Perku Nathiswaya at Indy F1 before walking into the Mclaren F1 hospitality center with an agenda from Chip Ganassi.
Perku Nahtiswaya was spotted at the F1 GP at Indy one short week ago, and it's clear that the impact will be huge and could change the focus of motorsports worldwide. Working closely with Chip Ganassi, Perku was able to lure Mclaren F1 driver Juan Montoya into Ganassi's #42 Nextel Cup car for 2007. F1 experience in NASCAR is nothing new - remember Christian Fittapaldi?
Montoya: "It's time to turn left."
Nathiswaya'a talks with Theissen - 5-Series BMW Cup car in 07 driven by Jacques?
Perku's bid to lure Jacques Villeneuve last year to a combination Cup and F1 team based in Mooresville NC was squished by BMW, or was it? Perku, wearing a BMW hat was also seen with BMW's Mario Theissen on Saturday morning of the American F1 round. Most insiders thought that Perku's F1 effort was shelved by Bernie Ecclestone, but it turns out that the Nathiswaya Grand Prix team has been testing in South Africa with BMW V8 powered two-year-old modified Williams chassis for Ken Schraeder, John Force, and Jimmy Spencer as planned. Hardtuned believes that Nathiswaya is working with Theissen on a plan to bring BMW into the Nextel Cup with the 5-Series, driven by Jacques Villeneuve.
Perku formulates a strategy for NASCAR expansion after the US market saturates in 2009. Part of his plan calls for a switch to hybrid power by 2010 which explains Toyota's entry in the 2007 chase for the NEXTEL Cup.
Five years ago, Nathiswaya did a brief stint with NASCAR's marketing and development division. The underlying mission of his position was to develop a worldwide audience, as the US market was projected to reach full saturation in 2009. Nathiswaya joked about turning F1 into a feeder series for NASCAR - but in working behind the scenes and in the shadows of the sport he's laying the groundwork for a worldwide explosion of CUP style racing
Coming to a NASCAR track near you - an international audience armed with those crazy loud air-horns speaking some foreign language.
He won't comment on it now, but hardtuned sources believe that Nathiswaya is working with the FIA, Max Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone on slowly bringing the F1 rules package in line with NASCAR. Ferrari recently tested a cup version of the mid 80's 400i chassis, and BMW, Mercedes, and Honda could all whip up Cup cars in no time. Toyota is already entering the fold in '07. Renault, on the other hand, seems skeptical. Another rumored backup plan involves creating national NASCAR CUP programs in different countries, and running in a shootout every 4 years similar to the World Cup football tournament.
