Did Takagi ruin first race of the year?

zealot · 11 Mar 2002, 15:03 (Ref:232839)

What did everyone think of Takagi's blocking Franchitti in Mexico.

SevenGrain · 11 Mar 2002, 15:48 (Ref:232859)

I don't understand why drivers from the Land of the Rising Sun always seem to in the way. First we had Hiro "the chicane" Matsu****a, and now Takagi.

Is it some type of cultural bravado that won't allow them to just move over and let the lead lap cars race, or is it just plain unawareness?

Takagi drove so well in Formula Nippon, you would think he knew better.

SevenGrain · 11 Mar 2002, 15:49 (Ref:232860)

Of course Matsu****a's name is so despised in racing that it is censored....

Dr. Austin · 11 Mar 2002, 16:01 (Ref:232869)

Any time you are a lap dowwn, the sporting thing to do is get out of the way. If you can pull away from the person lapping you, that is just fine. Otherwise, you are in the way of someone who still has a chance to have a good result. And it is really for no reason.

Of course, if you are a really fast car, you need to stay on the lead lap in case of a yellow and then you will be back in the fight, but with three laps to go, you aren't going to make up the entire lap, so don't screw it up for those who have a chance to win or place well.

He probably didn't affect the outcome because Dematta was faster anyway, but he ruined whatever excitement and suspense the race may have had. He has been sanctioned before, but he never seems to learn. All I have seen from him is that he is stupid and dangerous.

Liz · 11 Mar 2002, 16:18 (Ref:232881)

Which was just as true in F1.

I think that if nothing is done (and from what Wally Dallenbach has said, nothing is GOING to be done) that the drivers involved should invite him out behind the bike shed and explain it to him in some way that he may possibly remember. It's time he stopped this nonsense before he causes someone to be maimed or killed.

BootsOntheSide · 11 Mar 2002, 18:18 (Ref:232941)

Takagi started to drive reasonably well towards the end of last year, but he hasn't started so well this year. He's basically an idiot. Of course he looked good in Formula Nippon, almost the entire field was Japanese, on Japanese circuits, which doesn't really represent a high standard. He was hopeless in F1 and equally hopeless in CART. Eurosport's Jeremy Shaw summed it up well, as in one race alst eyar Tagaki went off for the 3rd time, this time taking Servia with him, and Shaw remarked that he hadn't seen the incident, so he wouldn't blame Takagi yet, as he obviously suspected who was at fault.

macdaddy · 11 Mar 2002, 18:56 (Ref:232958)

I'm assuming that he brings his own dollars.

I may be wrong, because by the late stages of the race I had a few beers in me, but I don't think I saw any blue flags given to him until the final lap. And by then it was too late. But I really don't think it would have made much of a difference, as daMatta had the car to win anyway. But even on that last lap, Takagi put two wheels into the dirt, but still wouldn't let Dario by.

nkracing · 11 Mar 2002, 19:47 (Ref:233004)

Its clear for everybody that Takagi brings in to racing some money. I dont know any Japanese driver doing well in major autoracing series in the world. But ,actualy, with or without Takagi, Dario didnt look strong in of to beat da Matta.

Speedworx · 11 Mar 2002, 20:21 (Ref:233046)

Takagi is an aweful driver, who should have got out of the way and not ruin the lead battle.

strad · 12 Mar 2002, 00:59 (Ref:233243)

He ruins every race.he should be banned.

Raven · 12 Mar 2002, 01:13 (Ref:233250)

Tora = The Jos Verstappen of CART.

Still, the right man won the race.

Crash Test · 12 Mar 2002, 02:00 (Ref:233269)

It would have been nice had he not been there, but at the end of the day, Dario was too busy blocking out Christian to get near Tora, let alone Christiano, who flew off the restart...

djb · 12 Mar 2002, 04:29 (Ref:233298)

I found that odd that blues weren't flying around earlier. He certainly will not get any brownie points from the other drivers for doing something like that. In the words of TGF, it was "inappropriate"-and in this case it really was.
I know very little about the fellow, but I wonder what on earth he was thinking, and also, what his team people were saying to him leading up to the restart.

tanalised · 12 Mar 2002, 07:10 (Ref:233342)

Eurosport's Jeremy Shaw summed it up well, as in one race alst eyar Tagaki went off for the 3rd time, this time taking Servia with him, and Shaw remarked that he hadn't seen the incident, so he wouldn't blame Takagi yet, as he obviously suspected who was at fault.

What a classic comment that was by Shaw, I recall it well too!
Takagi is a very erratic driver

Morris 1100 · 12 Mar 2002, 09:18 (Ref:233382)

No, what ruined the race was Jeremy Shaw and Leigh Diffey!

StuiE · 13 Mar 2002, 09:59 (Ref:234095)

true Morris 1100

but lay off Tora, you might have noticed that im a fan of him but think about why he was in that position, cos of Tony Kanaan! Tora was in 7th at one point, and speaking of Japanese rolling chicanes, how about Shinji Nakano, the only driver not to lead a lap last year

View Poll Results: Did Takagi ruin the Mexico G.P.
Yes, Franchitti could have made a run at De Matta	7	77.78%
No, De Matta had the race won instead	2	22.22%
Voters: 9. You may not vote on this poll

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