Oliver WhiteAmid all the political wranglings that have gripped the sport recently, news of Ken Anderson’s and Peter Windsor’s newly created Team USF1 have slipped beneath the radar. However, Autosport are reporting that the new car is progressing well and slowly but surely, the Charlotte team is coming together. Anderson expects to have a chassis ready by September and the first completed car to be ready in October.
Speaking to Autosport, Ken Anderson had the following to say about the team and the car.
Quite a lot of it is ready to manufacture. The chassis is locked down, because we were waiting to hear if the [Cosworth] engine rev limit was 20,000rpm or 18,000rpm.
The chaps will now start building the chassis in August. We will have it rolling on the ground in late September, without bodywork or stuff, and then the bodywork will get added in October. Ken Anderson.
Anderson also spoke of the growing squad and his closeness to signing a deal with Spain’s Aragon circuit to allow them to use the facility as a European base. This is something USF1 wanted all along, and although the car will be designed and manufactured in Charlotte, the distance involved between North America and where the majority of races are held means that a European base makes better sense.
We were only approved a few weeks ago and it wasn’t prudent to order $5 million of machines until we were there. We have about 20 staff at the moment, but we have got 20 or 30 starting in August. The thing is we need people to run machines, and there was no point having them until the machines are there.
The Aragon facility is a fantastic facility, the people there are very nice, very helpful. It is a great place for winter testing, and we would like to have our drivers based there, or at Paul Ricard, and run all the time. Ken Anderson.
Anderson pointed out that should the Aragon deal not come together, they are also evaluating Paul Ricard in France as a possible base, the French test track proving popular with many current Formula One teams for testing purposes.
Nothing much has been said about the driver line-up, although the team must be in talks with some drivers at the moment. Last week, Danica Patrick all but ruled out a switch to Formula One, proving what many had predicted. Speaking with the LA Times, Patrick was asked if she had nailed down her chosen category for next year (the obvious options being IndyCar, NASCAR or F1), to which Danica replied with “it’s probably not F1”.
Nice to see someone keeping tabs on the USF1 outfit..many people have been doubting them due to the lack of breaking news coming out of Charlotte, but I was fairly certain they diden’t want to release anything until the entry was officially accepted and stamped.
With that said, it’s quite good to see the team making progress and setting the whole operation up. And there’s no better news than to hear that Danica won’t be a part of the whole thing…..
You mean there is no follow-up comment from Ollie to react to my comments? C’mon amigo, that’s the best part about posting on your site…
I read today that Alex Wurtz is high on the list of potential USF1 drivers- if that’s true I think it’s a good move. Wurtz has a good attitude and would be a good fit with the new team and with the American media. Also, it would continue to prove that tall guys can cut it in elite motorsports 🙂
Kepp an eye out for some announcements during the upcoming summer break…hopefully we’ll hear some things about the team emerge as the slow news days tick by.