Alas, we’ll have to wait ’til next week to see the new Red Bull car.  Anything past that is up in the air, as neither Scuderia Toro Rosso nor Force India have announced a launch date.  Honda, of course, is looking more and more like a lost cause for 2009, but there’s not a heck of a lot I can do about that.

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Speaking of car companies on the verge of fiscal disintegration — and yes, this is a tie-in with a race car launch — I present the Corvette-engined Oreca Formula Le Mans:

Yes, it’s a spec prototype series to support the Le Mans Series.  And yes, that’s an LS3 you hear.  I think this is a fantastic idea.

More car porn at Jalopnik.

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And speaking of car porn and Le Mans prototypes:

That there is an Aston Martin-powered Lola-based closed-top LMP1 car.  I’d be a bit surprised if a gas-powered V12 could give the diesels much of a scare, but you never know.  Either way, I love the livery.  (Image link goes to more car porn on Jalopnik.)

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Going back to Formula One for a minute, we have the following interview with Charlie Whiting, discussing the new rules for 2009:

• Q&A: Charlie Whiting on 2009’s rules changes (Formula1.com)

It covers the new aero rules, slick tires, KERS, and pretty much everything else.

I find it interesting that the Overtaking Working Group specifically targeted a 50% reduction in downforce from its rules changes, but Mr. Whiting is now telling us the following:

I’m confident we’ve achieved a fairly significant reduction in downforce, but that’s not the critical thing: the critical thing is the effects. As long as we have the effects, we should be okay.

(Yes, that’s a thinly-veiled jab at top-down regulation of a dynamic and highly motivated system.  Draw your own analogies.)

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And while we’re on the subject of governmental manipulation of national economies (I get to draw my own analogies, too), we have the following from France:

• France looking for a way back into F1 (PlanetF1)

You might recall that the 2009 French GP at Magny-Cours was cancelled due to lack of lucre.  Well, if those wacky Keynesians really are onto something and government spending has a superlinear effect on GDP, what better way to kickstart the sagging French economy than by building a new Formula One circuit outside of Paris?

France’s chances of hosting a F1 grand prix in 2011 have been boosted after the country’s Senate agreed plans to build a new circuit outside Paris.

[...]

The fast-tracking means that local authorities in Yvelines outside Paris will be able to bypass the standard planning procedures and get construction underway as soon as possible.

Well, it sure makes a lot of sense to fast-track stimulus projects* so that the money is spent during the recession rather than three years after the recession.  It also makes sense to build a completely new track rather than update an existing one, as Hermann Tilke’s entirely novel creations (with the exception of Shanghai International Circuit) are significantly less offensive than his butchering of established circuits.  Seems like a winner, eh?

Hang on, hang on, just a minute there.  We’re talking about the intersection of French government and French industry.  Are they allowed to be this efficient?  Is it even possible?

Mais non, cela n’est pas posssible.

• French parliament halts GP proposal (F1technical)

The French parliament has decided not to allow the express authorization of a Formula One circuit at Yvelines. The amendment that would allow a quick handling of the procedure was voted and approved by the senate last Friday but now removed.

During recent weeks it has been similar to a ball game as the senate and parliament have tried to put responsibility on the other’s hand. While the original idea was backed by the Minister for the economic revival Patrick Devedjian, he faces strong opposition from socialists and greens against the project.

So much for that idea.

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* If you’re convinced that the Keynesian approach works well enough to justify the cost, of course