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IndyCar
INDYCAR: Herta—I’m Betting On Us
Bryan Herta tells SPEED.com why he backed away from his Lotus engine deal, and also took a gamble on his team and sponsors landing safely.
With the long-term health of his business in mind, Team Barracuda-BHA co-owner Bryan Herta made a pre-emptive change in engine suppliers. (Photo: LAT)
The feedback on Team Barracuda-BHA’s move to sever ties with Lotus without having another engine contract in place has been met with mixed reviews.
For some, team owners Bryan Herta and Steve Newey took a bold step to save their business before things took an even greater downturn, while others have seen the split as a cowardly act—bailing out on IndyCar’s smallest engine manufacturer—at a time when the situation was at its worst.
Speaking with SPEED.com on Tuesday, Herta says the risky decision he and Newey made was done with a long-term view of where Bryan Herta Autosport was headed with its previous engine partner in place.
“I can see it from the outside,” he said. “Everybody loves the underdog and wants to cheer for Lotus. They’ve got a great history and it wasn’t something where we were mad at Lotus, or they were mad at us. They had some well-documented changes in their business—the company was purchased and there was a freeze on spending—and the timing could not have been worse if you were building an IndyCar engine.
“For our sponsors, Barracuda Networks and Bowers & Wilkins, they want to be competitive. And I owe it to them to be competitive. So it wasn’t really anything other than I have to look out for my sponsors, first, and to take care of my team. I knew that if we wanted to get results sooner than later, we had to make a change. I took a gamble for my team and my sponsors because I believe in them and know what we’re capable of achieving together. The bottom line is that I’m betting on us.”
Herta reiterated that the choice to leave Lotus had been in the works for some time, and the final call to end their involvement came via a mutual decision.
“This isn’t my money I’m working with,” he continued. “We have an obligation to our sponsors, to our employees and to our driver to put our best foot forward. We just weren’t feeling like we were in a position to do that. It wasn’t’ an easy decision—it wasn’t one we just arrived at while we were at Long Beach. It’s been going on a lot longer than that. I really want to thank and give credit to Lotus because if they wanted to, they could have blocked us and prevented us from doing it. But in the end, they looked at the situation, and we felt it could be a positive for both sides.
“It allows us to go do what we need to right now, and for them, it frees up engines and budgets and manpower for them to re-focus their program and become more competitive. That’s another important thing to mention: this was done with Lotus and INDYCAR for them to improve. It’s a good thing. The alternative is if things didn’t change or improve, they could have seen Lotus out of the series, and that’s not what any of us wanted. I hope it can be seen from the perspective of that this was an unhealthy situation for everybody, and through this process, everybody should get healthier.”
For some, team owners Bryan Herta and Steve Newey took a bold step to save their business before things took an even greater downturn, while others have seen the split as a cowardly act—bailing out on IndyCar’s smallest engine manufacturer—at a time when the situation was at its worst.
Speaking with SPEED.com on Tuesday, Herta says the risky decision he and Newey made was done with a long-term view of where Bryan Herta Autosport was headed with its previous engine partner in place.
“I can see it from the outside,” he said. “Everybody loves the underdog and wants to cheer for Lotus. They’ve got a great history and it wasn’t something where we were mad at Lotus, or they were mad at us. They had some well-documented changes in their business—the company was purchased and there was a freeze on spending—and the timing could not have been worse if you were building an IndyCar engine.
“For our sponsors, Barracuda Networks and Bowers & Wilkins, they want to be competitive. And I owe it to them to be competitive. So it wasn’t really anything other than I have to look out for my sponsors, first, and to take care of my team. I knew that if we wanted to get results sooner than later, we had to make a change. I took a gamble for my team and my sponsors because I believe in them and know what we’re capable of achieving together. The bottom line is that I’m betting on us.”
Herta reiterated that the choice to leave Lotus had been in the works for some time, and the final call to end their involvement came via a mutual decision.
“This isn’t my money I’m working with,” he continued. “We have an obligation to our sponsors, to our employees and to our driver to put our best foot forward. We just weren’t feeling like we were in a position to do that. It wasn’t’ an easy decision—it wasn’t one we just arrived at while we were at Long Beach. It’s been going on a lot longer than that. I really want to thank and give credit to Lotus because if they wanted to, they could have blocked us and prevented us from doing it. But in the end, they looked at the situation, and we felt it could be a positive for both sides.
“It allows us to go do what we need to right now, and for them, it frees up engines and budgets and manpower for them to re-focus their program and become more competitive. That’s another important thing to mention: this was done with Lotus and INDYCAR for them to improve. It’s a good thing. The alternative is if things didn’t change or improve, they could have seen Lotus out of the series, and that’s not what any of us wanted. I hope it can be seen from the perspective of that this was an unhealthy situation for everybody, and through this process, everybody should get healthier.”
2013 INDY 500 Practice
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