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Minardi Team USA (it's official)

2

Comments

  • forzaminardi
    Eurosport used to show every race live, not sure whether they still do
  • dst
    Originally posted by spark
    Forzaminardi my friend Jonathan Noble at Autosport is one of the most respected journalists in motorsport. I would have no reason to doubt him in what he says. This morning he sent me an email which without going into detail was from Graham Jones at F1x2 who says that sometime in the new year Stoddart may try and meet GCM and discuss the Champ Car series with him. He (Mr Jones) also told Jonathan GCM has nothing to do with the Champ car team. The thorny issue may be for GCM and his team. I may not have been clear on this. As Stoddart owns the International rights to Minardi, Minardi Team Merchandise would also be his right therefore issue arises. Do you really think Champ Car is like K2? Not in this country bud. It's a poor 3rd behind NASCAR and IRL. European and Japanese F3000 series are way ahead in terms of quality and class. All American racing is just mobile billboards which do however move very fast. Hope this clears up the GCM involvement issue. Next weeks Autosport will have all this.
    ChampCar is most definitely not behind the IRL. The I500 aside, that series is the red headed stepchild of open wheel racing. It can't go away fast enough. Fact is it's existence is why American open wheel racing is in the state it's in.

    CART/CC isn't not what it once was, circa '90's vintage but the heritage is there and the plan, I believe is to return to that level of prominence.

    Forza, don't know if it was carried live but James Hinchcliffe and Jeremy Shaw called the races for Eurosport last year. At the very least you can for a small fee, like $4 a month or $29 per year, sign up for live coverage via the internet at the CC website with your choice of camera, trackside and onboard from any car with a camera and live car to pit radio from every car. I subscribe and think it's worth every penny, especially if you miss a race.
  • dst
    Originally posted by spark
    I agree with you but over here its TV ratings that matter and the truth is when motorsport matters NASCAR is the big one. Have you ever been to a NASCAR event? Fanatical is how I would describe one. If F1 got more mainstream coverage and the racing was good it would have a larger following. One thing to remember Champ car is no more technically advanced than European F3000 or indeed Formula Renault. It's a mass produced product for a american audience who want to watch Road Racing. Just like NASCAR and IRL are for Ovals. All have their own strange rules and regs. The Washington Post would probably have 2 to 3 column inches on any champ car race on a "Filler Page" in it's sports section (F1 would have more if Ferrari wins) NASCAR would make up say 1/4 page. If it's not Football, Baseball, Basketball or Hockey season it might make more. I have to admit I am amazed that the Europeans are so into Champ Car are the Aussies also? Do all the races get shown live on TV? I cant remember seeing any when I lived over then again I did not hace cable. I miss going to Mondello to see the British F3 now that was racing!
    What's to be amazed about? CC is racing with turbocharged cars with no driver aids. 99.9% of F1 fans would welcome those 2 things in a heartbeat. The only thing I'd agree with you even a little bit is the technical aspects of the series, which in any case they're a loong ways past the IRL. Can't speak for GP2 or Renault although I'd bet my house the engines are light years past both in terms of power. An aerodynamically overmassaged chassis does nothing good for the racing, and increases costs exponentially, both not positives as far as I'm concerned.

    [Edited on 19-12-06 by dst]
  • forzaminardi
    plus on the drivers side it's way superior to any junior series
  • MCSF
    I don't agree with that RJ. JPM and JV have been the only really successful drivers to come from CART or whatever the hell it goes by. GP2 and F3 are still the premier way to get to F1 - I think in part due to the tracks they run on etc.
  • dst
    Originally posted by MCSF
    I don't agree with that RJ. JPM and JV have been the only really successful drivers to come from CART or whatever the hell it goes by. GP2 and F3 are still the premier way to get to F1 - I think in part due to the tracks they run on etc.
    I don't think CART/CC has ever advertised itself as a stepping stone to F1, and it shouldn't. It's always been a different animal of the same genus. A lot of the F1 guys who've come over to race CART haven't exactly walked away with anything, save Mansell and even he got his butt kicked in his 2nd year.

    They've been good but it's not been a walk in the park.

    [Edited on 19-12-06 by dst]
  • forzaminardi

    I don't think CART/CC has ever advertised itself as a stepping stone to F1
    exactly. No driver would ever consider going to GP2 after a couple of seasons in F1. Gp2, F3, F3000 and the like a pure rookie series
  • MCSF
    Pantano did but I agree it is very rare.
  • viges
    Pizzonia has decided to do it.

    I can't get very worked up about Minardi USA but I wish them all the best and will follow the results. Jos? Dear God!

    CART cars are better than IRL but that's not saying much. I am far more interested in F3 and GP2.
  • spark
    dst I stand over what I said. CC is a series which is 3rd in 4 wheel racing in the US. Fact is everything goes to viewing figures and TV time and attendance. Why is it behind IRL - Ovals bring more butts on seats. Although we wont go into Tony George OK. I can email you WP Stats which will back up the fact that the American public simply dont think much of the series. Possibly you are in stronghold for Champ Car but on the East Coast and major urban areas it just doesn't work. RJ if GP2 and F3000 are Rookie series then CC must be a has been series? Just look at the number of ex F1 drivers have tried their hand over the years. Only Nigel Mansel in my view captured the media's hearts and was a genuine champion. He did a lot for Americas international motorsport image. What champ car really needs is more new young American drivers who can show what they can do, not former European drivers who could'nt continue their career in F1 for one reason or another. WTF I sound like I dont want Stoddie to do well. Quite the opposite I really want him to succeed here. I want the series to become bigger and better. But geez guys Champ Car is just a good racing series based in a country that has too many sports which get too much TV coverage to allow it to ever be worthy of being the second best Motor racing series
  • forzaminardi
    okay, and Bruni did: but apart from Pizzonia, Pantano and Bruni, who would go back to Gp2? ;)
  • dst
    Originally posted by spark
    dst I stand over what I said. CC is a series which is 3rd in 4 wheel racing in the US. Fact is everything goes to viewing figures and TV time and attendance. Why is it behind IRL - Ovals bring more butts on seats. Although we wont go into Tony George OK. I can email you WP Stats which will back up the fact that the American public simply dont think much of the series. Possibly you are in stronghold for Champ Car but on the East Coast and major urban areas it just doesn't work. RJ if GP2 and F3000 are Rookie series then CC must be a has been series? Just look at the number of ex F1 drivers have tried their hand over the years. Only Nigel Mansel in my view captured the media's hearts and was a genuine champion. He did a lot for Americas international motorsport image. What champ car really needs is more new young American drivers who can show what they can do, not former European drivers who could'nt continue their career in F1 for one reason or another. WTF I sound like I dont want Stoddie to do well. Quite the opposite I really want him to succeed here. I want the series to become bigger and better. But geez guys Champ Car is just a good racing series based in a country that has too many sports which get too much TV coverage to allow it to ever be worthy of being the second best Motor racing series
    Well a good racing series is all that's really needed isn't it? I could care less about challenging NASCAR or even Busch, that's lowest common denominator racing. Open wheel in this country has always been a niche thing with a marquee event. Grow the thing back to mid/late nineties level with some stability and I don't know what else an American open wheel racing fan could want.

    Mansell did great things for CART but come on, the ONLY genuine champion? I'd say that every champion they've had has been a genuine champion of the series, which is all they've ever claimed but I'll play your game - Rick Mears and Mario Andretti were every bit the driver and champion Mansell was and that's not slighting Mansell. Unser Jr. kicked Mansell up and down in '94 what does that make him?
  • dst
    Why is it behind IRL?

    Forgot to address this - The Indy 500, which will and has existed with or without the IRL. Without getting too deep into split BS, CART/CC has been successful, the IRL never has. If ovals brought more people- I assure you CC would be running them. Look at the IRL's attendence at MIS, Fontana and Phoenix, it's so good they don't race at 2 of those and the other is shaky. There's plenty of other examples as well. At this point in time in the US, oval racing draws more only people if it's stock cars doing the racing. The only oval open wheel race that still really draws is the I500. There are some respectable IRL events outside the 500 but nothing like even a Busch race.
  • Lease
    RJ, you mean;

    Apart from the roads, sanitation, education, law & order; what have the Romans ever done for us? Nuffing!
  • spark
    dst you are obviously a Champ Car fan and I dont want to argue with you as you have valid points. You must agree that without a larger fan base both IRL and Champ can never grow to their potential. NASCAR has it sown up at the moment ( my first experience of NASCAR this year was in Dover and geez what a show. Not great racing but a good time had by all). You havent been to too many IRL events lately I see as the crowds are respectable this I know. I also think the 500 is still Americas race up there with Monaco in historic terms and I would love for it to go back to the hey days of European F1Teams entering. The media is the key and thats where Champ Car has to get its act. You have to agree with me it does not matter a damn how many people attend a race it's the TV coverage the sponsors get that matters. To me Mears and Andretti were American's great drivers I agree but the last European Driver to grasp the Americans in a huge way was Mansell. F1 and CART he showed his class. (In my personal opinion only). Getting back to Stoddie. I hope he brings his style from F1 with him and stirs up the paddock. I like the guy for his attitude. I just wish he didnt use the Minardi name but on reflection this may be a master stroke.
  • Telstar
    Spark, with the same chassis, engine, and tyres Stoddart doesn't have a whole lot that he can stir up. He can finally get to racing instead of politics.
  • dst
    NO spark I don't agree. Without well attended events you cannot have successful events and without that there will be nothing to watch on TV. I haven't been to one IRL event - it's a sham series that places success in one event over and above it's own championship. Further while I get your point and TV is great but you can have a successful, sustainable series with no TV. I don't see any USAC races on TV and they thrive, same with Can-Am way back when. That was as major as you can get.

    We're just going to have to disagree here, I came back here to get away from the Great American Open Wheel War.
  • spark
    DST Lets agree then to dissagree OK. I look at the Champ car series from a purely commercial and media position. It is how you judge a successful series I guess is where we dissagree. There are good points with CC, Low costs, same cars and it's expansion to other countries gives credibility. Like someone else said I just dont get all warm and fuzzy about it. Like a lot of people, I like F1, to me it is the Big One. The other series I have a minor interest. I have to hold my hand up and say I have never seen or followed a GP2 race but this year I will be interested to see how Minardi go. To finish wouldn't it be great if the two Minardi teams could somehow merge and become one. Oh well it is the Christmas season eh. Happy Christmas to you!
  • Minardus
    Originalmente escrito por forzaminardi
    okay, and Bruni did: but apart from Pizzonia, Pantano and Bruni, who would go back to Gp2? ;)
    Glock;)
  • Biker
    Originally posted by Minardus
    [quote]Originalmente escrito por forzaminardi
    okay, and Bruni did: but apart from Pizzonia, Pantano and Bruni, who would go back to Gp2? ;)
    Glock;) [/quote]

    He has just been announced as the 2nd testdriver for BMW
  • Neil_s
    I do not really share your excitement there, sorry to tell you... I don't want to spoil your party but I am not excited by this news at all. Nobody here watches this car series and all is focused on F1... thelogo makes me sick, I cannot really understand the relationship between GCM, or even PS with USA... Are the roots of our team American?
  • dst
    Originally posted by Neil_s
    I do not really share your excitement there, sorry to tell you... I don't want to spoil your party but I am not excited by this news at all. Nobody here watches this car series and all is focused on F1... thelogo makes me sick, I cannot really understand the relationship between GCM, or even PS with USA... Are the roots of our team American?
    No, the branch now is though!
  • viges
    It is a shame what has happened in the US but, as with governments, people get the 'racing' they deserve. At some point there will have to be peace talks between IRL and CART. Money talks ...

    GP2: for me it provides the best pure racing. Whisper it, the graduates to F1 find the senior, computerised cars easier to drive. GP2 in the past couple of years has had some epic overtaking and new aero tweaks for 2007 will make set-up even more critical.
  • Minardus
    Originalmente escrito por Biker
    [quote]Originally posted by Minardus
    [quote]Originalmente escrito por forzaminardi
    okay, and Bruni did: but apart from Pizzonia, Pantano and Bruni, who would go back to Gp2? ;)
    Glock;) [/quote]

    He has just been announced as the 2nd testdriver for BMW [/quote]

    I know, but I was referring to him having raced some GPs for Jordan. After that he went to USA.
    Last season and next season he will be racing in GP2.
  • forzaminardi

    Are the roots of our team American?
    If tomorrow all the things were gone, I worked for all my life... and I had to start again with just my children and my wife... I'd thank my lucky stars to be living here today ... cause the Flag still stands for freedom and they can't take that awaaaaaaaay

    everybody: :D:D
  • MarkIII
    Hello again everyone- I keep popping back here when there are nice new announcements.

    It's good to see there are now 2 Minardi teams in the world, both hopefully offering that same blend of passion, dedication, 110% effort and openess that we've been used to when they were in F1.

    Champ Car may not be on the best of footings at the moment, but is on the upward trend again after very nearly dying in 2003. As its distanced itself from ovals (Stoddart mistakenly said the series goes to ovals- it did in 2006, but not in 2007, I believe), the IRL is now in a perilous descent (which is annoying as Dan Wheldon is a top Brit driver there and probably the best on an oval).

    NASCAR is like baseball- big in the US, not cared about in the rest of the world. In Britain, a much-preferred form of racing is banger racing round 500 metre slippery ovals. The standard of the racing, and the standards of the drivers are more or less the same, except in Britain they race for five laps, not 500 (what kind of mad series races for 500 laps anyway?!).

    Champ Car is getting a little stronger now, and Minardi are right to enter it, the same way they are right to help out in GP2, another fine racing series.

    F1? Pah, Renault and Ferrari aside, have you seen a more boring looking grid? Red, orange, white and black uniform blandness.
  • TasM
    Merry Christmas everyone and great news about Minardi in Champ Cars. Awesome!!!
  • MinardiP1
    Only problem is that Channel 10 have dumped Champ Cars from next year's telecast schedule down here, Tas.
  • forzaminardi
    well I guess you should send them an email then ;)
  • Brooksey
    I can't understand some members emphatuation with open wheel racing over any kind of tin-top, or stock car form of the sport.

    Let's face it, Europe, and in some cases Australia tend to follow a 'brand' name first, and a driver second, whilst the US is predominantly the opposite. Since NASCAR's really only cater for the American market (Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge, Toyota and their particular US models) it gives Europeans and Australians nothing to cheer for. On the other hand, given NASCAR's fantastically close racing and the drivers immense skills if NASCAR's where using Falcons and Commodores (in Australia) or 3 Series and X Types (in Europe) then I wouldn't doubt there would be a huge following for this form of motorsport worldwide.

    After all, it is far more entertaining than ANYTHING open-wheel racing currently has on offer.
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