Craig Cod is Back!/PURE Engine

[mario]

Gilles Simon, formerly of Ferrari and latterly of the FIA constructing the 2014 engine rules, is to join PURE.

Interesting. This finally gives some credibility to this project. I still don't get where the initial funding is supposed to come from, but from now on I'll actually pay attention to the PURE thing.

What is also interesting is that Simon's announcement has caused a fairly sizeable backlash amongst the current engine manufacturers - it appears that Simon might have had access to some of the preliminary engine data and information on the development cycles. In particular, it seems that Renault are very concerned, having had an especially close partnership with Simon:

"Of course, it's of concern to all of us that in this close relationship with Gilles and the FIA over the past year, 18 months, that we've given unprecedented access to Gilles – we certainly have at Renault and I believe all of the engine companies have done so, particularly in respect of the state of progress in our respective engine development programmes alongside the rules package.

"And so, of course, we would be most concerned to be reassured that information to which Gilles has had access to in those very privileged circumstances as a representative of the FIA is not used in his new capacity as an employee of a competitor."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/93499

All things considered, it does seem a clumsy move - poaching a senior FIA official who has had access to the other teams development was always going to be a sensitive issue, and the concerns that Renault are coming out with do raise the possibility of a bit of industrial espionage...

[dr-baker]

So, so far PURE have only designed a straight-4 normally-aspirated engine before they changed the rules recently to a turbo V6, and now Renault are already scared of this competition?

Yeah, and Reynard were going to win their first race, as they had in every other series they had entered. Common link? Mr Craig Pollock.

[Faustus]

This PURE thing has been very quiet. Has anyone read anything about it lately?

[dr-baker]

I haven't heard anything...

[DanielPT]

This PURE thing has been very quiet. Has anyone read anything about it lately?

Things get awfully quiet before the storm. Will PURE be storming in when 2014 arrives? Unlikely... So my bet is they either are quietly working on a Life like engine or went pop.

[This]

if this engine proves gutless, we can call it puree

[Pointrox]

So far they have launched their fairly rejectful website: http://purecorp.org

[Stramala]

So far they have launched their fairly rejectful website: http://purecorp.org

I think it says volumes about PURE that my fictional racing team's website looks more professional than theirs

For those who haven't seen it to know what I'm talking about; Scuderia Alitalia website.

[Mister Fungus]

So far they have launched their fairly rejectful website: http://purecorp.org

Oh I didn't realize they're making engines for the 1997 season

[Captain Hammer]

It's right up there with the website of an evil corporation. I kept looking for links to Blue Sun, Rossum, Weyland-Yutani and Omni Consumer Products.

[FMecha]

So far they have launched their fairly rejectful website: http://purecorp.org

Wait... Winning the global race as their slogan?

That slogan will only made pundits chuckle. (remember BAR slogan - a tradition of exellence? )

[Wizzie]

So far they have launched their fairly rejectful website: http://purecorp.org

Wait... Winning the global race as their slogan?

That slogan will only made pundits chuckle. (remember BAR slogan - a tradition of exellence? )

More like "A tradition of excellence in mediocrity"

[Captain Hammer]

Is it just me, or does "purecorp.org" sound alarmingly close to "purecrap.org"?

[DanielPT]

Is it just me, or does "purecorp.org" sound alarmingly close to "purecrap.org"?

No, I can assure that it is not just you. I will assume that they came up with this because they were saving every penny and every available hours to obtain the best engine design. Anyway, if they want to get some teams as costumers the first step is to prevent them to visit their website.

I looked it again... I remember doing something like this for High School in a couple of hours. And that was back in 1999! The last dodgy site I visited was A10 World series and that didn't end well.

[FMecha]

So far they have launched their fairly rejectful website: http://purecorp.org

Wait... Winning the global race as their slogan?

That slogan will only made pundits chuckle. (remember BAR slogan - a tradition of exellence? )

More like "A tradition of excellence in mediocrity"

Do you refer to BAR or PURE?

If you meant it to BAR, then PURE slogan could more like this: Winning the global race of mediocrity!

[Pointrox]

If you meant it to BAR, then PURE slogan could more like this: Winning the global race of mediocrity!

Or even: A tradition of winning the global race of mediocrity excellence!

[mario]

Is it just me, or does "purecorp.org" sound alarmingly close to "purecrap.org"?

No, I can assure that it is not just you. I will assume that they came up with this because they were saving every penny and every available hours to obtain the best engine design. Anyway, if they want to get some teams as costumers the first step is to prevent them to visit their website.

I looked it again... I remember doing something like this for High School in a couple of hours. And that was back in 1999! The last dodgy site I visited was A10 World series and that didn't end well.

Maybe it was a sign of things to come when I first clicked on the web link and the web page was not working...

I agree that the aesthetics of that website are a bit shoddy - it's been several months since they announced their plans and ostensibly started work so I would have expected a better advertising tool than this. It's also somewhat unfortunate that the last articles they've linked to in the news section are from back in August when the row over appointing Gilles Simon came to the fore - I know that they are being open about this, but it does seem like a somewhat double edged sword to be making others publicly aware about criticism of the company.

[FMecha]

If you meant it to BAR, then PURE slogan could more like this: Winning the global race of mediocrity!

Or even: A tradition of winning the global race of mediocrity excellence!

You won this thread. Makes my day.

[DanielPT]

Ever since the great success that was the BAR F1 effort (just look at Lola effort a few years earlier), culminating in the 2009 WDC and WCC for team, I wanted to rejoin F1. This new PURE project will bring our racing pedigree to the fore and show that independent brilliant and hard-working efforts still have place in F1. Obviously we will not set our goals too high for the first season in which we are hopping to supply at least one team. We cannot rule out, however, the possibility of this team winning our first race as an engine supplier replicating our early success in many other series. What we can promise to our fans throughout the world is the we will keep trying our best which should not disappoint a certain forum I read last week. PURE is a serious corporation which already have a design for two engines, an inline-4 and a V6, both of them supercharged. This large engine offer is enough to prove any doubters wrong. It is just a shame that the rules don't allow for inline-4's any more, because I am convinced our product is the best on the market.

[Stramala]

Ever since the great success that was the BAR F1 effort (just look at Lola effort a few years earlier), culminating in the 2009 WDC and WCC for team, I wanted to rejoin F1. This new PURE project will bring our racing pedigree to the fore and show that independent brilliant and hard-working efforts still have place in F1. Obviously we will not set our goals for the first season too high for the first season in which we are hopping to supply at least one team. We cannot rule out, however, the possibility of this team winning our first race as an engine supplier replicating our early success in many other series. What we can promise to our fans through the world is the we will keep trying our best which should not disappoint a certain forum I read last week. PURE is a serious corporation which already have design for two engines, an inline-4 and a V6, both of them supercharged. This large engine offer is enough to prove any doubters wrong. It is just a shame that the rules don't allow for inline-4's any more, because I am convinced our product is the best on the market.

Ok WHAT???? Piggybacking off of others success? Are you for real Craig? You had f**k all to do with the 2009 WDC/WCC! And what 'other series' is he referring to?!

This could be the most rejectful engine supplier since Asiatech. But at least they actually had a working product!

[AndreaModa]

Hahaha!

Shizuka was only assuming he said something like that Kostas!

[DanielPT]

Ever since the great success that was the BAR F1 effort (just look at Lola effort a few years earlier), culminating in the 2009 WDC and WCC for team, I wanted to rejoin F1. This new PURE project will bring our racing pedigree to the fore and show that independent brilliant and hard-working efforts still have place in F1. Obviously we will not set our goals for the first season too high for the first season in which we are hopping to supply at least one team. We cannot rule out, however, the possibility of this team winning our first race as an engine supplier replicating our early success in many other series. What we can promise to our fans through the world is the we will keep trying our best which should not disappoint a certain forum I read last week. PURE is a serious corporation which already have design for two engines, an inline-4 and a V6, both of them supercharged. This large engine offer is enough to prove any doubters wrong. It is just a shame that the rules don't allow for inline-4's any more, because I am convinced our product is the best on the market.

Ok WHAT???? Piggybacking off of others success? Are you for real Craig? You had f**k all to do with the 2009 WDC/WCC! And what 'other series' is he referring to?!

This could be the most rejectful engine supplier since Asiatech. But at least they actually had a working product!

I probably should mention that Craig Pollock never said anything like this although I imagine he probably would.

By the way, my apologies for confusing members. It was meant to be some sort of a parody.

[DanielPT]

Hahaha!

Shizuka was only assuming he said something like that Kostas!

I am sorry... Who?

[mario]

I probably should mention that Craig Pollock never said anything like this although I imagine he probably would.

By the way, my apologies for confusing members. It was meant to be some sort of a parody.

Are you implying that whilst some have delusions of grandeur, Pollock has delusions of competence?

[DanielPT]

I probably should mention that Craig Pollock never said anything like this although I imagine he probably would.

By the way, my apologies for confusing members. It was meant to be some sort of a parody.

Are you implying that whilst some have delusions of grandeur, Pollock has delusions of competence?

Yes I am. It is all based on this:

Riding on the back of Villeneuve's 1997 Formula One title, Pollock persuaded British American Tobacco to bankroll his ambition of becoming a team manager. In 1998 Pollock purchased Tyrrell, renaming it British American Racing (BAR), and signed his close friend and driver to be team leader. Immediately a controversial figure, Pollock made numerous claims about how successful his team would be. His high hopes proved to be unfounded however with a disastrous debut in 1999.

[AndreaModa]

Hahaha!

Shizuka was only assuming he said something like that Kostas!

I am sorry... Who?

My bad...thought it was Shizuka!

[Stramala]

My engrish bery bad. Me no understand word 'probabry'.

[Pointrox]

Gilles Simon gave a presentation at the IMSI show. It was mentioned in Race Engine Technology Magazine. He said the engine will be ready for Dyno testing July 2012. Adding the turbo and MGU (KERS in other words) will be at the front of the engine for chassis packaging reasons. the Turbo eRS unit will feed its power direct to the MGU and not through a battery to reduce losses.

[Phoenix]

Mecachrome? Are you kidding me?

They should definately seek a partnership with PLAYLIFE

[mario]

Gilles Simon gave a presentation at the IMSI show. It was mentioned in Race Engine Technology Magazine. He said the engine will be ready for Dyno testing July 2012. Adding the turbo and MGU (KERS in other words) will be at the front of the engine for chassis packaging reasons. the Turbo eRS unit will feed its power direct to the MGU and not through a battery to reduce losses.

It's interesting to see the relative state of development of each of the engines - I believe that Mercedes has already fired up one engine and are currently preparing for a dyno test, with Ferrari scheduling dyno testing for around mid 2012 (June, IIRC), though I'm not sure what either Renault or Cosworth are doing. OK, in the case of Cosworth that is probably in part because they fear that nobody will want their engines in 2014 - they're already being squeezed out of the sport as it is - but Renault seem to have been more guarded about their engine after Simon's departure to PURE, especially given their accusations that Simon might have indulged in some industrial espionage.
Moreover, as far as I can tell PURE are the first engine manufacturer to at least give us some hints about the final form of the engine by announcing where they are packaging the turbocharger unit. Whilst it is the case that the FIA has been relatively strict on turbocharger placement, I wonder whether that will be the standard location for all the new engines of whether some of the other manufacturers might try a different approach?

[eurobrun]

Espionage. Seriously

[Pointrox]

Espionage. Seriously

It's always worth a try, y'know

[eurobrun]

Espionage. Seriously

It's always worth a try, y'know

Win

[Pointrox]

Craig Bollock officially confirms Simon's words.
PURE starts to look serious. Can it be that they'll boot Cosworth out of F1?

[DanielPT]

Craig Bollock officially confirms Simon's words.
PURE starts to look serious. Can it be that they'll boot Cosworth out of F1?

Thing is, they will have to seriously cut they price of their engines and probably to something symbolic even otherwise I am afraid no one will risk using them giving they are an unknown quantity.

[eurobrun]

Craig Bollock officially confirms Simon's words.
PURE starts to look serious. Can it be that they'll boot Cosworth out of F1?

Thing is, they will have to seriously cut they price of their engines and probably to something symbolic even otherwise I am afraid no one will risk using them giving they are an unknown quantity.

This has the potential to be the rejectful engine since the life W12

[DanielPT]

Craig Bollock officially confirms Simon's words.
PURE starts to look serious. Can it be that they'll boot Cosworth out of F1?

Thing is, they will have to seriously cut they price of their engines and probably to something symbolic even otherwise I am afraid no one will risk using them giving they are an unknown quantity.

This has the potential to be the rejectful engine since the life W12

That sentence might just convince HRT or Marussia to get those engines!

[tristan1117]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97227

Which obviously means that we will be seeing a McLaren-PURE on the grid for 2014.

[Wizzie]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97227

Which obviously means that we will be seeing a McLaren-PURE on the grid for 2014.

If that did happen, it'd be unquestionably the gamble of the century. I mean, don't McLaren have the facilities and the know-how to make their own engines anyway?

[mario]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97227

Which obviously means that we will be seeing a McLaren-PURE on the grid for 2014.

If that did happen, it'd be unquestionably the gamble of the century. I mean, don't McLaren have the facilities and the know-how to make their own engines anyway?

Not at the moment - their road car engines are produced by Ricardo, a specialist mechanical engineering consultancy, although McLaren did have some input into the overall design of the engine. In theory Ricardo might be capable of designing a 2014 specification F1 engine, but it would require a considerable amount of capital investment at a time when McLaren is already spending heavily on their road car manufacturing division (the bill is around £800 million and growing, between developing the MP4-12C, researching their next two models and a completely new complex to manufacture those cars in).
As for PURE and McLaren - yes, undoubtedly relations with Mercedes are likely to be less cordial now that they are becoming competitors off and on track, and inevitably McLaren may be losing works manufacturing status, but on the other hand PURE is a completely unproven organisation run by an individual who gained a reputation at BAR for heavy spending with poor results. To my mind, it is more likely that McLaren would seek backing from a manufacturer - Honda is one suggestion - rather than gamble on an independent entry; if they wanted to do that, surely it'd be wiser to gamble on Cosworth given that Cosworth are somewhat proven as an engine supplier?