You're the team boss/head!

[kmchow]

I was inspired to ask this question after watching the first round of '02 DTM season on Speedvision--yeah,yeah, our coverage is a tad slow here in Canada/USA! I'm not sure if the english language coverage is the same as the UK ones, but the US(??) announcers repeatedly mentioned that the DTM has seen an explosion in young talent for '02. Young (20-30 yr old) years versus the old (30+ yr old) drivers. Actually, young talent seems to be the norm these past several years not just in touring cars, but also in every other racing series.

Soooo, finally getting to the question, the point--if you were a touring car boss/head, would you choose 2 young, 1 young/1 old or 2 old drivers to take the driver's seat. State the your assumptions?

Me? I guess I lean on the safe side and get 1 young/1 old driver. My major assumptions are that a young driver would take chances which could win races. However, the older driver has more experience? Would you do the same thing? Do you have the same assumptions? I'm assuming these are the same reasons that every other team boos/head has made? Or do you think that young drivers can better stand the physical pressures/speeds/g forces? There's no significant difference? Do you think older drivers have gotten complacent and dwell too much on their past achievements, rather than their competitive situation?

[sneiser]

i think that i would take 2 young becasue i think that they could take more pressure ... but also becsaue if there is 2 young on a team then they can grow with the sport for a longer time and be great teamates and understand eachother a bit more... this is my view.

[Sim_Da_BTCC_Man]

1 young because they could be the best new driver around and can take the pressure ETC, but also have an experinced driver who you know what you are getting with them and maybe can teach your newbie a few experinced tips. If you have someone with experience on the team then your rookie will soon pick it up quicker than two rookies going out and having to learn without help.

[redshoes]

I don't believe you can make such a rash overgeneralisation. Every driver should be judged on his or her own ability, not whether they are young/old. Of course in the real world there's lots of other considerations, not all related to ability.

[Sim_Da_BTCC_Man]

I think he means a rookie tho redshoes. Would that be a better question? I did it asif it was a question with rookies and experinced drivers.

[kmchow]

Yeah, I guess rookies could also be interchanged with "young" Like John Bintcliffe (rookie/young) and Biela(old?) in the '96 BTCC. But besides abilities, it does seem that being a young age seems to be playing a much bigger role than it used to be or perhaps it should be?
Or perhaps as sneiser suggested, they will be in the sport much longer than say older drivers like Bernd Schneider and John Cleland are.