Battistini quits Panther

[seppefan]

Hometown Car Name Entrants
2 Jonathan Klein Long Grove, Ill. TMRXtreme

Coil Drilling Team Moore Racing
3 Pablo Donoso (R) Santiago, Chile Mo’sGold Mo’sGold
4 Sean Guthrie Albuquerque, N.M. Car Crafters Guthrie Racing Guthrie Racin
5 Daniel Herrington (R) WinstonSalem,
N.C. Andersen Racing RLR/Andersen Racing
6 Tom Dyer (R) Corte Madera, Calif. Michael Crawford Motorsports Michael Crawford Motorsport
7 Richard Antinucci Rome/San Diego Lucas Oil / Sam Schmidt Motorsports Sam Schmidt Motorsport
8 P.J. Abbott Grand Prairie, Texas Michael Crawford Motorsports Michael Crawford Motorsports
9 Wade Cunningham Auckland, New Zealand Integra Integra Motorsports
11 James Davison (R) Melbourne, Australia Lifelock/Sam Schmidt Motorsports Sam Schmidt Motorsports
15 TBA TBA National Guard Delphi Panther Racing
16 Brent Sherman (R) Wauconda, Ill. National Guard Delphi Panther Racing
18 Cyndie Allemann (R) Moutier, Switzerland American Spirit American Spirit Racing
20 Ana Beatriz (R) Sao Paulo, Brazil Healthy Choice/Sam Schmidt Mtrspts Sam Schmidt Motorsports
22 Dillon Battistini (R) Ewell, England TMRXtremeCoil Drilling Team Moore Racing
23 Logan Gomez Crown Point, Ind. Menards Guthrie Racing Guthrie Racing
24 Christina Orr (R) Whakatane, New Zealand Alliance Motorsports Alliance Motorsports
25 J.R. Hildebrand (R) Sausalito, Calif. Allied Building Products RLR/Andersen Racing
26 Arie Luyendyk Jr. Scottsdale, Ariz. Targus/Automatic Fire Sprinklers AFS Racing, Inc.
27 Raphael Matos (R) Belo Horizonte, Brazil Automatic Fire Sprinklers AFS Racing, Inc.
29 Brandon Wagner (R) Lafayette, Ind. Alliance/Wagner Motorsports Alliance/Wagner Motorsport
43 Mike Potekhen Silverthorne, Colo. SWE Lucas Oil XFR SWE Racing
44 Robbie Pecorari Aston, Pa. SAI Hydraulics Guthrie Racing Guthrie Racing
54 Micky Gilbert Golden, Colo. Guthrie Racing Guthrie Racing

55 Tom Wieringa Oak Brook, Ill. CJ Consulting Guthrie Racing Guthrie Racing

77 Jonny Reid (R) Auckland, New Zealand Lucas Oil/Sam Schmidt Motorsports Sam Schmidt Motorsports


Just seen the entry list and see Battistini has jumped ship with an engineer it is rumoured...

[Scheckterfan54]

Can you blame him? He has done everything he was supposed to this year only to be smacked in the face a little bit by panther going elsewhere for a driver.

[seppefan]

Vitor Meira said Panther officials sent him an e-mail Monday to say his contract wouldn't be renewed for the No. 4 car he has driven since 2004.
"Put two and two together," said Meira, who spent Tuesday contacting other IndyCar teams.

Unquote


On AR1. Seems Panther have lost their manners as well. Vitor had been there four years,,,,

[ChicagocrewIRL]

Vitor Meira said Panther officials sent him an e-mail Monday to say his contract wouldn't be renewed for the No. 4 car he has driven since 2004.
"Put two and two together," said Meira, who spent Tuesday contacting other IndyCar teams.

Unquote
On AR1. Seems Panther have lost their manners as well. Vitor had been there four years,,,,

Per the Panther website ... they have this explanation of the e-mail...


Q. Nice try with the "Thank You, Vitor" article. Too bad I don't believe a word of the comments made by Griffin or Barnes. If Vitor is such a friend, how could you fire him over an e-mail?? That really takes a lot of courage to not tell him face-to-face, especially since you consider him family. If I were Vitor, I wouldn't come back to Panther Racing if my life depended on it. You've definitely lost a fan here. Big deal to you, huh? I will never root for another Panther car as long as I live. I'll be booing every time your cars go around the track until the day I die or the day you go under.

A. (9-4-08) This needs to be cleared up: Vitor was not fired over Email. Per his contract, Vitor and his management had to receive 'written notification' that the option on his contract was not being picked up. The letter must be sent prior to him being officially informed. He received that notification, via Email, and John Barnes called him immediately after to schedule a meeting to discuss the parting of ways.

http://pantherracing.com/pantherpack/qa.cfm

Racing is a business just like any other sport and I can understand Panther's desire to jump on a driver of Wheldon's talent when he became available. It's easy to get emotional over a popular driver and all around good guy like Vitor, but business is business. Who would have ever though Brett Favre would ever wear any other colors than gold and green ???

Vitor will be alright . I'm thinkin'

[dataman1]

Battistini is running 5th in the points while the other guy is running 11th. Does this make sense to anyone?? What did Battistini do to Panther other than put them in the top 5?

[fugariracing]

Doesn't seem fair to Dillon for what he has done this year - he's only LEADING FIL in wins w/four, including dominating Indy from start to finish. More than Matos or Antinucci. Remember earlier in the year when Panther hinted they would run him in a second IndyCar towards the end of the year? Guess that didn't pan out...

Anyway, I think Dillon is a very talented driver who may figure into the IndyCar silly season for next year. I'd like to see him in the big show, he's an affable chap and a helluva shoe on ovals. I know his bg is in road racing but for some reason or another he has struggled there this year.

[NickFalzone]

For a month or two this season he looked like the dominant driver in the series, then hit a patch of bad luck. Figured he'd be fighting for the championship right now.

[Indychic317]

Vitor wasn't in that car in 04 or 05 he was driving for Rahal Letterman he was Danicas teamate in 05 and came in 2nd at Indy while she was rookie of the year. This is the 2nd time he's come in 2nd at Indy and let go.

[Chamoo]

Vitor wasn't in that car in 04 or 05 he was driving for Rahal Letterman he was Danicas teamate in 05 and came in 2nd at Indy while she was rookie of the year. This is the 2nd time he's come in 2nd at Indy and let go.

The other time way money related wasn't it? RLR was downsizing I thought.

[V12]

The other time way money related wasn't it? RLR was downsizing I thought.

Not really downsizing but yeah money related, he was (tragically briefly) replaced by Paul Dana with his Ethanol money, they weren't gonna drop the cash-cow Danica, so Buddy Rice was really the only one there on merit after Vitor left. RLR still ran three cars in 2006 though.

[seppefan]

Wow great racing all weekend. The main race was excellent with lots of three car side by side battles and people like Visio and Foyt running near the sharp end for a while ( 5th & 6th ). Going back to ther thread title I see Battisitni went 7th on the grid with a new team and was on the white line going into turn one under 5th & 6th when Herrington slid down and took him off Short race but he was going for it as usual.

[Colin]

It's easy to get emotional over a popular driver and all around good guy like Vitor, but business is business. ....

Vitor will be alright . I'm thinkin'
I agree, I like Vitor cause he seems like a fair guy and can be quite quick at times. However, I sort of view him like Patrick Carpentier, Alex Tagliani, and even Oriel Servia. Good solid drivers that never seem to catch that elusive 'something' that moves them up a notch to the status of a Tracy, Hornish, Andretti (Mike or Mario). Is it a 'fire in the belly' or luck to get on the right team or a combination of both?