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Post by Senninha on Jul 22, 2003 8:58:21 GMT -5
Disappointing race that was. Very dull. Apart from Kiesa. What happened to Janis? He lost so much time at the end. he looked v. depressed post race as well. I was disappointed with Pantano not being able to mount a stronger challenge, but the guy was pretty ill with food poisoning all weekend (he looked worse on Saturday than Friday, although he was supposed to have improved by then), but he let me down cos I told him to win (hey, I'm only trying to make the championship more interesting, but the guy is growing on me, I tell you. He deserves a break) Warning, bitching session coming up: Please please please please please, can the FIA let the public into the support paddocks? If Enrico Toccacelo, Giorgio Pantano, Nicolas Kiesa, Bjorn Wirdheim, Ricardo Sperafico (where was Rod???) Jaroslav Janis, Patrick Friesacher, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Tony Schmidt, Marc Hynes and Townsend Bell can walk in and out of the paddock only being stopped by myself and the crazy manic Arden fan who loves Tomas Enge, why can't you let us in (although a big thanks to Mr Horner for letting me and manic Arden fan in at the end - you're a star!), because I could have got my photos signed in about a fifth of the time it took me, and I still didn't get Friesie to sign his (he was on a scooter and I was fearing for my life!!). Even Nelson Angelo Piquet could walk out and not be stopped (ok, I AM the exception here, ok!), and Lewis Hamilton LIVED on the outside with his dad (sorry Lewis's dad for earwigging when you were talking about Alex Lloyd  ). And Liuzzi was doing the same. Rant over. Ok, qualie was v. exciting I must say though. But that was as much because it was a drying track. Nice to see them again, but they've had better races, and they know it. But this time F1 beat them hands down. And that's a sad state of affairs. Not helped by only 16 cars either. Nice to see Marc Hynes back, although if Justin Wilson has a spare HANS going, Marc would like one. I will give him the benefit of the doubt for now for being out of his depth. Pity about DBA, hopefully SuperNova will be able to find a driver with sponsorship now to replace Kiesa. Come on Robbie!!!! At least Liuzzi was on the podium - I'm really liking him more by the race... |
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Post by Wycco on Jul 22, 2003 9:08:49 GMT -5
I agree- for once F1 was more exciting than F3000... go figure!
Didn't see the Qualies though! Not televised in the US!
That was a boring- boring race... Kiesa was awesome though- first time in the Super Nova (OK- granted all F3000s are about the same) and he sliced and diced his way up the field- he looked stronger in the Super Nova than the regular Super Nova drivers have looked all year.
Not sure what happened to Janis- but if it WAS a mech. problem- it wasn't severe- he didn't let Kiesa or Schoeder by without a fight.
Perhaps he didn't preserve his tyres and they let him down towards the end?
BTW- Lewis Hamilton, whats happening with him now- don't hear his name much anymore?
BTW- since Kiesa took Hill's spot in Super Nova when Den Blas Avis shut down- now Kiesa is moving up to F1- my guess is Hill will get his #2 seat back with Super Nova.
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Post by Senninha on Jul 22, 2003 9:36:32 GMT -5
Ok, Wyc. I will explain the SuperNova DBA situation as I see it. Sorry if you know this, but some of your comments made me think you missed some of it. Super Nova and DBA are technically the same team. Both based in the same 'factory' (at Snetterton) but at the same time run separately (as much because of F3000 regs which say you can only have one team). Because of the links I think the way it worked out what this. Phil GIebler and Derek Hill both ran out of money. Because there are fines for only running one car (see Astromega to be docked 5 points at the end of the season for when van Hooydonk (?) missed a round at the last minute) they kind of merged, and Kiesa went to SuperNova because it would, overall, save the (two) teams money. Figures. Derek Hill is therefore out of money, and that's why DBA disappeared. Because both teams had halved their drivers with not much chance of finding two more at such short notice.
If Derek finds the money he'll be back - but I guess it's also a question if Giebler finds the money too, as David Sears is supposed to be keen on the guy.
In saying that, Kiesa was with a 'new' team - new car/ new mechanics (though there were a number of guys in DBA shirts still around)
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Post by Wycco on Jul 22, 2003 10:15:03 GMT -5
I knew the two teams were under the same ownership- but because of said rules, I didn't think they COULD share the same factory or crew- although I expected cooperation between the teams as Sears owned both teams...
I know "Phoenix", my favorite F1 team of all time ;D, was nominally housed seperately from "Arrows" and nominally under different ownership, despite TWR, in reality owning both.
BTW... van Hooydonk- now theres another driver I like- perhaps not the fastest- but he's another fun driver to watch... anyhow I digress...
Now, I didn't realise Hill was out of money. Since the timing corresponded with the Blah team closing down- I assumed Hill had been kicked out the team to make way for Kiesa...
For #2 at SuperNova- I think I would prefer to see Giebler back before I would Hill. Giebler impressed me more than Hill.
Actually- I wouldn't mind Auinger having another chance. He really impressed me his first F3000 race- although his 2nd race was very unimpressive.
Outside of F3000 I have no clue- I can only judge what I see- and the US doesn't televise FFORD or the other open-wheel series.
I've never been a fan of Sport car or stock car racing... which is about all they show in the US.
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Post by Senninha on Jul 22, 2003 10:29:36 GMT -5
There was supposed to be more to that post but I had to work, so it got cut off - but I'd finished the DBA - Kiesa bit really anyway.
I'd like to see Robbie Kerr get the finance together for the seat, but you never know. F3000's not seemingly getting the cream of the crop at the moment, rather seems more like the guys who no one else wants. Sad to see, but true in most cases. In reality they need to merge back with Euro F3000 (donington round in 3 weeks!! Yeah!!!) - I'd love to see Draco and Farfus racing the likes of Pantano and Wirdheim. I miss Draco in International F3000, I think Euro F3000 is down to 16 cars also.
Janis must have had some sort of problem, he lost so much time, and was so much slower the second half of the race. could well have been tyres. But as for him ever giving up without a fight - come on, he's one of my favourites (probably THE favourite in F3000), I don't pick drivers who give up now do I??
Anyway Lewis Hamilton:
Lewis is in UK FR2000 for his second season this year, continuing with manor Motorsport. He had a tough start to the season as he took about 5 races to win a round, and he was supposed to be walking the championship this year, but he wasn't. He now appears to be back to his winning ways in the past few races and dominating as was expected before. There's a double header this weekend at Donington supporting the DTM, and he;s gone very well there in the past, so he could be back on a roll.
Next season he is said to be looking at F3 and F3000, but he wasn't quite the driver Jamie Green (another rookie of the same experience - they made their racing car debut in the same race - guess who was there!!? lol!!) was last season in Renaults, so I think that took some of the shine off him. Whatever, he's a decent driver, and is still, most probably, on course for a future McLaren drive. He's not the most deserving, but they could do worse.
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Post by daSilva on Jul 22, 2003 10:45:09 GMT -5
I've never been a fan of Sport car or stock car racing... which is about all they show in the US. We have: FF1600 FF2000 Barber Pro Dodge Formula Atlantic Formula Fran-Am (same as Formula Renault) And these are only some of the series in the US and Canada. Furthermore SpeedTV carries all or some at varying times during the year. |
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Post by Wycco on Jul 28, 2003 12:59:19 GMT -5
ASCAR? Sounds a lot like "ASSCAR"!
What do you know about Sam Hancock Sen? Nicolas Minassian didn't impress me much earlier this year- appears he is doomed to spend the rest of his life by keep coming back to F3000.
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Post by Senninha on Jul 29, 2003 3:08:28 GMT -5
Wyc, ASCAR is like ASSCAR!! lol!! Anglo American Stock Car Auto Racing (I think!) - basically it's NASCAR, a bit more British and clubbie, but they go round Rockingham and Lausitz - somehow managed to get loads of cool drivers doing it!! Source of your article?? Chuffed if Nicmin gets another crack... But he never seemed that suited to 3000s, he'd do well going to do the Nissan World Series as it seems drivers of his F3 era (Montagny, Karthikeyan etc) do pretty well over there - it looks experience orientated. Nicmin could also probably help bring SuperNova back to the top - hopefully. I thought Sam Hancock had disappeared!!! lol!! Right, I only know about his FPA experience, and not very much about him, because he was mid grid (touching top 10 of 20 equal cars), so I tend to 'ignore' the slower drivers more because, well, you can't remember everybody!!! ANyway, if I'm right, he did FPA in 2000 and maybe also 1999. I think the more he went on the better he got, so ended up with a few decent results. I recall my sister decided she liked him at one point (possibly July 1999 race at Donington) so I think he must have been a bit wild (she likes drivers like JPM was in 3000!). I'm pretty sure he did 99 therefore too - I don't remember him as such in 2000 at Donington, but remember him at Silverstone (ALMS support race), so he probably went better at Silv. It's difficult because all I remember of him is that he did FPA and I saw him a few times - usually I remember the really good guys (well, I miss a few, Giorgio Pantano springs to mind!), but the 1999 FPA field contained Topi Serjala and Robbie Kerr - so everyone else was secondary. 2000 - I was too blinded by Topi (again!) and Jacky van der Ende, who would both have been in front of him also, so in short, I don't particularly rate him - in saying that, I would guess that his results in FPA were on a par with Wirdheim's FPA results, most probably better (Wirdheim was baaad!!), so I'd be interested to see how he would go in F3000. I would probably rate him on memory with Wirdheim on that basis, which is not very highly.  He did get interviewed on TV once - so he must have had ONE good race!!! ROFL!! Maybe the odd podium, by the end of his FPA career I think he was getting semi-good - but it was a very strong field in it's day, and they all had IDENTICAL CARS (and I mean it - though another series where experience was paramount, so the more experienced stars used to win more), so he's probab;y not bad. Wouldn't expect much from him if he did F3000, but FPA drivers have previously gone well in F3000... (Justin Wilson, Pantano, Wirdheim...) |
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Post by Wycco on Jul 29, 2003 7:43:33 GMT -5
The Source: f3000.flagworld.com/en/news/index,view.spy?artid=14895 I wasn't too impressed with Minassassississin earlier this year- perhaps it is just F3000 that doesn't suit him- but earlier this year he performed rather poorly (granted he was in the worst car- so too much couldn't be expected)- I haven't watched him in other formula though! Sounds like I share the same taste- I like drivers who are a little wild on the track... Mr. Sam might be fun to watch after all! |
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Post by Senninha on Jul 29, 2003 8:32:32 GMT -5
By that theory Wycco, I'm surprised you don't like Nicmin!!!! He punched Michael Bentwood you know!!! ROFL!!! (Though he doesn't like mention of that). In saying that, Nicmin struggled a bit in CART and was sacked v. quickly by Ganassi, but he wasn't doing that badly, worse than Bruno I admit, but not THAT bad... I dunno - I can think of three teams off the top of my head that have sacked him! lol (Brand this year, Ganassi, West Competition) - maybe he upsets them... or maybe it's just his uncanny resemblance to Jean Alesi that puts them off...  Put it this way though, Nicmin was one of my first F3 heroes (he was teammate to Enrique Bernoldi at Promatecme in 1997 - pretty much when I started to pick up on the limited F3 TV coverage - I loved that whole team set up) and he should have won the championship. The deal with Bentwood effectively lost him the championship, as he was banned for 2 races. The story goes like this. Bentwood was being lapped in the race, and Nicmin thought he;d been unfairly blocked. At the end of the race - I think Nicmin won it, whatever, they DSQd him for the incident from the race - he drove into Bentwood, took him off the track, got out, and started trying to beat him up. Bentwood made some comment about it might have been more effective had Bentwood NOT had his helmet on, but it was certainly frowned upon by the MSA! |
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Post by Senninha on Jul 29, 2003 9:02:37 GMT -5
I found this on the BTCC pages website - couldn't find any other form of report ANYWHERE! (They were more interested, goddammit, on Mark Webber beating the bleeding Brands Hatch lap record... the more things change... ) OK, I got it wrong - he didn't win it!! And I thought it was Snett too! lol! I always get those two circuits mixed up!! |
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Post by Senninha on Jul 29, 2003 9:05:13 GMT -5
Sounds like I share the same taste- I like drivers who are a little wild on the track... Mr. Sam might be fun to watch after all! PS - She likes Antonio too  ... AND particularly Ric and Rod (but that was more cos she got to interview them I think!) But I could never agree with her over liking JPM more than Nick!! |
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