Salo in CART

[3state]

I think it's great to have Salo in CART. I always liked him in F1 and he seems to be drving quite respectably in CART at the moment.

Does anyone know or has read what Salo's thoughts are on CART and a Champcar in comparison to F1 and an F! car?

Just curious...

[Dov]

Mika Salo: champcars "it's back to real racing the way it should be"

There's a 30 second video of Salo on Cart.com where he says, its been fun there's so many things he has to learn, he says champcars are way wider than F1, he says he keeps clipping the inside of the wall all the time, and no traction control, no power steering its so fun, IT'S BACK TO REAL RACING THE WAY IT SHOULD BE.

[Jordi]

Great to hear that from Mika... Jacques-Mika at PK next year? They are buddies after all

[Dov]

From Cart.com:http://www.cart.com/Multimedia/Multi...gemode=MONTHLY

The interview is from September 28.....fourth clip down from the top of the page.

[gttouring]

Mika is doing well, how come Papis couldn't wring out as much from the car?

[BSchneiderFan]

'Because Salo's a better driver' would be the obvious answer.

[gttouring]

well I knew that, but that much better! outstanding.. comment made in Mexico alluded to Max having no idea how to set up a car, and Mika is a tech miester...

[Tenoch]

He seems to be doing really well, and qualifying was never a PK stronk point. But he is doing his part. I just can't wait to see him at Fontana.

[BSchneiderFan]

It really shouldn't be a surprise, I suppose. Salo was storming when he subbed at Ferrari in 1999; he is a very gifted driver who just never got the breaks. Mike Salo, CART champion? Why not? If Pollock and Kalkoven (sp.?) can put together a good enough team anything is possible.

[Dov]

From Cart.com:http://www.cart.com/News/Article.asp?ID=7024

MIKA SALO'S STEADY CHAMP CAR DEBUT
Thursday, September 4, 2003

Mika Salo wasn’t happy with the results from his debut in the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford. But he was pleased to have broken into a form of racing he has enjoyed from a distance for years.

Salo’s arrival in the Champ Car series took longer than expected. He was a leading candidate for start-up team PK Racing’s seat at the beginning of the season, a ride that ultimately went to Patrick Lemarie. But the Frenchman failed to perform, and he was replaced by Bryan Herta and finally Max Papis. The strong-willed Italian delivered Craig Pollock and Kevin Kalkhoven their best finish of the season with fourth place at Road America, but the team decided to bring in Salo for the final five races of the season.

“Before Le Mans I was really tied up with Audi, and that was just a month ago, really,” remarked the 36-year old native of Finland. “I was totally free and this is probably the only racing I haven’t done yet. I’ve always followed it on TV and it looks like a good championship. The atmosphere is a bit more relaxed than Formula 1. There is less testing and less promotion – racing is what it’s all about. The cars are fun because they don’t have all those computers on them, though I wouldn’t mind having tire warmers. There are so many computers in Formula 1 that it’s taking the driving skill out of it. This is more fun.”

Salo had hoped to make his debut at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, a track he knows well from his Formula 1 days with Tyrrell, Ferrari and British American Racing. Instead, it came at the unforgiving Denver street circuit.

“It was a hard weekend,” Salo affirmed. “It was one of the most difficult positions I’ve ever been in. I really wanted to do the last race at Montreal – I knew the circuit already, and it’s a real race track. That would have been more comfortable for me, but it didn’t happen. They asked me if I wanted to do this race. I knew it was going to be really difficult, but I said that’s fine. I don’t care what people think – if it looks bad, it looks bad. But at least I learned something.”

The main thing Salo learned is that a 750-horsepower Champ Car is a handful on cold tires. Having been thrown in with just one day of testing at Mid-Ohio, Mika had little time to focus on details because there was so much to take in.

“It’s good experience and it was fun in the race,” he said. “It’s much closer racing than Formula 1 and you really need to be switched-on all the time, even during the safety car periods. I got more comfortable as the weekend wore on. In the race, I was happy with the balance of the car and ran quicker than the leaders most of the time.

“It was going well until I lost it with the cold tires, which was really stupid - a beginner’s mistake. That was my problem all weekend, basically, because it was something I hadn’t done in a long time, gone out on cold tires. It was really stupid. I caught up to the Pace Car and was warming the fronts with the brakes on when the turbo kicked in and I lost it.”

That mishap under yellow cost Salo a lap to the leaders while he was running in ninth place. He was still set for a finish in the points until he was punted into the wall by Tiago Monteiro a few laps later.

“Monteiro said he lost his brakes on the restart and he hit me from behind,” Salo related. “That was the end of it. I feel sorry for my guys because it was my screw-up. They did a good job to get me up to ninth in the pits and with the strategy. But it was good fun and I’m going to be ready for Miami now. I won’t have to give away anything on Friday and I can be up there straight away.”

Salo said he talked to his good friend Jacques Villeneuve (the 1995 CART champion) just before the start and was the subject of some ribbing.

“He asked why I was tugging so much to be 17th on the grid,” Salo chuckled. “I said, ‘Blast off!’ You come and do it without any testing.’ I had only one day in the car a couple weeks ago at Mid-Ohio and it was completely different. It was really hot and it was a real racetrack. This is a street circuit with cold weather, and that’s two different stories.”

Even though he didn’t complete the full 106 laps, Salo is looking forward to the remaining races on the Champ Car calendar, especially Mexico City and Surfers Paradise. If he enjoys the experience as much as he thinks he will, he’s likely to try to latch on for the full 2004 season.

“Let’s finish this season first,” he said. “I don’t even want to think about it. I just want to learn this car and have a good result for them, which is possible, looking at our lap times. This was totally my mistake. I wasn’t on it on Friday and I messed up in the race. But it’s not an easy position where I was.”

I remember Derick Daly saying in Mexico City that Salo is starting to get quite a few calluses on his hand(s) from having to shift gears (which he hasn't done in F1 for almost 10 years) and trying to control a 750 HP ChampCar with no traction control!

[Jay]

In Salo's defence, he's not the only one with a nice showing of blisters... it seems to be a pretty common thing for drivers in all series. I even remember looking at Michael Valiante's hands earlier this year and thinking there were so many blisters it looked like he had some kind of disease. It's just part of the physical price they pay...

[Snrub]

In defense of Papis, PK was definately improving before Salo got there. At lot of the smaller teams are doing better too.

Salo is a fantastic driver and maybe in CART he can prove some of what he was unable to in F1.

[3state]

Good to see he's enjoying the experience, and improving along the way. He's a fine ambassador for the sport. Thanks guys...

[Jordi]

I liked that interview, very honest to say that the Denver crash was a "stupid" thing to do. He has the right attitude.

[x_dt]

Hopefully he'll do the full CART season next year. Perhaps he can win a race or two.

[Tenoch]

If they fix the bugs in that team he can challenge for the championship. Plus I meant I wanted to see him on the superspeedway as a good thing.

[429CJ]

It's not 100% sure he's driving next season in PK Racing car.

[Dov]

Nothing is 100% sure!

[Hazza]

Jee...i seem to remember Salo having a funny sounding highpitched voice...then again, Monaco 93 is a long time ago! (i'm pretty sure it was him...)

[429CJ]

It can't be Salo, because he drove his first F1 races in the end of 1994, Japanese and Australian GP, with Lotus.
You are sure it was this guy?



Mika & Noriko Endo Salo

[ASCII Man]

Originally posted by Hazza
Jee...i seem to remember Salo having a funny sounding highpitched voice...then again, Monaco 93 is a long time ago! (i'm pretty sure it was him...)

I'm pretty sure it was Hakkinen...

[Hazza]

no do'nt worry, it was Lehto , cos he was talking about how the two saubers had hit, stupid me!

(i think.)

[Dov]

Welcome to 10/10ths, Hazza!