The curious case of Matheo Tuscher

[ivanalesi]

So, after one super dominant season in Formula Abarth China at 14 y.o., he gets interest from Craig Pollock and graduates to F2 at only 15 years of age, then proceeds with taking debut pole on his route to narrowly miss on the title in the last round. Basically he missed on a chance to test driver F1 Williams at 15! In his 28 races, he has 10 wins, 18 podiums and 8 poles. Voted by Autosport for the best rookie of 2012 and his reward for this season is no drive! Clearly no place in AutoGP, FR3.5, GP2 or GP3. I think he hasn't tested at all this year or in fact after his 16th birthday.
Tuscher clearly over delivered and despite this fact he can not proceed in his career even with such kind of management with connections!?
Matheo Tuscher is the case study of what is so wrong with motorsport these days! Talent means ZERO.

[W.A Trichlorostyrene]

He did test in F3.5 last October.

But yea, very disappointing to see him with no ride at this point.

[Peter Cammish]

Ivan for sure talent does matter but you need the holy grail of talent and access to around 8,000,000 euros for your 5 years in junior motorsport below F1, so it is a very rarified few who have this combination. Many parents pay advisers, who see them as cash cows and suggest that certain doors can be opened , when this does not happen the whole thing falls over and the dispirited parents feel let down and leave the sport. I hope that this lad gets other opportunities , 16 is way too young to retire from any sport.

I read Autosports look at the Brit guys doing F3 euroseries it was a little sad for a long time motorsport fan like me and one with a vested interest but it does make you realise more and more were higher level sub F1 single seat motorsport is going, as there is no external sponsorship available and why should there be when you think about.

I think the golden years of of motorsport that I remember were largely fueled by tobacco sponsorships and other products which will never comeback, the sport will never produce another Mansell or Villeneuve but it will produce another Senna in due course as Senna with his enormous family wealth is in fact the model you need to succeed, talent is not the preserve of rich or disadvantaged it is I think "born in" so people will emerge and in that sense the sport still has merits even though it is very cruel.

[Osella]

...however, he's still young, and talented, so his time will come!

[Flavio Galtieri]

Well let's hope he catches up with school. A single seater racing car is no place for a child of 15 let alone 14.

That's what Go Karts are for.

[dank]

What about one that's 16?

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by dank

What about one that's 16?

16 seems to be about fair to me.

That's when you can legally do lots of other things like fly solo in an aeroplane, join the armed forces, so it seems to be where the bar should be set?

[ivanalesi]

I dunno how is karting in the UK, but in Germany or Italy, you have like 20 racing weekends! When you start in single-seaters, you usually have more free time for school compared to karting.
The quality of the drivers is getting super low, there's no arguing about it and this trend has been expected since 2008, yet nobody has done anything. In fact the organizers have been working in the opposite direction. Rule makers are sleeping, manufacturers just don't care...

[kipper]

Originally Posted by ivanalesi

The quality of the drivers is getting super low, there's no arguing about it and this trend has been expected since 2008, yet nobody has done anything

Whilst I wouldn't argue with the general trend that has been experienced, I do think that Tuscher can't be included within that assessment. The reason for this is that his F2 performances (particularly when compared to his more experienced rivals) did demonstrate that he has a lot of potential.

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by kipper

Whilst I wouldn't argue with the general trend that has been experienced, I do think that Tuscher can't be included within that assessment. The reason for this is that his F2 performances (particularly when compared to his more experienced rivals) did demonstrate that he has a lot of potential.

Whilst I agree Tuscher clearly showed potential, given his age and relative inexperience, the problem is we'll never know how good he is or isn't unless he can get into a really competitive series.

Last year's F2 grid was the lowest quality since it's inception, which was a shame for me because I've always liked the principle of a level playing field.

The trouble with exceptionally well funded kids jumping all their peers and going straight into more expensive series (like Chilton in F3) is that we will never know how they would have fared pitted against their less well funded rivals in a national junior series. So judging talent is far more difficult than judging the size of the family chequebook.

[ivanalesi]

Originally Posted by kipper

Whilst I wouldn't argue with the general trend that has been experienced, I do think that Tuscher can't be included within that assessment. The reason for this is that his F2 performances (particularly when compared to his more experienced rivals) did demonstrate that he has a lot of potential.

I don't include him! He has done more than enough to prove himself. Guys like him make me think that the quality is very low, because he's just so inexperienced to race, but somehow he wins. It just shouldn't happen. Kids like him graduate so early because of the budgets in karting, also you have the bright example of someone like Mitch Evans who started at the same age.
Anyways, age isn't the point I wanted to bring! The reason was the lack of promotion in just about all series, which turns into the inevitable struggle to find sponsors and then we arrive at the pool of talentless uber rich kids forming the vast majority of the current young drivers.

[RF_Racer]

Originally Posted by Flavio Galtieri

Well let's hope he catches up with school. A single seater racing car is no place for a child of 15 let alone 14.

That's what Go Karts are for.

You never stop do you? When he made his debut in F2 you went crazy and started saying rubbish and that his management should be reported for child abuse blah blah. He does take his studies very seriously and is a very smart kid, so comments like that are totally unjustified.

[peebee2]

To be fair, saying he looked good in F2 last year is a bit like suggesting San Marino's best footballer should be World Player of the Year. The quality was terrible, with a capital TERR.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by peebee2

To be fair, saying he looked good in F2 last year is a bit like suggesting San Marino's best footballer should be World Player of the Year. The quality was terrible, with a capital TERR.

Well, the OP is called 'IVAN'........

[cds_uk]

Well, there are still a few GP3 seats available, who knows, fingers crossed eh?

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by RF_Racer

You never stop do you? When he made his debut in F2 you went crazy and started saying rubbish and that his management should be reported for child abuse blah blah. He does take his studies very seriously and is a very smart kid, so comments like that are totally unjustified.

Ha Ha you are funny!

First of all I'm not aware I went crazy, but then most crazy people would say that so I'll just assume you are a psychiatrist by profession.

I've never suggested he isn't serious about his studies, isn't a smart kid or even that he is not a talented driver, which he clearly is.

I have my view on when childhood should end and when a young person can assume adult responsibilities to take on a profession or task that could quite possibly end in their demise, in front of paying spectators and television viewers.

Ironically it used to be the children of the poor who were in need of protection. Charles Dickens was forced to work at the age of twelve. Now it might be the children of the rich that need a little bit of protection from exploitative employers.

I'm proud of the child labour laws we have in this country, and for that matter Europe.

I'll happily recomend some reading material for you if your history is a bit rusty.

Anyway, the MSA agree with me, not you.....

[bella]

no, i think the msa agree with your end view, not your right-wing way of getting there

anyway nowadays i'm not so sure the msa agreeing with you is something to shout about

look, tuscher made it work. it was a very astute move by whoever is directing his career because he clearly can cope with committing himself to schoolwork and racing at the same time. he was mature enough to drive the car properly, though i do question the general wisdom of allowing a young driver to drive such powerful cars full stop. but the problem is it's generally a case by case thing isn't it? and in this case the judgement was entirely correct.

i think you judge "childhood" by your own experience. let's face it, *all* the guys who have been seriously karting since primary school never really had one by your standards. frankly, i think what we hold as a childhood in the uk right now is pretty shambolic and is to be avoided at all costs.

[RF_Racer]

I think he will be just fine in what ever he will race in, he is clearly very tallented and will be a front runner. People can say F2 was a weak championship, but you have to look at Alex Fontana, who was more often trailing Tusher and has been pretty quick in GP3 testing. Zino Zamparelli didnt exactly set the world alight with his testing times in WSR neither did Zanella nor Marinescu. These are all very experienced drivers with multiple seasons under their belts.

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by bella

no, i think the msa agree with your end view, not your right-wing way of getting there

...though i do question the general wisdom of allowing a young driver to drive such powerful cars full stop. but the problem is it's generally a case by case thing isn't it? and in this case the judgement was entirely correct.

i think what we hold as a childhood in the uk right now is pretty shambolic and is to be avoided at all costs.

Blimey! That's the first time ever I've been accused of being right wing! Normally I'm accused of being a communist.

Anyway you can't handle these things on a "case by case" basis. All sport needs a structure and the rules should be the same for everybody regardless of wealth.

I haven't got a problem with kids racing Go karts as soon as they are 8 or whatever the rules are. It's a damn sight safer than playing Rugby at school.
I simply draw the line at children in powerful single seaters. I'm quite happy to agree to differ, but I'm glad the MSA takes the view it does because one day it might all go horribly wrong and when it does the press and child protection authorities will have a field day.

[EastonNeston]

I think flavio needs to go and sit down with a good bottle of North Korean wine, does that exist? and some cuban cigars while reading Marx & Lennon and listening to a roger waters solo album :-)

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by EastonNeston

I think flavio needs to go and sit down with a good bottle of North Korean wine, does that exist? and some cuban cigars while reading Marx & Lennon and listening to a roger waters solo album :-)

Are Marx and Lennon songwriters like Lenin and McCartney?

[EastonNeston]

Quite possibly :-)

Of more concern, is there any good wine from North Korea?

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by EastonNeston

Of more concern, is there any good wine from North Korea?

Blueberry apparently, although I fear we may have wandered off topic somewhat.....

[Derwent Motorsp]

What is a "Go" kart? That term went out in the seventies. The sport is karting!

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by Derwent Motorsp

What is a "Go" kart? That term went out in the seventies. The sport is karting!

Sorry, I thought karting was short for Go Kart.

I first drove one in the early sixties, raced them in the early eighties. They will always be go karts to me.

It's just an age thing......