'05 Silly Season

[Dov]

Here is the link to the '05 Silly Season article. And don't forget the ever popular "picturesque line-up"

[Dov]

'05 LINE-UP Update:

Latest from the Grapevine is that Andrew Ranger is currently talking to all possible teams that might have an opening for next season which would mean that hopes of seeing Sierra Sierra moving up from Toyota Atlantics are pretty slim.

Also, since Paul Newman has stated yesterday "We are together forever" in reference to the rumored split with Carl Haas who has been contemplating going to IRL with his own team - Newman almost just about confirmed that a third car will be added next year as well. Expect Cristiano DaMatta getting that ride.

Here's how the line-up scenario for next year looks like now:

1. NEWMAN - #2 - Sebastien Bourdais
2. NEWMAN - #6 - Bruno Junqueira
3. FORSYTHE - #1 - Paul Tracy
4. FORSYTHE - #3 - Rodolfo Lavin or Rafael Martinez or Luis Diaz or Homero Richards
5. WALKER - #5 - Mario Haberfeld
6. WALKER - #15 - Michael Valiante or Jonathan Macri or Andrew Ranger or Rafael Martinez or Darren Manning
7. WIGGINS - #4 - Ryan Hunter-Reay
8. WIGGINS - #55 - Mario Dominguez
9. COYNE - #11 - Oriol Servia or Michael Keohane or Tomas Enge
10. COYNE - #19 - Gaston Mazzacane or Jaime Melo or Ralph Firman or Andrew Ranger
11. BACHELART - #14 - Nelson Philippe or Ricardo Sperafico or Andrew Ranger or Memo Gidley
12. BACHELART - #34 - Justin Wilson
13. KALKHOVEN - #12 - Jimmy Vasser or Patrick Carpentier
14. KALKHOVEN - #21 - Roberto Gonzalez or Rafael Martinez or Homero Richards
15. GENTILOZZI - #8 - Alex Tagliani
16. GENTILOZZI - #17 - Guy Smith or Michael Valiante or Andrew Ranger or Memo Gidley
17. RUSSO - #9 - Michel Jourdain
18. RUSSO - #10 - AJ Allmendinger

Possible new entries in 2005:

19. NEWMAN - #? - Cristiano DaMatta or Patrick Carpentier or Dario Franchitti
20. FITTIPALDI - #20 - Ricardo Sperafico or Jaime Melo or Ricardo Zonta or JP.DeOliveira or Tiago Monteiro
21. KALKHOVEN - #22 - Christian Murchison or Josh Hunt or David Besnard
22. LEBERLE - #33 - Ralph Firman or Tomas Enge or Jos Verstappen

Longshot entries for 2005:

23. MENARD - #18 - Jeff Simmons or Mark Taylor
24. NUNN - #30 - Felipe Giaffone or Alex Barron
25. SIERRA - #26 - Andrew Ranger or Jonathan Macri
26. GRAJEWSKI - #24 - André Lotterer or Pierre Kaffer
27. JENSEN - #23 - David Sterckx or Eric Jensen
28. PROST - #27 - Jacques Villeneuve or Jonathan Cochet
29. PROST - #28 - Nicolas Prost or Franck Montagny
30. CONDOR - #31 - Jon Fogarty or Townsend Bell
31. CONDOR - #32 - Marc Hynes or Ryan Dalziel
32. DYSON - #16 - Chris Dyson or Gunnar Jeannette
33. HEMELGARN - #91 - Townsend Bell or Jaime Melo

It's "courtesy of zerO" at ChampCarFan.com?!

[Uesque]

Some interesting rumors for the mill. Assuming 1 or 2 are true, what are the chances it will get to 20 or 22 cars?

[Hazard]

Your 2005 model looks very much like this years season.

A few changes do seem likely elsewhere...

Newman-Haas: Bourdais & Junqeira
I can believe that. Can't see either of them wanting to move to IRL. Bourdais isn't an oval racer, and Junqeira ditched Ganassi to stay in CART in the first place.

Forsythe: Tracy and ...
You'd expect Tracy to stay, but unless Corona stays, Lavin's walking. Carpentier is only in the car this year due to threatened legal action - expect him to make a move to somewhere that will show him some respect.

Big bucks could get anyone a drive here, even Philippe! - if not, a fairly skilled driver might be nabbed. Think Allmendinger, Servia, Dominguez...or any ex-CART current-IRL racer that fancies a return.

Most other teams will be driven by budget and availability, and CART silly season this early is nigh impossible. Even the 2004 line-up wasn't really sorted until this April!

[Dov]

I expect that we will see at least 20 cars on the grid (maybe more), but that will depend on the sponsors stepping up for next year.

[BootsOntheSide]

The 2004 line-up is a good starting point, and although I'd expect more changes, it's not really clear which. Haas/Junquiera to the IRL is no longer certain, I doubt Wiggins will be able to run 2 largely unfunded drivers, and Jourdain seems unlikely to retain the RuSport drive on current form.

The possible new teams are always nice to fantasize over, but I doubt more than 2 will come off - Prost and Menard would be my guesses, as they have decent foundations.

[Hazard]

Jourdain does have his Mexican sponsors money though, quite likely to retain him his drive even if he's having a non-special season.

I don't think Wiggy's going to call his team Pacific somehow either. I think he's pretty glad to have dropped that reputation.

I quite like the sound of 'Bettenhausen'

[Kicking-back]

Possibly a bit to early to come to any silly season ideas without it descending into pure fantasy

[macdaddy]

Gotta agree with that, K-b.

[macdaddy]

Heck, even 2004 is still a "silly season" when it comes to venues, Aussie drivers, title sponsors...

[stmookeyj033]

I expect (at this stage):

3 Newman-Haas (Junky, Da Matta, Seabass)
2 Forsythe (PT, Lavin/Verstappen)
2 Wiggins (Dominguez, Hunter-Reay)
2 PKV (Vasser, Gonzalez)
2 RuSPORT (Allmendinger, Jourdain)
2 Walker (Haberfeld, Valiente/Manning)
2 Coyne (Servia???, Pay Driver)
2 Mi Jack (Wilson, Pay Driver)
2 Rocketsports (Tagliani, Pay Driver)
1 Leberle/Fittipaldi (Brazilian Driver/Firman)

THAT SOULD GET OUR 20 CARS

Also expect Walker to have Lola's next year for some reason. Manning to return after Carpentier replaces him. Dollars will keep some drivers in seats for next season.

[O'Schumacher]

who's Rafael Martinez Dov? Never heard of him. David Besnard getting a drive. Pull the other one. One Solitary V8 Supercar win. He must have some serious backers to even be in the equation. Mind you, that's why they call it the silly season.

[mountainstar]

Courtney would be a much better pick. Besnard did good in the US in single seater but I don't think he set the world on fire. And I think his performances in V8's have further shown that he can steer, but he will never be one of the greats.

The longshot entries are just that and doubt most of them would make it.

The word is that Wiggins has another Mexican sponsor ready to go and that it was herdez who lined it up. So it will be interesting to see how that pans out.

[brightline]

How long is Scott Dixon's contract with Ganassi? He hasn't been to form this year. Is he sandbagging, or is his heart not in it after the Renna crash at Indy. Could we see him coming back to Champ Car, he was moved with Ganassi and I don't think the IRL was his choice in the first place. I could be completely wrong though. Could this be the Aussie rumored from KK (although I know he is technically from NZ).

[stmookeyj033]

I'd say there's more chance of Manning returning to the series than Dixon.

[Dov]

Originally posted by O'Schumacher
who's Rafael Martinez Dov? Never heard of him. David Besnard getting a drive. Pull the other one. One Solitary V8 Supercar win. He must have some serious backers to even be in the equation. Mind you, that's why they call it the silly season.

Rafael Martinez is one of the better Mexican drivers nowdays and has backing from MasterCard of Mexico, has tested with Walker few months ago and there's a possibility that he'll be in Walker's second car at Mexico City or in PKV's third entry... all depends on how much money he'll bring towards this one-off escapade... whatever will happen next year is another ballgame... worth noting: Corona will most likely sponsor BOTH Forsythe cars next year and Rodolfo Lavin is not expected to stay (his aspiration is F1, might get a test job with Sauber) - Rafael Martinez is the most likely replacement.

[mitchie]

From memory, Dixon re-signed for another couple of years with Ganassi when the rumours/beat-up of him going to F1 were rampant.

Nothing against him, but if David Besnard is the best candidate for a Champ Car ride that we, Australia, can muster there is something terribly wrong with the world...

[drewdawg727]

Didn't Vasser think about retiring after this year..?
Or after like 2 years ago?

[macdaddy]

He's mentioned retirement after next year, drewdawg.

[mountainstar]

Dixon did resign with Ganassi for big dollars.

He did well as a road racer in F4000, but somehow that didn't translate into results in Indy Lights and CART on road courses. I don't expect him back no matter what.

[drewdawg727]

Oh ok now i remember mac...
He was trying to kickstart PKV into a well known team and when he felt he had done that then he would retire...
Am i correct?

[StickShift]

Buahahahahahahahahahaha, ahahahahahahaha...

...ahahahahahahahaha! I'm sorry, but that Silly Season 05 post is the biggest load of **** of ever. I don't know why you guys pay attention to him. He knows nothing. His 'possible' drivers are based on rumours that lasted quite literally five minutes. And worst of all, he completely disregards the lack of money in the racing world. This guy doesn't deserve the passing glances he gets.

Andrew Ranger is looking to Cart? Yeah, right. I'd find it much more believable that he's looking to go to F3 in Europe. Away from the North American career killer feeder system.

How about a realistic 2005 driver line up.

Three Newman-Haas cars (Bourdais, Junqueria, Da Matta)
Two Forsythe cars (Tracy, Lavin)
Two Bettenhausen cars (Dominguez, Hunter-Reay)
Two RuSport cars (Allmendinger, Jourdain)
Two PKVR cars (Vasser, _______)
Two Rocketsports (Tagliani, _______)
Two Coyne cars (_______, _______)
**At least one Mi-Jack car (Wilson?)
**Hopefully one Walker car (_______) -- quite frankly, I'd be very surprised to see them around next season. They can't afford Lola's, and their Reynards are dreadfully slow. Someone explain to me why it makes sense for Derrick to continue.

So, OWRS has some work to do get even more new teams next season for atleast 18 cars. Sponsorwise, it's not looking very good, teams have struggled to get major sponsors this year, and it doesn't look any better for next year. Sadly at this rate it looks like Champ Car will have an even higher ratio of ride-buyers to talents in 2005.

[Snrub]

I tend to think silly season should be rational, but it's okay to say "what if this happened" rather than "there's a decent chance this is going to happen."

What's Manning's contract term with Ganassi? I don't see him leaving a very stable, well financed team.

As to the question, what's the deal with Dixon this year, he was overrated and while his equipment this year is poor, what few people realized is that he's not the best driver in the IRL.

Lavin might have F1 ambitions, heck if offered $50M a year I'd consider filling in for MS at Ferrari , but that doesn't mean either of us are going anywhere. There's no way Lavin is ready for F1 testing duties right now. If his current rate of progress continues, maybe in a few years.

Speculation: I don't think Dario's going to come back, but if there is a empty seat at Forsythe, what's to say that Forsythe wouldn't try to get Dario to fill it? PT does have sway with Forsythe. That would be the series strongest lineup (unless CDM joins NH).

I really feel that StickShift's post is overly cynical. Sponsors didn't want to get involved this year because the series didn't fully come together 'till the 11th hour. How are things looking worse for next year? Herdez is leaving McDs is stepping up, that's all we know right now. The series is held together through subidization, so why would they let someone like Wilson leave unless he wanted to?

As for Walker and his Reynards, what is someone like Rahal going to do with spare Lolas? He'll probably sell them to someone on the cheap as they're no good to him collecting dust.

As for the pay drivers, currently the series has Nelson, Lavin, Gonzalez, Mazzacane. The middle two have some talent, oddly enough I'm not sure how much money Mazzacane brings to the table... The rest of the drivers are technically pay drivers because the series put money behind them to ensure good drivers had rides.

[mountainstar]

There is always the chance that Dario would come back based on comments he has made. But it's all speculation for now.

As I've said elsewhere, it's believed Herdez has lined up another mexican sponsor to replace them. So I'm not going to worry there.

Good point about Rahal, Fernandez too. Might as well sell all the champcars and equipment while it has value to a current racing series.

Nothing wrong with pay drivers. They are in every racing series in the world from the top down.

[macdaddy]

Somebody in Toronto recently won $27M on the lottery.
So it's too early to discount "MacDaddy Racing" for next year...