No Red Bull/Bourdais Combo

[MDS]

Talk of Sebastien Bourdais coming to AGR with Red Bull funding was apparently just that. Instead of going to court, or funding Sebastien in the ICS, Torro Rosso has paid Bourdais his contract plus damages.

We all knew a settlement was coming. Those F-1 contracts are iron-clad chastity belts and Torro Rosso knew they were owed him time or money. There are increasing rumors that Seabass is coming back to America, and it surely won't be to race NASCAR. The rumors have probably picked up speed now that Doornbos has left an open seat at NHL.

[DBell]

I see that Sebastian has won one of the Superleague races this weekend.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/78394

I think he's still hoping something in F1 will come up, but his time at Torro Rosso was unimpressive and he's not what F1 would consider young anymore. I hope he considers coming to Indycar because I do think he's a pretty good racer and his somewhat prickly personality can add something to the series. His rivalry with PT was pretty entertaining.

[penske15]

I see that Sebastian has won one of the Superleague races this weekend.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/78394

I think he's still hoping something in F1 will come up, but his time at Torro Rosso was unimpressive and he's not what F1 would consider young anymore. I hope he considers coming to Indycar because I do think he's a pretty good racer and his somewhat prickly personality can add something to the series. His rivalry with PT was pretty entertaining.

i'll be very surprised if he does well on the ovals. i know he's won a couple but he always looked twitchy on them.

[Chamoo]

i'll be very surprised if he does well on the ovals. i know he's won a couple but he always looked twitchy on them.

The man excels in on any paved course. He would pick ovals up again in a heartbeat. Seabass in ICS is a nessicity for the depth of the field.

[garyshell]

I would not mind seeing Seabass back IF and ONLY if we can have someone who is willing to put the chrome horn on him now and again, if you know WHO I mean.

Gary

[Scheckterfan54]

IMHO we will never see him back in american racing. Its widely known that his wife did not like living in America, and we all know who makes the final decision on a move. We will see him doing these type of races, and probably making just as much money as he would in ICS.

[Chamoo]

IMHO we will never see him back in american racing. Its widely known that his wife did not like living in America, and we all know who makes the final decision on a move. We will see him doing these type of races, and probably making just as much money as he would in ICS.

If he doesn't race in ICS next year full time, I'd expect him in a third NHL car for the I500 minimum.

[MDS]

Its widely known that his wife did not like living in America, and we all know who makes the final decision on a move.

That's not entirely accurate. She didn't like living in Tampa, but when Seabass started his career in this country they couldn't afford a decent lifestyle in New York City, now they can. While Sebastien has kept his house in Tampa, which I expect has more to do with the market than with desire to relocate there at this point. It would make sense to me that he and his wife would settle in NYC, which is much more cosmo, has good community of French ex-pats and rivals any city in Europe.

[Chamoo]

That's not entirely accurate. She didn't like living in Tampa, but when Seabass started his career in this country they couldn't afford a decent lifestyle in New York City, now they can. While Sebastien has kept his house in Tampa, which I expect has more to do with the market than with desire to relocate there at this point. It would make sense to me that he and his wife would settle in NYC, which is much more cosmo, has good community of French ex-pats and rivals any city in Europe.

Either that, or they could move to Montreal if she would like to keep the language.

[nigelred5]

That's not entirely accurate. She didn't like living in Tampa, but when Seabass started his career in this country they couldn't afford a decent lifestyle in New York City, now they can. While Sebastien has kept his house in Tampa, which I expect has more to do with the market than with desire to relocate there at this point. It would make sense to me that he and his wife would settle in NYC, which is much more cosmo, has good community of French ex-pats and rivals any city in Europe.


I can understand not liking living in Tampa. The weather is nice and all that, but not exactly the most happenin place in Florida. It's great if you go to bed by 7:00. Maybe the retirement coast would be a good place for a former F1 driver. ;)

Personally, I'd rather see any of a host of younger drivers get a full time ride ride in Indycars than seeing SB return. Despite his obvious success, I just never saw anything he did that created a wider fan base in Champcar and I think he would do even less for Indycars.

[Chamoo]

Personally, I'd rather see any of a host of younger drivers get a full time ride ride in Indycars than seeing SB return. Despite his obvious success, I just never saw anything he did that created a wider fan base in Champcar and I think he would do even less for Indycars.

I'm sorry, but I'm not sure if you noticed, everyone rivaled him. His personality has the potential to create plenty of conflicts among the drivers and create good stories for the series. I know every race after he and PT got together in Denver, everyone was just waiting when Seabass would go for a pass on PT or vice versa for fireworks to breakout if they touched.

Same with Doornbos and Seabass.

On top of all of that, adding Sebastien to the driver lineup would definately add to the depth of the driving talent in the series. If you add him into the series, it just adds credence to the fact that we have some of the best drivers in the world.

[PA Rick]

He was doing well at Indy until Danica wrecked him. He would be a good addition to the series.

[EagleEye]

Talk of Sebastien Bourdais coming to AGR with Red Bull funding was apparently just that. Instead of going to court, or funding Sebastien in the ICS, Torro Rosso has paid Bourdais his contract plus damages.

We all knew a settlement was coming. Those F-1 contracts are iron-clad chastity belts and Torro Rosso knew they were owed him time or money. There are increasing rumors that Seabass is coming back to America, and it surely won't be to race NASCAR. The rumors have probably picked up speed now that Doornbos has left an open seat at NHL.

There was never any talk at AGR (AR) according to the team, and Sebastian. Not sure who you talked to in the series that said anything about this...

[nigelred5]

Oh, I noticed, but I still failed to see his participation brought in NEW fans. Did he create controversy and entertainment to what was becoming otherwise somewhat boring racing for the fans that were still around? I'll give you that.

I don't dislike him, but I don't like him either. How a driver driver that brought 4 championships to my favorite team, but was still able to cause me to loose interest in following the team I've followed for over 20 years is beyond me.

[Gluaistean]

There are so many decent drivers without a full time ride I for one would not be at all interested in Bourdais getting into a team when I see the likes of Servia, Junky, Papis, Tracy to name a few waiting in the wings.

Bourdais had superior equipment and I bet that Justin Wilson given the same identical equipment as him or Doornbos for that matter is equal if not better than Bourdais.

[Chamoo]

Oh, I noticed, but I still failed to see his participation brought in NEW fans. Did he create controversy and entertainment to what was becoming otherwise somewhat boring racing for the fans that were still around? I'll give you that.

I don't dislike him, but I don't like him either. How a driver driver that brought 4 championships to my favorite team, but was still able to cause me to loose interest in following the team I've followed for over 20 years is beyond me.

The only thing that bugged me about him was that he won all the damn time.

I don't know that he brought in any new fans, but he might had kept some fans from leaving.

[Jag_Warrior]

The mix of Bourdais, Tracy and Allmendinger in CCWS had some REAL potential (IMO). But when Allmendinger went away, that signaled to me that it was all over but the crying.

I don't say this as a cheapshot at the IRL... really! But one BIG thing that I think is missing now is the personalities that we had years ago. From Danny Sullivan's rumored exploits with THE fashion plate of the day (the very married Christie Brinkley), to the tension between two world renowned greats like Mario and Nigel, to Max Papis' Tennessee Tuxedo routine ("I am Max Papis and I will not fail!"), to Robby Gordon's rough and tumble major attitude, to Michael Andretti vs. Paul Tracy (that "driving school for the blind" t-shirt still cracks me up), to the too cool for school delivery of Emmo Fittipaldi, even when he was having a bad day ("It's a real shame because the car, she was just byootiful today."), to the cool, smooth driving style and golden boy image of Greg Moore, to Alex Zanardi's charisma and balls to the wall driving style, to... See what I'm getting at? Where is ANY of that now???

If the guys out there now could be shown to have some of that, a mix of that... I just think this would be so much more interesting. Pretty cars and engine notes and speed records be damned. Blame it on Versus or blame it on the drivers themselves, but for the most part, they come off as being about as interesting as a warm glass of milk. And that, I believe, is why there is so much talk about Danica Patrick - at least in a weird, superficial sort of way, she is "interesting." Once Sophia Loren and Sean Connery leave an A-list party, Paris Hilton would get lots of attention too.

Some of you know some of the current drivers. Is it them or is it that they're not being featured in a more exciting light?

[nigelred5]

Nascar partially exists and actaully thrives on exactly what you are talking about. F1 always has some sort of controversy. Is everyone still shell shocked after 13 years of war? It may exist in the IRL, but who tells us about any of it? Is it the lack of coverage, or as you suspect, simply a lack of any personality. Apparently NewmanHaas(err excuse me, Lanigan) was awash with inter-driver squabbles on and off track, but who knew until Bobby D left? Apparently he really is a big D, but again, who knew? His attitude was great when he came to champcar, but then who's isn''t when you are running up front. Mario Mories has punted more people off track than an 0-14 football team, we barely heard any of the complaints, though digging around, I found plenty. PT would have cold cocked him by now had he been in a full time ride. That's the problem, I had to DIG.

I've seen plenty of on track incidents this year that would have generated a heap of controversy back in the day, but it's well aw gee shucks, I"m sorry there buddy. There's far too much PC and "can't we all just get along" attitude in the IRL. I had really hoped for some us vs them after the merger. #@^% this one big happy family crap.

[NickFalzone]

Honestly I don't think it's the drivers lack of personality, it's the sponsorship issues these days that make everything a bland affair. I know sponsorship has always been difficult, but now MUCH more so than ever in the IRL and being PC is what the sponsors like. I can guarantee you that if money was flowing into this sport, there would be a lot more conflicts on and off the track, the risk would be less. But nowadays one false step in or out of the racecar and you could be dropped. Many NASCAR drivers are also PC (JJ is a huge bore) but you've also got a lot of guys that let their personalities loose there, because they know their sponsors can handle it, and if one sponsor drops them, they've got a long list of others in line to pay the bills.

[speeddurango]

The only personality which I remember in IRL for the last few years might be Helio Castroneves really, the rest was constant whining from everybody that I don't recall any fun watching that. Then PT came then there were immediately some typical and characteristic moment on and off track and that's what irl needs right now, most of the current irl drivers are really blend.