Litespeed GP

[gridwalker]

That sounds like a fairly comprehensive set of rules Axle, I approve =D>

Now, returning to topic ... I'm not an F3 fan, so I'm not very familiar with Litespeed.

Can anyone give me a potted history of Litespeed? How succesful have they been? Have they run any particularly notable drivers in the past? How credible a team are they?

Also, in connection to our customer cars tangent, do Litespeed have any synergies with existing F1 teams who may be able to provide technical partnerships?

Any info is appreciated.

[Dukeage]

I don't think the solution is totally about allowing customer teams, it's more of an issue of making it more of an attractive proposition for chassis builders to enter or to sell their cars to a team.

I would propose that GP2 and GP2 Asia would be replaced with European Formula Two and Pacific Formula Two respectively. F2 and F1 would be based around the same principles and similar rules. F1 would have a materials reality check (no carbon fibre suspension parts, no carbon fibre parts between the front and rear wheels) and other chassis based cost cutting measures. F2 would be a detuned and even more sensiblized version of these principles. The main engine rules would be similarity of configuration and novel technologies to the road car as well as a power limit (rather high to compensate for the slightly less silly chassis). Chassis builders would be able to sell a pair of cars to teams if they want to (as in Scuderia Italia/Dallara style).

Independant F1 car builders should be required to sell the chassis with engine mountings to fit three options of engine to F2 teams (at cheap prices), but would get a subsidy from the F1/F2 combined TV money to do so making it profitable. Manufacturer F1 teams should be required to sell engines, however if there is the Cosworth option in F1 the Cossie could be detuned as well.

In essence, in order to be a player in F2 you have to be a player in F1. However, it's not exactly designing one car, but you produce two from one starting point. Mygale, Dallara, Lola, Prodrive, Panoz, Tatuus, Dome - anyone with an autoclave big enough to cook a single seater in (gas mark 6 for 50 minutes basting half way) would be able to make a chassis and sell it to a team to run. A budget cap could work with such a system.

[roost89]

That sounds like a fairly comprehensive set of rules Axle, I approve =D>

Now, returning to topic ... I'm not an F3 fan, so I'm not very familiar with Litespeed.

Can anyone give me a potted history of Litespeed? How succesful have they been? Have they run any particularly notable drivers in the past? How credible a team are they?

Also, in connection to our customer cars tangent, do Litespeed have any synergies with existing F1 teams who may be able to provide technical partnerships?

Any info is appreciated.

The only info I could find on them from their page about their history is that they have "over 25 years of race experience at all levels up to and including Formula 1"
But they've also got this in their news section "In less than a year, Litespeed F3 has gone from an unknown quantity in motor racing to an engineering and manufacturing outfit that has earned the genuine respect of its peers in British F3"

Any more information is helpful. They've got precious little information on their website and even less on wikipedia.

[gridwalker]

Yeah, I had checked out their website & didn't find it particularly enlightening.

The following statement didn't fill me with hope either :

Litespeed F3’s R1 racing car was born in 2005 from a pure engineering base with no compromises and delivered by the ATR Group, which was specifically responsible for the development and manufacturing of the Porsche Carrera GT, the Ferrari Enzo, and the Bugatti Veyron.

Sure, ATR have impressive crudentials, however Litespeed appears to be a team who don't even have the in-house capability to build their own F3 chassis and they're planning on leaping up to F1?

I may not have a huge amount of faith in USGPE's prospects, but they seem a little more credible to me than Litespeed do right now.

I guess we'll have to wait for some facts to emerge.

**EDIT**

I forgot about MGI/Gascoyne being involved. Lightspeed are now ahead by a nose in my personal credibility stakes

[donskar]

From grandprix.com (emphasis added):

Litespeed is running a chassis in the National Class of the British Formula 3 Championship. They are using a chassis built by the Italian firm Super Light Cars, a division of the ATR composite company, which has worked with Minardi in F1 in the past, while also doing work for Ferrari and Maserati road cars. It is being raced, without success, by Brazil's Victor Correa. Litespeed is run by two former Team Lotus engineers Steve Kenchington and Nino Judge.

NOT succeeding in the very competitive world of F3 does NOT mean that they would embarrass themselves in F1, but it SHOULD.

[Scuderia_Russ]

My housemate works in British Formula Three. He said and I quote "They [Litespeed] are the pikey-est* team on the grid."

*For my non English friends this means a gypsy or traveller.