Michel Jourdain at RüSPORT?

[Muzza]

Fellows,

Dave Despain said in tonight's Wind Tunnel that Michel Jourdain signed with RüSPORT.

That's all I have.


Muzza

[Amar7605]

Well the important thing is that he is somewhere, ready to race!

[gomick]

2 cars for rusport will be great - shall be good to see aj allmendinger pushed by a quality team-mate

[BootsOntheSide]

Seeing Michel at RuSport is the ideal outcome in my view. Newman-Haas already have a strong 2 car team, and it's important that AJ has someone to learn from. Michel has gone from strength to strength in recent years having been given a chance to fulfill his potential - Keith Wiggins must feel stupid for dumping him in favour of Dominguez.

[racinthestreets]

I like this move. MJ and Gigante are to be commended for their support and commitment to CCWS. So much for my theory that a deal was consumated in Mexico that would put MJ on a team with past Championships. Congratulations to MJ and RuSport. No question this team just increased it chances for podium finishes and possible wins in it's first season IMO.

[Liz]

I heard that from another source but nothing has been announced yet, has it?

[Muzza]

Originally posted by Liz
I heard that from another source but nothing has been announced yet, has it?

No, Liz, nothing official as of yet. I have heard of this the whole week also - and I know that there has been a lot of work going on at the top of the RüSPORT organization...

This seems to be a "hottie".

[Jordi]

That would certainly make RuSport (is it RuSport or RüSport, Muzza?) a title challenger right now.Very strong lineup indeed.

[Muzza]

Hello, Jordi,

Good to see you here! According to the press releases I was handed by them, it is RüSPORT (actually they use a bar instead of diaresis on top of the u). The team is named after Carl Russo, team owner (and former driver himself).

Cheers,

Muzza

[Dov]

I feel Jourdain should be with NHR. If he signs with RuSport he's gone from future Champ to Chump!!

[jjspierx]

I dunno, Rusport got up to speed immediately in Atlantics, whats to say they won't get up to speed quickly in Champcar? I'll wait and see before I form an opinion. I haven't seen an official statement regarding Michel yet, and I really could care less what Dave Despain said, I'll wait till its official and then I'll believe it.

[racinthestreets]

If he signs with RuSport he's gone from future Champ to Chump!!

Ouch Dov - that is a harsh statement. Think of the positive - instead of being the third driver for NHR, he can assume the first driver at RuSport. From what I have seeen I think that RuSport will be a good team in very short order if they are not already.

[corkholio]

Originally posted by jjspierx
I dunno, Rusport got up to speed immediately in Atlantics, whats to say they won't get up to speed quickly in Champcar?

Because they won't be able to get better engines than everyone else?

[billkirbywofb]

Rusport will get the same engines as everyone else. Cosworth distributes engines in a random order to the teams. And all the engines are built to the same specs.

[Liz]

If the driver is good enough he can make bricks without straw. Look what Gilles did with his "hopeless fast red Cadillac" in 1979 ...

And I quote from my favourite character, Oddball from Kelly's Heroes "Have a little faith, baby! Have a little faith!"

[Dov]

Hey JJ & racinthestreets,
It took teams like NHR, Forsythe and ex-Champ Car teams like Penske, Ganassi and Rahal MANY years to become successful and IMHO I feel you guys are being somewhat naive if you think that RuSport will be one of the better teams in CC's this year or are already. If Jourdain Jr. does sign with RuSport then they will be a much better team, but if I was Michel I would be furious if I had to join a firt year organization when last year he finished 3rd in the championship for a top team like Rahal/Letterman.........

[Liz]

If i were Michel, I'd be thankful on my knees that I didn't have to drive in the IRL this year -- or even worse, that I had a job at all. And I'm sure he won't be flouncing and sulking anyway. Not his style. Anybody can be sweetness and light when everything is going his way; it's how you respond to adversity that shows what you really are made of.

[jjspierx]

Dov - When teams like Penske and Newman Hass started things were very different than they are now. Back then developing your car meant a HUGE amount, possibly even more than the driver when it came to winning races. Now everyone has idenctical tires, identical engines, and besides VERY minor changes allowed to the aero-dynamics of the cars(and the exception of 1-2 Reynards)basically identical chassis's. All it takes is a driver with the talent, a budget to have the all the available parts, and good engineers who work well with the driver to setup the car. I believe Rusport has the budget and the driver, it just remains to be seen how the engineers are. Obviously I am over-simplifying, there are lots of other factors involving teamwork, etc... However I think Rusport has a very good chance of showing up and being fast right out of the gate and competing for podiums. Rocketsports did pretty good for a startup team last year, Rusport dominated Atlantics in there startup year. Before I make any judgements and assume they won't be one of the fast teams this year, I'll wait and see what happens during the first few race weekends.

Remember Rusport wasn't just thrown together last minute with barely enough money and time to prepare. They have been preparing for this since before Almendinger even won the Atlantic Championship.

[Tenoch]

This is the dumbest thing I've heard why should Michel have to deal with Rusport, he's clearly above them Its like the Rangers and AROD. Top talent in a unproven organization.

[sgw2]

Another very reliable source, not mentioned above, is saying the same thing. Announcement should come within the week.

BTW, out of curiosity, where did RuSport's Lolas come from?And where did the one for Conquest come from as well?

[sgw2]

Tenoch,

The rumors I heard are these:

1) Kalkhoven and Gentilozzi already expanded one car, and now Forsythe has by giving PC the reserve spare roller (they have only 5 so PC and PT have to share a spare). These teams cannot easily expand

2) Carl Haas supposedly signed a deal with Honda that precludes a 3rd Champ Car. This is what Robin Miller alluded to as the Indy 500 entry for Junqueira. Haas is still fence sitting, but NHR will stay for now.

5) DCR is unacceptable and the second Conquest car would be a Reynard.

4) RuSPORT is the only other effort around that had any cpacity at all to expand.

Also this is politically necessary because of the ill will caused by the pay driver poaching done by the three amigos.

For Michel I think it unfortunately means a rather uncompetitive ride.

[Tenoch]

No matter what ride Michel has I will still support him I've liked him ever since he was at herdez.

[Dov]

You make some good points, JJ, but I'm still not 100% convinced. Besides a few teams using Reynards in 2003, CC's was a spec series, but look at who the top four drivers drove for last year....Players/Forsythe Racing, Newman/Haas Racing and Rahal/Letterman Racing. But like you said, we'll probably know how competitive they (RuSport) are after a couple of races.

[jjspierx]

Originally posted by Dov
You make some good points, JJ, but I'm still not 100% convinced. Besides a few teams using Reynards in 2003, CC's was a spec series, but look at who the top four drivers drove for last year....Players/Forsythe Racing, Newman/Haas Racing and Rahal/Letterman Racing. But like you said, we'll probably know how competitive they (RuSport) are after a couple of races.

Well I'm not 100% convinced either. I'm just playing the devils advocate in a way, but I do believe they have a shot at being a great team this year, but I could be wrong. I hope not as I chose Almendinger as on my drivers for the Fantasy grid.

[carsten66]

Just a thought but it is possible that some (or most) of team-members from the rahal crew don't like to jump the ship and switches to RuSport...