TSN.ca Staff

7/14/2006 12:51:38 PM

Juan Pablo Montoya won't be making his debut with NASCAR until after 2006. In
fact, McLaren boss Ron Dennis went so far as to suggest the Colombian could
race again in Formula One before the year is out.

Last weekend, Montoya made a surprise announcement that he would be joining the
NASCAR series in 2007. A few days later, McLaren announced that it had come to
a mutual agreement with the Colombian which would see him leave the team. There
have since been reports that Montoya could make his stock car debut later this
year to gain experience for next season.

Dennis put a quick end to those suggestions on Friday.

"Juan Pablo is fully contracted to the end of the year and if we so choose he
will test and race again, that is our option and no one else's," said Dennis.

"A few races ago we had a conversation that was based on his desire to continue
with McLaren, his desire to stay in F1 and we came to a clear understanding
that it was immaterial whether his objective was to stay in F1, or whether the
team would keep him, or if he went to another team, the best way to achieve
that was to have the best results in the latter part of the season, that is how
we moved forward."

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Dennis suggested that, despite paddock scuttlebutt, Montoya was still in the
running for the vacant seat at the Woking-based team in 2007.

"I felt if he was focused on having the best end of season, I thought it would
be easier for me to take the decision to keep him in the team, and better for
him to get a better offer, so common objective was to get the best out of the
season," he explained.

"Obviously that objective somewhat changed when he decided that in 2007 he was
going to race in NASCAR so the objectives became different. The appropriate
action was for him to cool off and think about his situation until we have a
common objective for the remaining races."

Dennis did not rule out a "commercial arrangement" between the team, Chip
Ganassi and Montoya which might allow him to run a few Busch series events
later this year.

Ironically, DaimlerChrysler - which owns Mercedes, a minority shareholder in
the F1 team - also owns the Dodge brand, which Montoya will drive for with Chip
Ganassi racing next season.

Pedro de la Rosa will drive for the team in France but his future beyond this
weekend has not been confirmed. Dennis did rule out promoting either Gary
Paffett or highly touted Lewis Hamilton.

"Their programmes are well mapped and they didn't include racing a Grand Prix
car this season. It is more likely that Pedro will continue in the car."



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

<SNIP>

unless Mclaren receives a bastard of a big cheque.

JPM is a menace.

"The Big Kahuna" <big.kahuna (AT) excite (DOT) com> wrote

You said it.

"Fred" <red@5.com> wrote

Steven wrote:
Talking to oneself in such a way is usually a pretty strong indicator
that one either needs professional help or needs to grow the fuck up.

Seriously...

--
Forty

“There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and
mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.” - Ernest Hemingway

"forty" <cforteNO (AT) SPAMgmail (DOT) com> wrote

Or both