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Gianfranco De Bellis, who manages the Tatuus operation, explains
how the USF‐17/PM‐18 project started and what were the key elements
that eventually persuaded the American promoter. For the Italian
company and Dan Andersen is a new chapter in a success story
Gianfranco, how did this new American dream
started?
«The first request came last August. I think they asked
four or five manufacturers. The specifications required
that the two cars had some parts in common. This has
been a good intuition based on what is happening in
Europe with Formula 4 and the future British series
managed by Jonathan Palmer. The two cars, called
USF‐17 and PM‐18, will have 170 and 270 horsepower
respectively, and that’s comparable to Formula 4’s 160
and the 230 of the series managed by Palmer. Having a
common platform enables to put the accent on other
components like the aero, the electronics, the brakes.
Another request was to have American suppliers ‐ for
example, the electronics will be made by Cosworth, the
braking system by Performance Friction ‐ and it
seemed right for us because they are extremely high‐
level suppliers».