Breakout week for Montoya?

**Alexamateo** · 26th February 2007, 15:59

So is this going to be a breakout week for Juan Pablo in the Busch Series? They're racing at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Road Course, former F1 track, (although I don't think Montoya's ever run there in CART or F1). What does everyone think?

**dont_be_jack** · 26th February 2007, 16:12

Is he running that race? I didn't know if he was...

And I don't think it'll be a break-out race for him. He's more concerned about getting seat time at the moment and that's the right thing to do.

**harvick#1** · 26th February 2007, 16:14

he should be good. I don't expect Juan to win, as he is still getting acustomed to the bulky cars but a top 10 should be there for his taking

alot of road course aces will be on hand though as well in Mexico.

**Alexamateo** · 26th February 2007, 16:22

Originally Posted by dont_be_jack

Is he running that race? I didn't know if he was...

And I don't think it'll be a break-out race for him. He's more concerned about getting seat time at the moment and that's the right thing to do.

The site has him listed as running with at least 8 other Cup drivers.

http://www.mexico200.com/boletines.asp?no=57&bot=1

**dont_be_jack** · 26th February 2007, 16:25

Alright, gotcha. Thanks for the info. Like I said above, he's primarily looking for seat time. He knows he's not going to contend from the start. But he's got the right mentality for the moment.

**Sparky1329** · 26th February 2007, 16:40

Originally Posted by Alexamateo

So is this going to be a breakout week for Juan Pablo in the Busch Series? They're racing at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Road Course, former F1 track, (although I don't think Montoya's ever run there in CART or F1). What does everyone think?

I don't know the answer to your question but I think it will be fun to watch.

**BobbyC** · 28th February 2007, 19:04

With these big cars, a driver has to learn how to drive them. They aren't point-and-squirt through the turns, or follow the one line. These are what one reporter called the "dancing elephants" and take driver skill to work through for a win.

You can't run the car hard for the 80 laps in this race, and is longer in length than an F1 race by 15 km with car control and conserving equipment being the important factor. Conserving tires is a must in a stock car for a road course, since you must be able to keep your tires to run 25-30 laps before a fuel stop, and the tires give up very easily if you run them too hard early in a run.

**muggle not** · 28th February 2007, 22:18

Originally Posted by BobbyC

With these big cars, a driver has to learn how to drive them. They aren't point-and-squirt through the turns, or follow the one line. These are what one reporter called the "dancing elephants" and take driver skill to work through for a win.

You can't run the car hard for the 80 laps in this race, and is longer in length than an F1 race by 15 km with car control and conserving equipment being the important factor. Conserving tires is a must in a stock car for a road course, since you must be able to keep your tires to run 25-30 laps before a fuel stop, and the tires give up very easily if you run them too hard early in a run.

I believe that i agree with BobbyC on the Mexico race for Montoya. The road course may be even more difficult for him to drive than the ovals in the heavy car.

**DonnieDarco** · 28th February 2007, 23:02

JPM will just carry on doing what he's doing - Learn the tracks, keep on practicing the drafting, etc. I don't think there should be any pressure on him to 'break out' at this early stage.

**Jonesi** · 28th February 2007, 23:29

Originally Posted by BobbyC

With these big cars, a driver has to learn how to drive them. They aren't point-and-squirt through the turns, or follow the one line. These are what one reporter called the "dancing elephants" and take driver skill to work through for a win.

You can't run the car hard for the 80 laps in this race, and is longer in length than an F1 race by 15 km with car control and conserving equipment being the important factor. Conserving tires is a must in a stock car for a road course, since you must be able to keep your tires to run 25-30 laps before a fuel stop, and the tires give up very easily if you run them too hard early in a run.

All those skills are also needed to race endurance sports cars, and he seemed to do quite well in the 24 hours of Daytona.