Jaguar dead; Cosworth gone

[The359]

Jaguar to leave Formula One racing
Jaguar owners Ford have announced plans to withdraw from Formula One racing at the end of the 2004 season. The Jaguar Racing team, along with engine manufacturers Cosworth, have been put up for sale by the American car giant.

Jaguar's presence in Formula One has been a valuable marketing and brand awareness platform particularly outside our main markets of the US and the UK,” said Joe Greenwell, chairman of Jaguar Cars. “However it was our collective view that it is time for Jaguar Cars to focus 100% on our core business.

“After a thorough review over many months Ford Motor Company has decided it can no longer make a compelling business case for any of its brands to compete in Formula One.

“Having reached this decision our focus has turned to securing the best future for our Formula One businesses and our employees in these businesses going forward. We are therefore putting our Formula One businesses up for sale.”

Ford Vice-President Richard Parry-Jones, the man in charge of Jaguar’s Formula One operations, told news agency Reuters that a number of potential buyers had already expressed interest.

Jaguar came into the sport in 2000 after taking over the Stewart team. Since then they have seen only limited success and currently lie seventh in the 2004 constructors’ championship standings.

The sale of Cosworth could also have a major impact on the Minardi and Jordan teams, both of whom are powered by the company’s engines. Minardi recently announced a deal to continue use of their V10s for the 2005 season.

 

[Cosmic]

Well , they should leaved before....
This isn't surprising...

 

[RacyBacy]

It's even sadder that Ford are closing the Browns Lane Jaguar plant in Coventry which is the true home of Jaguar.

 

[Rue]

Personally. I have never seen the point of the big manafaturers entering F1. To get the recognition that they want requires coming first and the only manafacturer that is capable of that, to be uite honest, is Ferrari. And how many people can actually afford to buy and run a Ferrari? Not many.

 

[Diego440]

Well that really sucks. The last I heard was that Ford was withdrwing from the WRC championship for next year, and the rumour had it that they intended to focus all their funds on F1... not meaning that it meant more money, since the budget for autosports would be greatly reduced. However, this withdrawal from F1 as well comes as a major hit to the towlrd of motorsports.

I guess this means Ford will only be focusing on the redneck-loving NASCAR series, just as GM?

 

[The359]

Ford does CART as well, and they have a semi-connection to Aston Martin Racing in sportscars.

 

[Dirkiyo]

Ford does CART as well, and they have a semi-connection to Aston Martin Racing in sportscars.

What has this to do with Jaguar ending their F1 involvement

i'm sad to see a team like that disappear from F1, F1 is getting less and less interesting.

 

[The359]

Um, Ford owns Jaguar, therefore with the death of Jaguar (as well as Ford's WRC program), the money is obviously going elsewhere.

 

[Dirkiyo]

Um, Ford owns Jaguar, therefore with the death of Jaguar (as well as Ford's WRC program), the money is obviously going elsewhere.

deuhhhhhhh, ofcourse i know that Ford is the owner of Jaguar..who doesn't?
But what has "Jaguars F1 ending" to do with Ford competing in the CART-championship?

 

[The359]

It means more money for Ford to put into the development of their CART engines. You do know Ford is the exclusive supplier of engines for CART, right?

 

[Dirkiyo]

......but would that be the real reason?

If it is.....

 

[DQuaN]

I thought F1 teams had to give a years notice if they wanted to leave

 

[LoudMusic]

Dirkiyo, you are about the most dense person I've ever seen.

 

[Dirkiyo]

Dirkiyo, you are about the most dense person I've ever seen.

what do you mean?

 

[kensei]

*yawn*

While I am neither a fan of Jaguar or Ford I do have to respect the fact that Ford just pulled the plug quickly, they didn't drag it out half-assed for years. Though you could argue that that is all they have been doing with jaguar over the past 5 years. It is a shame to loose the Jaguar mark, but it is for the better.

This lets one of the outsiders hungry to get into F1 have a chance to buy the team and get started. While a private (non-factory) team might not challenge for a championship right now they are vital to the sport as they actually want to be there.

I hope Jordan gets bought out and someone pics up Jaguar and both teams are run and run well.

Cosworth? Big deal. Worthless engines, let toyota or honda sell engines. Let GM buy cosworth for the sad sad pathetic IRL and champ car leagues.

Ford leaving WRC, if it happens is a bigger deal. They are right on the cusp of winning a constructor and drivers title, if they stick another year or two.

Oh well. Let Ford sell their lame cars and pickups in the USA, support NASCAR and isolate themselves from world motorsport.

*yawn*

 

[RacyBacy]

Cosworth? Big deal. Worthless engines

Worthless? Are we just talking about F1/race engines here or looking at Cosworth Technology as a whole? I know that they helped develop/tweak the twin turbo Audi RS4 engine (and that is a superb engine) and that they are highly regarded in their field.

I also think that they also do marine and aero applications, so I would hold back from saying they are worthless. Quite the opposite in fact!

 

[The359]

Cosworth Racing is a seperate entitity from Cosworth who makes street engines, like the RS4.

 

[kensei]

Worthless? Are we just talking about F1/race engines here or looking at Cosworth Technology as a whole? I know that they helped develop/tweak the twin turbo Audi RS4 engine (and that is a superb engine) and that they are highly regarded in their field.

I also think that they also do marine and aero applications, so I would hold back from saying they are worthless. Quite the opposite in fact!

Strictly their F1 program. I am aware of their legacy in F1 and the various other engine tweaking they do for others. Given all that you would think they could build a better F1 engine.

 

[TwinTurboJay]

Pretty soon its just going to be Ferrari, Honda and Williams

 

[kensei]

Pretty soon its just going to be Ferrari, Honda and Williams

doubt it. I think Ferrari vs. toyota is a more realistic option

 

[Famine]

Ford owns Jaguar

Not for much longer.

With the closure of Browns Lane, Ford are also putting Jaguar up for sale.

I guess they finally got bored of trying to make a cheap luxury car based on a cheap repmobile saloon and still make money out of it.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

*yawn*

While I am neither a fan of Jaguar or Ford I do have to respect the fact that Ford just pulled the plug quickly, they didn't drag it out half-assed for years. Though you could argue that that is all they have been doing with jaguar over the past 5 years. It is a shame to loose the Jaguar mark, but it is for the better.

This lets one of the outsiders hungry to get into F1 have a chance to buy the team and get started. While a private (non-factory) team might not challenge for a championship right now they are vital to the sport as they actually want to be there.

I hope Jordan gets bought out and someone pics up Jaguar and both teams are run and run well.

Cosworth? Big deal. Worthless engines, let toyota or honda sell engines. Let GM buy cosworth for the sad sad pathetic IRL and champ car leagues.

Ford leaving WRC, if it happens is a bigger deal. They are right on the cusp of winning a constructor and drivers title, if they stick another year or two.

Oh well. Let Ford sell their lame cars and pickups in the USA, support NASCAR and isolate themselves from world motorsport.

*yawn*

You have no appreciation of history and heritage.

To understand what the name Ford means in Formula 1, go look up "DFV engine".

 

[Solid Lifters]

I heard about the rumor of the Jaguar team being sold to the owner of Red Bull, but I wasn't sure if that was true. Maybe, it is, and he might snatch the team up and start his own team with it.

Ford is starting to remove themselves from car racing, but I don't think they'll say good-bye to all car racing. I heard they were thinking about racing the GT in Le Mans, and American Le Mans. I hope that's true. It's starting to get boring watching the Corvette team win everything.

 

[The359]

Not for much longer.

With the closure of Browns Lane, Ford are also putting Jaguar up for sale.

I guess they finally got bored of trying to make a cheap luxury car based on a cheap repmobile saloon and still make money out of it.

Jaguar isn't for sale, they're just closing down one of Jaguar's plants. Jaguar still has 2 other plants which will handle the workload for the XJ, XK, X-Type, and S-Type. They're just trying to cut costs by downsizing, the same as they're currently doing for Land Rover.

I should point out that Ford is currently planning on entering the 2005 Mustang into Grand Am Cup as a development program for it to move on to bigger and better things.

 

[RacyBacy]

I heard about the rumor of the Jaguar team being sold to the owner of Red Bull, but I wasn't sure if that was true. Maybe, it is, and he might snatch the team up and start his own team with it.

It is likely that the Red Bull keep-you-up-all-night-to-finish-the-essay drinks manufacturer will now buy the company.

The head guy at Red Bull, Dietrich Mateschitz, is angry at Sauber (Red bull sponsors them) because they have secured Jacques Villeneuve for 2005 instead of his protégé Vitantonio Liuzzi.

Jordan and Minardi have deals to use the Cosworth engines in 2005. It will be interesting to see what happens in that department. Oh, and where is Mr Coulthard going to go now?!?

 

[kensei]

You have no appreciation of history and heritage.

To understand what the name Ford means in Formula 1, go look up "DFV engine".

I do appreciate the past in F1. I know all about Cosworth/Ford's history in the sport. That being said I don't want to dwell on the past either. Sure they have a remarkable history in F1, so that means they can make a sub standard engine in 2004 (30+ years after their salad days) and be ok because of their history? Nope. Same with Ford. Jaguar is (or was depending on who you ask) one of the top car makes in the world, with a long racing history (sportscars mainly). To see them lingering at the bottom end of the grid year after year due to their parent company not fully supporting them was rather sad. Sad for the "history" and sad for their current brand.

This is 2004, not 1974.

 

[millencolin]

Ford does CART as well, and they have a semi-connection to Aston Martin Racing in sportscars.

The Ford-Cosworth engines in Champcars (cart) situation is

- CART own all the engines, and leases them out to the teams, they also do all the repairs etc etc

so they're safe, as for extra funding.....i somehow doubt it, with no other suppliers in Champcars, Ford wont put in any more money into something with no competition

 

[usernamed]

you know what this means....3 cars per team.

edit: Eclestone on Jaguar

 

[Pupik]

This lets one of the outsiders hungry to get into F1 have a chance to buy the team and get started. While a private (non-factory) team might not challenge for a championship right now they are vital to the sport as they actually want to be there.
...
Oh well. Let Ford sell their lame cars and pickups in the USA, support NASCAR and isolate themselves from world motorsport.

Unfortunately, few F3, F3000, or sports-car teams have made a sucessful plunge into F1 in recent years. In fact, with the exception of Toyota, there haven't been any new teams in Grand Prix racing since Jaguar took over the helm of Jackie Stewart's team in 2000. I don't see any team finding the cash to afford to jump in. Look Jordan and Minardi, they are struggling to stay at end of the grid; we may not see Eddie Jordan in 2005, and it's hard to believe Paul Stoddart can still keep things afloat. In fact, nobody but the big manufacturers/corporations can afford to stay in F1 with any success.

Let's face it, you aren't going to turn a profit running an F1 team, and the knowledge gained from racing in such a restrictive series has, at best, very limited applications in the road-car sector. Few manufacturers can afford to foot the bill for racing, unless Microsoft, Coca-Cola, and Wal-Mart suddenly change their respective industries!

Ford heavily underestimated what was required to run sucessful F1 team; very little in the way of developing the car during the course of the season, lots of internal bickering and wrangling during the time of Rahal vs. Lauda, and not a very impressive recruitment of drivers (save Eddie Irvine). It would have been acceptable had it been a tiny marque like Pagani, TVR, or Panoz running an F1 team they way Ford ran Jaguar. But when the world's Number 3 auto maker can't run the racing end very professionally, it's almost funny.

Ford probably wants to focus on winning a NASCAR title; failing that, it needs to start making (importing?) some interesting vehicles that a certain group of race-bred Americans may want to actually buy.

 

[Pupik]

You have no appreciation of history and heritage.

To understand what the name Ford means in Formula 1, go look up "DFV engine".

Ford's involvement with the Cosworth DFV was mostly at the initial stage of the project, and after the run-away sucess of the engine in 1967, Ford pretty much left the entire project in the hands of Costin and Duckworth. After 1970 or so, individual teams found private racing firms (Mader, Novamotor, Nichollson, et al.) to re-build the engines and tune them a bit for each team's needs, and Ford's involvement was pretty much in name only.

Ford Motor Co. did make a "comeback" in 1986, with the V6 turbo engines for Beatrice/Lola, Benetton, and later on, Sauber. Ford aided Jackie Stewart's team's entry in 1997, and bought it outright at the end of the 1999 season.

Sorry to double-post.