Quote:
Originally Posted by isynge
In terms of IP rights it depends very much on what is seen as a replication of the original, a derivative work, and a completely new work. If Pescarolo is talking about a new car, then IP doesn't come into it (unless someone wants to get into a real pedantic argument about the origin of particular designs, and then you get into the area that you can't copyright a fact and you can't patent an obvious solution). Pescarolo's other option - i.e. a further modification of the 01 obviously does impact on Oak's IP, but given Nicolet's obvious affinity for Henri and his team I would be astonished if that was a problem.
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Right, I guess what I should have asked is if some of the infrastructure Henri needs to build a new car is owned by OAK now. Granted, I don't think any of this is a big issue between Nicolet and Henri and I guess even if it was, Henri could always restart things on his own if he has the funding.
I guess another question about a possible new car is if it will have a cost-capped version for LMP2. Who knows.
The problem facing teams like Pescarolo and OAK is that even if they build a great new chassis, it will be hard to be competitive with the powerplant options available to them. Maybe a Peugeot diesel would be great if those become available, but who knows. I think Pescarolo needs a new chassis, but the lack of power from the current engine options may be a bigger thorn in their sides than the current chassis. I don't think it is a balancing issue, it's just an issue with the current state of the Zytek, Judd, and AER options.
I don't see this happening, but I think it would be great to see Pescarolo competing in the ALMS (at least for a few races) now that the LMS is removing LMP1. Ok, they can compete in the WEC as well, but I'd like to see the Pescarolos in a situation where they can realistically compete for a win or two a year.