Autographs! CART Gets It Right.

[Liz]

CART has begun setting out all its pilotes for autographs and believe me, it works beautifully. The line to get in was quite long, but once they started up, things moved quickly. You had one hour to score as many autographs as you could, but the pilotes were not in neat orderly rows - they were in front of their team hospitality marquees, and you had to line up for those you wanted. If you wanted Montoya or KOOL Green you probably didn't get anybody else. (However those of us who have been to lots of Molson Indys knew that the KOOL Green pilotes are the most accessible of all and odds are we could get them later in the weekend). I got Moreno, Fernandez, Mo, Blundell, Gil, Helio, Paul Tracy and Patrick Carpentier. Then I ran out of time. Almost didn't get Gil as he'd had a crash at the end of First Qualifying and was in Medical, and when he did come back he looked as if he wished he was in a dark room with an ice pack on his head, not sitting in a marquee being nice to fans - although both he and Helio were wonderfully patient with those of us who went through to get Helio and then came back later to get Gil ... Moreno had his little daughter with him and advised people where to stand to take their picture so the sun would not spoil the shot. Blundell and Mo were not attracting much attention, but were both very nice - I told Mo he was better looking in person than the picture they had given out, and he laughed - and I wished Blundell luck on Sunday and he looked surprised but said thank you - he walked around all day Friday looking like someone who had dropped his lollipop in the dirt, but was friendly to evreyone who stopped him. Some idiot shoved to the front of the line to get Tarso Marquez' autograph and then asked him if he was Luis Garcia - whereupon he took offence and stalked away.

It was very successful and lots of fun and I hope they do it again next year.

[bella]

compare this with f1 - if you want an autograph, you need a pass. if you want a pass, you have to work for a f1 sponsor to get into the paddock club. then, you get to meet the team's drivers. they're pressed for time, and they really couldn't be bothered with a load of corporate bums.
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we all know who's won this one, don't we? glad to hear you're having a good time, liz. blundell has been likwe someone ****ed in his shreddies, hasn't he? ah, well, he's british, it's to be expected. worse, he's east anglian.
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didn't know there was an ickle moreno. guess it's time she learnt what daddy did for a living...man, she's lucky. do you reckon she got to sit in her daddy's car?
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they should make it into some sort of politeness competition - see who can get the most autographs without displaying the most disturbing of all american traits - pushing and queue cutting. if you've been polite, you get an autograph. if you've been naughty, you get a slap round the chops, and sent to the back of the line.
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can't wait till next year now.

[Liz]

Moreno has two daughters and an absolutely stunning wife. He has obviously got the secret of a happy life. He is even tinier in person than you'd think.

There was no queue cutting as there were Big Cops With Sharp Eyes who grabbed them and said "The end of the line is BACK THERE." And those who hung about the head of the line and tried to get others to take their items up to be signed were invariably told, "They are only signing one each and the end of the line is BACK THERE." (Actually Helio signed two autographs for me, although I was inadvertently rude to him.) Some people brought as many as fifteen (FIFTEEN!) items to be signed and were astonished to hear they could only receive one autograph each.

Funny event of the weekend: young bloke in race suit on matching scooter, signing autographs - no one could read them and nobody knew who he was. Probably ordinary bloke at home right now laughing his head off.

[Jay]

Nice Liz!

I did get the Team Green signatures of Franchitti and Tracy that day. I also got Tags, Crapentier,De Ferran, Moreno and Kuroasawa (sp). That was what I came for!

Of all the guys I met that day the nicest were Franchitti and De Ferran. They were both always signing autographs in the paddock and willing to chat up the crowd.

Andretti is both an a-hole on and off the track. He would not sign any autographs outside the session and even splashed several people, including me while going thorugh a puddle on a scooter.

Montoya is also unwilling to sign anything outside of sessions. Although I did see him have a rather interesting argument with his girlfriend. It was while I was waiting in the Player's line (Not was when I with you, Liz). They had a heated argument in Spanish, and then kissed and made up. I should have taken a photo so we could caption it!

[racingwheel]

I have yet to go to a race in 2000 with the new autograph sessions, but in the past CART drivers have been EXCELLENT about signing autographs, chatting and even taking a picture with you! The only exception, Michael Andretti. He seems to be "untouchable" this past few years (although my husband did get his autograph in 1994 at Laguna Seca, but not since) Mario is absolutely wonderful when it comes to fans. We were hanging out in the NEON tent at Elkart Lake and he came up on his scooter and signed autographs and talked to "everyone" who walked by and recognized him!

We've also been fortunate enough to be a VIP with Mercedes and Mo Gugelman "Big Mo" is adorable. We got our "Twelve Little Race Cars" book signed by Scott Pruett (as he was headed for the pits). Everyone in CART was already doing a great job with the fans!

j$

[Liz]

Mo and Mark Blundell were both charming to me, and so were every one of the pilotes. Adrian Fernandez even tried valiantly to speak to people after the race, when he was sprawled in the back of his golf cart and clearly well beyond coherent speech. Dario and Paul were the most accessible all weekend, even when they looked exhausted or were clearly busy.

Had the same feeling about Mario and Mikey, and have heard the same from many people, both at Le Mans and in other venues.

Ferrari bloke sitting behind me at the race (he works for them in some capacity) said that he enjoys Champ Cars much more than F1 as even he has been allowed to approach TGF only once for about 2 minutes and has never been in any pit but Ferrari. He spent the weekend in the Paddock and was delighted at the access he was given.

[Jay]

Oh yah, I also got Mario Andretti's autograph. He was one of those little trucks and happened to get in my when I was entering the paddock after quali on Saturday. He was much much nicer than his winey baby.

I would have liked to go to the paddock after the race, but my mother wanted to get dinner and get the 6:30 bus. We were still unhappy about the outcome of the race.

BTW, I will not be going to anymore races this year, as everytime I go someone named Micheal wins.

Oh well, I will, as always go back to Toronto next year in the hopes of getting some of the autographs I didn't get this year. Just hope they're all still around.

[Nuvolari]

Did anyone offer up their knickers for signing?

[Liz]

I think they would have had a hard time getting out of them, with all the clothes they were wearing. Unless you meant the fans, in which case your guess is as good as mine!

[Minardi fan]

Those who have access to the F1 drivers (the corporate twits) haven't got a clue who the drivers are and have probably never even seen a race.

On the one hand it makes me happy to read this thread, knowing that in some places in the motorsport world the drivers are accessible to the fans, and are genuinely pleased to see them.

On the other, it makes me a bit miffed. Today I will stand at the gates of Silverstone for around 3 1/2 hours in total and might come away with 2 autographs if I'm lucky. Most of the F1 drivers seem to have no time for the fans at all.

[bella]

i'll take that personally! i was in the paddock club on raceday monza 98. but only cause i was with a friend.
but you're right. none of them have a clue. at the start, they were all cheering for mclaren. by the time the cars went past us at ascari, most of them had whipped off their mclaren hats and were cheering for ferrari.

i agree with what you say though. they've never had to sign autograpghs, so they don't go out of their way to now. any drivers who go from f1 to cart always seem a bit caustious round fans, like 'what are these?'. well, christian seems to be. but he's an odd bloke. mark blundell's got into the swing of things, or so it seems. wonder what alex zanardi thought of f1 after a few years in fan friendly cart? ('no, but i really want to talk to the fans!''tough')

[botsquad]

jimmy v. is also very fan friendly. he goes the extra mile by standing for photos with fans.

[floid2000]

The Drivers are much of the reason I was drawn to Cart over Nascar.The Drivers and owners have always been very autograph friendly and charming .Ive spent a lot of time in the pits just "talking racing" with some of the greatest drivers in history. Mario,AJ,Dan Gurney,Emerson,Parnelli Jones THANKS CART

[Minardi fan]

There are 2 F1 drivers who always have time - Trulli and Pizzonia. Well done guys.

[Liz]

Someone at the CART race said that CART pilotes have not forgotten where their money comes from - F1 pilotes have so much that they need not worry about where they got their first million.

Me, I think it's the fact that they are isolated from us that makes them forget we are there at all.

[Minardi fan]

It's like when Herbert passed us two days in a row - look mate, you need all the support you can get right now.

I guess Trulli hasn't forgotten how important the fans are, and Pizzonia knows how important they will be to him in the future.

[Jay]

Funny thing, in Montreal, after the race the only pilot that stayed around to sign autographs was Gaston Mazzacane.

[Liz]

The guys who know they are only in F1 by the skin of their teeth, and the guys who are not so far removed from the other side of the fence - you can always count on them to think of the fans. The guys who have begun to believe that they were appointed to their positions by God and are sitting at His right hand are the ones that just walk past the peons ... and don't understand why the peons cheer when they crash out, blow up or make a mistake. (And I put Mikey in this category too.)

[Jay]

Montoya is that way too. Although he seems to allow plenty of time for silly fights with his girlfriend.

[Liz]

But Montoya is practicing for F1.

[floid2000]

I concur... Juan Has been (since his first day at spring training) W A Y too busy to bother with the fans.unlike Jimmy and Alex who have both always been more than friendly to myself and those I've spoken to. and Liz, I don't want to start a war but Mike has always been friendly with us at Homestead. Montoya is really the only unfriendly guy I've ever met at a Cart event.

[Liz]

Did you speak to Mikey during designated Speak To Mikey Hour?

If you like him, I'm glad he speaks to you. It'd be a real drag if you liked some pilote very much and he was far too good to speak to you (unless you sent in your bank book or a picture of yourself nude ) to see if you were worth bothering with.

[Jay]

I am still ****ed at Mikey for coming by on a scooter at quite a speed through a deep puddle and splashing several fans(including me) and half of the Team Green paddock.

He got dirty water all over my new Williams Polo.