'05 Silly Season

[enemy-ace]

Let's not forget that Jensen is a new team to Champ Car and that motor-racing is a TEAM sport. Emphasis on TEAM. Not only are they making a big step up they are working for the first time with a new (to them) car. The driver is an integral part of the equation no doubt, but he is not the only part. They will more than likely treat this event as a test. Nobody in their right mind could have expected them to be at the front this weekend, even with an experienced driver.
P.S. They have closed the gap by another two seconds.

[GTRMagic]

I still think DCR would have done well to consider a switch to Reynard this year. What better way to maintain underdog status than to run the unloved foxmobiles.. given there are a solid quantity of them around, DCR could have become a 3 or 4 car team... likely for the same changeover price as they would get for selling off the Lola equipment...

[BootsOntheSide]

It could be that it's the Jensen team which should be tested to prove that they are up to ChampCar standards, rather than Fabrizio. Essentially everyone is new and they haven't really worked together before, and there's no team-mate to help out, so it was inevitable that they would find it difficult at first. It'll be a few races before we can amke a sound judgment on Fabrizio's ability.

[enemy-ace]

CCWS dropped in former PKV team manager Russell Cameron to help Jensen get up to speed. They have experienced personnel they just need time to get it together.
At the moment the series is helping them to be on track.
Interesting note, an article in the Toronto Star says that delMonte isn't bringing any money. Jensen just feels that he can sell him and his talents better than he could a Canadian. Also Jensen has spoken to Christian Fittipaldi about putting him in the seat for Monterry.

[Snrub]

Interesting info enemy-ace. I read the Cameron thing myself and thought that was pretty cool. What other series would help a new team out in such a way?

To me it's really a odd concept that an Italian would have more marketing potential in CC than a Canadian like Valiente, a brit like Dalziel or even an American like Fogarty (who might not be available anyway).

[Mike.ca]

Originally Posted by enemy-ace

....Interesting note, an article in the Toronto Star says that delMonte isn't bringing any money. Jensen just feels that he can sell him and his talents better than he could a Canadian. Also Jensen has spoken to Christian Fittipaldi about putting him in the seat for Monterry.

That is an odd statement. Jensen is, he claims, fully sponsored by the Canadian subsidiary of a large Japanese firm. But an Italian driver who is utterly unknown here will serve his sponsor's interests better than a competitive Canadian driver? His team is racing in California this weekend but del Monte is a better choice than Memo Gidley, a competitive American driver who is popular with the fans? I'm having a little trouble grasping this. And why does he have to "sell" Del Monte? What happened to the full sponsorship from Konica/Minolta Canada? What about the two American sponsors he was announcing this weekend? Do you have a link for the Toronto Star article you referred to, enemy-ace? I can't find it on The Star's website.

[Mosport67]

Here is the link http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...acodalogin=yes

Mr. Jensen's dilemma
Champ Car owner takes heat for not hiring Canadian

Italian driver for Grand Prix debut better for business


RICK MATSUMOTO
SPORTS REPORTER

LONG BEACH, Calif.—Eric Jensen is dismayed by the criticism he's received for not running a Canadian driver on his newly launched Champ Car team.

Jensen Motorsports, which makes its debut in tomorrow's Grand Prix of Long Beach, is the first wholly-owned Canadian outfit in the series since 1986, when uncle Jacques Villeneuve drove for David Billes of Barrie, one of the heirs to the Canadian Tire fortune.

While he negotiated extensively with talented Vancouver driver Michael Valiante, Jensen's eventual driver of choice for the opening race was Italian Fabrizio Del Monte.

It was strictly a business decision, explained the 35-year-old Jensen, from Newcastle, Ont.

"I feel bad about not having a Canadian driver," he said, saying he has received email letters slamming him for not using one.

"But the reality of the situation was where we were getting our money from. I have to look at the future. Where am I going to be able to generate the most money? Canada has not proven to be a very good market for generating corporate money. For years and years, all my racing has been U.S.- or European-funded.

"So I could just see that I'd sell a lot more in Italy or the United States even though we're a Canadian team which is a bit disappointing. That's why I chose Fabrizio instead of Michael.

"At the end of the day I'm running a business and I have to pay the bills. The more money I can bring in the better it is for the team, the better I can make things; I can get more spare parts and do more testing."

Ever conscious of the bottom line, Jensen revealed he has also been negotiating with veteran driver Christian Fittipaldi to drive the car in the next race in Monterrey, Mexico, figuring his name would generate sponsors even on a one-off basis. After that, Jensen will go back to Del Monte.

Fittipaldi left the Champ Car series after the 2002 season to try his hand in the NASCAR series, but lost his ride after one season and has been driving in sports car events in Brazils.

Jensen said he was approached by a number of drivers with $1 million wanting to drive for him.

"But I told them that's only 20 per cent of what I need to run a car," he said. "With Fabrizio, I can put a really good guy in the car who I think will be more marketable than some of the other guys."

Del Monte, said Jensen, is not bringing any funding with him, but the hope is that he will be able to attract sponsors if he performs well.

The 24-year-old native of Latina, Italy, who was the runner up in the Euro F3000 series last year, signed with Jensen only this week and had not been in a Champ Car until yesterday's first practice session.

The lack of experience showed as he spun out during the afternoon preliminary qualifying session and finished more than five seconds off the time of preliminary pole-sitter Bruno Junqueira's time of one minute, 8.342 seconds.

Scarborough native Paul Tracy was second-quickest, .142 seconds behind Junqueira, while defending series champion Sebastien Bourdais was third.

"I feel sorry for him," said Bourdais. "He's probably a good driver. To show up like that and jump into these cars without any prior experience is tough. These cars can be real bad-ass machines especially on a street course like this."

Junqueira was last year's race pole-sitter, but finished second to Tracy, who won the event for the fourth time.

[indycool]

The selection of del Monte is screwy at best and Jensen doesn't explain it with anything that makes sense. As some have pointed out, there were MANY experienced drivers available, not to mention the promising Canadians. del Monte just wasn't in the "mix" anywhere before about Wednesday. My guess is, for whatever reason, CCWS wanted him in a seat and put him in it.

[trout]

But I can't see why CCWS wants an Italian driver. Is there a projected Italian race or a major Italian sponsor that they are courting?

I also think Jensens argument is void of logic..... Other drivers were offering money, but he thinks the sponsorship that Del Monte can bring might be greater!
Huh?

[indycool]

I can't either, trout. Jensen also said previously that he would hire a driver based on merit. Now he says he hired del Monte based on sponsorship potential. Which is it?

[carsten66]

Originally Posted by trout

But I can't see why CCWS wants an Italian driver. Is there a projected Italian race or a major Italian sponsor that they are courting?

I also think Jensens argument is void of logic..... Other drivers were offering money, but he thinks the sponsorship that Del Monte can bring might be greater!
Huh?

Indeed all the stuff isn't logical... and when Jensen tries to attract someone in Italy why he's not hiring the well-known and experienced Max Papis...?!

[macdaddy]

It's all strange indeed.

But the important thing is that we have a new team and new sponsors which are showing commitment to ChampCar. And we have a nineteen-car grid.

So even if it seems illogical, it's all good.

[Mosport67]

It doesn't seem to make much sense but then none of us are running a ChampCar team. Jensen has been around the racing scene and the business scene to know what it takes but I can't figure it out.

mac is right though. 19 cars is still 19 cars even if the right drivers aren't in all of them.

[trout]

Indeed, that is the happy bottom line. No complaints - just confusion. But hey, confusion underscores why I got married

[Snrub]

I have a hard time believing that the series is ponying up for Del Monte. I don't know that it's unreasonable to come to the conclusion that Jensen is not telling the truth. His explaination doesn't make much sense. He said in a press conference that he liked what he saw of Del Monte watching Euro 3000 races on SpeedTV during the winter months. So from that he's decided that Del Monte can pull sponsorship, but other drivers cannot? I think he's just trying to save face, but not doing a very good job of it. In reality he has nothing to be ashamed of. I'm guessing from his perspective, if he wants to attact sponsorship he wants to present his team as credible, not some rent-a-ride. Few companies are going to pay money for their name to be associated with someone who got their chance 100% on money. Bottom line, Jensen's presence on the grid is a plesent surprise, I say cut him some slack.

[FIRE]

Has Del Monte links with this Del Monte?

[BootsOntheSide]

This car is basically a bonus on top of the other 18 anyway, so even if they don't have an ideal driver in the car, we shouldn't be too upset. By mid-season Fabrizio might've showed his potential, or been replaced by someone who can do the job.

[macdaddy]

I'm surprised to see Paul Newman's name associated with this article.

[macdaddy]

And here's one about the future of Long Beach that would better belong in a thread about the 2006 Silly Season.

We’ll review the situation after this weekend and make our decision. We’ll consider a number of factors, but mainly it will be based on where we see each of the series going and where each series fits in with where Dover Motorsports wants to be; where the series are going rather than where the series have been last year and this.

[indycool]

Well, we already have 88 pages on this one, time to start another one.....incidentally, have read where the Wirdheim and Bremer deals with HVM were one-racers (that was apparently offered to Verstappen and he turned it down) and Christian Fittipaldi may be in the Jensen car at Monterrey. In that case, maybe this oughta keep goin'.

[macdaddy]

Hard to put it to sleep when it's self-sustaining!

[icemachine]

Originally Posted by macdaddy

I'm surprised to see Paul Newman's name associated with this article.

TSN's article leaves Paul Newman's name out of it.

[Dov]

Originally Posted by macdaddy

Hard to put it to sleep when it's self-sustaining!

Hey Macdaddy. That's why I posted a new thread called "SILLY SEASON Reflux".....post #1267. Since the CCWS is not stable yet, we will have some drivers coming and going like the past two years, so zerO thought that it would be a good thread to last throughout the 2005 season and now we can let "2005 Silly Season" thread fade away. Would you mind putting the "SILLY SEASON Reflux" thread back as a new thread?

Thanks,
Dov

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally Posted by icemachine

TSN's article leaves Paul Newman's name out of it.

The official entry list just released today lists the entries as "Newman-Haas Racing Team"

I would have to look it up, but last year, it was just listed as "Karl Haas"

Personally, as much as Paul Newman seems to hate TG, I seriousl;y doubt that he is involved in this...or will even show up for the event...just like last year....

[Omega99]

On a side topic, did you guys noticed how badly Paul Newman smoked Jay Leno in that go-kart race?