Briscoe on move to IRL

[indycool]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/4182769.stm

[Kicking-back]

I'm not convinced he had an "offer" from Jordan in the same way he'd like you to think....

[BSchneiderFan]

Given the Midland buy-in, spurning a Jordan drive in favour of the IRL wouldn't have been such a great idea, but, yes, I wonder quite how close Briscoe was to getting a seat with Eddie.

[Kicking-back]

Eddie - "the seat's yours for X million"

Chip - "the seat's yours, I'll pay you Y"

[GP Racer]

With Ganassi, Ryan has a very good shot of getting the IRL championship, and he will be a threat to win the biggest open wheel prize of all, the Indy 500. With Jordan, what would he have? A slow, dicey car, that is likely to only beat Minardi.

I say good choice for Briscoe, and again raises the IRL's stature internationally...

Also, good point KB...

[mac]

K-B is pretty much right.

The deal with Jordan was for him to bring $X to the table (which he was very close to reaching).

Ryan looked at the idea of paying a bucketload of cash for a dodgy ride, and decided that getting paid for a competitive ride in a lesser (but ultimately quite high-profile) series would be better value for his career.

And I can assure you that his link to Toyota is most certainly not over (and I don't just mean in the sense that he is pedalling a Toyota engine).

If he wins the championship within two years, there is a very strong possibility that he won't be defending it ........

But that ain't gonna happen if Toyota don't pull their socks up in the engine department.

[Snrub]

^ Exactly. What if as Dixon suggested very early that Toyota is down on power for 2005 and they plan on leaving for Nascar soon after. Another thought is that Briscoe may be vey talented, but there's no gaurenty of a free championship. If the polarization by engine continues you have a choice of being up against Penske: Helio, Hornish, Ganassi: Manning, Dixon and possibly Pat @ Cheever. Alternatively on the Honda side you have AGR: Kannan, Weldon (primarly those two), Rahal: Rice (primarly), Fernandez. Who would you rather go up against? IMO the first group is stronger and Penske is always on their game, so there will be few races were it's just competition from your teammate. The Honda group has historically weaker teams, although that might not be fair to say of AGR. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Briscoe didn't make the better choice going to Ganassi over Jordan, I'm just pointing out some other things.

I would definately agree with GP Racer that the international stature of the IRL is improved by signing Briscoe. I think that for 2005 the field has some strong newcomers too.

[GP Racer]

If Toyota comes back strong, then this could be one hell-of-a competitive year in the IRL, and by no means easy for Ryan to win, but with Ganassi, he will at least have a chance here. Also, this is a close, competitive series where there are many cars that can win, that features wheel-to-wheel action, passing, and really close finishes. You really cannot say that about F1 right now, where technology is king, and Jordan has little of that right now. I think he may also have been listening intently to disallusioned guys like DaMatta, who didn't have many good things to say about his time in a mid-field F1 team, and maybe he heard IRL cheerleaders like Dan Wheldon talk about how good the racing was here.

[mac]

He still clearly has pointed out that F1 is his main goal.

And Ryan is definitely still on the Toyota F1 radar. But he must succeed in IndyCar to stay there - not necessarily an easy task.

If Toyota had offered him one of their race drives, he certainly would not have passed that up to go to the IRL.

[racer69]

If Toyota had given him the third seat he probably wouldn't have gone.

James Courtney said the same 'i'm still looking at F1' when he went to Japan, and these days seems very happy racing Japanese GT cars, maybe Briscoe will find the same thing in America.

And better yet, maybe this will persuade Channel 10 (or whomever else) to show each round of the Indycar Series, rather than just the 500. Doesn't bother me, i've got ESPN, but it would be great if more people could watch him at work. (wouldn't hold my breath though, there's 7 Aussies in competitive World Superbike rides yet no free-to-air channel seems interested )

[BootsOntheSide]

It's a shame Ryan seemingly wasn't aware of the Midland possibility with Jordan - he could've got in on the ground floor of something fairly promising. Ganassi didn't win a race last season, and as Snrub says it's a big challenge to be the best Toyota driver in any particualr races, last season the Hondas were often unbeatable, and I can't really see Toyota putting as much into the series anymore considering their NASCAR and F1 plans.

[Kicking-back]

Toyota has never officially said it is leaving the IRL and from what I've read and heard it is determined to get back on terms with Honda this season.

[rustyfan]

Originally Posted by BootsOntheSide

It's a shame Ryan seemingly wasn't aware of the Midland possibility with Jordan - he could've got in on the ground floor of something fairly promising. Ganassi didn't win a race last season, and as Snrub says it's a big challenge to be the best Toyota driver in any particualr races, last season the Hondas were often unbeatable, and I can't really see Toyota putting as much into the series anymore considering their NASCAR and F1 plans.

Question is how long that F-1 effort will continue - it's no secret the Toyota top-brass are losing their patience with the lack of results.

[N I Tram]

This will be Toyota's best season yet, almost certainly, the level of talent in the team is way beyond what they've had before. I'm sure they'll give it at least another 3 years, especially as they are making obvious progress, and at the very least they'd probably continue as an engine supplier, as that seems to be their main strength.

[GP Racer]

Originally Posted by BootsOntheSide

and I can't really see Toyota putting as much into the series anymore considering their NASCAR and F1 plans.

But I can't see Toyota sticking around this series and taking another drubbing at the hands of their arch-rivals at Honda either, can you? In other words, they won't get beaten like that again through lack of effort or spending. They'll do whatever it takes to get competitive again, since they have at least 2 more seasons in the IRL.

How bad would it look for Toyota to get beaten for 2 more seasons, like they did last year?