Carlin ready to buy Penske factory

[Vas]

Carlin ready to buy Penske factory
Thursday, 20, April, 2006

Carlin Motorsport looks set to boost its credentials as a prospective Formula 1 team by buying Penske Racing’s factory at Poole in Dorset.

Former Jordan sporting director Trevor Carlin revealed last week that he was one of the 22 hopefuls who have lodged entry applications for the 2008 world championship.

The Briton said at the time that he was confident of marshalling the necessary human, financial and technical resources to make the step up from F3 and the Renault World Series to F1.

He added that “we have also agreed the purchase of an established facility in the south of England for design and specialist production” to supplement the existing Carlin factory at Aldershot.

Autosport reports that the facility in question is the Penske Cars factory, famous as the manufacturing site of the American team’s succession of Indy 500 and championship-winning Indycars in the 1970s-1990s.

Roger Penske has been consolidating his various racing operations – in NASCAR, the IRL and sportscars – under one roof at Mooresville, North Carolina, in recent years.

Since his team stopped building its own Champ Cars in 1999 and then switched to the IRL (where chassis development is highly restricted) in 2002, Penske has been considering selling the under-utilised UK site.

If Carlin's plan to purchase the factory goes ahead, he would take on 25 staff who work there to add to the 60 based at Aldershot and would have a ready-made facility capable of building F1 cars.

This is likely to be a major asset in his quest to be selected for the 2008 championship.

The entry list is heavily oversubscribed and Carlin is vying with the likes of ex-F1 team principals Eddie Jordan, Paul Stoddart and Craig Pollock for a place on the grid.

Carlin looks bit serious in his venture.

But Penske himself was interested in joining the F1. Did he apply? Any idea?

[sivakumar]

Hi Vas,

We will never know who has applied for 22 Slots next year unless it comes from the horses mouth.  But i think Carlin is very good prospect for the F!, because he is very serious in the business and also passionate abt it.  second, He can be good in helping F1 Popularity because he gives lot of exposure for drivers from Asia.  So Bernie Moore Popularity Moooore mooooooolah :Thumbs_Up:

[Vas]

Hi Vas,

We will never know who has applied for 22 Slots next year unless it comes from the horses mouth.  But i think Carlin is very good prospect for the F!, because he is very serious in the business and also passionate abt it.  second, He can be good in helping F1 Popularity because he gives lot of exposure for drivers from Asia.  So Bernie Moore Popularity Moooore mooooooolah :Thumbs_Up:

Siva I too have a soft corner for Carlin since he is the one who gave NK the F1 break.

 But I am not sure how big Carlin is in F1 circle compared to Others like Eddie, Richards, Stoddart....and how big financial and infrastructure he can boost to F1... I think these are some of the parameters they will look into objectively when they go for finalising the final 12th team.