'05 Silly Season

[Dov]

Agreed, evo. If all street circuits were like Surfers Paradise or St. Pete then I wouldn't have such a problem with all the road courses being dropped from the schedule.

[indycool]

Agreed, ego, Dov.....this seems to be so slapped together with all sorts of funding and approval continegncies and money-laundering through a charity that anything is possible.

[evo]

Man, did you just call me ego? Are you trying to tell me something?

[The Snout]

He got the c and the g around the wrong way. Which means 'Dov' is a step away from being called 'Dog'. Here poochie poochie.

[The Snout]

And I got the v and c around the wrong way. I'm outta here...

[BootsOntheSide]

Originally posted by evo
Hopefully they'll stay on the race track at Laguna Seca, and not add another street parade in San Jose. As a fan of racing, I don't like this direction. Now if they could make courses in the cities that lend themselves to good racing, I would be all for it. Seems unlikely though.

I don't know if you're EVOlutionary or EGOtistical, but you're right. Road racing is usually more exciting than on confined street courses. Laguna would be a major loss for the series, and I really hope things are sorted out to kepe the race alive. Besides, I don't know the way to San José.

[indycool]

Sorry, evo.......just a bad typo!

[Dov]

Courtesy of zerO.

UPDATE:

Latest from the Grapevine is that Ralph Firman has resumed his quest to land a ride in Champ Car... besides the fact of Justin Wilson being signed by RüSPORT to partner AJ.Allmendinger and now Michel Jourdain looking for a ride...

Probable 2005 line-up:

1. NEWMAN/HAAS - #1 - Sebastien Bourdais
2. NEWMAN/HAAS - #2 - Cristiano DaMatta
3. NEWMAN/HAAS - #6 - Bruno Junqueira
4. FORSYTHE - #3 - Paul Tracy
5. FORSYTHE - #7 - Rodolfo Lavin
6. FORSYTHE - #27 - David Martinez Leon or Michel Jourdain or Memo Rojas or Homero Richards or Roberto Gonzalez or Rafael Martinez or Andrew Ranger or Jaroslav Janiš or Michael Valiante or Jon Fogarty or Andreas Wirth or Alex Figge
7. WALKER - #5 - Mario Haberfeld
8. WALKER - #15 - Michael Valiante or Brian Sellers or Jonathan Macri or Richard Lyons o Ralph Firman
9. WIGGINS - #4 - Ryan Hunter-Reay or Michel Jourdain
10. WIGGINS - #55 - Mario Dominguez
11. COYNE - #19 - Oriol Servia or Jos Verstappen or Andrew Ranger or Jon Fogarty or Ralph Firman
12. COYNE - #29 - Gaston Mazzacane
13. BACHELART - #14 - Nelson Philippe
14. BACHELART - #34 - Ralph Firman or Ryan Hunter-Reay or Michel Jourdain or Jos Verstappen or Townsend Bell or Ryan Dalziel or Andrew Ranger
15. KALKHOVEN - #12 - Jimmy Vasser
16. KALKHOVEN - #21 - Björn Wirdheim or Ryan Dalziel or Andrew Ranger
17. GENTILOZZI - #8 - Alex Tagliani
18. GENTILOZZI - #17 - Guy Smith or Michael Valiante or Giorgio Pantano or Andrew Ranger
19. RUSSO - #9 - Justin Wilson
20. RUSSO - #10 - AJ Allmendinger

Possible entries in 2005:

21. COYNE - #11 - Jaroslav Janiš or Nico Pastorelli or Andreas Wirth or Michael Keohane or Jaime Melo or Homero Richards or Roberto Gonzalez
22. BACHELART - #24 - Bas Leinders or Rodolfo Gonzalez or Rafael Martinez or Ricardo Sperafico or Nico Pastorelli
23. FITTIPALDI - #20 - Alex Sperafico or Ricardo Sperafico or Jaime Melo or Ricardo Zonta or JP.DeOliveira or Christian Fittipaldi
24. KALKHOVEN - #22 - Christian Murchison or Josh Hunt or James Courtney
25. JENSEN - #23 - David Sterckx or Adam Pecorari or Antoine Bessette or Andrew Ranger or Ryan Dalziel or Jonathan Macri
26. LEBERLE - #33 - Giorgio Pantano or Ralph Firman or Jos Verstappen


btw, for an updated picturesque version of the probable 2005 line-up and other possibilities -> go to www.champcarfan.com and click on the "Line-Up" thingy ?!

[Dov]

Originally posted by indycool
Agreed, ego, Dov.....this seems to be so slapped together with all sorts of funding and approval continegncies and money-laundering through a charity that anything is possible.

Indycool, what are you talking about? I never said anything like that in my post that you say you agree with. All I said is that I wouldn't mind as many street courses on the Champ Car schedule -if- they were all like St. Pete's and Surfers Paradise. The San Jose race IS NOT a conspiracy theory!!!

[drewdawg727]

no roberto gonzalez in that PKV lineup?

[indycool]

I agreed with your statement about street courses if they were good ones and it would take some sting out of losing the real road courses.

The San Jose race doesn't act like it'll be one of those.

[Snrub]

Now that the mayor has announced the race, etc. CC would lose all future credibility when trying to setup new races if San Jose doesn't happen.

[BootsOntheSide]

Can anyone name any drivers who AREN'T being linked to the third Forsythe car? Has anyone got any info on Homero Richards, Alex Figge, David Martinez Leon and Andreas Wirth?

[Dov]

Courtesy of zerO.


UPDATE:

Latest from the Grapevine is that Forsythe Racing will field three or four cars next year - the first two which will be sponsored by Corona will be in the hands of Paul Tracy and Rodolfo Lavin, the other one or two will wind up either in Czech hands (Enge and/or Janis) or Mexican drivers will be employed - it all depends where the $$$ will come from... BUT, there is a strong possibility that Forsythe will go with a better driver rather than the driver who has more money to come in with ?!

Probable 2005 line-up:

1. NEWMAN/HAAS - #1 - Sebastien Bourdais
2. NEWMAN/HAAS - #2 - Cristiano DaMatta
3. NEWMAN/HAAS - #6 - Bruno Junqueira
4. FORSYTHE - #3 - Paul Tracy
5. FORSYTHE - #7 - Rodolfo Lavin
6. FORSYTHE - #27 - Tomaš Enge or Jaroslav Janiš
7. WALKER - #5 - Mario Haberfeld
8. WALKER - #15 - Michael Valiante or Brian Sellers or Jonathan Macri or Richard Lyons or Ralph Firman
9. WIGGINS - #4 - Ryan Hunter-Reay or Michel Jourdain
10. WIGGINS - #55 - Mario Dominguez
11. COYNE - #19 - Oriol Servia or Jos Verstappen or Ralph Firman or Andrew Ranger
12. COYNE - #29 - Gaston Mazzacane
13. BACHELART - #14 - Nelson Philippe
14. BACHELART - #34 - Ralph Firman or Ryan Hunter-Reay or Michel Jourdain or Jos Verstappen or Townsend Bell or Ryan Dalziel or Andrew Ranger
15. KALKHOVEN - #12 - Jimmy Vasser
16. KALKHOVEN - #21 - Björn Wirdheim
17. GENTILOZZI - #8 - Alex Tagliani
18. GENTILOZZI - #17 - Guy Smith or Michael Valiante or Giorgio Pantano or Andrew Ranger
19. RUSSO - #9 - Justin Wilson
20. RUSSO - #10 - AJ Allmendinger

Possible entries in 2005:

21. FORSYTHE - #28 - Jaroslav Janiš or David Martinez Leon or Memo Rojas or Homero Richards or Rafael Martinez or Roberto Gonzalez or Andrew Ranger or Alex Figge
22. COYNE - #11 - Roberto Gonzalez or Nico Pastorelli or Andreas Wirth or Tonis Kasemets or Michael Keohane or Jaime Melo or Homero Richards
23. BACHELART - #24 - Bas Leinders or Rodolfo Gonzalez or Rafael Martinez or Ricardo Sperafico or Nico Pastorelli
24. FITTIPALDI - #20 - Alex Sperafico or Ricardo Sperafico or Jaime Melo or Ricardo Zonta or JP.DeOliveira or Christian Fittipaldi
25. KALKHOVEN - #22 - Christian Murchison or Josh Hunt or James Courtney or Ryan Dalziel or Andrew Ranger
26. JENSEN - #23 - David Sterckx or Adam Pecorari or Antoine Bessette or Andrew Ranger or Ryan Dalziel or Jonathan Macri
27. LEBERLE - #33 - Giorgio Pantano or Ralph Firman or Jos Verstappen

btw, for an updated picturesque version of the probable 2005 line-up and other possibilities -> go to www.champcarfan.com and click on the "Line-Up" thingy ?!

[Ac.]

In business new today...

Canadian billionaire Gerry Schwartz's Onex Corp. has purchased American Medical Response (AMR). AMR is sponsoring one of Dale Coyne's cars in 2005, a fact that Schwartz would have know as he investigated the company before purchasing. Going out on a limb, perhaps Michael Valiante's test for Coyne last week is related to new sponsorship that Schwartz will bring to the table to put a Canadian driver in the seat?

[Dov]

Hmmm, very interesting. Thanks for the info, Ac.

[Snrub]

For those that don't know Gerry Schwartz/Onex specializes in buying companies, turning them around and selling them, just like KK (although KK's seems to have specialized in one particular industry). He's struck me as rather blood thirsty, I don't know if it will have any impact on AMR sponsorship CC in the future, but I think it might put some doubt on 2006 sponsorship.

[carsten66]

it looks like we can put some new names on the rookie testing list:

Rumor/reporting is that the Dutch drivers Christijan Albers (DTM) and Euro F3000 champion Nicky Pastorelli will test a Champ Car for Walker Racing at Sebring on December 14... Albers has recently tested for Formula 1 teams Jordan and Minardi, while Pastorelli has been driving the new Formula Superfund chassis...

I think the 25 years old Albers would be a great addition... he is fast and agressive and well known in Europe, DTM: 2nd in 03 (4 wins) and 3th in 04...

also Former F3000 champion and Jaguar's 'Friday' tester Björn Wirdheim (confirmed is that he is released from his contract with Red Bull so that he can pursue other opportunities) who will try the PKV Champ Car again in December...

but of course I hope to see Michael Valiante in 2005!

[marcus]

ok then back on topic


I see that a young Aussie driver marcus marshall recently tested for Coyne I believe and set some very good times.

Maybe he could be a dark horse for a ride next year.

he usually drives a Porsche in the carrera cup down here in oz and is right at the front most of the time.

he also competed in the carrera cup round at the Indy F1 Grand prix and did a very good job.

he certainly is talented but really hasnt spent alot of time in open wheelers besides Formula Ford.

But he has a big future in the sport whether he has a roof over his head or not.

Welldone Marcus Marshall

[mountainstar]

I do hope we get at least one australian driver for next year.

I don't think much of the WPS deal though that Gore was talking about. I don't expect that to happen.

[marcus]

you never know , but no noise from them so possibly isnt going to happen.

Maybe just indy again

[mitchie]

Originally Posted by marcus

ok then back on topic


I see that a young Aussie driver marcus marshall recently tested for Coyne I believe and set some very good times.

Maybe he could be a dark horse for a ride next year.

he usually drives a Porsche in the carrera cup down here in oz and is right at the front most of the time.

he also competed in the carrera cup round at the Indy F1 Grand prix and did a very good job.

he certainly is talented but really hasnt spent alot of time in open wheelers besides Formula Ford.

But he has a big future in the sport whether he has a roof over his head or not.

Welldone Marcus Marshall

Marcus actually spent the year in openwheelers. He bookended the season with drives in Australian Formula 3 (including a dominant weekend at the Lexmark Indy 300) and spent the rest of it in British F3. Hasnt driven a Porsche since the AGP

He is a good steerer though

[macdaddy]

This thread has become too off-topic, so I've culled the last few pages and put them into a new thread called Carpentier.

[macdaddy]

A poster elsewhere has recently quoted (w/o link) to the Edmonton Journal, who in turn was quouting Paul Tracy:

I've heard there are possibly two more races in South America that are going to be added in the next couple of weeks.

[rustyfan]

So there is still hope of my dream, seeing Champ Car at Interlagos, being realized