 1,100 racing miles plus all of the traveling in between.  No doubt the burnout would be real serious between qualifying for the Indy 500 his NASCAR committments.  There are also concerns that it could impact a driver’s safety.

We’ve also read that other drivers have put their name on the list in the event that Tony doesn’t accept the offer. But the names we’ve read don’t have the star power of Tony Stewart, and we’re sure that he if turns down the deal, the second string won’t get the same offer and consideration.

Danica Patrick decided not to do double duty on Memorial Day weekend 2013, and now it’s Alternate Plan B for the folks at IMS. That makes us think that the front office at IMS is concerned about their current crop of drivers not being able to sell tickets. All this isn’t a big suprise given the fact that even an ailing NASCAR is still in a position to outdraw Indy Car in both ticket sales and TV ratings. With the economy possibly on the brink of a triple dip, especially if the government goes over the cliff or almost, the business outlook is terrible  There seems to be no confidence in the US economy by business interests. We’ve talked to all types within the business companies and nobody is optimistic. It’s all doom and gloom out there.

Red Bull Racing has announced an enhanced commercial partnership with Infiniti that will give Nissan’s luxury vehicle division the title sponsorship rights for the leading Formula One team.  The contract was announced ahead of that Sunday’s finale to the 2012 F1 season which saw Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel retain his drivers’ world championship and became the youngest triple world champion in the history of the sport. Red Bull went into the Sao Paulo race having already secured the constructors’ championship, and the four-year extension of its partnership with Infiniti comes after the initial deal began in March 2011.  This report came from SportsBusinessInternational.

Skip Barber Racing School is proud to have trained champions in motorsports for 38 years. The tradition continues with 2006 Racing School Graduate and 2008 Karting Scholarship Shootout Champion Connor de Phillippi (pictured left next to Nick Andries, another talented Skip Barber Racing School graduate) has earned one of two Porsche Junior Scholarships for the 2013 racing season. After an extensive selection process, De Phillippi came out on top against young drivers from all over the world to be chosen as one of the newest Porsche Juniors.

On December 1st, at Campodoglio, Italy,  the Mayor of Rome – Mr. Gianni Alemanno, President of the FédérationInternationale de l’Automobile (FIA) – Mr Jean Todt, Formula E Holdings CEO – Mr. Alejandro Agag and Chairman of the Italian Automobile Club (ACI) Mr Angelo Sticchi Damiani, announced that Rome would be the first European city to host the FIA Formula E Championship in 2014.

Formula E Holdings has signed an agreement with the FIA to promote the new Formula E Championship featuring Formula cars powered exclusively by electric energy. 

Jean Todt, FIA President, said: “It gives me great pleasure to be in Rome for this exciting announcement that the eternal city has expressed its firm interest to host a race in the Formula E 2014 championship calendar. The contrast between this innovative motorsport series and the rich ancient history of Rome is one I am sure the public and the media will be intrigued and enriched by.”

Alejandro Agag, CEO of Formula E Holdings said: “We are honored to have Rome on board as the first European city to host Formula E, since Italy is renowned for its motorsports passion, expertise and technical innovation. Clean urban mobility and sustainability are a priority for our Championship, and Formula E wants to become a showcase for these advances through an entertaining and all-inclusive spectacle. We are thankful to the Rome City Mayor and authorities for their enthusiastic welcome and support.”

Rome becomes the second city in the world to welcome the FIA Formula E Championship following Rio di Janeiro’s announcement in August this year. In total, the 2014 inaugural Championship will feature 10 urban races. FEH has already received interest from a large number of cities to host the ‘E-Prix’. FEH will soon define the list of venues that will be proposed to the FIA for the first season. Further city announcements are expected in the coming weeks.

In November, McLaren announced it would design and build the powertrain for the first Formula E cars in consortium with Spark Racing Technology (SRT), a new company led by Frederic Vasseur. Formula E has declared itself as an ‘open’ championship. It has been working to encourage other car designers and constructors to build a Formula E car. The FIA technical regulations, to be published soon for the Championship, will ultimately set the framework for making such submissions possible. To ensure the availability of cars for the first year, FEH has ordered 42 cars from SRT for the 2014 Championship.

Check Jayski.com to see what’s happening in motorsports during the off-season.