15/08/2005
NEWS STORY
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Former racer PJ Fallon, who will run the commercial side of A1 Team Ireland was in ebullient mood when he spoke to Pitpass editor, Chris Balfe, following the official announcement that Ireland is the twentieth country to sign up to the exciting new series, joining the USA, Australia, India, Brazil, South Africa and its 'neighbour from the Irish Sea, Britain.
Editor Balfe began by asking if it was an individual or the ubiquitous 'consortium' that had bought the rights to the Irish franchise.
"It's a family that is behind the purchase," says Fallon, "however, the bid is headed up by Mark Kershaw, who will act as Franchise Principal. He's joined by (former Jordan and Jaguar Marketing Director) Mark Gallagher, who will act as Team Principal.
"Mark Gallagher and myself commenced discussions about this around three months ago," he reveals. "We then found a very exciting investor and everything was finalised last week. Consequently, today we were finally able to announce that we are part of the A1 Grand Prix scene for the forthcoming inaugural season."
Right from the outset, Balfe feels that the 'ghost' of Eddie Jordan needs to be laid to rest, he asks Fallon whether the former F1 team boss will be involved in the Irish A1 operation.
"He has offered his help and support," says the Irishman, "but he has no involvement whatsoever with the purchase or running of the team."
Having talked to people closely involved with A1, it appears that it is the countries that do not have a major motor racing heritage, such as China and India, that are experiencing the most interest from potential sponsors, while countries such as Britain and the USA, which have many drivers, teams and race series', are having to work that much harder.
With no disrespect, Balfe asks Fallon if he feels the Irish A1 Team will find it relatively easy to find sponsors. "Well, I hope your assumptions are totally correct," laughs the Irishman. "Saying that however, I can understand when it comes to the UK, because the UK is the home of motorsport, nearly all the Formula One teams are based there, same with GP2 and most other series. So therefore, there are a lot of people looking for a slice of the same (sponsorship) cake. Therefore, as you say, in countries like China and Korea, which are relatively un-tapped, they will probably be quite successful.
"We are aiming to contact a lot of our major companies," he continues, "companies that are exporting worldwide. So far we haven't contacted any but we aim to do that in the very near future.
Jordan enjoyed massive support due to its nationality its Irish heritage. The fact that the team will no longer exist from the end of the 2005 season - indeed, in some people's eyes the team no longer exists - will that be beneficial for A1 Team Ireland?
"Absolutely," replies Fallon without hesitation. "This is a truly Irish team. It is based in Dublin and it will run in our country's colours.
"Jordan enjoyed tremendous support, and had a great fan base, so naturally we want to pick up that fan base and give them something to come out and support, and to follow their team around the world. Wherever you go in the world, and whatever sport, you will find the Irish supporting their teams... we aim to build on that, we want them to come out, fill the grandstands and give the team as much support as possible."
Fallon is also keen to point out that the team will represent the island of Ireland: "We want the full support of the island of Ireland," he says. "There are a lot of very, very talented drivers in Ireland and we will be looking at a lot of them.
"At the moment, Ralph (Firman) fitted all the categories required, his mum is from Newbridge, which is just down the way from here, and he's spent a lot of his time here, having competed with an Irish competition licence. However, for the young drivers coming through, this will be an incentive for them to raise their game in order to get into the Irish team."
The Irishman reveals that he attended the recent two-day at Silverstone, and that this was when he became finally and totally convinced by A1: "I think, had four or five cars turned out for the test, people might have been a little bit sceptical," he says. "However, when they saw fifteen cars on track, plus a couple more in the garages which didn't run... add to that the level of competition, the young drivers from Brazil, Jos Verstappen in the Dutch car, the young talent in the French car... it's going to be a massively competitive championship.
"A lot of young drivers are never going to become Formula One drivers," he continues. "However, now they're going to be part of a genuine World Championship series. This will be a great opportunity for them to showcase their talent. No matter what country you're from, this is going to raise the bar for a lot of young talents."
The recent test proved the cynics wrong, not only because we got to see fifteen of the cars on track, but also because the times were competitive.
"For me, the really impressive element of the test was the reliability of the cars," says the Irishman. "They ran the cars for two days, without any problems, in fact I believe there were just two red-flags. Also, as you say, the times were very competitive. Once the engineers really get to work on these cars, I think it is going to get even more exciting."
Some well-known names are involved in the teams behind the various nations, names such as Arden Carlin, DAMS, West Surrey Racing and Alan Docking, so who is behind the Irish team Balfe wonders, for once Fallon remain tight-lipped.
"I cannot say at this moment," says the Irishman, "however, we are in discussions with some top people we want a very strong engineering team behind the operation."
Some might say, with just six weeks before the first race (Brands Hatch), that Ireland has come in rather late, however, Firman has been driving the car almost since the beginning, and has probably run more test miles than any other driver.
"That's right," says Fallon, a former racer and team owner, "he did all the pre-set up work on the car, and therefore knows the car very well. We're delighted to have him on board.
"It's also a fantastic opportunity for him," he continues, " he had his time in Formula One, the rookie year (Jordan), which is always exceedingly difficult. I think he is extremely determined now to make his mark in this series.
There are some that remain sceptical about A1, however it's clear that Fallon most definitely isn't one of them. Asked if he has any reservations about the series, no matter how minor, he instantly fires back: "None whatsoever. With Mark leading the team, and our investors, everybody is so up for this, it really will go from strength to strength.
"We're so proud to be there," he adds, "and we're so confident that we're going to enjoy a tremendous level of support."
Sadly, the car will not be running in its Irish colours at next week's test at Paul Ricard, and will instead run in the black carbon-fibre that the French, Australian and Swiss entries ran at Silverstone.
"Our colour scheme hasn't been fully designed as yet," he reveals. "There's still some debate and discussion going on, but that's part of the fun."
At the mention of the word 'fun', Balfe refers to the Silverstone test, where everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves. Remembering the good old days of Jordan, and the legendary Irish love of 'the craic', can we expect the Irish A1 Team to be the fun team in the A1 pitlane?
"We definitely want to have an element of fun," he admits, "but we also intend to be very serious about the racing and the competition. We want people to see us as serious about racing, but a good fun team."