What happend to Haberfeld?

bart_jacobs · 12 Apr 2005, 11:19 (Ref:1276188)

Anyone who knows? No jokes please

Cheers,

Bart

mandretti39 · 12 Apr 2005, 11:44 (Ref:1276208)

The latest info I could find is from back in February. He was going to be named as the driver for Walker Racing (now Team Australia). I'm guessing that the people who bought Walker Racing (don't know their names, don't care to look them up) didn't want Haberfeld driving for them. Here's a link to the article... http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/champcar/15371/

macdaddy · 12 Apr 2005, 12:04 (Ref:1276229)

Quote:

Mario Haberfeld:

I’ve held talks with several teams in the past three months, but I feel there are no remaining seats where I could be competitive. As such, I chose to sit out the 2005 Champ Car season.

From this SpeedTV article dated April 5.

BootsOntheSide · 12 Apr 2005, 12:40 (Ref:1276277)

Craig Gore and WPS are the guys who bought into Walker Racing and rebranded it as Team Australia.

At one point Mario seemed very sure of having a drive, he even tested for Walker in the preseason to help them set up one fo the new Lolas, but it seems like that deal fell through and no one else was interested, whcih is a sahme as he's done well in his 2 seasons so far. Curiously, out of all the rookies who came in at St Pete's 2 years ago, only Bourdais and Hunter-Reay remain.

Kicking-back · 12 Apr 2005, 13:00 (Ref:1276300)

He's no great loss, really - he was solid but never going to be a superstar.

I'd rather have Tagliani, to be honest.

**GTRMagic** · 12 Apr 2005, 13:06 (Ref:1276310)

I thought Mr Besnard's efforts at Gold Coast Indy last year showed Mr Haberfeld up a little... a guy with virtually no running in the car lapped within a few tenths of someone who had enjoyed seat time in the car all year.... given that the new owner of Team Australia also bought Mr Besnard's ride last year... its likely more than a coincidence that the deal fell thru...

macdaddy · 12 Apr 2005, 13:09 (Ref:1276316)

I thought Haberfeld was one of the best drivers out there last season, the way he could drive the wheels off of the Reynard was impressive.

Kicking-back · 12 Apr 2005, 13:13 (Ref:1276321)

Possibly - but no-one else of any note was in a Reynard, so it's impossible to know just how quick it could have been.

BootsOntheSide · 12 Apr 2005, 13:38 (Ref:1276341)

There are certainly less capable (but better funded, other than del Monte) drivers on the grid this year, but I don't think any of the other 2004 guys who were without a seat when the music stopped could've done as well as Mario. He's a moderate loss, especially when Brazil is being targetted as a possible future market and race location.

ensign14 · 12 Apr 2005, 14:23 (Ref:1276381)

Quote:

Originally Posted by macdaddy

I feel there are no remaining seats where I could be competitive.

He could be sitting out for a very, very long time. I doubt he'd be competitive in a Renault F1. One of the most disappointing drivers since Magnussen's F1, his F3000 record was comparable with Paolo delle Piane's.

Snrub · 12 Apr 2005, 15:02 (Ref:1276409)

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

I thought Mr Besnard's efforts at Gold Coast Indy last year showed Mr Haberfeld up a little... a guy with virtually no running in the car lapped within a few tenths of someone who had enjoyed seat time in the car all year.... given that the new owner of Team Australia also bought Mr Besnard's ride last year... its likely more than a coincidence that the deal fell thru...

I could see that arguement made for Valiente (to an extent), but not Besnard. The only time I was aware of Besnard's presence he was lapping like 2 seconds off a good pace. If you've got a listing of the lap times of Haberfeld and Besnard from Surfers I'd love to see it.

I'm not critisizing Besnard, but he got where he did because of fuel stratagy.

As for generally how Haberfeld did, he we know in 2004 he typically had his Reynard ahead of faster cars, but also look at 2003 when he also perfomed well and there were other Reynards.

bart_jacobs · 12 Apr 2005, 18:41 (Ref:1276545)

Well, I find him quite a good driver. I've met him a couple of times when he was driving for Team-Astromega. His f3000 time wasn't that bad, as he was able to get on the podium on numerous occasions with the team. I agree that he coud have made more of the time when he was driving for top-teams like super-nova and mcLaren, but he had some bad luck there... It is clear that he performs better when he is in a relaxed envirement... At Team Astromega everybody was verry nice to him, and that showed in his results... He is probably one of the nicest guy in the paddock... Anyway, I hope he is able to catch a ride again... I believe that he deserves it to be back, this time in a more competitive car..

Kicking-back · 12 Apr 2005, 18:46 (Ref:1276553)

He only had 2 F3000 podiums, not numerous - and 7th in the championship in what was his 3rd or 4th season in the categiry is nothing to write home about, in my opinion.

Tenoch · 12 Apr 2005, 18:47 (Ref:1276555)

I hope he comes back ever since he shoved Bruno into that wall in the beginning of 2003 I have liked him and he had a pretty good run at Laguna seca that same year. And plus he's Jewish who is half of me suppose to cheer for now.

Coops · 12 Apr 2005, 18:56 (Ref:1276569)

I dont think he's ever been that quick in anything.

mountainstar · 13 Apr 2005, 04:49 (Ref:1276836)

He wasn't bad in Brit F3, but somehow flopped in F3000. I'm sure that bad accident where he broke his leg in F3000 didn't help.

Chris - Melb · 13 Apr 2005, 08:19 (Ref:1276911)

According to the Champ Car World series web site Besnard's fastest lap at Surfers Paradise was 1:36.832 on lap 46. Haberfeld 1:37.049 on lap 26

BootsOntheSide · 13 Apr 2005, 11:08 (Ref:1277035)

Tenoch, why don't you cheer for Kanaan in the other series? At least he's a winner rather than an above-average battler. All the same, Haberfeld was British F3 champion, so he's certainly got some ability - F3000 doesn't work out for everyone, Albers flopped against Webber far worse than Mario did and he's still doing quite well (better than F3000 race winner Friesacher) at Minardi.

Snrub · 13 Apr 2005, 17:55 (Ref:1277344)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris - Melb

According to the Champ Car World series web site Besnard's fastest lap at Surfers Paradise was 1:36.832 on lap 46. Haberfeld 1:37.049 on lap 26

That's true, but keep in mind that Haberfeld had some rather unusual circumstances that race (spun, etc).

Tenoch · 13 Apr 2005, 18:47 (Ref:1277398)

Quote:

Originally Posted by BootsOntheSide

Tenoch, why don't you cheer for Kanaan in the other series? At least he's a winner rather than an above-average battler. All the same, Haberfeld was British F3 champion, so he's certainly got some ability - F3000 doesn't work out for everyone, Albers flopped against Webber far worse than Mario did and he's still doing quite well (better than F3000 race winner Friesacher) at Minardi.

I do I just meant in this series.

trout · 16 Apr 2005, 14:05 (Ref:1279633)

Haberfeld had some very good runs in the Mi-Jack and the Walker Reynard cars. It is a shame he is not there this year. I hope we see him soon and in a Lola at that!

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