no Jordan test for Briscoe

[BootsOntheSide]

If Toyota really thought he was a potential champion, they'd be all too keen to either a)loan him out to a team to give hiom experience or b)use his as their Friday tester, so he can learnt he ropes and contribute to their efforts. They obviously don't, and I'm sure they're right. Nationality doesn't come into it once you've got your foot inside a major car company's team.

[Raglanparade]

Who will be Toyotas friday tester next year then ?

[BootsOntheSide]

Zonta.

[Raglanparade]

I thought he would be exempt because he raced in GP's at the end of the year ?

[Wrex]

I think he had to do more than 4.

Boots is correct btw. If Toyota really thought he was the next demi-god they would have pen to paper on a long term contract already.

I say again, does'nt mean they dont like him or think he is a good driver, they just dont think he up to the F1 task yet.

[Raglanparade]

I thought he was on a long-term Toyota contract ???

Hence why he was looking to drive for a Toyota powered IRL team ?

[Super Tourer]

I think that Briscoe is now out of contract, but that doesn't mean that Toyota can't help smooth his path into an IRL team running it's engines.

[Raglanparade]

Dixon and Briscoe would make a nice "Tasman" team in IRL

[Turbo_Era]

Originally posted by Wrex
Boots is correct btw. If Toyota really thought he was the next demi-god they would have pen to paper on a long term contract already.

Exactly what I've been trying to say... just hard to translate from my native German

[BootsOntheSide]

I think the tester can have done a maximum of 6 races in 2 years - Zonta did 5.

I think Ryan is still Toyota-contracted, they merely want to try him out in another form of racing. Hopefully it's a clue that their IRL commitment won't falter after 2006.

[nkh]

Originally posted by mac
And I never said that Australia was the only country whose drivers received harsh treatment. If you actually read my post, I do refer to "other far flung places".

Ah, I didn't see alot of European countries as far flung places when it comes to F1...

[BootsOntheSide]

It's strange that Scandinavia has had so few F1 drivers - no Norwegien has ever started a Grand Prix, and only Kimi, Mika , Keke and Ronnie have been huge stars from there, although who knows what Gunnar Nilsen could've done.

[rustyfan]

Originally posted by BootsOntheSide
It's strange that Scandinavia has had so few F1 drivers - no Norwegien has ever started a Grand Prix, and only Kimi, Mika , Keke and Ronnie have been huge stars from there, although who knows what Gunnar Nilsen could've done.

Here in Sweden racing has for several years been considered almost a 'bad' thing and not a 'household' sport. Along with that companies haven't exactly been keen on sponsoring promising drivers either.

Things have started to get a little better though over the past couple of years - our Swedish touring car championship is growing a lot (can't wait to see Mercedes make an entry for next year!) and Wirdheim's F-1 testing has created a good amount of F-1 buzz. It's a shame he didn't get a regular seat though, because I think that would have improved things even more.

The lack of a proper world-class race-track hasn't exactly helped either, but if Gotland Ring is fully completed I think we'll have something really challenging to race on..

[nkh]

Well, I guess it's a matter of getting one driver from the country to break through in F1. I don't remember any Portuguese front runners either, and they even have a track.

I think Keke Rosberg did a lot for Finish racing by being in F1, I think they had a DTM/ITC race in Finland in the '90s (and they haven't even got a track for it). I'm not sure MH, MS and JJ would have been in F1 without Keke (and Kimi wouldn't have been there without Mika). If you get one champion, then the teams will start thinking that drivers from that country is in some way special (look at the German drivers that came around the time Schumacher started to shout his name in F1).

I think it's very strange that Sweden hasn't really had a 'star' driver since Ronnie Petterson (Johanson didn't do much as far as I remember), afterall they have some tracks, they have a car industry (though not really the single seater racing type) and they have had some success in F1 before, they even have some big companies that could sponsor drivers if they wanted to (IKEA, Ericsson...).

Maybe there should be a limit to one driver from each nation in F1

[rustyfan]

I think that Ronnie's unfortunate accident left a rather deep wound in the Swedish 'soul' that it has yet to fully recover from.

That our media and politicians love to whine about sports that are potentially dangerous doesn't help either. Take boxing for example - Sweden is one of few countries in the world that still has a ban on professional boxing (along with, I think, North Korea and a few, few others), and as soon as we have a Swede that is a bit successful and gets some headlines (and starts the neverending debate about the ban), a ton of politicians and medical experts rant on and on about how dangerous it is etc.

Now, it isn't that bad when it comes to racing, but some of the same mentality is there.

And as for major companies, like ones you mentioned, the problem I mentioned above is still there - racing isn't a "household" sport, and as such won't attract major sponsorship the way it should.

This is why Wirdheim getting a seat would have been great, as it would have made a lot more Swedes interested in F-1, and as such would have made it more attractive for companies to sponsor young up-and-coming drivers.

[nkh]

You're right, it's basicaly the same problem in Denmark. The few racetracks we have (small ones..) can't even be used most of the time, and it takes years to get permission to extend them. The problem here is usualy noise complaints from the neighbours, even if it's an airfield you can't usualy race on it in the weekends ('cos we all know that cars make much more noise than jet planes). The public attitude spreads to the companies that could sponsor the drivers (Carlsberg uses tons of money on sponsorships for soccer clubs, EM'04 and so on, B&O could show off some technology in F1, KISS could go up against Trust...) there are lots of possibilities, but somehow we always end up with small companies like Essex Invest who can run a couple of cars in DTC and rent a Lister for Le Mans.

What's even more strange is that scandinavia drivers do quite well in other classes (prototypes, touring cars, rally, even speedway), but as soon as they get close to F1 the door is closed.

People are happy to watch F1 on the tv (I assume, why would the national channels here in Denmark show pratice, qualifying, have drivers in a studio before and after a GP and so on if people didn't watch it), the Danish tv stations usualy show all 24 hours of Le Mans (of course mostly after 1990). So aparently people want to watch it, they just don't want it here and the big companies don't want to pay for it.

[GP Racer]

Originally posted by jasonhill9884
Dixon and Briscoe would make a nice "Tasman" team in IRL

Quite ironic really, when you consider there isn't even an all American team left in this once very American series.

The species once known as American open wheel drivers are slowly becoming extinct...

[Don K]

Originally posted by jasonhill9884
I thought he would be exempt because he raced in GP's at the end of the year ?

It is no problem unless he has "been a nominated driver for a Formula One team in more than six World Championship Events during the two previous World Championships." (read the F1 Sporting Regulations at www.fia.com).

[Raglanparade]

Maybe Toyota were banking on Running Three Cars next season ?

[Dixie Flatline]

Originally posted by nkh
Come on, you have an F1 track, you have a car industry, you have a team owner in F1, you have a driver at Williams... There are lots of countries that hasn't even got one of thoese things.

We also have few companies willing to shell out the cash to sponsor a driver into Formula One. As I've remarked before, Australian companies are very parochial and will tip money into V8s, but they do not apparently see the attraction of Formula One.

I'm not really sure why Webber at Williams should make any lick of difference to whether another Australian is given a chance at Formula One.

Our car industry is totally reliant upon the decisions made by boards of directors outside Australia. Australia's car market is very small when compared to Europe and the USA, so I do not think a board of directors will lean upon its Formula One racing subsidiary to pick an Australian driver (all other things being equal) so as to sell more cars in Australia.

If you're very talented you can get a drive with little money, if you're not very talented you'll have to bring a lot of money. So either the $X is small and the talent is big or the talent is small and the $X is big (and all posibilities inbetween)...

So, $X is a 'significant amount', so the talent must be....

Hmm, interesting comment, that. Let's see, Michael Schumacher was pressed into Formula One in 1991 because Bernie Ecclestone thought he would be able to excite German interest in Formula One, and more interest = more viewers = more money. Similarly, in 1995-6, Bernie Ecclestone convinced Sir Frank Williams to take a chance on Jacques Villeneuve, because he thought Villeneuve would be able to excite North American interest in Formula One, and more interest = more viewers = more money. Similarly, interest in Formula One in Spain has increased significantly since Fernando Alonso began driving for Renault. More interest = more viewers = ??

So whether you bring in money immediately when you join a team, or through your exertions in Formula One, there is always, always a connection with dollar signs in this business, I mean, sport.

[Dixie Flatline]

-edit- (removing double posted post)

[D.R.T.]

I cant understanding the thinking that Briscoe doesn't have the talent to drive F1. As stated 2 championships victories. The first one, his first time racing cars. The second racing and beating F1 drivers racing today.

I'm not saying people should bow down to him and throw rides at him, but dont critisize and try to make him out to be something he's not.

I was really looking foward to seeing Ryan in the Jordan next year, as I thought this was to be one of the clauses in the Toyota Engine deal. But if he goes to America, he'll do a great job

[Raglanparade]

Maybe Jordan had two options

Cheaper Engines and Ryan

More expensive engines and two pay drivers.

[toot toot]

Hmm, interesting comment, that. Let's see, Michael Schumacher was pressed into Formula One in 1991 because Bernie Ecclestone thought he would be able to excite German interest in Formula One, and more interest = more viewers = more money.


So your saying Schumacher got an F1 contract because somebody was pressured into it Bernie Ecclestone so he would make even more money?

[Turbo_Era]

Originally posted by jasonhill9884
Maybe Jordan had two options

Cheaper Engines and Ryan

More expensive engines and two pay drivers.

If Eddie had that option, and still preferred to pay more for engines... that's really no good for Ryan.