Jean Alesi to take on the Indy 500 with Lotus

[anthonyvop]

Jean Alesi to take on the Indy 500 with Lotus

News - Jean Alesi to take on the Indy 500 with Lotus (http://www.lotuscars.com/news/en/alesi-indy500)

[DanicaFan]

We have 2 of these threads. All I can say is... who? I never heard of him.

[heliocastroneves#3]

You never watched F1? C'mon he was a great driver in wet weather, scored many points in 201 GP starts (including a win at Montreal in 1995), and he was a great driver and he's a great person. A pity he isn't taking part in Vegas to learn a bit of oval racing already..

[SoCalPVguy]

J Alesi was great in his day but... isn't he 99 years old ?

[Chris R]

Well, this one will teach another retired F-1 "never quite made it" that Indy is not to be taken lightly. I am not sure if Alesi is a funny guy or not - if his comments are made from a humorous point of view ("all if have to do is drive 200 laps at over 200 mph and finish in front of 32 other cars") then I like his style - if he is serious that it will be that easy, he is in for a rude awakening.... I am going to assume he is adding levity to the situation.... and I think he could be a good competitor for the series - great racer in his day even if he never quite made it to the top....

The really good news is that Lotus is finally publicly throwing its hat in (one has to wonder if they are going to try both Indy and F1 and see what gives them the most bang for the buck after a season or two...)... It would be more cool if they put Kovalavenin (sp?) and Trulli in the car(s)..... too bad they didn't get their act together earlier and shoot for the $5 million.....

[FIAT1]

To bad he didn't come here after retiring from F1 . He is to old now but in his day he had some good moments.

[Dr. Krogshöj]

We have 2 of these threads. All I can say is... who? I never heard of him.

He was one of the most popular drivers in Formula 1. He had only one win, because Ferrari sucked at the time, but his agressive style made him a fan favorite.

[anthonyvop]

We have 2 of these threads. All I can say is... who? I never heard of him.


Here is a hint. He has more professional race wins than Danica Patrick!

Actually Alesi was great at car set up something that is Huge to perform will at Indy. He should raise some eyebrows.

[Andrewmcm]

In much the same way as the rest of world cried "Danica who? Never heard of him."

[BDunnell]

Here is a hint. He has more professional race wins than Danica Patrick!

Ha! Truest thing you've ever posted.

While I was always an admirer of Alesi as a driver, if he performs well at Indy I'm not sure what it would say about the current state of US open-wheel racing. But I would expect little from him, personally.

[00steven]

No matter who you are Indy can and will strike.

[FormerFF]

J Alesi was great in his day but... isn't he 99 years old ?

Actually, he's 47. I see he's been continuing to race since he left F1. While I wouldn't think of him as a contender, as long as he listens to a qualified oval coach, he might just pull off a decent finish.

[Jared East]

The really good news is that Lotus is finally publicly throwing its hat in (one has to wonder if they are going to try both Indy and F1 and see what gives them the most bang for the buck after a season or two...)... It would be more cool if they put Kovalavenin (sp?) and Trulli in the car(s)..... too bad they didn't get their act together earlier and shoot for the $5 million.....

Kovalavenin and Trulli have nothing to do with with this they race for Fake Lotus. Vitaly Petrov and Bruno Senna race for real Lotus.

[Anubis]

We have 2 of these threads. All I can say is... who? I never heard of him.

Proof if ever anyone wanted it of how myopic your view of motorsport truly is.

On his day, Alesi was a wonderful driver and could dice with the best of them.

Ayrton Senna vs Jean Alesi F1 1990 USA GP - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jye3mBc8L24&feature=related)

[DexDexter]

What a stupid move. An old man who may end up hurting himself.

[Anubis]

What a stupid move. An old man who may end up hurting himself.

Younger than John Andretti, by my reckoning?

ETA - beaten to more or less the same point by Starter

[anthonyvop]

What a stupid move. An old man who may end up hurting himself.

Lets get real.

It isn't like the Indy 500 is some kind of grueling event

[Chris R]

Kovalavenin and Trulli have nothing to do with with this they race for Fake Lotus. Vitaly Petrov and Bruno Senna race for real Lotus.

Yeah, but the Indy Lotus is the "fake" Lotus too right?? (i.e. the Malaysian one)

[garyshell]

Lets get real.

It isn't like the Indy 500 is some kind of grueling event

Remind us again exactly how many laps you have turned at Indy in a Dallara in a pack of 33 cars in excess of 210mph.

Gary

[Dr. Krogshöj]

Yeah, but the Indy Lotus is the "fake" Lotus too right?? (i.e. the Malaysian one)

Group Lotus is a sports car manufacturer based in Hethel, England, set up by Colin Chapman in 1952. The company is currently owned by a Malaysian car manufacturer called Proton. They are sponsoring several open-wheel outfits, including KV Racing Technology in IndyCar and Lotus Renault GP (the team Petrov and Senna drive for) in Formula 1. They will supply IndyCar engines from the 2012 season. Jean Alesi is their brand ambassador.

Kovalainen and Trulli drive Team Lotus, based in Hingham, England. It was set up by a group of Malaysian businessman for the 2010 season. Initially, they had the support of Group Lotus but they lost it for 2011, as the manufacturer had other plans. In turn, they acquired the "Team Lotus" moniker from David Hunt, the last owner of the original Lotus F1 team, which was founded by Colin Chapman in 1958 and went bankrupt in 1994.

[beachbum]

Remind us again exactly how many laps you have turned at Indy in a Dallara in a pack of 33 cars in excess of 210mph.

Gary :) Can't count laps on iRacing either.

Almost all racing looks easier from the easy chair.

Most people wouldn't even physically survive a couple hours at the very elevated heart rates and high G's, let alone function at the concentration level needed to make literal life and death decisions under the conditions for an extended period of time. All racing is harder than it looks.

[Andrewmcm]

Say that the 500 isn't gruelling to Pippa Mann after her drinks bottle broke during the race this year.

[beachbum]

Say that the 500 isn't gruelling to Pippa Mann after her drinks bottle broke during the race this year.But you know what the response to that will be.

But Pippa isn't _______ (fill in the blank with your preferred derogatory statement).

The better judgement is look at how many Indy Car drivers are tri-athletes and then see how wiped out they are after most races, including Indy.

[Nikki Katz]

Yeah, but the Indy Lotus is the "fake" Lotus too right?? (i.e. the Malaysian one)
No. Well, yes, kinda, but still no.

Right, I'll try to put that a bit better...

The current F1 team (which will probably change its name next year to Caterham or AirAsia) is a Malaysian team which licences the Lotus name from Proton. It's generally referred to as 1Malaysia in Malaysia. Although the actual Lotus have entered F1 with Renault (to be called Lotus next year?), as 1Malaysia were there first and have legally licenced the name, they got to keep it.

The entry with KV, as with their association with Renault F1, is the actual Lotus. However, the actual Lotus is no longer British, but is in fact owned by Proton, which is a loss making car manufacturer that is being propped up by the Malaysian government.

The confusion as to which is which isn't helped by Renault running the old black JPS livery that Lotus used when they won championships, whereas 1Malaysia have gone with Lotus' traditional green and yellow. The KV cars in IndyCar have the same livery despite having different owners. In GP2, actual Lotus have bought into the champions ART, whereas Tony Fernandes' team AirAsia has also entered this year. Come the mid point of the season, both teams started running identical green and yellow Lotus livery.

Anyway, slightly more on topic, I've always been a bit of an Alesi fan, although it has to be said that by the end of his F1 career some 10 years ago he'd managed to annoy most team bosses, and coped with change less well than some other drivers. From memory (possibly wrong :p ), he carried on using stick shift to change gear when everyone else had changed to flappy paddles.

The 500 isn't really about being at peak fitness anyway, and Alesi hasn't exactly retired. It's more about setup, tactics, bravery and not crashing.

As mentioned, Alesi has traditionally been good with setups, but as far as I'm aware he has no oval experience, so he may still find it tough.

By the way, that quote he gave about only 200 laps and 32 other cars, he was being sarcastic...

[anthonyvop]

Remind us again exactly how many laps you have turned at Indy in a Dallara in a pack of 33 cars in excess of 210mph.

Gary


Funny....Your statement makes me think the same thing about you.

[FormerFF]

He needs to learn what to do, and more importantly, what not to do on an oval. I'd hate to see him wind up like Gordon Smiley. What works on a road course can be fatal on an oval.

[garyshell]

Funny....Your statement makes me think the same thing about you.

http://www.rosswalker.co.uk/movie_sounds/sounds_files_20100522_76672091/pee-wees_big_adventure/know_you_are.wav

I see you didn't bother to answer the question. Don't forget I am not the one who made the claim that it was not difficult.

Gary

[garyshell]

Funny....Your statement makes me think the same thing about you.

Hmmm sounds sorta familiar... http://www.reocities.com/TelevisionCity/Set/5089/knowuare.wav

I notice you didn't bother to answer the question. Don't forget I was not the one who claimed it was not a grueling event.

Gary

[garyshell]

Just watched Speed Center report on who is using particular engines next year and I thought I heard them say KV Racing was with Chevy???

Gary

[00steven]

Just watched Speed Center report on who is using particular engines next year and I thought I heard them say KV Racing was with Chevy???

Gary

That is correct.

[garyshell]

That is correct.

Weren't they thought to be in the Lotus camp?

Gary

[DexDexter]

Tell me again how old Andretti & Foyt were when they won their last races. ;)

They had a bit more experience of driving on an oval. This is going to end badly.

[beachbum]

Really, does anyone think this is anything more than a publicity stunt? Alesi is paid to be a Lotus "Ambassador", which is a nice name for a shill. He may actually want to do it, but at 47 and no oval experience? I suspect there will be a test somewhere (in a Lotus powered by Lotus of course) and after the test, it will be announced that he won't run Indy.

[00steven]

Weren't they thought to be in the Lotus camp?

Gary

Yeah, it came as a surprise to me.

[Jag_Warrior]

Weren't they thought to be in the Lotus camp?

Gary

As far as I know, there are no tents in the Lotus camp. They've sent out a search party, but it looks like the Lost Colony at Roanoke: everybody is gone and no one knows what happened to them.

As for this news... Alesi was my favorite driver (other than Senna, of course) back in the day. I was rather surprised that he didn't come to CART/CCWS after he retired. He was one hell of a road course racer (much better than his results showed). I mean, he was the guy who successfully held off Senna for many laps way back when. But my favorite thing about Alesi was his patented "head-lean" when he went through a turn. I took a driving course years ago and the instructor got on me because I kept doing that. If I take another driving course, I'm going to imitate Danica the next time: after a few laps, tell the guy that I'm tired.

But hey, Indy fans should be happy about this. After Kimi and Jacques have taken a dump on racing at Indy, finally there is a (former) A-list driver coming. Not just some GP2 wash-out or some wannabe model looking to sell some t-shirts. Yeah, he's well past his prime. But he is an honest to goodness, real deal, world class racer. Be happy.

[Marbles]

Alesi was fun to watch and I loved his enthusiasm. I loved that his idol was Gilles and I thought it was neat that his only win would come at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve but I think he got a lot of mileage out of fending off Senna in his Tyrell. Prone to bad luck and his arms and elbows driving lead to a few mistakes and some hair pulling brain fades like the pit for fuel call he ignored in Australia for Benneton greatly disappointed me and left me with the feeling that when all was said and done he was over-rated. If he wants to do a one-off at Indy I recommend he avoid Nelson Piquet biographies for the next little while.

[DBell]

The thing I think of when I hear the name Jean Alesi is how a decision made at a point in time can affect and change the rest of one's career. He was signed with Williams and Ferrari wanted him. Williams was just starting their run of dominance in the 90's and Ferrari hadn't won anything for a decade and was a complete mess. His head had to say go with Williams and his heart must of said go with Ferrari. He followed his heart and you have to wonder how many race wins and possible championships that decision cost him. Maybe he would have had the kind of career where nobody in a racing forum would ask "Who is Jean Alesi?".

[Mark in Oshawa]

The fact Danicafan didn't know who he was says more about Danicafan than it does about Jean Alesi....

Well, he is long in the tooth..but I am 46, and I want to think I am not old!! Hey, it is 4 distinct corners and while it isn't as easy as that, it aint rocket science. I remember a lot of people saying JPM wasn't going to do well at Indy and he showed up and won there......

[Marbles]

The thing I think of when I hear the name Jean Alesi is how a decision made at a point in time can affect and change the rest of one's career. He was signed with Williams and Ferrari wanted him. Williams was just starting their run of dominance in the 90's and Ferrari hadn't won anything for a decade and was a complete mess. His head had to say go with Williams and his heart must of said go with Ferrari. He followed his heart and you have to wonder how many race wins and possible championships that decision cost him.

Excellent reminder. He surely would have scored a ton of wins and possibly a championship or two in that Williams. Kind of reminds of JV's decision to pursue big cash at BAR. Bad career moves.