Bueno si tiene que haber un nuevo equipo en 2011, espero que sea Epsilon Euskadi...así que para apoyar la causa:

http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2010/03/22/...on-aims-for-f1/

Epsilon aims for F1

March 22, 2010 by joesaward

Epsilon Euskadi says that it will be bidding for the 13th available Formula 1 franchise. The team was involved in a bid last year but lost out to Campos (now HRT), USF1, Manor (now Virgin Racing) and Lotus. This was surprising given the impressive facilities that the team has built close to Vitoria-Gasteiz, the capital city of the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in northern Spain.

The team is owned and run by Joan Villadelprat, who says that he was stuck in a classic chicken and egg situation last year as the FIA wanted proof of the teams financing and his sponsor wanted the guarantee of an entry before making a commitment.

From Barcelona, Joan first encountered F1 at Montjuich Park in 1971 and he immediately decided that he wanted to get involved. He worked for a while in the under-developed Spanish racing scene before joining the Equipo Nacional Espanol, a team that had been designed to promote young talent in Spain. The drivers were Fermin Velez and Jordi Caton and they raced Ralts in international Formula 3, against future stars such as Nelson Piquet, Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Derek Warwick. The money eventually ran out and Villadelprat moved on to the team that had impressed him the most in Britain an operation called Project Four Racing, run by a young Ron Dennis. For the next eight years he worked for Dennis, switching to McLaren when Marlboro engineered a merger between the old F1 team and Denniss ambitious young operation. Those were great years with the McLaren-TAG combination winning three straight Drivers titles with Niki Lauda and Alain Prost. In 1987 former McLaren technical director John Barnard lured Villadelprat away to Ferrari, where he became chief mechanic. At the end of 1989 he was recruited by Tyrrell as team manager but after a promising season in 1990, the team had a disappointing year and Joan was then hired by Benetton. He quickly became Operations Director and went on to oversee two World Championship titles for Michael Schumacher in 1994 and 95. He stayed on until the start of 2000 but then went home to Spain with the aim of setting up his own F1 team in Barcelona. When sponsor Telefonica decided against the plan, Joan joined Prost Grand Prix as Managing Director. It would be a short-lived job. The team went out of business at the start of 2002 and once again Joan went back to Spain to embark on a new project. He formed an alliance with Frances Epsilon Sport to run a project in the Nissan World Series in Spain. The team was given the name Epsilon Euskadi and it was soon very competitive. In 2005 it won the series, which had been rebadged as the Renault World Series, with a young driver called Robert Kubica. Villadelprat then bought out his partners and teamed up with his old driver Caton, and Epsilon has been quietly expanding ever since.

Villadelprats policy has been not only to aim for F1 but also to lay the groundwork for future Spanish teams.

Since we started Epsilon we have taken three or four guys each year from the technical high school and trained them to be mechanics, he says. If they have the right attitude, then we keep them. Now we have a Masters degree course, which is linked to Mondragon University. This is for graduate engineers who want to be involved in motorsport. So we are training new engineers all the time. That is part of the process. From the beginning of the project we were aiming to combine high technology and innovation with racing, education and an industrial element as well. When we started out in 2003, we bought one team and we slowly grew. We had young guys and we needed funding for their ambitions. The Spanish Ministry of Innovation was interested and offered suitable business loans to aid the development process. You apply and you get very good conditions. You get 15-year loans at very reasonable interest rates. We have two of those from the Spanish government. The local Basque authority was also interested and was looking to invest European Union money to create research and have things for them to do so we started another team. Then we said that we wanted to show the world that we could be a constructor. We did not have what we needed to do that and so we started thinking of how it could be achieved. We were not thinking about F1 at all. We wanted to build a suitable facility that could do all the things that we want to do.

Villadelprat and Caton recruited top engineers Sergio Rinland and Henri Durand while also looking at ways to get government development facilities in its region.

When we decided to build a sportscar for the Le Mans 24 Hours we began to look for customers and we had some lined up. Obviously the recession came along and the orders disappeared. We had the old factory but we broke ground on the new one in February 2008. At that time the whole world was not collapsing and the idea was to look at markets apart from Formula 1. There are lots of other categories and when you look at it there are only a handful of companies who can manufacture racing cars. We would like to have a percentage of that market.

The Epsilon factory has cost around $60m to build and includes everything that a motor racing company could need, including a 60 percent scale rolling road wind tunnel.

At the back of my mind I figured that the facility could one day be used for Formula 1, Villadelprat admits. If one day the sun and the moon are in alignment and there is a chance to go to F1 then we would take it. Although the recession slowed things down, as one door closed another opened.

What we have been doing is to slowly show people what is possible, he says. I started out when a guy wanted to set up a Nissan World Series team and wanted to get money from the government and asked me to be a consultant. From there we were able to convince them to help us create an industry. It started with the school for mechanics and engineers and was followed by teams and drivers. Then we created the Le Mans car, which was a product that we could sell, and now we are building a manufacturing base. We are creating an industry. Maybe it is not the right time to do this, but we cannot stop. We need to push on. I dont know how long it will take, but one day we will be there in F1. I am convinced of that. We have the facility, the people, the know-how, the means and the tools to do that.

Finding money for motorsport in Spain has never been easy, but Joan says that it is a very different story to find money for F1 rather than for the Le Mans 24 Hours.

We have Alonso, he says. We have two Grands Prix. We have circuits and we have a lot of testing in the winter. F1 is important in Spain. It is really hard to get a penny for Le Mans, although it was a tremendous thing last year that for the first time a Spanish driver Marc Gene has won there. That got a lot of media coverage but we were there with the first Spanish-built car ever to race at Le Mans and no-one noticed. Pegaso did enter some cars back in the 1950s but they never qualified.

Although the Epsilon did not figure strongly in the race, it was the source of enormous pride for Villadelprat.

It is a question of mentality and education. I dont know if it is politically correct to say it, but people in Spain do not think that we can do the things that we are doing. They think that we must have bought the wind tunnel second-hand rather than having built it ourselves. They think that you cannot do these things in Spain. That is what they do in England and in Germany, but not in Spain. We need to change that mentality. I spent years in some high places in F1 but it was never really noticed. Now things are changing, but maybe it is a question of timing. Maybe I was born too early.

You have to open your mind and look at the opportunities out there, he continues. We have had windmills being developed in the tunnel and we did a project also to improve the efficiency of the football. We have other projects with customers in racing and with car manufacturers. Right now in Spain there are three or four roadcar projects we are helping. They are not very well known yet. We are open to any kind of business. We spent six or seven months developing the 2009 sportscar design so we will have to see what happens. We are talking to possible customers, but that largely depends on the economy.

The important thing is that we keep going forwards. We have tremendous potential. We have people like Sergio and Henri, both of whom have enormous experience. We have a lot of good people. We can design and manufacture cars from Formula Ford to Formula 1.

If you ask him about the people who have influenced him in his career, Joan is very clear.

Ron Dennis, he says immediately. I admire him. He has been tremendous. I can call him a friend and he has always helped me. We have had fights too, particularly when I was running Benetton and he was at McLaren. People do not realise what he has done, starting from where he started. Not many people in the world have done that. I admire his way of thinking and his attention to detail. I believe in the same things. I had the good luck to be with him for seven years and I learned a lot. Sure, he has his negative points too but he taught me to work in an ordered fashion. When I went to Ferrari the team was a disaster. The youngest race mechanics were 50 plus and I was a 30-year old Spaniard trying to get them to change. I was the first foreigner to be the chief mechanic. I think I did a good job there.

John Barnard really helped me to understand mechanical things. He taught me to find out the reasons for things, step by step, so that one could understand the problems. If I am a good mechanic, it is thanks to him. I moved to Tyrrell and we had some good people there, with Harvey Postlethwaite, Jean-Claude Migeot and we had a good year with very little money, so I got the experience of working with a lot of money and then working with very little. When I went to Benetton I was really running the team. I designed it, employed the people, created the team spirit. It was different to other teams. Flavio Briatore does not understand much, but if he trusts you he lets you do what you want. I learned from the mistakes I made there. After that I went to Prost and I found out how to lose. It was really lost before I got there, but they had everything that they needed apart from management. So what you see here is a result of a little bit of everything.

The Epsilon factory is mightily impressive. It has been designed with all the departments in the right places, with plenty of space and light. It is huge and includes not only all the manufacturing and race team areas but also an upstairs section which not only houses offices but also allows people to see the whole facility below, without interfering with the way it is run. If there are visitors, they need not be disruptive. And it has been cleverly thought through. All the extraneous machinery has cunningly been hidden away inside the outer shell of the structure so that there is none of the clutter that one sees at so many F1 factories that have evolved over the years. Upstairs there is also the area where the Masters degree is taught. Villadelprat aims to produce graduates from the course who will be capable of running not only his operations but also teams of their own. It is a broad and impressive vision.

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Las instalaciones son impresionantes, ahora queda recopilar los apoyos que segun Villadelprat tenía asegurados para 3 años.El éxito que pueda tener en la concrección de esos apoyos `puede depender de lo que haga este años el Hispania.Si logran terminar como el 10º equipo, se animarán a invertir en mayor medida que si termina el último.
Por otra parte, algo más tendrá que aportar además de las instalaciones para que la FIA esta vez sí, escoja su proyecto.Prodrive y Lola son 2 fuertes compañías con experiencia en esto.Y los restos del equipo Toyota están ahí, así que o Lola o Prodrive seguro que los compran.La cosa no sólo va a depender de las instalaciones, así que sería aconsejable que no lo volviera a jugar todo a esta baza...

No se porque me da, que no volvera a intentarlo. En su dia estuvo a punto pero.............

Yo ya comenté hace tiempo que Prodrive está bastante metido en el mundo de la resistencia. Los Lola Aston Martin son coches que han resultado fiables a prueba de balas, y además no pierden tanto respcto a los Peugeot y los Audi. Les penaliza muhco ser de gasolina y no diesel.

Saludos

Lola will not apply for 2011 F1 entry

By Pablo Elizalde Thursday, April 15th 2010, 16:07 GMT

Racing car manufacturer Lola has announced it will not try to enter Formula 1 in the 2011 season.

The company joins Prodrive in deciding not to apply for a slot for next year, feeling there is no sufficient time to be ready for the start of the season.

Lola applied for an entry for this year, but the Huntingdon-based squad wasn't granted one.

The deadline to submit a formal expression of interest expired today.

"A 2010 entry under the cost capped and performance balanced criteria was perfect for Lola," said Lola owner Martin Birrane.

"We already have F1 standard facilities at our headquarters in Huntingdon. Sadly our well-developed 2010 F1 project, which included a significant wind tunnel programme, had to be frozen in June 2009.

"The recently announced applications for 2011 has left us with insufficient time to prepare for what would be a quite different programme."

Lola's managing director added: Robin Brundle, added: "Lola looks forward to strengthening its working partnerships with existing F1 Teams and the rich variety of customers throughout the Lola portfolio."

Ahora ni dios quiere meterse en este fregao porque saben que puedes salir muy escaldado. Gracias al buen hacer de la maFIA me da que van a tener que poner el culo y tragar con lo que sea.

Saludos

Pues con estas dos noticias Epsilon tiene ya bastante asegurada la entrada.

Epsilon no va a entrar.

Saludos

VILADELPRAT TIENE OPCIONES REALES; EL RESTO DE CONTENDIENTES APENAS TIENE SU NIVEL. SE PREPARA PARA 2011

por Zapi ,

Epsilon tiene posibilidades reales esta vez; más que el año pasado al menosJoan Viladelprat se está frotando las manos. La cabeza visible del proyecto Epsilon Euskadi se dolió enormemente cuando en las oposiciones a escudería de Fórmula1 de 2009 suspendió y le dieron la franquicia a Campos, contra el que arremetió en un ataque de vinagrismo; el valenciano calló prudentemente, pero el catalán, acogido en el País Vasco siguió rumiando la manera de entrar en las carreras. Cuando la FIA dijo que volvería a abrir su puerta se puso manos a la obra y a día de hoy parece una de las opciones más sólidas de entre los candidatos, especialmente a sabiendas de que USF1 está desaparecido en combate, StefanGP da la callada por respuesta, y tanto Prodrive como Lola han declarado no estar interesados -léase no hay pasta-.

La siguiente asignatura del ingeniero del bigote es buscar la guita, que es justo lo más complicado y dice que queremos hacer la Fórmula1 en nuestro país, bien hecho de verdad, de casa y con gente de casa. Estamos preparados, tenemos la infraestructura y nos hace falta la financiación y alguien que crea en nosotros. El año pasado estuvimos cerca. No teníamos las instalaciones que tenemos ahora. Teníamos la gente, hicimos una gran inversión, y la financiación para subsistir los próximos cuatro años. Por lo que sea, y no voy a entrar al tema, no se nos dio la oportunidad. Obviamente la gente que estaba detrás nuestro quedó decepcionada y ahora la FIA ha abierto otra vez la ventana. Y entonces nosotros hemos hecho lo correcto: volver a presentarnos por esta licencia. Si lo conseguimos, hay grandes posibilidades. Sino lo conseguimos, pues algún día lo conseguiremos. Esto es seguro. El momento no es el ideal, desde luego, pero sabe como, así que démosle el voto de confianza que necesita; lo que hace falta es que también se lo den en la FIA.

http://www.virutasdegoma.com/2010/04/vilad...para-para-2011/

Me gusta ese espíritu incansable y optimista. Ojalá les den la oportunidad de demostrar lo que son capaces de hacer. ¡Suerte Joan!

Si es por cabezoneria al bueno de Joan no le gana ni Txus.

Saludos

Todo estara condicionado a la continuidad de HRT,no creo que le den la licencia a un equipo que tenga el nombre de euskadi , este pais es asi de triste, todo se traspasa a intereses politicos.
Porque no se la dieron la ultima vez?

¿De verdad te crees que a Todt y la FIA le importan algo los nacionalismos y demás políticas paranoides de nuestro país?. Si Epsilon no es seleccionado va a ser por lo mismo del año pasado, no sometimiento a las imposiciones de la FIA y buena relación con la FOTA.

Ojala tengas razón, pero tengo mis dudas.

No se presentan como Epsilon Euskadi, se presentan como Epsilon.

Saludos

Da igual el nombre, nacionalismos aparte, lo que importa son los $$$$$$$$$

Saludos a todos/as. A pesar de que llevo muchos años compartiendo desde la sombra las alegrías y disgustos de la F1 y en especial de nuestro Pedro, nunca hasta ahora me he animado a registrarme y participar del mejor foro sobre la F1 a nivel mundial.
Sin embargo hoy he acudido a una visita a la fabrica de Epsilon Euskadi de Vitoria y lo que nos han respondido a las preguntas sobre el próximo año (sobretodo los gestos y como se dicen las frases neutras) me ha animado a compartirlo con vosotros.
Por supuesto comentan que hay que esperar; pero mi impresión de como lo han contestado es que hay bastantes posibilidades. Personalmente me ha parecido que están todos bastante ilusionados y me han contagiado. Ojala no me equivoque.

Bienvenido y ojalá sea cierta tu impresión, aunque yo tendré que pellizcarme por duplicado -ahora lo hago en modo sencillo- cada carrera que vea 2 equipos con base española participando en un GP.





Este pais no es triste son tristes algunos -demasiados- políticos.
Y este pais llamado España, no pinta nada en la selección de equipos para la F1, solo los intereses económicos de tito Bernie.

24/04/2010 10:43
Stefan GP cambia de táctica para entrar en la F1 de 2011
Construirá un circuito de Fórmula 1 en Serbia

Stefan GP

Stefan GP ha vuelto a retomar sus planes para conseguir tener su equipo de Fórmula 1, pero esta vez con otra táctica. El equipo serbio, encabezado por Zoran Stefanovich, ha 'firmado un acuerdo' con el alcalde de Stara Pazova, localidad situada a 25 kilómetros de Belgrado, para iniciar la construcción de un circuito de F1 y que serviría también como sede del equipo.

"Esta es la prueba de que queremos situarnos en el mapa como una empresa de alta tecnología seria, y que nos tomamos en serio el proyecto de competir en la Fórmula 1 a largo plazo", señaló Stefanovich en la web del equipo

Yo creo que la plaza está más que adjudicada a Stefan GP... He entrado en su web http://www.stefangp.com/index.htm y he comprobado como han incorporado un reloj con una cuenta atrás hasta el primer GP del 2011, dando por hecho que estarán allí. También han desarrollado una primera remesa de merchnadising y han puesto los nombres de los 12 pilotos con los que hablaron para corren con ellos en 2010, incluido Adrián Vallés. Jacques Villeneuve y Maldonado se llegaron a hacer el asiento para el coche de 2010 en Colonia.

Esto está visto para sentencia. Veremos en julio que equipo selecciona la FIA entre la terna formada por Stefan GP, Durango y Epsilon.

Eso puede ser otra medida de presion , como la de llevar los coches a barhein . Para mi no es nada sintomatico ,es solo marqueting y busqueda de patrocinadores que les den mas posibilidades de entrar, y que no pase lo de usf1.

un saludo

Pues con lo último que ha salido de Stefan GP yo tengo pocas dudas (desgraciadamente) de hacia dónde irá la plaza...