DJR TEAM Penske could still lean on the US arm of the Team Penske business, despite being told it could not build its chassis at its Mooresville, Charlotte facility.
The Queensland team had planned to outsource its chassis builds to the US team before a V8 Supercars rule change scuppered the plans.Despite this, Managing Director Ryan Story says the US-base of the motorsport giant could be called upon for larger Gen2 Supercar projects.“There’s still some opportunities for manufacturing in particular, but I think where that expertise will come into its own is if we embark upon a Gen2 project, particularly on the engine front,” Story told AA.“When you look at Ilmor (race engine design and building organisation) in particular and the tremendous expertise there and the various groups of what they’ve managed to achieve on the IndyCar and NASCAR side, there is tremendous potential for us to lean on that expertise with whatever happens to come next. There’s been a couple of smaller projects where we’ve utilised some US-based resources. I think it will really come to the fore when we embark upon on a major project like that.”
Story added the potential for the team to build its chassis in the US was an open invitation for other teams to utilise the service and save costs.“It was disappointing because Team Penske has been quite open with the category from day one on what the intentions were,” he added. “That was to utilise greater economies of what was going to be three race teams there. Our intention was to make chassis overseas and make those available to anyone who wants to buy them. It was about efficiencies across the board and knowing the product of what we have.“We’re very happy with the product we have now, but we know through the expertise gained, particularly on the NASCAR side of things where they’re making a dozen-plus chassis per year per car in the Sprint Cup, they have the ability to produce identical cookie cutter style chassis of a very high standard with minimal fuss.“We respect the rules as they are, or as they will be with the change they’re bringing into effect. What’s disappointing is that it’s another reactionary change. We’re seeing that happen probably a bit more often than we would ultimately like.”
Looks like Dane was a little worried his monopoly on the category was going to be in danger.[jk]
The Queensland team had planned to outsource its chassis builds to the US team before a V8 Supercars rule change scuppered the plans.Despite this, Managing Director Ryan Story says the US-base of the motorsport giant could be called upon for larger Gen2 Supercar projects.“There’s still some opportunities for manufacturing in particular, but I think where that expertise will come into its own is if we embark upon a Gen2 project, particularly on the engine front,” Story told AA.“When you look at Ilmor (race engine design and building organisation) in particular and the tremendous expertise there and the various groups of what they’ve managed to achieve on the IndyCar and NASCAR side, there is tremendous potential for us to lean on that expertise with whatever happens to come next. There’s been a couple of smaller projects where we’ve utilised some US-based resources. I think it will really come to the fore when we embark upon on a major project like that.”
Story added the potential for the team to build its chassis in the US was an open invitation for other teams to utilise the service and save costs.“It was disappointing because Team Penske has been quite open with the category from day one on what the intentions were,” he added. “That was to utilise greater economies of what was going to be three race teams there. Our intention was to make chassis overseas and make those available to anyone who wants to buy them. It was about efficiencies across the board and knowing the product of what we have.“We’re very happy with the product we have now, but we know through the expertise gained, particularly on the NASCAR side of things where they’re making a dozen-plus chassis per year per car in the Sprint Cup, they have the ability to produce identical cookie cutter style chassis of a very high standard with minimal fuss.“We respect the rules as they are, or as they will be with the change they’re bringing into effect. What’s disappointing is that it’s another reactionary change. We’re seeing that happen probably a bit more often than we would ultimately like.”
Looks like Dane was a little worried his monopoly on the category was going to be in danger.[jk]