Potential IRL TV partners want Indy only! Long Beach?

[-Helix-]

Smoking the good stuff tonight, are we? mokin:

That's an interesting statement to make, considering that Emerson Fittipaldi, Nigel Mansell, Alex Zanardi, and Juan Montoya took to ovals like ducks to water in pretty short order. Although I love me some Emmo Fittipaldi, I'd probably rate Schumacher a bit above Emmo and the others. But you think that Milka and Marty would beat him on each and every oval. Yo, that's some strong $#!^ you got - I think I'm gettin' a contact buzz over hyar.

Unless two of his plug wires were yanked before each race and one tire was flat, I somehow doubt that ol' Chinmacher would have any problem with Milka, Marty... or any other IRL driver once he got the setup right. I can't stand the guy. But his technical knowledge of racing cars is at least a lightyear or two ahead of anyone in the IRL right now - to say nothing of his superior skill level.

Man, I hope somebody remembered to buy some chips.

Well alright, lets get him in an IndyCar for Kentucky this weekend and watch him win the race with ease eventhough he's never been in the car before or driven an oval. [/sarcasm]

I'm not sure who is smoking what here... though I can promise you I ALWAYS have the good stuff. mokin:

Didn't he turn down an offer to drive in NASCAR? At least he didn't embarras himself like Dario or the majority of the other open-wheel converts. Just because you can drive well in one disipline of racing doesn't mean you can race well in all of them. (This year's transition drivers have pretty much proved that.) If that were true, maybe Helio should look into driving for Subaru's Rally team since he's proved about as much as he can here.

Sure, the great thing about humans is that they have the capability to learn like the guys you mentioned. But I meant if he strapped in this weekend, not if he had 4 years in the car first and the help of legendary oval racing teams/drivers.

Though even that wouldn't guaruntee him any success. There's nothing that says just because someone is a good road racer means they're obviously a good oval racer. Now THAT sounds like something that's drug-induced. Forget the beer, I got plenty of munchies if you want to come over. :

[Spiderman]

Ovals are easier? Tell that to all the transition drivers who couldn't stay on the lead lap to save their lives. It all depends on what kind of racing you're used to. But if Michael Schumacher tried to drive in IndyCar he would probably get beat by Milka and Marty on every oval.

I think it depends on the car he gets. Veteran IRL-Oval-Drivers are driving for teams working for a long time with the cars and know how to set up them. I think that helps a lot.
I remember Mansell and Montoya coming over from europe without oval experience. They drove for exellent teams and did a very good job on the ovals. I think that makes the difference. Oval racing, at least at superspeedways is all about set up.
That's what Mansell said, when he came to IndyCars...

[Rex Monaco]

What does gasoline have to do with it? We're talking about IndyCar racing.

And it also leaves a carbon foot print bigger than Al Gores. So it's just a matter of time before ALL auto racing becomes a target.

[indycool]

Agree with Jag.

First, I don't believe Versus or Spike offered hockey that kind of money.

But say they DID offer that kind of money to the IRL and the IRL took it. In order for Versus or Spike to make out, they'd hafta charge a ton of money for commercials. And the sponsors who are in the IRL would look at those prices, prediction of lower ratings because of fewer possible viewers and say, "no," and the whole thing collapses quickly.

"Been there, done that" is appropriate.

Striking a bargain in business means the parties all make out. And each party is concerned about its own product and money in a negotiation.

[Rex Monaco]

Just because you can drive well in one disipline of racing doesn't mean you can race well in all of them.

Michael Schumacher is now racing in a different discipline, motorcycles.

...not if he had 4 years in the car first and the help of legendary oval racing teams/drivers.

Nigel Mansel won the championship his first year.

[Spiderman]

Nigel Mansel won the championship his first year.

And he won 4 of the 6 oval races this year. Montoya also, he was brilliant on ovals from his second race on...

[garyshell]

Michael Schumacher is now racing in a different discipline, motorcycles.



Nigel Mansel won the championship his first year.

And he won 4 of the 6 oval races this year. Montoya also, he was brilliant on ovals from his second race on...

Not to take anything away from either of them because the accomplishments of both in CART were amazing and Montoya is one of my all time favorite open wheel drivers, but how well would the two of them faired without the huge database of baseline setups available to them? If they had had to learn how to set up the car from scratch, I don't think either would have risen as quickly as they did. I think they would have eventually garnered similar results, but just not as fast.

Having said that, Juan was a master at taking an ill behaved car and wringing its neck. Witness the report from one of the TV reporters showing the telemetry traces of Juan going full lock left and full lock right all with the throttle at 100%. I wish I could find a clip of that report or a written account. It was amazing to see.

Gary

[indycool]

Gary's point reminds me of Teo Fabi coming over without fanfare and winning the pole at Indy. After Indy at Milwaukee, he was running a high line in practice. Chief steward Wally Dallenbach told him after the practice that if he didn't get the car down low, he was going to hurt himself and/or somebody else. So, in qualifying, he brought the car down to the white line in the corners......and won the pole again.

[Miatanut]

Ovals are easier? Tell that to all the transition drivers who couldn't stay on the lead lap to save their lives. It all depends on what kind of racing you're used to. But if Michael Schumacher tried to drive in IndyCar he would probably get beat by Milka and Marty on every oval.

While I was saying PASSING was easier on ovals, if you want to talk about which is harder to drive, we need only look at Nigel Mansell's first first year in CART, where he won the championship primarily by winning ovals.

Under the current situation, we have drivers AND teams that haven't driven any ovals in the last season, and very few for several years before that, using hand-me-down chassis without the latest aero pieces. They don't know the car, they don't know the tracks, they only knew they were coming into a tough situation.

When I was a kid, we had lots of drivers in their 40's and 50's, while F1 was drivers in their 20's and 30's. When CART took the sport in more of a road-racing direction, the older guys were dropping out, because while oval racing is a lot about a sixth sense on what traffic is going to do, where experience is a big help, road courses are purely driving. NASCAR, with only two road courses on the schedule, which they all complain about, still has lots of older drivers compared to the IRL, because of the difference between their schedule and the IRL's.

So, no. Based on the evidence from the last time around, if Michael Schumacher came into the IRL with one of the top teams, he probably wouldn't get beat by Marty an Milka on every oval. More likely he would take the championship, and given how weak the American branch of the sport is now, I would say he would almost certainly take the championship, and a lot of those victories would come on ovals.

Edit:
Sorry, I just read some of the subsequent posts in the thread which make pretty much the same points.

[Spiderman]

Not to take anything away from either of them because the accomplishments of both in CART were amazing and Montoya is one of my all time favorite open wheel drivers, but how well would the two of them faired without the huge database of baseline setups available to them? If they had had to learn how to set up the car from scratch, I don't think either would have risen as quickly as they did. I think they would have eventually garnered similar results, but just not as fast.

Having said that, Juan was a master at taking an ill behaved car and wringing its neck. Witness the report from one of the TV reporters showing the telemetry traces of Juan going full lock left and full lock right all with the throttle at 100%. I wish I could find a clip of that report or a written account. It was amazing to see.

Gary

That's what I said before. Oval racing is all about set-up. If one of the ex-champcar-driver would have a drive in one of IRL's top-teams, he would probably do a lot better. The other way around, give some oval specialist a winning car on road courses, i doubt they would win. Look what Paul Tracy did with the vision car in edmonton, he never drove this car on a road circuit and was so much better than oval specialists Foyt and Carpenter, even without knowing the car. And Tracy is an old man...