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IndyCar
INDYCAR: KV Closing In On New Lotus Contract
“The main thing going with KV Racing right now is we’re finalizing a long-term agreement with Lotus," KV Racing co-owner Jimmy Vasser tells SPEED.com
Jimmy Vasser, right, talks with Takuma Sato, left, during the race at Twin Ring Motegi. With a year of costly learning under his belt, Vasser believes Sato is now ready to impress. (LAT)
KV Racing's ambitious plans to expand its IZOD IndyCar Series program fell short of expectations in 2010, but that hasn’t stopped the team from reaching for new heights in 2011 and beyond.
The crash-prone tendencies of the three KV drivers—ex-F1 driver and IndyCar rookie Takuma Sato, Venezuelan journeyman E.J. Viso and the promising young Brazilian, Mario Moraes—left team owners Kevin Kalkhoven and Jimmy Vasser with a massive pile of repair bills and few results to show for their efforts.
VIDEO: Watch the live Chevy press conference on SPEED, Friday at 10 a.m. ET
With a trying season behind him, Vasser told SPEED.com the most positive aspect of the season proved to be the growing relationship between KV and Lotus Cars. Sato undoubtedly struggled to in the No. 5 Lotus-sponsored Dallara-Honda Indy car this year, but the Malaysian-owned car company is apparently ready to commit to the Indianapolis, IN.-based team for the next few years.
“The main thing going with KV Racing right now is we’re finalizing a long-term agreement with Lotus, Vasser said. “We had the one Lotus-branded car this past season with Takuma Sato and we’re in the process of branding the whole team as Lotus/KV. We should have that done in the next few weeks. Then we’re going to go forward from there.”
KV found success fielding a two-car effort in Champ Car before the series went bankrupt in 2008, leaving Kalkhoven and Vasser scrambling to find the funding to compete with a single entry in the IndyCar Series.
Their rebuilding efforts continued in 2009 as the team expanded to two full-time cars and a part-time entry for Paul Tracy at select rounds. For 2010, and with the excitement of having three fully funded drivers to help solidify KV's future, the owners and crew members went into the season with a confident outlook on their chances.
Despite the trying—if not downright grueling—year they ultimately endured, Vasser said KV’s first goal is to keep the 2010 roster intact. Proving that 2010 was a fluke—an aberration—is high on the priority list for Vasser and his drivers.
“Our primary goal is to keep all of the guys intact, to do three cars like we did this year and to have the same drivers back as well. There are also some free agents that are running around right now that are quite interesting, but Takuma can’t wait to get back to all of the tracks and show what he can do with a year of experience. He learned a lot of lessons the hard way, but a lot of guys do. He was getting down on himself, but a lot of those crashes came when he was in fifth or third. We can work with that. The speed is there. The capability is there.
“E.J. and Mario were also really fast and competitive at times this year. Mario is probably the fastest of the three, but he’s like a young race horse. We’re still trying to harness all of his talent to become the top driver we know he can be. I think Viso is similar to Mario that way, too. It might have seemed like everything was negative to the outside world this year, but if we get these guys on the same page, the potential is there. I don’t know if I can keep all of them together next year, but some combination of them along with Tracy will be our racing team.”
PHOTOS: Click Here to view the retro Lotus F1 and Indy car photo gallery.
As much as Vasser would like to go out and hire some of the winning drivers that are available, he admits that it will take a little while longer before KV has the financial flexibility to do so. Until that time arrives, he and Kalkhoven will continue to seek the most talented drivers who can also add to KV’s bottom line.
“The Lotus component will grow each year—it’s very incentive-based—and it also includes a lot of additional technical support which will help us with a lot of performance-based stuff that will have a big impact next year. But it isn’t a huge dollar deal that would allow us to go out and do whatever we want in 2011—to hire whoever we wanted.
“Having paying drivers these days isn’t so much a bad thing like it was thought of before. It’s becoming pretty common everywhere, even if it’s not much money a guy can bring. Who wouldn’t want to be able to go and hire everyone on your shopping list, but who says you can’t sign a driver who has just as much talent and also brings some [sponsorship] to the team?”
Signing Sato, Viso and Moraes is KV’s goal, but even with the ‘we need to prove to ourselves and to others that we’re better than what we showed in 2010’ sentiment behind getting the band back together, Vasser says the team will continue to closely monitor the driver market.
“For the final call on drivers, we’re waiting for a few balls to drop. We’re waiting to see what’s going on with Graham [Rahal], Tony [Kanaan], Justin Wilson; Dan Wheldon is out there and we’re already working with Paul Tracy for next year.
The last two years we’ve done a partial schedule with PT but we are trying to get the commercial side in order to do a full season with him. I think he’d be a big influence on the other guys if they had him around all year to learn from.
“The Edmonton [race cancellation] hurts because they were a part of Paul’s program, but we’re still working hard there. We also have the Indy-only deal with SH Racing and expect to announce that driver in January. There’s no news there, but we’ll start talking to guys like [Oriol] Servia and a few others to see who’s available and who’s the best fit for Indy.”
The last element of KV’s plans for 2011 will fans of the retro Lotus paint scheme the team used this season. While it remains unclear whether Lotus will dress all of KV’s cars in vintage liveries next year, Vasser says people should expect to see a greater variety of visuals that draw from Lotus’ rich history in Formula One and Indy Car racing.
“You’ll see some historic liveries next year; John Player Special colors, the Camel Lotus yellow, the British Racing Green and some other cool stuff. The fans really connected to the car’s colors this year and the racing push by Lotus in IndyCar will really line up with the launch of their new road cars in 2012. Everything is coming together nicely and I think the fans will be really happy to see our cars when they hit the track.”
(Click on the photo to visit the 41-image gallery of retro Lotus Indy and F1 liveries for KV Racing to choose from.)
MISC
• Graham Rahal expects to formally announce his 2011 plans within the next 10 days.
• Panther Racing expects to name its 2011 driver after conducting a small 'gong show' test in the middle of December. Based on who is awarded the drive in the No. 4 National Guard car, the choice to stay with one entry or to try and move forward with a second full-time entry will likely me made. A scenario where Ed Carpenter contests all of the ovals while a road course specialist contests the road/street events makes the most sense, allowing the team to play to the strengths of each driver while gaining a second entry for all 17 rounds.
• HVM Racing is hoping to have Simona De Silvestro’s funding for 2011 completed “within the next few weeks” according to team boss Keith Wiggins. Adding a second full-time entry for next season is still a priority, but provided an additional Indycar program comes to fruition, it would only be for a driver who brought their own funding. Wiggins also continues to actively pursue an auto manufacturer to partner with HVM for an American Le Mans LMP1 program.
Marshall Pruett is SPEED.com’s Auto Racing Editor and also covers IndyCar and sports car racing for the site. Pruett grew up at ‘Pruett's Olde English Garage,’ his father's shelter for abused foreign cars, and spent his childhood being dragged across the West Coast to help with his dad's amateur racing exploits.
Pruett spent 20 years working in the IRL, CART, IMSA, and most of the known open-wheel feeder series before retiring from active duty in 2001. And in case you were wondering, he isn’t related to Scott Pruett.
Marshall lives in Northern California with his wife Shabral, and can be e-mailed and you can also harass him on Twitter .
The crash-prone tendencies of the three KV drivers—ex-F1 driver and IndyCar rookie Takuma Sato, Venezuelan journeyman E.J. Viso and the promising young Brazilian, Mario Moraes—left team owners Kevin Kalkhoven and Jimmy Vasser with a massive pile of repair bills and few results to show for their efforts.
VIDEO: Watch the live Chevy press conference on SPEED, Friday at 10 a.m. ET
With a trying season behind him, Vasser told SPEED.com the most positive aspect of the season proved to be the growing relationship between KV and Lotus Cars. Sato undoubtedly struggled to in the No. 5 Lotus-sponsored Dallara-Honda Indy car this year, but the Malaysian-owned car company is apparently ready to commit to the Indianapolis, IN.-based team for the next few years.
“The main thing going with KV Racing right now is we’re finalizing a long-term agreement with Lotus, Vasser said. “We had the one Lotus-branded car this past season with Takuma Sato and we’re in the process of branding the whole team as Lotus/KV. We should have that done in the next few weeks. Then we’re going to go forward from there.”
KV found success fielding a two-car effort in Champ Car before the series went bankrupt in 2008, leaving Kalkhoven and Vasser scrambling to find the funding to compete with a single entry in the IndyCar Series.
Their rebuilding efforts continued in 2009 as the team expanded to two full-time cars and a part-time entry for Paul Tracy at select rounds. For 2010, and with the excitement of having three fully funded drivers to help solidify KV's future, the owners and crew members went into the season with a confident outlook on their chances.
Despite the trying—if not downright grueling—year they ultimately endured, Vasser said KV’s first goal is to keep the 2010 roster intact. Proving that 2010 was a fluke—an aberration—is high on the priority list for Vasser and his drivers.
“Our primary goal is to keep all of the guys intact, to do three cars like we did this year and to have the same drivers back as well. There are also some free agents that are running around right now that are quite interesting, but Takuma can’t wait to get back to all of the tracks and show what he can do with a year of experience. He learned a lot of lessons the hard way, but a lot of guys do. He was getting down on himself, but a lot of those crashes came when he was in fifth or third. We can work with that. The speed is there. The capability is there.
“E.J. and Mario were also really fast and competitive at times this year. Mario is probably the fastest of the three, but he’s like a young race horse. We’re still trying to harness all of his talent to become the top driver we know he can be. I think Viso is similar to Mario that way, too. It might have seemed like everything was negative to the outside world this year, but if we get these guys on the same page, the potential is there. I don’t know if I can keep all of them together next year, but some combination of them along with Tracy will be our racing team.”
PHOTOS: Click Here to view the retro Lotus F1 and Indy car photo gallery.
As much as Vasser would like to go out and hire some of the winning drivers that are available, he admits that it will take a little while longer before KV has the financial flexibility to do so. Until that time arrives, he and Kalkhoven will continue to seek the most talented drivers who can also add to KV’s bottom line.
“The Lotus component will grow each year—it’s very incentive-based—and it also includes a lot of additional technical support which will help us with a lot of performance-based stuff that will have a big impact next year. But it isn’t a huge dollar deal that would allow us to go out and do whatever we want in 2011—to hire whoever we wanted.
“Having paying drivers these days isn’t so much a bad thing like it was thought of before. It’s becoming pretty common everywhere, even if it’s not much money a guy can bring. Who wouldn’t want to be able to go and hire everyone on your shopping list, but who says you can’t sign a driver who has just as much talent and also brings some [sponsorship] to the team?”
Signing Sato, Viso and Moraes is KV’s goal, but even with the ‘we need to prove to ourselves and to others that we’re better than what we showed in 2010’ sentiment behind getting the band back together, Vasser says the team will continue to closely monitor the driver market.
“For the final call on drivers, we’re waiting for a few balls to drop. We’re waiting to see what’s going on with Graham [Rahal], Tony [Kanaan], Justin Wilson; Dan Wheldon is out there and we’re already working with Paul Tracy for next year.
The last two years we’ve done a partial schedule with PT but we are trying to get the commercial side in order to do a full season with him. I think he’d be a big influence on the other guys if they had him around all year to learn from.
“The Edmonton [race cancellation] hurts because they were a part of Paul’s program, but we’re still working hard there. We also have the Indy-only deal with SH Racing and expect to announce that driver in January. There’s no news there, but we’ll start talking to guys like [Oriol] Servia and a few others to see who’s available and who’s the best fit for Indy.”
The last element of KV’s plans for 2011 will fans of the retro Lotus paint scheme the team used this season. While it remains unclear whether Lotus will dress all of KV’s cars in vintage liveries next year, Vasser says people should expect to see a greater variety of visuals that draw from Lotus’ rich history in Formula One and Indy Car racing.
“You’ll see some historic liveries next year; John Player Special colors, the Camel Lotus yellow, the British Racing Green and some other cool stuff. The fans really connected to the car’s colors this year and the racing push by Lotus in IndyCar will really line up with the launch of their new road cars in 2012. Everything is coming together nicely and I think the fans will be really happy to see our cars when they hit the track.”
(Click on the photo to visit the 41-image gallery of retro Lotus Indy and F1 liveries for KV Racing to choose from.)
MISC
• Graham Rahal expects to formally announce his 2011 plans within the next 10 days.
• Panther Racing expects to name its 2011 driver after conducting a small 'gong show' test in the middle of December. Based on who is awarded the drive in the No. 4 National Guard car, the choice to stay with one entry or to try and move forward with a second full-time entry will likely me made. A scenario where Ed Carpenter contests all of the ovals while a road course specialist contests the road/street events makes the most sense, allowing the team to play to the strengths of each driver while gaining a second entry for all 17 rounds.
• HVM Racing is hoping to have Simona De Silvestro’s funding for 2011 completed “within the next few weeks” according to team boss Keith Wiggins. Adding a second full-time entry for next season is still a priority, but provided an additional Indycar program comes to fruition, it would only be for a driver who brought their own funding. Wiggins also continues to actively pursue an auto manufacturer to partner with HVM for an American Le Mans LMP1 program.
Marshall Pruett is SPEED.com’s Auto Racing Editor and also covers IndyCar and sports car racing for the site. Pruett grew up at ‘Pruett's Olde English Garage,’ his father's shelter for abused foreign cars, and spent his childhood being dragged across the West Coast to help with his dad's amateur racing exploits.
Pruett spent 20 years working in the IRL, CART, IMSA, and most of the known open-wheel feeder series before retiring from active duty in 2001. And in case you were wondering, he isn’t related to Scott Pruett.
Marshall lives in Northern California with his wife Shabral, and can be e-mailed and you can also harass him on Twitter .
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