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21 Dec 2002, 21:55 (Ref:455064) | #1 | ||
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Where's Mad Max?
Just browsing through SVision's website...
Papis Misses Out on Winston Cup Test Max Papis will have to wait until January to get his first real taste of a Winston Cup machine. "Mad Max" was set to do his first test in Ray Evernhman's Dodge at Kentucky Motor Speedway this week before Casey Mears crunched the wall after an engine let go. Papis, whose track time consisted of just a handful of installation laps in the car, is now looking forward to testing the Dodge in early January. "Casey was very sad for what happened," said Papis, "especially for me. But it's OK. You will see me in one of those cars soon." Whether we will see him in one of those cars often next year remains to be seen. Papis is exploring all of his options at present, including NASCAR, IRL and CART, where he said to be on the short list for Paul Gentilozzi's new Rocketsports Champ Car program. Papis freely concedes he is in the mix at Rocketsports but says no deals are done as yet. "Yes, I've been talking with Paul (Gentilozzi)," says Papis. "He's one of a lot of people I'm talking with, several in CART and one in the IRL. "But I still don't know yet what I'm doing for next year. Everything is still in the air - not far in the air though. There's no rush. Hopefully I will be racing in CART, but at the moment I don't know for sure. "Without sounding arrogant, CART needs me more than I need CART. I tell them they cannot do a series full of unknown guys. Let me say that I wish all the new CART drivers all the success in the world, but at the same time, CART needs to recognize that drivers like me and Jimmy (Vasser) mean a lot to the series. You know, when I first raced in CART I was one of the unknown drivers, but I was competing against guys like Jimmy and Alex Zanardi, Al Unser, Jr., Bobby Rahal and Michael Andretti. That was how I became one of the known drivers; by gaining respect from racing against those guys." ...What exactly does he mean by "Without sounding arrogant"? |
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21 Dec 2002, 22:09 (Ref:455076) | #2 | ||
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From AutoRacing1.com
Paul Gentilozzi was on RPM Now Radio earlier. He says he's a week or so away from making an official announcement regarding his driver for 2003, but that "it's a done deal" except for the lawyers, and his guy specifically has seven years of CART experience, is from road racing, has CART wins, has won the Rolex 24, is great with fans and loves chocolate ice cream and red wine. He and John Kernan left no doubt about who has the seat, i.e. Max Papis, forming an all-Italian combo. If that statement above is "WITHOUT sounding arrogant," I hope I am never around when he DOES sound arrogant. He and Gentilozzi ought to make a hell of a team, as we will learn a lot of Italian words for this year. |
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"If we won all the time, we'd be as unpopular as Ferrari, and we want to avoid that. We enjoy being a team that everybody likes." Flavio Briatore |
21 Dec 2002, 22:11 (Ref:455079) | #3 | |
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RPM and others are reporting that Gentilozzi says he has signed Max. Woo Hoo!!!
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21 Dec 2002, 22:14 (Ref:455080) | #4 | ||
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Welcome to the forum, iAs-de-mim!
Interesting user name, I'll credit you with that. |
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21 Dec 2002, 22:30 (Ref:455088) | #5 | |
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Thanks macdaddy, did you guys hear that Paul Tracy will be making the rounds in January for Molson Indy's 2003 announcements? Toronto and Vancouver for sure, haven't heard about Montreal yet.
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21 Dec 2002, 22:51 (Ref:455097) | #6 | ||
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Montreal will probably have Pat... believe it or not, there are likely Quebec fans that are angry that Tags was replaced with Tracy. They're "people" won't like it... (sorry...if you've ever worked for the Canadian govt you'd understand what I'm talking about)
On Max Papis, if that's going to be his attitude, then I'd be glad to part with him. How "known" does he think he is? He's a driver that spent most of his Cart career trundling around at the rear of the grid, and several times had a car capable of winning. Every year the Molson Indy sends out their invitations with something like "Come see the stars of the Cart Fedex...Paul Tracy, Patrick Carpentier, Michael Andretti...." but no Max Papis. A single victory by Ryan Hunter-Reay in Cart would make him more known than Max ever was. |
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21 Dec 2002, 23:08 (Ref:455105) | #7 | ||
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If Max was so popular & recognisable he wouldn't have been without a drive.
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21 Dec 2002, 23:47 (Ref:455127) | #8 | ||
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I think he's exagerating a bit, but he's right that CART can't just have a field of rookies so the more drivers with experience they've got the better. Max seems to be pretty popular, even if people don't know him. People love seeing someone who's enthusastic and will go nuts when they win or do well.
Last edited by Snrub; 21 Dec 2002 at 23:47. |
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21 Dec 2002, 23:47 (Ref:455128) | #9 | ||
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He was best known in 2001 for smashing into his teammate, as I recall.
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"If we won all the time, we'd be as unpopular as Ferrari, and we want to avoid that. We enjoy being a team that everybody likes." Flavio Briatore |
21 Dec 2002, 23:54 (Ref:455133) | #10 | |
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A lot of fans like Max a lot. I saw several people wearing "CART needs Max" and "We want Max" T-Shirts at some races last summer.
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22 Dec 2002, 00:48 (Ref:455166) | #11 | ||
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he's an enthusiastic and positive kind of guy. Always sounded that way when he got dragged into the Cart.com commentary booth to do a guest spot; never moaned about not driving. He's still an asset to Champcars if he lands a drivw.
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22 Dec 2002, 01:31 (Ref:455188) | #12 | ||
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I'm a supporter of Max but that was just a stupid comment.
Good luck to him though. We've all been saying that he deserves a seat, so let's not start throwing insults when he finally gets one! |
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22 Dec 2002, 02:15 (Ref:455211) | #13 | ||
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Hmmm, interesting response to Max's comments. i lived in california for three and a half years in the mid '80's and I loved Americans because of their open-heartedness and willingess to back people who wanted to have a go. Whats happened to that generosity of spirit. all Max is saying is that he is an established CART driver and CART needs established CART drivers if the series is to retain any real credidbility with the general public during the rebuilding that will need to take place in the next two or three years. he's not being arrogant, he's being frank and honest, truthful. He's not saying it to promote himself, but because its the truth, CART does need him and the established stars like him to stay on board, as many as possible. After all the posts about unheard of drivers we get and established star saying it like it is and people are all over him. He said "without wanting to sound arrogant" because it wasn't coming from an attitude of arrogance but a realistic view of the state of play, knowing that someone would react without grce and thinking about the situation he was referring to...and sure enough someone did.
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greg |
22 Dec 2002, 06:14 (Ref:455292) | #14 | |
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By Jeff D'Alessio and Barbara Caywood
FLORIDA TODAY Max Papis, CART driver: What I want for Christmas are some new legs for my friend Alex Zanardi, or at least legs he can use to do whatever he wants. |
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22 Dec 2002, 07:39 (Ref:455315) | #15 | ||
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I think Max is just telling facts. Whether or not he is as well known as Jimmy Vasser, he is still a very talented driver. There are several very talented drivers with NO CART wins. Big deal. I don't see a problem with his comments.
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22 Dec 2002, 12:57 (Ref:455446) | #16 | ||
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I think he's arrogant, but that doesn't mean he's not truthful.
The only thing is that when you promote yourself this way, you have to deliver. Lets hope he can. |
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"If we won all the time, we'd be as unpopular as Ferrari, and we want to avoid that. We enjoy being a team that everybody likes." Flavio Briatore |
22 Dec 2002, 13:33 (Ref:455469) | #17 | ||
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The Gentilozzi statement sounds very defiante as to Max being the man. By the way, how close is Paul's Italian heritage? The close it is, the easier it will be to attract Italian sponsorship to the effort. Tags better start on finding personal sponsors ASAP, because he can't bring any money to a team, and that seems to be limiting his hopes of a drive. max isn't a bad driver by any means, he's been Top 6 in the championship twice and has 3 wins (plus a very narrow miss in Michigan 1999).
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22 Dec 2002, 16:02 (Ref:455542) | #18 | ||
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Tags can bring some money to a team, in the form of his payroll.
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23 Dec 2002, 07:40 (Ref:455982) | #19 | ||
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I agree with macdaddy regarding Tags. In 2003 he will definitely have a CART drive. His paycheck is paid for already. However, in 2004 I don't think he'll be as lucky,,,,,unless he has a good result in 2003.
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23 Dec 2002, 18:56 (Ref:456318) | #20 | ||
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I think Max made a good point - he was not comparing his skills to those guys, simply (I think) saying that he has been in the series awhile and is "known" to the fans.
And yes, he lost his drive at Rahal 'cause he kept hitting Brack - his teammate! |
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23 Dec 2002, 19:54 (Ref:456356) | #21 | ||
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I still say it's all BS from Max. He's a nice guy in person, but he's arrogant if he thinks he's a well known name. He's a well known name among the people that were going to attend the race anyways. And it may hurt him to hear it, but Max Papis is just another car on the grid.
He is completely a completely unknown name outside of racing circles. And like I said, one race win by Ryan Hunter-Reay would make him more well known than Max ever was. The sad fact is, the only known names in open-wheel racing in North America are: in Canada, Paul Tracy and Jacques (Gilles in some places) Villeneuve, in the US Andretti and maybe Vasser and Villeneuve, and in Mexico Fernandez. The rest are all a bunch of nobodies the moment they leave the paddock, and are as interchangable as the left-rear tire changers. |
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24 Dec 2002, 03:58 (Ref:456558) | #22 | ||
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Max is the man but he did cost Brack a serious shot at the championship. That wreck at Mid-Ohio was disgusting. I am a big Rahal fan since he's like our hometown hero as far as racing goes having his headquarters just outside of Columbus and for him to have those two slamming into each other sucked. Brack is a great driver and should do well with Rahal back in the IRL since he excels on ovals.
Max is a sponsors dream as far as attitude and excitement and personally he's one of my favorites but he hasn't delivered the kind of wins he probably should have in that Miller car of Rahals. Then again the guy did get two podiums in a piece of **** last year before it went out of business so he may very well be on his way to the peak of his career. Would I hire him, yes. Would I build my racing team around him, yes. Does CART need him more than he needs CART? Until he signs a contract with someone, somewhere, no. However, Max is in alot better shape than Vasser if CCWS doesn't come calling. Max can drive anything and has proven it. Vasser just talks about how great he is. Someone needs to remind him he's washed up and 1996 was a long time ago... |
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24 Dec 2002, 09:09 (Ref:456647) | #23 | ||
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Personally, I don't put too much blame on Papis for that MidOhio-thing. Brack messed up the corner before and Max is a racer. Sure, I can understand the "team player" aspect, but Max had a legitimate shot at that position.
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7 Jan 2003, 07:15 (Ref:466022) | #24 | |
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Re: Max arrogant
I think you have to have some arrogance to get to CART. However, I think Max was acting arrogant more than being so. It must be very frustrating to not have a deal so late in the "silly season." I do hope Max does get back to CART he is one of the few great personalities in CART along with Jimmy Vasser and PT. With Max you get the real thing. |
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7 Jan 2003, 08:10 (Ref:466039) | #25 | ||
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Jimmy's more of a "racer" than he is a "personality".
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