Just going through the big 3's latest 3 recruits... We have Conway, Kimball and Hinch.
Do you really think that those 3 were the best possible picks for a championship assault?
Onboard with Rubens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsHY1Mmpg90
That car does look pretty fast from the inside... And it sounds pretty good too
That car does look pretty fast from the inside... And it sounds pretty good too
... or just because building brand new (NGTC) cars just for the point of competiting in BTCC wasn't worth it.
I guess BTCC kinda made sence for them as a way to race their old WTCC machinery and still be competitive out of the box... But those days are now over.
I guess BTCC kinda made sence for them as a way to race their old WTCC machinery and still be competitive out of the box... But those days are now over.
You really think that good rides are given according to sole (driving) talent these days?
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Yea but Wilson did win a race on meh equipment in 2009.
I do care about him too! I reckon that the Coyne+Honda+Wilson+Pappas reunification could brong some cool results. Even if having no better or more experienced than Jimmy Jakes in the second car(if he stays of course, which looks likely at the moment) won't be good for the development side of things.
I won't comment on the Bourdais bit however
Isn't Franchitti himself older than Rubens actually...?
I'm affraid so.
It is not entirely sure if OWRL will organise another BF1 league this year, either. Feel free to check the website/LFS News for possible future announcements.
Indeed, probably a lot of noise for nothing in the end. But you gotta find something to argue about during silly season
All of that is just IMO of course:
I don't really get the Penske analogy. Apples and oranges really.
For Penske, having another car doesn't matter, because he's there to win, not to make deals with pay drivers and make profit/minimise the losses. And 3 cars is clearly enough to make an assault at the championship. Having more would possibly mean splitting ressources and losing focus on each individual car, etc.
Plus he'd have to deal with the ego wars. It seems like Power and Helio are not best friends already, so if you put a top-4th driver in the equation, it's going to make things even more messy.
See Dario and Dixon at Ganassi BTW, they're not very happy to have to team-up with Rahal... Even if they're not true "teammates" with him... This is quite understandable, you're having a fantastic and very efficient relationship with your workmate, and suddently the boss wants you to work with someone who could possibly threaten you on short term. How do you react?
To be honest I really do not see KV upgrading to 4th cars either, but in that case, the move would at least make sence, in a way:
Rubens suddenly arrives to the driver market, with possible great sponsoring deals thanks to his outstanding reputation in South America. Problem, the KV house is already full with TK, Viso and Guerrieri(Assuming that Guerierri has signed already, of course. If he hasn't and the deal fails for whatever reason, Rubens could still fill his car, who knows...).
KV can't fire any of their current drivers since they're all pay drivers. Now I'm not sure if TK himself brings a lot of money, but whatever, firing TK would mean shooting yourself in the foot really!
So, what's the solution to your problem? Upgrade to 4 cars! But of course I'm making it sound like more easy than it actually is!
Now, as I said, I do not see that happeing, as:
- Does Rubens actually want to drive full time?
- Even if we assume that he brings much money(pure speculation), would it be a viable move only 2 months before the season start? I mean, equipment and personal wise?
- What's the situation chassis and engine counts-wise? Could they get spares so easily?
Lotus isn't building the engines, Judd is, and they have quite a decent amount of experience in the domain.
The main reason why no one wanted to stick with them is that they started working on the project several months after Honda and Chevy.
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The positive side would be... LFS' BF1's crash physics suddently becomes real life relevant
Rubens in a 4th KV car for Sao Paolo would be the ideal PR trick me thinks!
I hope he gets a full time ride but I do not see that happening to be honest! Guerrieri will most likely land in the 3rd car, so this means that KV would have to upgrade to 4 cars full time? And, does Rubens want to drive on ovals anyway? And if he does, will he get the green light from his wife and family?
I hope he gets a full time ride but I do not see that happening to be honest! Guerrieri will most likely land in the 3rd car, so this means that KV would have to upgrade to 4 cars full time? And, does Rubens want to drive on ovals anyway? And if he does, will he get the green light from his wife and family?
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Yea, Hinchcliffe is a master journalist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EyQtTFLZgQ [nose competition LOL]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rrVGjARN9I
:banana:
/me wonders where that leaves Nash tho(and RML also!)
:rolleyes:
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$$$ over the dreams
Not that I care too much though, at least we might have the media's attention focussed on the race this year
Agreed, I like short ovals too.
Martinsville would be truly epic... although probably a carnage
Yea, but then I assume that a 1.5 mile oval is probably not the best place to see the drivers at work(except in close traffic situations of course).
I think the experience would've been quite different at Milwaukee, Loudon or even Iowa(or, on a road/street course).
Engines wise, the new ones sound quite cool IMO, indeed
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jYcS9lVHl4
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Yes. Kentucky was the one of the only Lights race I watched last year, and I was really appaled.
Pityful car count as usual. Then half of the field eliminated at T1 due to one guy spinning in the middle of the pack - 1.5 mile racing wonders. Then that Ferreira guy weaving like a nutter and being (rightfully, IMO) sent off by race control. Then the 5 remaining cars hotlapping on track for the latter half of the race.
Also... Many people were complaining on how underwhelming the Dallara/03 IndyCars looked like while going flat out on a 1,5 mile oval. But this was absolutely nothing comparing to an IndyLight car. (Though in all honesty I should mention that unfortunately I never had the opportunity to watch any of those cars in person)
But anyway. I hope next season will be a bit better, I read on another forum that some new teams will join the series, which will probably improve the car count a bit. Plus, Tristan Vautier joining the series will be an exciting factor. Also Conor Daly if he decides to show up, instead of being just another midfielder in GP3.
Actually... I asked about him to Robin Miller a few weeks ago(in his weekly Mailbag at speedtv.com). According to Miller, he was a ridebuyer in the 2004, 05 and 06 seasons(racing for Conquest in 2004 and 05, then HVM-CTE in 2006), mostly being backed by his dad. Daddy decided to pull the plug after the 2006 season, thinking that his son could find sponsors by himself, after his (rather lucky) win at Surfers 2006. Unfortunately, the sponsors hunt never turned out to be successful for poor old Nelson, which means he was afterwards stuck in uncompetitive part time entries.
Still according to Miller, his Infineon 2009 crash scared a bit the Philippe family. Hence why Nelson made the decision to quit competitive racing after this.
Win
EDIT: Update on the engine situation: http://auto-racing.speedtv.com ... nd-demand-still-a-concern
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Pleonasm?
(Nah, shame he disappeared completely from the motorracing world after Inifineon 2009 in fact. I actualy liked the guy
)Yes. Plenty of wealthy pay drivers around, so this shouldn't be an issue. Although I'm not certain if Matos or Meira have any significant backing right now(They certainly would be great additions talent wise, though. Especially Meira).
Now, what's worrying is the lack of engine deal. We probably got several more entries than expected(even an old fox like Robin Miller was betting on an average of 20 cars/race not long ago), can any of the manufacturers produce the few additional blocks needed? What will happen if Conquest(or Sarah Fisher, or Ed Carpenter) finds themselves with no engine at St Pete, simply because no one could provide them one?
Now Sarah Fisher and Ed Carpenter are in the same situation... But we know they'll push hard to get a deal, because the rest of their package is ready to go, and they have no other alternative... It's IndyCar or nothing for them.
What about Conquest? Unlike SFR or Ed, they have no drivers, no sponsors, no announcement made so far, etc. IIRC they were supposed to field an ALMS entry too. Perhaps is this silence on the IndyCar situation a sign that they can't afford a double program, and will switch to sports car full time, à la Newman Haas?
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