[VRR][B-SPEC] 2017 Straight Talk IndyCar Series Season

[Eh Team]

Former Standard Motorsports now Starion second car announces sponsors, liveries, and thanks Honda for their first and only season together.

Spoiler: Announcing

Cliff Lagueux: Thank you for being here today, I know everyone has to get home to hand out candy to little monsters at the door so we'll try to be quick.

Ray Taylor: We have cars, and you have pictures you want to take of them so without further adieu here is the car I'll be driving in most of the races next year.

Spoiler: whooshing the cover off

RT: Cliff did a great job signing the big sponsors this year and Lego is certainly one of the biggest names in the world, so how he convinced them to spend more money on advertising, I'll never know.
You'll see these colours at all the tests and exhibitions, all rounds outside of the United States, and at the Indy 500, and the finale at Auto Club Speedway.

RT: Then, at all the remaining rounds in the lower 48 you will see something like this.

Spoiler: more whooshing

RT: National Geographic has come on board for the remaining 13 rounds, they wanted to put some of the amazing scenery shots they tale on the car but being an open wheel car it didn't really work so we've had to make do with this.

CL: We also need to thank Canadian Geographic (subsidiary of National) for coming in and chipping in a few dollars here as well as Tim Hortons and Magna Engineering. These two companies that will certainly help keep us going in the future physically and mechanically so we thank them for their partnership.

CL: Now I would certainly be remissed if I got up and left here without thanking Honda. They provided our little team with a fast and extremely reliable engine last year that allowed us to experiment with car setups that otherwise wouldn't have happened if we were blowing engines in a lot of races. So thank you Honda, we wish you the best in the future and thank you for giving our team something to be proud of.

Spoiler: Actual Livery Schedule

Exhibition 1: Primary LEGO
Test: Primary
Round 01: Primary
Round 02: Primary
Round 03: Primary
Round 04: Primary
Round 05: Primary
Round 06: Secondary Nat Geo
Round 07: Secondary
Round 08: Secondary
Test: Primary
Round 09: Secondary
Round 10: Primary
Test: Primary
Round 11: Secondary
Round 12: Primary
Round 13-14: Primary
Round 15: Secondary
Exhibition 2: Primary
Round 16: Secondary
Round 17: Secondary
Round 18: Secondary
Round 19: Secondary
Round 20: Secondary
Round 21: Secondary
Test: Primary
Round 22: Primary
Round 23: Primary
Round 24: Primary
Round 25: Primary
Round 26: Secondary
Round 27: Primary

 

[catamount39]

Spoiler: Perl-Speed GP #55 2017 Announcement

*insert generic PR crap here * "And now, thanks to Amazon.com in partnership with the USO, the 2017 Perl-Speed GP DW12 powered by Aston Martin."

*thanks to @BKGlover livery works for creating our wraps 👍 *

 

[Smurfybug]

Spoiler: Reaction to Pearl Speeds Announcement

What was that?!

 

[catamount39]

Spoiler: Reaction to Pearl Speeds Announcement

What was that?!

 

[AudiMan2011]

Ecurie Ecosse 2017 unveiling and press release happening tomorrow evening.

 

[Eva]

Cars I currently have as of 01 November 2016, 12:00 a.m.
#2 Reese's Cups Aston Martin
#2 Dish Network Aston Martin
#4 Alienware Red Chevrolet
#4 RUNUP Group Chevrolet
#5 Pakistan International Airlines Aston Martin
#7 Google Ferrari
#7 Coca-Cola Ferrari
#9 Polyphony Digital Audi
#9 Bambi Audi
#10 Johnnie Walker Black Label Audi
#10 Turn 10 Studios Audi
#11 Target Chevrolet
#11 T-Mobile Chevrolet
#13 Total S.A. Chevrolet
#14 Mello Yello Ferrari
#20 New York Giants Chevrolet
#23 British Airways Ferrari
#24 Dupont Chevrolet
#24 New York Jets Chevrolet
#28 Texaco Havoline Chevrolet
#30 Superchips Chevrolet
#33 Petronas Audi
#37 Shell/DHL Express Chevrolet
#43 Lego Ford
#43 National Geographic Ford
#48 Alienware Pink Chevrolet
#48 Boost Mobile Chevrolet
#50 Bilstein Shocks Aston Martin
#50 Logan's Roadhouse Aston Martin
#51 Martini & Rossi Ferrari
#51 Coca-Cola Ferrari
#55 Amazon Aston Martin
#55 USO Aston Martin
#64 Mobil 1 Honda
#66 Under Armour Chevrolet
#76 Burger King Chevrolet
#77 Coca-Cola Vanilla Ferrari
#79 The Y CGS Ford
#79 Dublin Bottling Works Ford
#80 Intel Chevrolet
#80 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet
#81 Monster Energy Ferrari
#81 Rolex Ferrari
#83 Home Depot Honda
#84 Alienware Blue Chevrolet
#84 Bethesda Softworks Chevrolet
#90 Bud Light Chevrolet
#96 Royal Crown Cola Audi

Cars still needed:
#3 Panasonic Audi
#3 Dairy Queen Audi
#6 Eli Lilly Pharmaceuticals Audi
#15 Pepsi Honda
#16 Blu Electronic Cigarettes Honda
#17 Nikon Honda
#17 GoPro Honda
#18 Sony Honda
#18 Mountain Dew Pitch Black Honda
#19 GameStop Honda
#19 Mountain Dew Baja Blast Honda
#20 Doritos Chevrolet
#26 Dragon War Audi
#26 Samsung Audi
#76 Snack King Chevrolet
#77 Ray Ban Ferrari
#86 Kicker Audio Cosworth (Ford)

Cars in bold are being worked on, cars underlined are primary or essential cars. Almost got everyone's cars in.

 

[YayoiGT2]

KICKER Sovereign Motorsports Still Kickin'​

Although there have been some fears that the Cosworth-powered entry will not be finished in time for the StraightTalk Indycar Series 2017 season start at the Calder Park Thunderdome, team principal March Weston (co-owner of Archetype Racing Club) has attempted to reassure officials in STICS that the team will make enough progress to compete. "We have several racing operations outside of STICS that have taken up significantly more development time than originally projected, but the Sovereign Motorsports entry is making good progress. Our team's formula racing specialist Adrian Ragus is very enthusiastic about being able to finally compete in a top-tier open-wheel race car," states Weston.

Spoiler: Out of Character

This post is basically PR speak for saying @RACECAR is handling my livery for Round 1 held at Calder Park, as well as any tests you may need Adrian Ragus to attend prior to his STICS debut. I apologize for the last minute change in plans; working on getting GRL back up and running while juggling a full 40-hour weekly work shift has taken significant amounts of time away from other projects such as this. Thank you for your cooperation.

 

[Eva]

Entry submission stage is officially closed with 41 total cars entered for the season. Some of those 41 cars are still being worked on, but that isn't terribly detrimental to the schedule of when these events will be run. I still have to tally up how many are entered for the Indy 500. Which reminds me. @Smurfybug please determine the 5 races you are running and if you are running in any of the tests and exhibitions. @nascarfan1400 please do the same for the #83.

 

[Niku Driver HC]

Spoiler: #76 2017 Livery Calendar

Exhibition: Las Vegas Motor Speedway - Primary
Test: Daytona International Speedway - Primary
Round 01: Calder Park Thunderdome - Primary
Round 02: Mike Pero Motorsports Park - Secondary
Round 03: Shanghai International Circuit - Secondary
Round 04: Twin Ring Motegi - Secondary
Round 05: Yas Marina Circuit - Secondary
Round 06: Daytona Beach - Primary
Round 07: Homestead-Miami Speedway - Primary
Round 08: Barber Motorsports Park - Primary
Test: Sarajevo International Circuit - Secondary
Round 09: Kentucky Speedway - Primary
Round 10: Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Primary
Test: Bristol Motor Speedway - Secondary
Round 11: Charlotte Motor Speedway - Primary
Round 12: Edmonton City Airport - Primary
Round 13-14: Exhibition Place - Secondary
Round 15: Watkins Glen International - Primary
Exhibition: Gateway Motorsports Park - Primary
Round 16: Michigan International Speedway - Primary
Round 17: Dover International Speedway - Primary
Round 18: Hershey's Indy 500/Pocono Raceway - Primary
Round 19: Bristol Motor Speedway - Secondary
Round 20: Iowa Speedway - Primary
Round 21: Road America - Primary
Test: Auto Club Speedway - Secondary
Round 22: Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours - Secondary
Round 23: EuroSpeedway Lausitzring - Secondary
Round 24: Automotodrom Brno - Secondary
Round 25: Sarajevo International Circuit - Secondary
Round 26: Phoenix International Raceway - Primary
Round 27: Auto Club Speedway - Primary

...might as well get this out of the way, right?

 

[swiftsmith]

@Angel I'll be handling @Smurfybug schedule. I'll release his schedule when I do my team PR later tonight.

 

[AudiMan2011]

Spoiler: Ecurie Ecosse Unveils 2017 Challenger

Dundas Square, Yonge Street, Toronto - In a special unveiling event, Ecurie Ecosse took the wraps off the car it hopes will bring the team closer to the front in the 2017 VRR STICS season.

Team principal Steven McTavish stated, "We've redesigned every mechanical aspect of the powerplant and drivetrain to try and nail down the reliability that dogged us through 2016. We're proud that more Scottish companies like Baxters, ARR Craib and Schuh are willing to sponsor us and it's great to have them onboard."

The team also took the opportunity to unveil a striking new second livery on the eve of the release of the Alpinestars car pack for the Forza Horizon 3 video game. The new paint scheme features primary backing from Microsoft gaming studio Turn 10, makers of the critically acclaimed Forza Motorsport series, as well as Horizon developers Playground Games.

Ecurie Ecosse driver Gary Slater said, "To be given backing by Turn 10 Studios is something I never thought would happen. I've been a big fan of the Forza series for a while and to have this sponsorship agreement go ahead is brilliant. With the return of the Forza Racing Championship eSports series focusing on Audi and the Alpinestars car pack around the corner, it's never been a better time to give new exposure to both Forza Motorsport 6 and Horizon 3."

 

[Eva]

It's amazing what 3 additional associate sponsors can do for a car. The entire field looks amazing.

 

[NoirAntares]

Just to get this out of the way.

Spoiler: Livery Schedule

Exhibition: Las Vegas Motor Speedway - Secondary
Test: Daytona International Speedway - Secondary
Round 01: Calder Park Thunderdome - Primary
Round 02: Mike Pero Motorsports Park - Primary
Round 03: Shanghai International Circuit - Secondary
Round 04: Twin Ring Motegi - Secondary
Round 05: Yas Marina Circuit - Secondary
Round 06: Daytona Beach - Primary
Round 07: Homestead-Miami Speedway - Primary
Round 08: Barber Motorsports Park - Primary
Test: Sarajevo International Circuit - Secondary
Round 09: Kentucky Speedway - Primary
Round 10: Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Primary
Test: Bristol Motor Speedway - Secondary
Round 11: Charlotte Motor Speedway - Primary
Round 12: Edmonton City Airport - Primary
Round 13-14: Exhibition Place - Primary
Round 15: Watkins Glen International - Primary
Exhibition: Gateway Motorsports Park - Secondary
Round 16: Michigan International Speedway - Primary
Round 17: Dover International Speedway - Primary
Round 18: Hershey's Indy 500/Pocono Raceway - Primary
Round 19: Bristol Motor Speedway - Primary
Round 20: Iowa Speedway - Primary
Round 21: Road America - Primary
Test: Auto Club Speedway - Primary
Round 22: Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours - Secondary
Round 23: EuroSpeedway Lausitzring - Secondary
Round 24: Automotodrom Brno - Secondary
Round 25: Sarajevo International Circuit - Primary
Round 26: Phoenix International Raceway - Primary
Round 27: Auto Club Speedway - Primary

 

[Sakura]

Spoiler: Impulse Racing Reveals 2017 Cars

Osaka, Japan--Another team has revealed their cars for the 2017 VRR Straight Talk IndyCar Series. The Osaka-based Impulse Racing has revealed its fleet in preparation of next season, with two different looks for both Sakura Ishibashi and Jerome Torres. Tyler Parker also had his car revealed.

"We feel fully prepared for 2017 with our lineup." Team Director Asumi Matsuo said during the presentation. "Sakura and Jerome have experience with Cat Devil Racing, Sakura importantly getting out and racing during 2016. Jerome is naturally fast, and Tyler is in a prime opportunity to learn from two very skilled overtaking drivers."

Torres, who will be driving the #26 all year, announced which races Samsung and Dragon War would be sponsoring him in, with Dragon War being his primary sponsor. Ishibashi has not publicly stated her sponsorship commitments, but has notified VRR as requested by the sanctioning body. The team also went and reaffirmed Parker's commitments of 5 races maximum allowed for a limited time car, as well as his appearance at all exhibitions and tests.

 

[Eva]

That Samsung car looks stellar. By far one of my favorites.

 

[BKGlover]

@RACECAR making bad-*** cars, as always.

 

[DcrRaikkonen]

Spoiler: SRF Releases the paint scheme schedule for #11

Exhibition: Secondary
Round 1 : Primary
Round 2 : Primary
Round 3 : Secondary
Round 4 : Primary
Round 5 : Secondary
Round 6 : Secondary
Round 7 : Primary
Round 8 : Primary
Test : Primary
Round 9: Secondary
Round 10 : Primary
Test : Primary
Round 11 : Secondary
Round 12 : Secondary
Round 13-14 : Secondary
Round 15 : Secondary
Exhibition : Primary
Round 16 : Primary
Round 17 : Primary
Round 18 : Secondary
Round 19 : Primary
Round 20 : Primary
Round 21 : Primary
Test : Primary
Round 22 : Secondary
Round 23 : Secondary
Round 24 : Primary
Round 25 : Secondary
Round 26 : Secondary
Round 27 : Primary

 

[BKGlover]

@Angel I'll be handling @Smurfybug schedule. I'll release his schedule when I do my team PR later tonight.

*30 hours later* There's a reason I stopped putting myself on a schedule.

I'll do a proper unveiling once I've figured out how to not sound like a prat doing it.

 

[Smurfybug]

A Spokes Person for Mr. Ahmed has said that his Team Supervisor will unveil his schedule in the coming hours of the day, if not tomorrow.

 

[swiftsmith]

Spoiler: Matthew Evan's 2017

Swift Autosport Reveal​

Robin Miller: Over the next three days we'll be interviewing the drivers of Swift Autosport and unveiling their cars. Today we'll be interviewing the driver of the #50 Bilstein Shocks Aston Martin, Matthew Evans. Welcome Matthew, thank you for joining us today.

ME: Thank you for having me.

RM: With the 2016 season coming to a close soon how do feel about your season this far?

ME: All I can say about my season is its been a rough one for all of us.

RM: What are your hopes for the 2017 season?

ME: My hopes for 2017 are that we'll see better results at the least. My biggest hope however has to be that we'll see more podiums and less engine and suspension failures.

RM: Before we take the tarps off of the cars is there anything you'd like to say?

ME: I'd just like to thank all of the new sponsors that came on board and the old ones that decided to stay with the team regardless of how rough 2016 is.

RM: With that said how about we start with your new sponsor Bilstein Shocks.

Spoiler: Tarp Removal

RM: With the new engine support from K&N as well as the engineers at Aston Martin. How do you feel your team's engine will fair against manufacturers like Ferrari, and Audi?

ME: I think that between the engineers at Swift Autosport, Aston Martin, and the parts manufacturer at K&N we'll manage to give them one heck of a fight for the championship.

RM: Onto the second car. I think we all know who the main sponsor on this car is but we're all interested in how it will look.

Spoiler: Tarp Removal

RM: Wow! I don't think this was what any of the fans were expecting. What made the team decide to go with such a nostalgic paint scheme.

ME: It took us a few weeks before everyone agreed that this was the paint scheme the fans deserved. We hope the fans love it because this one is for them.

RM: Thank you for coming today Matthew.

ME: My pleasure.

 

[BKGlover]

Spoiler: Presenting the #79, and the idiot still driving...and talking apparently

I'll be honest, I didn't intend on having a press event this year. But, as so many have deemed it important I suppose I can scrape up a half-decent one...half may be too optimistic. *sigh* Alright then, BANNER!

I'm sure some of you have, like Camyron Jackson, noticed a star kinda like this on a few other cars, specifically a metallic one on the nose of the Turn 10 #10, the #76, and both #55s. That represents cars I've either designed outright or have recreated at requests. This one *pointing up* for my team directly, my 79 and Ray's #43, which you've seen already, even if I don't have direct input. And before anyone gets in a tizzy, Cliff wanted to paint the 43s and I said go for it. Why? Well while we are both under the Starion banner, I didn't start the 43 effort, that was Cliff and Standard Motorsports, and in all honesty he helped bail me out by joining me. So while it's officially Starion, I consider it a Standard-Starion effort.

Now that I've burnt some time with that, I do have a smaaaall admission I don't remember if I told Cliff about. That is about NatGeo and Lego. They are his main sponsors, but I got to talking to their reps after meetings and after a bit of back-and-forth, both are associates on the 79 as well. My other associates are my new tech partn...errr...phone provider LG, and kinda unexpectedly eBay also signed on. Who are the primary sponsors then?

Spoiler: #79 Primary #1

The Y and Camp Grady Spruce, A group that would have preferred I use their new logo but in the end that was my call. CGS is a camp (duh) relatively local to our base...What? It's the Y, it's a kids summer camp, the only thing different I can tell you about it is that nearby schools are given the opportunity to send kids for a week during the school year, an opportunity I did get myself back in the day. Now what is that little green triangle? It's the second primary.

Spoiler: #79 Primary #2

Please welcome a company that was failed by corporate BS. 5 years ago, Dr. Pepper pulled their association with Dublin Dr. Pepper, an entity that had existed for over 100 years. And yet, a required re-brand and a re-tool later, not only did the Dublin Bottling Works resume production, they now make their own independent products, almost any normal flavor soda you can think of, and to my tongue sodas that are BETTER than the big corporations. With that in mind, I had to get them on the car, and so it was. The Dublin #79.

I also have to give credit again to Camyron for a small detail making a difference, and Steven Gnash for trying to do so a while back. Both tried to convince me to change my number style from the lanky-botched first attempt, then the lanky-and-just-dumb ones I used in 2016. I apologize to Mr. Gnash, I swear I wasn't resisting the change, the ones you sent me just didn't look right. It wasn't until Mr. Jackson sent me one that I looked at it and the set, then made these...I've told you I'm an idiot, why are you surprised I did it the hard way? Regardless, thank you both.

Now comes the final bit of information, and this could be far reaching. Starion developed the Ford powerplant for 2017. I've proven before I have no idea what's going on, and yet Ford told me I had these parameters to work with. I don't know if I can disclose the direction I took with the engine, but effectively Ford's future in STICS lay on my head, and I think I saw an exec grinding an ax earlier so....yeah. Presser Over, Food in the Foyer, DUBLIN'S FOR ALL!

 

[swiftsmith]

Spoiler: Thomas Rogers 2017

Robin Miller: Welcome back to day two of the Swift Autosport 2017 reveal. Today we have the driver of the #2 Reece's Peanut Butter Cups Aston Martin, Thomas Rogers. Welcome Thomas thanks for joining us.

TR: Pleasures all mine Robin. Glad to be here.

RM: I'm gonna ask you the same question I asked your teammate Matthew. How do you feel about your 2016 season?

TR: Disappointed that's all I can say.

RM: Care to add to that?

TR: No.

RM: Do you have anything you'd like to say before we remove the tarp on the first car?

TR: I just wanna thank everyone that helped make this year possible for the team and myself.

RM: Alright go ahead and remove the first tarp.

Spoiler: Tarp Removal

RM: The car looks amazing but I have to ask why only two sponsors? Is Swift Autosport having financial issues?

TR: That's not my place to comment and I'd like it if we could focus on the reveal.

RM: Understood. With that said how about we remove the tarp from the second car?

Spoiler: Tarp Removal

RM: Another great looking car from the Swift Autosport team. Last question before I let you go. Thoughts for 2017?

TR: I think 2017 will be this teams year. If it weren't for Indianapolis and a few bad results I think we would have had a good shot at the championship this year.

RM: Thanks again for coming today Thomas. Glad you could find time in your busy schedule to sit down with me.

 

[Eva]

Cars I currently have as of 04 November 2016, 3:50 a.m. Eastern
#2 Reese's Cups Aston Martin
#2 Dish Network Aston Martin
#3 Panasonic Audi
#3 Dairy Queen Audi
#4 Alienware Red Chevrolet
#4 RUNUP Group Chevrolet
#5 Pakistan International Airlines Aston Martin
#6 Eli Lilly Pharmaceuticals Audi
#7 Google Ferrari
#7 Coca-Cola Ferrari
#9 Polyphony Digital Audi
#9 Bambi Audi
#10 Johnnie Walker Black Label Audi
#10 Turn 10 Studios Audi
#11 Target Chevrolet
#11 T-Mobile Chevrolet
#13 Total S.A. Chevrolet
#14 Mello Yello Ferrari
#15 Pepsi Honda
#16 Blu Electronic Cigarettes Honda
#17 Nikon Honda
#17 GoPro Honda
#18 Sony Honda
#18 Mountain Dew Pitch Black Honda
#19 GameStop Honda
#19 Mountain Dew Baja Blast Honda
#20 New York Giants Chevrolet
#23 British Airways Ferrari
#24 Dupont Chevrolet
#24 New York Jets Chevrolet
#26 Dragon War Audi
#26 Samsung Audi
#28 Texaco Havoline Chevrolet
#30 Superchips Chevrolet
#33 Petronas Audi
#37 Shell/DHL Express Chevrolet
#43 Lego Ford
#43 National Geographic Ford
#48 Alienware Pink Chevrolet
#48 Boost Mobile Chevrolet
#50 Bilstein Shocks Aston Martin
#50 Logan's Roadhouse Aston Martin
#51 Martini & Rossi Ferrari
#51 Coca-Cola Ferrari
#55 Amazon Aston Martin
#55 USO Aston Martin
#64 Mobil 1 Honda
#66 Under Armour Chevrolet
#76 Burger King Chevrolet
#77 Coca-Cola Vanilla Ferrari
#77 Ray Ban Ferrari
#79 The Y CGS Ford
#79 Dublin Bottling Works Ford
#80 Intel Chevrolet
#80 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet
#81 Monster Energy Ferrari
#81 Rolex Ferrari
#83 Home Depot Honda
#84 Alienware Blue Chevrolet
#84 Bethesda Softworks Chevrolet
#90 Bud Light Chevrolet
#96 Royal Crown Cola Audi

Cars still needed:
#20 Doritos Chevrolet
#76 Snack King Chevrolet
#86 Kicker Audio Cosworth (Ford)

Also some news coming in later today.

 

[Niku Driver HC]

I must say, I'm liking the colors on that Dublin car of @BKGlover, that isn't your usual racing car color combination. Plus, the font used for the Dublin company logo reminds me of My Life As A Teenage Robot for some reason, which is a good bonus...

Now I guess I should pledge my own devotion to Dublin Bottling soda, eh...? Too bad we don't get that sort of stuff over at Portugal...

 

[Eva]

Big news day.

Spoiler: Audi, Aston Martin Set To Leave After 2017

Following the 2017 season, Audi and Aston Martin are set to depart from the series. Audi, which is in the middle of a reorganization and reduction in activities, will uphold their 2017 contract deals before leaving. Aston Martin, who is set to debut in 2017, has come to a decision to not renew with VRR beyond next year. Aston Martin and Audi both have small entry bases. Audi is supplying engines to seven cars in 2017, while Aston Martin is only supplying four. That leaves 30 of the 41 total entries in other stables.

Spoiler: Series Opens Up Another Expansion, Outlines Pre-Qualifying

VRR CEO Evangeline Porter has decided to expand the full time field to 33 cars, and because of some of the major overlay between the full time field and the part time drivers, has outlined a provisional pre-qualifying system.

Three new entries have been made available, with the order of availability going as follows:
1) Sovereign Motorsports-Cosworth
2) Polaris Motorsports-Chevrolet
3) Cat Devil Racing-Honda
If one of the above three decline an entry, the entry will be passed on the following list.
4) Impulse Racing-Audi
5) Swift Autosport-Aston Martin
6) Black Rose Racing-Ferrari

Sovereign Motorsports have already signaled their intent on accepting an entry, having asked VRR for clarification on how this will affect their financial outlook. Polaris Motorsports and Cat Devil Racing have yet to make their decisions known.

The Pre-Qualifying system will come into place whenever there are more than 33 cars entered into a points paying event, excluding Indianapolis. The system will be updated every 8 races as well as at the end of the season, and those within the top 24 in owner's points will be safe from pre-qualifying. Due to the 2016 finishing next weekend, a detailed list of what cars have to pre-qualify will not be made available until the Monday after.

 

[AudiMan2011]

Spoiler: Ecurie Ecosse on Audi's Departure

"We're very disappointed that Audi have decided to pull out of VRR STICS after 2017 but we understand why they have chosen to do so with their current emissions situation within the VAG group. We will look to negotiate with the other engine makers towards the end of the season whilst we uphold what remains of our current engine deal through 2017." - Steven McTavish, Ecurie Ecosse Team Principal.

"It sucks that Audi is pulling out after 2017 but I see the reasoning why. We did have a good relationship but I have little to no sympathy for Volkswagen for causing their emissions mess in the first place and dragging Audi into it too. Hopefully we can find another engine maker for 2018 provided we get the results." - Gary Slater, Ecurie Ecosse driver.

 

[Clayton Hardy]

Spoiler: Cherokee Motorsports Statement

"We are unequivocally disappointed by Audi's decision to pull out of the series following 2017, but I remain understanding that this decision came from beyond Audi and they just have to connect the dots. Audi have worked hand in hand with all of the customer cars to deliver great results and challenge the big two manufacturers for championships. While we will engage in looking for a good replacement engine for after 2017, we remain committed to give Audi as many awards and wins as we can while we can still do that. Audi obviously is a marque racing fans respect. I look forward to working alongside Ecurie Ecosse and Impulse Racing to make Audi's sendoff a good one."

Clayton Hardy,
Team Principal, Cherokee Motorsports​

 

[BKGlover]

I must say, I'm liking the colors on that Dublin car of @BKGlover, that isn't your usual racing car color combination. Plus, the font used for the Dublin company logo reminds me of My Life As A Teenage Robot for some reason, which is a good bonus...

Now I guess I should pledge my own devotion to Dublin Bottling soda, eh...? Too bad we don't get that sort of stuff over at Portugal...

Try the internet. I don't know if they ship internationally, but they might.

Big news day.

Spoiler: Audi, Aston Martin Set To Leave After 2017

Following the 2017 season, Audi and Aston Martin are set to depart from the series. Audi, which is in the middle of a reorganization and reduction in activities, will uphold their 2017 contract deals before leaving. Aston Martin, who is set to debut in 2017, has come to a decision to not renew with VRR beyond next year. Aston Martin and Audi both have small entry bases. Audi is supplying engines to seven cars in 2017, while Aston Martin is only supplying four. That leaves 30 of the 41 total entries in other stables.

Spoiler: Series Opens Up Another Expansion, Outlines Pre-Qualifying

VRR CEO Evangeline Porter has decided to expand the full time field to 33 cars, and because of some of the major overlay between the full time field and the part time drivers, has outlined a provisional pre-qualifying system.

Three new entries have been made available, with the order of availability going as follows:
1) Sovereign Motorsports-Cosworth
2) Polaris Motorsports-Chevrolet
3) Cat Devil Racing-Honda
If one of the above three decline an entry, the entry will be passed on the following list.
4) Impulse Racing-Audi
5) Swift Autosport-Aston Martin
6) Black Rose Racing-Ferrari

Sovereign Motorsports have already signaled their intent on accepting an entry, having asked VRR for clarification on how this will affect their financial outlook. Polaris Motorsports and Cat Devil Racing have yet to make their decisions known.

The Pre-Qualifying system will come into place whenever there are more than 33 cars entered into a points paying event, excluding Indianapolis. The system will be updated every 8 races as well as at the end of the season, and those within the top 24 in owner's points will be safe from pre-qualifying. Due to the 2016 finishing next weekend, a detailed list of what cars have to pre-qualify will not be made available until the Monday after.

Holy Crap! and Bring it on!

 

[swiftsmith]

Swift Autosport team owner Seth Smith will be making a comment on Aston Martin leaving at the end of 2017 after the final round tonight.

 

[catamount39]

Spoiler: Perl-Speed GP reaction to AMR departure

Today Aston Martin announced that, in a complete turn around from their announcement last year, that they have decided to make it a one and done season. Perl-Speed GP, being the factory team, is unpleased with this development.

"We were hoping to extend our operations with Aston Martin, however this latest announcement is fair to say, disappointing" Vick Tolstong of the engineering department stated when interviewed.

The impact of the announcement, however is leaving a deep rift between Perl-Speed and AMR.

"It's complete ****. We signed a 4 year deal, they guaranteed their entry for 4 years, and we had prepared that. I'm seething right now, and I'm getting on a plane this evening to head to AMR's facilities in England to have a word with them." Ryan Perlstein said at a private team test at VIR.

"This is extremely childish and down right garbage. We may not enter Indycar in 2017 now because of this, and we will certainly be dumping our entire sportscar operation with them. I'm not here to play race driver I'm here to ****ing win championships" he continued. "It's disgusting that they pulled this on us. It doesn't just hurt us either, the other teams that have signed up with them also got ******* over. Never, have I heard of a manufacturer do this. It's disgusting, near sighted, and absolutely baffling."

When asked about Audi's departure he simply said "Guess they have the same accountants". Perl-Speed must have known something however, as within recent weeks they had been in discussions with Ford and Ferrari for their IndyCar efforts, while Mercedes-Benz has been tipped for the team's GT3 operations. The team is unsure however, that it can continue past 2017 now, unless they can receive compensation for Aston Martin failing their contractual obligations to the team.

As far as 2017 goes, the team has been rumored to be considering dumping Aston Martin, and possibly forfeiting the season in a spite against the British manufacturers departure. Sponsor Amazon.com, who had also agreed to be a partner of the Anglo-American effort, is said to be working out a deal to help the team run their 2017 and beyond efforts, and possibly trying to woo Ford for 2018.

A court date of November 10th has been set, and Perl-Speed is expected to sue Aston Martin for damages and failure to uphold the contract.