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26 Apr 2004, 10:01 (Ref:951994)
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#76 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 5,073
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Doing a little research indicates Christian won at Road America in 1998 in his first Champcar race with one pole and 2 wins prior to the 2002 season.
He was never quite the same after getting both legs broken in a Champcar accident. Not exactly sensational but good stuff nonetheless. Way better than many on the grid today for sure. Haven't quite figured out how consistent Top 5's and a few wins at places like Road America make him "a waste of a good seat." Last edited by JohnSSC; 26 Apr 2004 at 10:05. |
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__________________
"He's still a young guy and I always think, slightly morbidly, the last thing you learn is how to die and at the end of the day everybody learns every single day." - The Ever-Cheerfull Ron Dennis on Lewis Hamilton. |
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26 Apr 2004, 10:24 (Ref:952021)
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#77 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 13,000
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Christian Fitipaldi wouldn't be an ideal addition, as he's had his chances and didn't really prove worthy of the family name, but I can't think of anyone being linked with a drive who would be as worthy.
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26 Apr 2004, 13:43 (Ref:952252)
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#78 | ||
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Rookie
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 5
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Christian had his chance in CART and proved to be a moderate talent at best. He had the ride, but never (even when healthy) really delivered. The CCWS field is shaping up pretty well, I think.
Sure the bigger names are in the IRL, but are they really better or simply more established? Are Herta or Barron(sp?) any better than the fillers in Champ Car? They're good drivers, but so are a lot of others in the sport. I hate to see Dario, Helio, Kanaan and Dixon wasting away on ovals and would love to see them in Champ Car. Those are the guys I KNOW can drive. At least Dixon is working towards F1 and Dario has made clear his desire to go road racing again. As time goes on and teams settle, we'll see who has the goods. Jourdain will be back up there and Wilson is on his way. Don't forget about AJ, Sebastien, PT, Bruno, etc. The future is good. |
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26 Apr 2004, 14:22 (Ref:952299)
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#79 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 5,419
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Quote:
Edit: On a side-note, welcome to the forum 
Last edited by rustyfan; 26 Apr 2004 at 14:23. |
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26 Apr 2004, 15:09 (Ref:952364)
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#80 | |||
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Racer
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 245
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Quote:
Jeff |
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__________________
I got a Nikon camera I love to take a photograph -Paul Simon |
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26 Apr 2004, 15:20 (Ref:952374)
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#81 | ||
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Rookie
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 98
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Originally posted by Mags
We need a place that shows our races... LIVE..everywhere!!!! except we're not NASCAR, and the races are back on basic cable, which beats the hell out of speed, so I'm satisfied, not happy, but content |
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__________________
"Doors are the most important thing that any auto company engineers for consumers. When I worked at the Mustang plant, cars wouldn't start and pieces would be falling off everywhere, but you can be damn sure those doors would ALWAYS work right." -Dr. Ashford |
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26 Apr 2004, 15:58 (Ref:952415)
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#82 | |||
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Rookie
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 98
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Quote:
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26 Apr 2004, 15:59 (Ref:952417)
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#83 | |||
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Racer
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 245
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Quote:
OWRS is in a rebuilding phase. Give them a few years & I'm sure (read: I hope)they will be live & network. Jeff |
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__________________
I got a Nikon camera I love to take a photograph -Paul Simon |
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26 Apr 2004, 17:12 (Ref:952507)
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#84 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 4,744
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In many ways the field in 2002 had competition problems due to the disparity between engines and teams. Christian seemed to step up a bit, but he really didn't do much in his CART career. He legitiamately deserved his RA win and he drove very well. After watching the 93&94 F1 decade races, if I had to pick someone who was good but not in a good car, Christian clearly stands out amoung the rest. I don't know why he couldn't do better in CART. (granted I have serious doubts about the depth of field in F1 back then) Maybe it was the accident.
Easily half of today's field is better than Christian. Servia is a guy who IMO is the new Christian. Clearly showed massive promise earlier in his career but just doesn't have top form. I really do not think the IRL has more big names than CART. Both series have made names of their own since the mass defection. For the IRL Hornish obviously, but now Weldon appears to be the real deal (although who knows, Tomas appeared to be the real deal a couple years ago and has flopped since). IMO one of the most impressive things about CART seems to be its ability to pull in drivers. Last edited by Snrub; 26 Apr 2004 at 17:18. |
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__________________
No Rotor, No Motor. |
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26 Apr 2004, 21:53 (Ref:952868)
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#85 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 549
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: 20+ car ChampCar GRID Shaping Up ?!?!
UPDATE:
Latest from the Grapevine is that sometime by next week Ron Hemelgarn is expected to make an announcement regarding his Champ Car team.  Here's how the line-up scenario looks like now: 1. FORSYTHE - #1 - Paul Tracy 2. FORSYTHE - #3 - Rodofo Lavin 3. FORSYTHE - #7 - Patrick Carpentier 4. NEWMAN/HAAS - #2 - Sebastien Bourdais 5. NEWMAN/HAAS - #6 - Bruno Junqueira 6. WALKER - #5 - Mario Haberfeld 7. WALKER - #15 - Rafael Martinez and/or Luis Diaz or Ralph Firman 8. HERDEZ - #4 - Ryan Hunter-Reay 9. HERDEZ - #55 - Mario Dominguez 10. COYNE - #11 - Oriol Servia 11. COYNE - #19 - Tarso Marques and/or Jaime Melo or Ralph Firman or Tomas Enge 12. KALKHOVEN - #12 - Jimmy Vasser 13. KALKHOVEN - #21 - Roberto Gonzalez 14. GENTILOZZI - #8 - Alex Tagliani 15. GENTILOZZI - #17 - Nelson Philippe 16. RUSSO - #9 - Michel Jourdain 17. RUSSO - #10 - AJ Allmendinger 18. BACHELART - #14 - Alex Sperafico 19. BACHELART - #34 - Justin Wilson 20. FITTIPALDI - #20 - Gaston Mazzacane or Ricardo Sperafico or Christian Fittipaldi Possibles: 21. KALKHOVEN - #22 - Josh Hunt, Christian Murchison, Seung Yin Lee, Townsend Bell, Jaime Melo, and/or Michael Valiante 22. HEMELGARN - #18 - Michael Valiante or Townsend Bell or Richie Hearn 23. FORSYTHE/LEBERLE - #24 - Townsend Bell or Jonathan Macri or Jaime Melo or Ralph Firman btw, for the updated picturesque version go to www.champcarfan.com and click on the "Line-up" thingy ?!  zerO |
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26 Apr 2004, 21:59 (Ref:952874)
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#86 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 9,215
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That seems to be the word on the street here....
Allegedly, Forsythe is "leasing" him two Reynard chassis for $1 each... sounds like a "deal" to me...if it is true... Also...Luis Diaz took a "Rookie Test" here today courtesy of Gnnassi Racing... Thus the possiblity existis that Ganassi could sign Diaz as a "Test Driver" of some sort or to some sort of contract other than his ride in Ganassi's Grand Am car... If he does, it could nmean that he might not be available for a Champ car seat.... |
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__________________
Finally... One American Open Wheel Series! |
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26 Apr 2004, 22:03 (Ref:952878)
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#87 | |||
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Veteran
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 1,748
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Quote:
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__________________
"I have a tendency to let my mind wander a bit during some of the yellow flag conditions; I look around, check out people in the stands, things like that" Darren Law - Lizard Extrordinaire and he's gonna be GT Leader and Brumos Porsche driver! |
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26 Apr 2004, 22:24 (Ref:952895)
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#88 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 9,215
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He took the "Rookie Orientation Test," but the team has not confirmed that he would be driving in the race itself, and from what I read, they are not necessarily planning to run or to field an additional car to put him in a seat for a 3-car team....
I could be wrong....but that's the way it was reported here... |
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__________________
Finally... One American Open Wheel Series! |
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26 Apr 2004, 22:37 (Ref:952912)
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#89 | |||
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Veteran
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 1,748
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Quote:
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__________________
"I have a tendency to let my mind wander a bit during some of the yellow flag conditions; I look around, check out people in the stands, things like that" Darren Law - Lizard Extrordinaire and he's gonna be GT Leader and Brumos Porsche driver! |
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27 Apr 2004, 00:46 (Ref:952994)
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#90 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 5,073
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Tim it was on ESPN.com today (or Speed) that Forsythe is indeed leasing 2 Reynards to Hemelgarn for $1 each. Diaz is also taking his rookie test through the fill-in-the=blank offices of Floyd incorporated.
Now, I apologize for getting Christian's credentials wrong. Here is what I found: 1990 - 4th in the British F3 Championship. 1991 - F3000 Champ 1992 - 1994, F1 scoring two fourths in the Minardi and 2 4ths in the Footwork car. 1995 - comes to America - no full time ride but does manage to finish second in the 1995 Indy 500. Moves to CART in the subsequent years getting his first win in 1999 at Road America. 1999 - 6 Top 5s, 12 Top 10s. 2000 - Wins at Fontana. 5 Top 5s, 9 Top 10s. 2001 - 4 Top 5s 8 Top 10s Ran out of time for researching 2002 and as you know he did NASCAR last year. Underachiever? Yeah, a bit but less talented than half the current field? Not so sure about that. Remember, the field was deeper when he had his best results. Last edited by JohnSSC; 27 Apr 2004 at 00:47. |
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__________________
"He's still a young guy and I always think, slightly morbidly, the last thing you learn is how to die and at the end of the day everybody learns every single day." - The Ever-Cheerfull Ron Dennis on Lewis Hamilton. |
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27 Apr 2004, 05:57 (Ref:953104)
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#91 | ||
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Rookie
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 98
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1. it's "indy" not "the indy," "the indy" is our term, "indy" is theirs, which is why we need to find a way for molson to phase out that term so that champcar is the sole beneficiary of public recognition of that term
2. chip will run however many drivers he wants to, he has run 4 in the past, and when tony needs him to run 5, as long as Penske's running 4, he will... what's with the look-up of christian's results, you're disappointing me man! where were you the past years? anywho, for his pedigree, and having the car he did, those top 5's he racked up consisted of a sore paucity also, the big indy teams have many cars to field, the journos know that... chip always having 4 entries registered, big surprise there... you register cars or entry numbers at indy, you don't register drivers, the big teams can afford to register 4-5 entries so that their drivers have more opportunities to make bump day if they need it, or in cheap's case in 2001 he ran stewart, junkie, minassian, and vasser, not that Indy has any risk of having a bumpday anymore seeing as 33 is only a number now, f'ing TG... |
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__________________
"Doors are the most important thing that any auto company engineers for consumers. When I worked at the Mustang plant, cars wouldn't start and pieces would be falling off everywhere, but you can be damn sure those doors would ALWAYS work right." -Dr. Ashford |
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27 Apr 2004, 06:02 (Ref:953107)
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#92 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 1,748
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Is there EVEN a "bump" day anymore since TG has said "33 is just a number??"
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__________________
"I have a tendency to let my mind wander a bit during some of the yellow flag conditions; I look around, check out people in the stands, things like that" Darren Law - Lizard Extrordinaire and he's gonna be GT Leader and Brumos Porsche driver! |
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27 Apr 2004, 09:17 (Ref:953237)
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#93 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 5,073
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Gee Superunknown, I can't keep everything in my head!
If you look at the earlier parts of the thread the question was asked if Christian had even won a race so I was trying to respond accurately to the question. You should also note that I did agree that he under-achieved during that span. |
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__________________
"He's still a young guy and I always think, slightly morbidly, the last thing you learn is how to die and at the end of the day everybody learns every single day." - The Ever-Cheerfull Ron Dennis on Lewis Hamilton. |
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27 Apr 2004, 09:19 (Ref:953240)
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#94 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 5,073
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"Bump Day" will occur if there are teams that still want to get into the field. It is not clear yet exactly what the number of team/driver combinations we have yet.
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__________________
"He's still a young guy and I always think, slightly morbidly, the last thing you learn is how to die and at the end of the day everybody learns every single day." - The Ever-Cheerfull Ron Dennis on Lewis Hamilton. |
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27 Apr 2004, 12:28 (Ref:953470)
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#95 | |
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Veteran
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 1,550
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The 4 Ganassi cars are theoretically 2 race cars (for Darren and Scott), and their 2 spares. However, it's not unusual for a team to gvie on of their spare cars to another driver for Bump Day, assuming both regular drivers have safely qualified. I believe that will happen. Could be that TG has a hand in it, trying to get a second Mexican for the 500, to increase the chance of it taking off there.
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__________________
"Stacy's mom has got it going on, she's all I want, and I've waited so long. Stacy can't you see, you're just not the girl for me, I know it might be wrong but I'm in love with Stacy's mom" |
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27 Apr 2004, 14:25 (Ref:953579)
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#96 | |||
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Veteran
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 9,215
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Quote:
That's genrally how this works, N I Tram...hope it answers issues or questions raised by others.... Ganassi could in fact take a backup and put Diaz into it...but the team has stated that entering a 3rd car to compete is not in their current plans... However, since Diaz has passed the Orientation, Ganassi has indicated that he will be able to "shop for a ride" if someone wants to put in in the driver's seat of an entry.... Now for Some Speculation: I have no facts to back this up, but how about this "What If" for a scenario: Since Hemelgarn will run Champ Cars, and has an entry filed for the Indy 500.... Could Diaz be his Champ car driver and also be his pilot for a "one-shot" at Indy???? Intersting prospect, isn't it??? |
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__________________
Finally... One American Open Wheel Series! |
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27 Apr 2004, 18:15 (Ref:953794)
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#97 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 549
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...but, in order for Ganassi to stick a driver in one of his spare cars he first needs to get an engine for that car ?! - and engines are assigned to primary cars as per driver... and there aren't enough engines to begin with... (insert "idea" emoticon)...
zerO |
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27 Apr 2004, 18:18 (Ref:953798)
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#98 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 549
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btw, even though it seems very unlikely that we'll see Luis Diaz in CCWS this year - the Mexican media is still adamant that it will happen... :confused:
Personally, I doubt it very much. zerO |
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27 Apr 2004, 18:19 (Ref:953799)
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#99 | |||
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Veteran
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 9,215
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Quote:
I don't think Ganassi will put him in there anyway.... But since this is a "Champ Cars" Forum..... How far "off-the-wall" do you think the Diaz and Hemelgarn speculation could be (Diaz in the $1-leased reynard and in whatever hemelgarn "might" run at Indy?)???? At least there would seem to be a possibility of this...however remote it may seem at this time.... We've seen stranger things over the past 6 months... |
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__________________
Finally... One American Open Wheel Series! |
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27 Apr 2004, 18:24 (Ref:953805)
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#100 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 549
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Valiante has 50ยข to add towards that $1 and Diaz doesn't ?!
zerO |
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