Bruno Injured / Replaced by Servia

[Kicking-back]

Brack could be a good shout.

I don't think Fernandez would agree to do it.

[StickShift]

Who I hope might be his replacement:
Jon Fogarty (tied up with ALMS?)
Ryan Dalziel (tied up with ALMS?)
Michael Valiante

Drivers who realistically will be his replacement:
Christian Fittipaldi
Mario Haberfeld
Memo Gidley

[macdaddy]

Christian Fittipaldi never really crossed my mind. Interesting thought.
Fernandez? Nah. Conflict of interest there.
Brack? When interviewed after his race ended in Indy, he didn't rule out a return to OW.

Haberfeld, Gidley or Valiante would be good choices, IMO. But "MO" doesn't count for much!

[Hazard]

Originally Posted by Kicking-back

Bruno wasn't racing in the Indy 500 to score points - he was there because he wanted to win the Indy 500.

Zanardi is most likely too busy with his Touring Car programme to come over to the USA to visit Bruno.

There's a pretty big gap and the next race is in Mexico.

But I don't quite get this visiting thing. If I was in Bruno's shoes, Zanardi turning up to visit would scare the faecal matter out of me. I'd start checking my extremeties were all present and accounted for.

[Hazard]

Originally Posted by JohnSSC

4) Verstappen

Ooh, Verstappen's names back.

Well, he tested well...but knowing his current management, there's no chance the paperwork could be sorted in less than three days

Maybe they'll rest the #2 car at Milwaukee anyway?

[macdaddy]

That's always a possibility, Hazard. But I doubt if the sponsors would want the car rested.

Something must start happening pretty quickly though. Starting with a seat-fitting. So all we can do now is sit back and wait...

[Kicking-back]

Originally Posted by Hazard

There's a pretty big gap and the next race is in Mexico.

But I don't quite get this visiting thing. If I was in Bruno's shoes, Zanardi turning up to visit would scare the faecal matter out of me. I'd start checking my extremeties were all present and accounted for.

I agree - and as far as I know Junqueira and Zanardi don't even particularly know each other.

It was Liz who suggested it - I was just responding.

[BootsOntheSide]

Thinking asbout it Townsend Bell would be ideal to fill the seat - he certianly did well in the IRL last year, and is unlucky to be without a ride this year. Then again, Newman-Haas have rarely ran US drivers other than the Andrettis in the past, so I doubt they'd change now.

[BobbyB]

I wish Bruno well, we need him back for his driving talent as well as his personality... he keeps it interesting with his viewpoints during interviews.

On the race- it was actually quite a good one as recent Indy 500's go. Lots of passing and lead changes- hard to beat that.

I've heard nothing in the past few months about Townsend Bell. His website is presently a blank screen... not that that means he's out of racing. Personally, I've always liked him (met him during his time in Indy Lights), and I agree with earlier posts about his maturing last year in the IRL. He's probably at the right point in his development now to be an asset to a CCWS team.

Time will tell who gets the nod for the next race with NH. I suppose it would be a strange irony if he was to take Bruno's seat after their altercation a couple of years ago!

[baclightning]

Considering how he's been doing with Sauber, perhaps Jacques Villenueve would be available...

[drewdawg727]

Belittling Junqueira because he raced in the Indy 500 is wrong.

Yes he had a hard crash in the wall because of a stupid move by IV, but it could've happened to anyone. Fate just happened to fall in the hands of Junqueira this time by.

I am sad to see that Junqueira will be out for a while, but he still put in a great performance and credit should be given where credit is required.

[luke]

Wish Bruno well from his website.

http://www.brunojunqueira.com

[Hazard]

Okie...link fixed

Sweet idea.

[luke]

Medical update on Bruno Junqueira:

Bruno Junqueira is in fair condition following successful surgery on his fractured T-12 and L-1 vertabras on Monday. Dr. Terry Trammell, who completed the four-hour surgery on Junqueira at approximately 11:30 a.m. CST today, said the 28-year-old Brazilian suffered no additional spinal injuries and will remain hospitalized until the end of the week.

Junqueira was visited by many of his fellow drivers following the surgery. He is expected to sit up tonight and stand tomorrow.

[luke]

Originally Posted by Hazard

Me see big blue screen of nothing.

Yeah, everyone had that problem, changed the link now.

[Hazard]

That's good news anyway.

Good luck Bruno.

[sgw2]

I wish Bruno a speedy recovery. He is an excellent driver.

Newman-Haas is the one CCWS team that can hire its own drivers without making a call to Kevin Kalkhoven for approval. So it will be interesting to see who that is.

However given the track record of passed over unporven American drivers in Champcar, going back to Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Sam Hornish, Buddy Rice, and I suppose Danica Patrick, it would be a bold move to grab a young Americam. They have little to lose and the series much to gain.

They'll hire somebody like Michel Jourdain.

[Omega99]

Hopefully Bruno makes a quicker than expected recovery and can get back to racing. The accident looked pretty bad, and he was running so well. He had a real chance to win the race, and he also had a real chance to win the champ car championship.

I'd really like to see Valiante get the ride. There have been so many doors that seemed to be open to him that just seemed to get closed in his face at the last second, that it would be nice to see him get a top drive.

(Anyone in the Fantasy game should consult the Monterrey thread in the subforum)

[Amar7605]

My best wishes go out to Bruno. Come back soon and be better than ever!

Here's the thing about finding an American driver. Regardless of who it could be, if Champ Car doesn't promote the American drivers, then not many Americans will care about the series. They'll just blend in with the other drivers, and no one will care.

Many of us want the new driver to be an American. I want an American driver. But if CC won't make an effort to actively promote the Americans, then N-H shouldn't be faulted in the future if they don't choose an American.

[ensign14]

What's Mark Taylor doing? His rookie season in the IRL suggests he deserves another punt.

[marcus]

get well soon bruno , you gave it a good shake mate but got caught up in an accident that you ddint deserve to.

[BootsOntheSide]

Substitute rides are a funny thing. All too often, a driver who finds himself rideless at the start of the season (often through no fault of his own) can get a chance in a top team, and end up keeping his ride in the long term. It happened for Moreno at Patrick, Coulthard at Williams, Buddy Rice at Rahal, Bayliss on the WSBK Ducatis, and numerous other examples. Names like Haberfeld, Taylor and Bell woudl certianly fit that description here.

[ElScOrChO]

Get well soon Bruno!

Newman Haas offered the ride to Patrick Carpentier for Milwaukee.
He had to refuse because of his contract with Eddie Cheever.

French link to story:
http://www.rds.ca/irl/chroniques/179980.html

[Hazza]

I hope it's some one like Buddy Lazier that'd be super. Imagine if they could rope in Robby Gordon!

Tough luck that Pat couldn't go in the ride, being in the one of the best prepared cars I reckon he'd run away with the race!

[rustyfan]

Originally Posted by Hazza

I hope it's some one like Buddy Lazier that'd be super. Imagine if they could rope in Robby Gordon!

Tough luck that Pat couldn't go in the ride, being in the one of the best prepared cars I reckon he'd run away with the race!

I agree about Lazier, but since he is an American and most likely also considered too old I doubt they have even brought up his name during their discussions about whom to bring in.

As for Gordon, I reckon he's too busy being a punching-bag backmarker (whenever there was a crash at Charlotte it seemed Robby was either in it or somewhere close) on the Cup tour to be interested

Lastly, I agree about Pat, but then again, a contract is a contract, and after what happened to Junqueira the team might be even less interested in letting him race at Milwaukee. I mean, you can get fairly banged up even at Milwaukee if things go wrong (as shown during the recent test session there).