German driver at the Eurospeedway?

[DavidStHubbins]

That is why none of the ex-f1 drivers will go to CART - because they see it too dangerous. They all have babies and plenty of food now so they are happy. Whatever happened to Herbert in CART? I know Blundell said he wasn't going back to CART because of what happened to Zanardi.

[BootsOntheSide]

There won't be any chance of signing a current f1 driver. their contracts all prevent them doing outside racing, which has been the case for years as racing became more professional, especially as the great Jim Clark died in a meaningless F2 race years ago.

It would be no more likely to be Krumm, compared to Lotterer, because he's also racing in Japan (if you'd've read the first page, you'd know this). Not sure if his GT schedule would clash with the CART race, ro whether his team would agree to release him, but I'm sure Lotterer has a free weekend, and the JAG people (who could be running this as a one-off, maybe out of Rahal's shop, as was mooted for the whole season this year) know and rate him.

[Prost!]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by BootsOntheSide
There won't be any chance of signing a current f1 driver. their contracts all prevent them doing outside racing, which has been the case for years as racing became more professional, especially as the great Jim Clark died in a meaningless F2 race years ago.

Funny in Clark's obit, his death is frequently portrayed as occuring in a "meaningless F2 race". To put it that way, really misses the mark of the type of driver & personality that was Jim Clark. If Jim Clark was present at that F2 race, then it was meaningful to him. That was Jim Clark. None of the drivers today have half the guts, love & adventure for motorsport that Jim Clark had. Some guys express what they'd "like" to do, but Jim Clark just went out and did it. Guys like Clark, Mario, A.J., Stewart, Gurney et al; we'll never see the likes of again. Whether Clark died in an F1, F2, stockcar, or stateside race, it would have been a meaningful race, just because Jim Clark was there.

In regards to the question as to whether or not an F1 driver could do well on his first try on a superspeedway, recall the successes of Brabham, Clark, Hill, Stewart & more recently, Nigel Mansell, on big ovals. Seems to me they got up to speed VERY quickly. Make no mistake, M. Schumacher would be up to speed quickly & blindingly fast.

Prost!

[Snrub]

If the F1 teams supported the efforts, there's no reason why a driver couldn't moonlight in CART for a race with the F1 sponsor's support.

As for the danger factor, CART's got a pretty decent record on ovals. Not even many injuries. The only relevent ones I can think of are Moore, Zanardi and Blundel (although his brakes failed). MS just likes to spout off because he considers himself too good to race on an oval. There's no doubt he'd be fast we've seen many a road racer turn into an oval driver. Although he'd do well in his first oval race, I don't think he'd nessisarly win it.

[Prost!]

Originally posted by Snrub
Although [M. Schumacher] he'd do well in his first oval race, I don't think he'd nessisarly win it.

Agree, Snrub... well, somewhat. Recall the CART field of 1993? That field included, Fittipaldi, the Andrettis, the Unsers, Luyendyk, Sullivan, Goodyear, et al. After Mansell crashed out heavily in practice & subsequently missed PIR(1st oval of the year on schedule), he damn near won his first race on an oval, and at all places, Indianapolis. Back then, of course, Indy was meaningful, with real drivers & real cars. I'll never forget Emmo, then Arie(on the outside of 1's apex no less!) blowing by Nige on that restart (somewhere around lap 180?). Nigel was really caught with his shorts down - or, as Nigel put it, "I was trying not to cheat", suggesting that possibly Emmo & Arie had done something outside the rules. Whinger! Why Nigel didn't stand on it while rounding turn 4 is a mystery to me, & perhaps Nigel, too. In fairness, such wiley vets as Emmo & Arie sure knew their ways around IMS by then, but still, Nigel put in quite a performance that day & had me thinkin', "maybe"?! Could Herr Schumi have such beginners luck? Yeah, I think he's capable of such.

Prost!

[Prost!]

As a result of his falling asleep at the wheel, did Brits give "[their] Nige", massive *******ings & loads of cobblers until he brought home that spiffy PPG trophy in '93?! Ya gotta love British humor!

Cheers!

PS Apologies for digressing from the present German drivers topic to old English drivers!