CHAMPCAR/CART: Ford announcement on sale of Cosworth, Jaguar

Ford Motor Company Secures Sale of Cosworth Racing To Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe

LONDON, 15 November 2004 - Ford Motor Company and Cosworth are jointly announcing today that Cosworth has been purchased by Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe, co-owners of the Champ Car World Series and heads of the PKV and Forsythe Championship Racing Champ Car teams, respectively.

"I am delighted that Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe have bought Cosworth. Since we made the announcement to sell our F1 businesses in September we have received tremendous support from the management and employees at Cosworth and we have worked very hard to secure a sale to a reputable buyer," said Richard Parry-Jones, Group Vice President - Global Product Development and Chief Technical Officer, Ford Motor Company. "Kevin and Gerry are very successful businessmen, have a long history in the sport and a clear vision for how they wish to take Cosworth forward. I am pleased to announce this outcome."

"Cosworth has a truly wonderful heritage of engineering that we have great respect for," said Kevin Kalkhoven, the new co-owner of Cosworth. "We want not only to continue on from that great tradition but also move into the future with new projects and new ideas. There are many new markets we want to develop. For example, the company has been doing a lot of work on new technology marine engines, which should be very appropriate in the coming years. I believe there's a big opportunity in that area."

Gerry Forsythe added: Broadly, we're looking at the whole area of engine development, but also in new markets, such as supplying kits to the emerging tuner car market. We also intend to continue working with automotive manufacturers around the world on an even more expansive basis than Cosworth has in the past."

Jaguar Racing sale to Red Bull

Separately today, Ford announced the sale of Jaguar Racing to Red Bull. As part of the deal the new Red Bull F1 team will continue to use Cosworth engines next year. This announcement, together with the news that Minardi will also be using Cosworth engines in 2005, helps underpin Cosworth's long and ongoing role as an F1 engine supplier.

"We are strongly committed to continuing the great F1 tradition at Cosworth and take that very successful heritage into the future," stated Kevin Kalkhoven, and we want to extend Cosworth's four-decade old tradition of building performance engines for the American racing market."

An additional reason for Kalkhoven and Forsythe's purchase of Cosworth is to ensure control of the development and costs of engines for Champ Car's ladder series. "As we go forward, Cosworth will be a developer of affordable engines for the Champ Car ladder series," Forsythe said.

Commenting on the news, Cosworth Managing Director Tim Routsis said: This is wonderful news for Cosworth. We have an excellent relationship with Kevin and Gerry built up over time through our involvement in North American motorsport. Being acquired by people of their knowledge, resource, experience and passion is a rare opportunity to not only strengthen and expand our existing position in world-wide motor sport, but also to lead Cosworth into new markets that will provide long-term stability and a foundation for future growth."

"The high regard in which Kevin and Gerry hold the Company, its people, brand and products has been demonstrated today in the most convincing manner possible," stated Routsis.

Richard Parry-Jones concluded: Today marks the passing of an era. After competing for over thirty-five years in the sport in partnership with Cosworth, deciding to exit F1 was a very tough decision for us to make. During that time, the Ford-Cosworth relationship has experienced the highs and lows of the sport, but we have also left a rich legacy of victories and championships won by some of the most famous drivers and teams in motorsports history.

"This success would not have been possible without the contribution of our employees, partners, drivers, sponsors and of course the fans. I would like to thank them all, and am reassured that this famous racing name will go forward under the stewardship of Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerry Forsythe. We look forward to a continuing relationship with Cosworth," said Parry-Jones.

Cosworth Highlights

1958 - Cosworth was formed by Mike Costin and Keith Duckworth.

1960 - Cosworth's first victory when Jim Clark won the Formula Junior race in a Lotus 18 at Goodwood.

1966 - Duckworth signed a contract with Ford to develop a new three-liter Formula One engine, and the legendary DFV was born.

1967 - First win for the DFV when Jim Clark won the Dutch Grand Prix. The DFV went on to dominate the sport for 15 years and clinched 155 race wins during that time.

1970s - Jackie Stewart, Emerson Fittipaldi, James Hunt and Nelson Piquet all took championships using Cosworth engines. Cosworth came to the U.S. where the DFX version of the F1 powerplant began its record of 151 race wins in a 14-year reign, culminating in ten driver's championships and ten Indianapolis 500 victories.

1987 - Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 captured the Touring Car world Title

1990s - The Ford Escort Cosworth notched up numerous wins and the Duratec-R engine in the Focus gave Ford more success, to take Colin McRae to an all-time win record.

1993 & 1994 - Two consecutive Touring Car world titles for Paul Radisich in the Cosworth-powered Ford Mondeo

1989-1993 - The HB replaced the DFV, winning 11 Formula One races during this time.

1993 - Nigel Mansell won the CART championship with Cosworth power.

1994 - The Zetec V8 F1 engine was introduced and powered Michael Schumacher's first world driver's title.

1995 - Jacques Villeneuve captured the Indy 500 in a Cosworth-powered car.

2003-2004 - Cosworth provided the power to the entire CART/Champ Car series.

Also in 2003, Cosworth Racing was the recipient if the prestigious Business of the Year award from the Motorsport Industry Association, one of the most coveted awards for companies involved in motorsport in the UK.

About Kevin Kalkhoven

In January of 2004, Mr. Kalkhoven, along with fellow team owners Paul Gentilozzi and Gerald Forsythe, purchased the assets of CART to ensure the future of the Champ Car World Series. The venture proved to be a tremendous success, with Champ Car having concluded the 2004 season enjoying increases in average spectator numbers and car counts.

Mr. Kalkhoven purchased PK Racing in 2003, which became PKV Racing in 2004 with the addition of 1996 Champion Jimmy Vasser as an owner.

Successful venture capitalist Kevin Kalkhoven, co-founder of Kalkhoven, Pettit, Levin & Johnson Ventures LLC, joined Uniphase Corporation in 1992 as President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman and oversaw its transformation from a privately held manufacturer of industrial lasers into a publicly held leading global supplier of components and modules for today's advanced fiber optic telecommunications networks.

Mr. Kalkhoven has also held numerous CEO positions with computer software and hardware companies. He is a regular keynote speaker at technology conferences and was noted in the May 2000 Worth magazine as one of America's Top 50 CEOs.

About Gerald Forsythe

Gerald Forsythe has become one of the most influential entrepreneurs in open-wheel racing, bringing his business acumen to a wide array of ventures which include a leading role in the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford through his co-ownership of Open Wheel Racing Series LLC, team ownership, race track ownership and development and race event promotion.

He is owner of Forsythe Championship Racing, the defending 2003 Champ Car Series Championship winning Team with 2003 Series Champion Driver Paul Tracy, Patrick Carpentier and additional new team driver Rodolfo Lavin for 2004, as well as being a director and limited partner of the British American Racing Formula One team.

In 1997 Mr. Forsythe expanded his racing interests to include ownership, operations and promotion of racing facilities and race events in joint ventures including with the Monterrey Government in Monterey Mexico, which hosted its inaugural Champ Car Grand Prix in 2001, as did England's Rockingham Motor Speedway with Mr. Forsythe as shareholder in the track, and with CIE in Mexico City Mexico with its first Champ Car Grand Prix in 2002.

Outside of racing, having begun his career with Indeck Power Equipment Company in 1963, Mr. Forsythe serves as a Chairman and CEO of the Indeck Group of Companies, and currently owns controlling interest in all the Indeck companies, which are affiliated only by his common ownership, Mr. Forsythe sets strategic goals for the Indeck Group and each company reports directly to Mr. Forsythe for major project and corporate decisions.

Under his leadership, the Indeck Group has grown into North America's largest supplier of emergency and back-up steam generating source and has expanded into designing and fabricating water treatment equipment and renting generator sets, chillers, and compressors. In 1985 Indeck Energy Service, Inc. was founded to take advantage of the new independent power-through-cogeneration business and has become an industry leader in the design, construction, and operation of state-of-the-art power facilities. In 1993, Inc. Magazine ranked Indeck Energy as the second fastest growing privately held company in the United States. Mr. Forsythe has over 30 years of extensive experience in the energy, power and utility industry.

-ford motor company-