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2000 ChampCar Grand Prix of Miami
Indy Car motor racing Discussions About Indy Car motor racing (rec.autos.sport.indy)
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#21
 
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Re: 2000 ChampCar Grand Prix of Miami -
04-05-2007
, 04:02 PM
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Von Fourche wrote: "forty" <cforteNO (AT) SPAMgmail (DOT) com> wrote in message news:57kb7dF2cb7ngU1 (AT) mid (DOT) individual.net... Von Fourche wrote: Atlantics will have around 28 cars for the Vegas race with around fourteen American drivers. Now Atlantics looks like they have their act together. Perhaps Atlantics should be called ChampCar and IndyPro series should be called IRL. Atlantics do indeed have their act together. They've aligned themselves with the other development formula series in America, partially thanks to Mazda's involvement. That will improve over the next couple years. The Skip Barber (powered by Mazda) champion this year will get a funded seat in Star Mazda next year. The Star Mazda champion this year will get a funded seat in Atlantics next year. Even without the Mazda connection, Atlantics is becoming the place to go to for young guns from FBMW and F2000. Of course, one must remember that the Atlantic series is part of Champ Car's long-term plan. As young American talent gets funneled into Atlantics, Atlantic talent shall get funneled into Champ Car. There is now a clear development path for young American open wheel talent. We need an American series that equals British F3. British F3 only has eleven events with two races at each event. The series needs no street racing and focus only on road racing. Careful with that! British F3 is a political back-stabbing environment where those with the best budgets and the best political connections are the only ones assured of success, and the cars are underpowered and have too much grip. Blahh! However, I get you meant by the calendar composition. I don't know that I'm a big fan of double race weekends. I would, however, be interested in seeing a 3 race weekend using the Aussie V8 model (1st race with starting grid determined by qualy, 2nd race with reverse grid from finishing positions in the 1st race, and a 3rd race with a grid determined by a composite of finishing places from both previous races). As for street races vs. road races, I would like to see more rounds run on road and airfield courses than street courses. Then again, those kids in Atlantics showed that they can put on some hot races in the streets, much better than their larger counterparts did at times. All in all, Star Mazda is somewhat more like F3 in terms of visiting road courses, except that it is a fair playing ground and the cars aren't pitifully easy to drive so that driver skill is better rewarded. |
I'll put this in simple terms - I want to see an American jr. series
that can prepare Americans for success in the stepping stones to F1 -
British F3 and GP2 and then have success in F1. Better yet, a stepping
stone right to F1. Frankly, Speed seems to be a decent solid driver but
nothing special. He also seems to be holding his own against Vitantonio
Liuzzi. I have to believe America can produce great F1 drivers capable of
winning the F1 championship once some organization builds the right ladder
system/stepping stone to F1. Heck, there may already by Americans capable
of winning the F1 championship if only they could get a shot in the one or
two teams capable of winning.
#22
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I'll put this in simple terms - I want to see an American jr. series that can prepare Americans for success in the stepping stones to F1 - British F3 and GP2 and then have success in F1. Better yet, a stepping stone right to F1. Frankly, Speed seems to be a decent solid driver but nothing special. He also seems to be holding his own against Vitantonio Liuzzi. I have to believe America can produce great F1 drivers capable of winning the F1 championship once some organization builds the right ladder system/stepping stone to F1. Heck, there may already by Americans capable of winning the F1 championship if only they could get a shot in the one or two teams capable of winning. |
1. Skip Barber, FBMW, and/or F2000
2. Star Mazda
3. Atlantics
Some worthwhile experience in that ladder system with good results will
do the trick. A year or two in Champ Car as well won't hurt in preparing
one for GP2, if that be one's aim.
--
forty
“To embrace an extreme, one must first let go of reason.”
#23
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Von Fourche wrote: I'll put this in simple terms - I want to see an American jr. series that can prepare Americans for success in the stepping stones to F1 - British F3 and GP2 and then have success in F1. Better yet, a stepping stone right to F1. Frankly, Speed seems to be a decent solid driver but nothing special. He also seems to be holding his own against Vitantonio Liuzzi. I have to believe America can produce great F1 drivers capable of winning the F1 championship once some organization builds the right ladder system/stepping stone to F1. Heck, there may already by Americans capable of winning the F1 championship if only they could get a shot in the one or two teams capable of winning. I'll repeat: 1. Skip Barber, FBMW, and/or F2000 2. Star Mazda 3. Atlantics Some worthwhile experience in that ladder system with good results will do the trick. A year or two in Champ Car as well won't hurt in preparing one for GP2, if that be one's aim. -- forty "To embrace an extreme, one must first let go of reason." |
IF you want to be in F1, its simple. You go to Europe at a young age
where team owners can watch you grow as a racer. Outside of that few
will have a chance. You have to have a name that opens a door for you
otherwise. Example. Michael Andretti. The name opened the door.
The talent was there, but not living in Europe was not a formula for
success. The next name that will open a door I predict will be one
Graham Rahal. Unlike Speed in a backmarker with no chance of doing
anything other than claiming they have an Amercian in the series, I
predict Graham when he moves to F1 will do so with a top team.
Anyone else want to make F1 needs to go to Europe. Otherwise just
forget it. F1 is a European series and time difference amoung other
things make the US an afterthought. It also for the most part makes
F1 an afterthought in the US compared to other forms of racing here.
#24
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| I have a tape of the 2000 Australian F1 race. On the tape after the F1 race I have the 2000 ChampCar Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota. This was the season opener for ChampCar. Wow, what a broadcast and line up of driver talent: Papis, Moreno, Tracy, Vasser, Carpentier, de Ferran, Fittipaldi, Nakano, Tagliiani, Kanaan, Franchitti, da Matta, Blundell, Jourdain, Fontana, Gugelmin, Garcia, Brack, Servia, Salles, Fernandez, Andretti, Montoya, Kurosawa, Castroneves. Twenty five drivers. There wasn't much of a crowd but the pit lane looked busy and full of people behind the pit wall. This race looked like an event. Also a great broadcast crew. There were even cool commercials featuring Cristiano da Matta for Toyota. I remember watching this race live on TV. I remember taping it on a VCR. Back then I liked ChampCar and disliked the IRL. The announcing crew talks about who will challenge for the championship. They start off with Michael Andretti. They said lots of people where picking him to win the Championship. They mentioned some others to challenge. Michael looked good in that big black car with K-Mart sponsorship. Oh, and the sponsorship: K-Mart, Marlboro, Shell, Nextel, Motorola, Pioneer/MCI, Miller Lite, and others. After the race ends they take a ton of time doing post race interviews with a lot of drivers. Watching the race again a few nights ago I realized something - There were two strong American drivers in the line up - Michael Andretti and Jimmy Vasser. But where was the young American talent? Twenty five drivers and only two Americans? Ok, that would be fine. The race was fine. The season was fine. But in future seasons who in the world replaced Andretti and Vasser? Who would replace them? And that's the problem right there - Americans were on the way out all the way back then. There should have been two or three more young rookie Americans in that field. There should have been some American Up and Comers. Was Andretti and Vasser suppose to last forever? Were they suppose to have remained forever young? What clowns in ChampCar neglected and Americans? We are talking about a series back then that had many races on ABC and ESPN and one or two on ESPN2. ABC - American Broadcasting Company. American! Races on Sunday! And only two freaking Americans in the whole line up? Ok, it was fine with me back then. I loved all the drivers. I still do. But not one or two American rookies? You know those families that look good on the outside but have horrible secrets in their closet? That was ChampCar back then. I was fooled back then. I loved the racing back then. I wasn't concerned with the future back then. But some one at ChampCar should have been concerned about the future. They should have tried really hard to get one or two more Americans in the line up. Would anybody really have missed Mark Blundell? Would anybody have missed Gualter Salles? Hey, I love Roberto Moreno. I remember almost every race Moreno would have a smile on his face at the end of the race during interviews. He had a look on his face that he was just happy and honored to be racing. I always wanted to meet Moreno. I still do. But would anybody really have missed him if he was replaced with a young American back then? If only that driver line up could have been frozen in time. If only that driver line up could have raced in every ChampCar race since then. All would be fine. But times change. Drivers come, they go, and they are replaced. Only they weren't replaced with American drivers back then. And that trend in ChampCar continues today only it's too late. It's too late to save ChampCar. Just shut it down and end it all. Tell me, where was the young American talent back then? Was the attraction to NASCAR so strong that 100% of the talent got sucked in? I can't believe that. I can't believe they couldn't find two or three jewels in the rough to take the place of Andretti, Rahal, and Mears. Unless the owners of the ChampCar teams were greedy bastards. Unless they wanted every penny a driver could bring. Unless they chose a wealthy Brazilian with good talent over a decently funded American with exceptional talent. I have to believe that's what happened. ChampCar/CART back then was famous for letting the animals run the farm with no strong man like F1 has had. Go ahead and blame Tony George. But the team owners in ChampCar back then deserve just as much blame and probably more. They haven't gotten the message yet have they? Oh well, I still got the 2000 season on tape. It was good. TGFTG |
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