Which driver will you be watching closely this year?

[Snrub]

Now that we've seen a race with everyone driving, which driver (or drivers) are you most looking forward to watching this year and why? For example, it might be your favorite, someone who you think will win the championship or a lot of races, someone who will provide entertainment value, or someone who will perform well in a lesser car, etc.

[trout]

Okay - I'll bite!

Besides Tracy - a given as he is too colorful to ignore, I shall be focused on:

1) Andrew Ranger - likely the best Canadian raw talent since Greg Moore. I think he is our best shot at F1. So he punted Phillippe in his first race - hell I would have punted Phillippe on the highway

2) AJ Allmendinger - Another great talent. Had the chance to talk briefly with AJ in Montreal. He was down to earth and he was just so darn excited about racing. Go AJ!

3) Oriol Servia - he drove the hell out of the Coyne cars last year - made them look respectable. The perfect underdog in any race!!

Honourable mention: If Jos Verstappen joins the series in Monterrey - I'm getting a hat!!

[brightline]

Bremmer - He was very quick out of the box with little testing in a champ car, Hopefully we'll see some sponsorship on the sidepods soon.

Wilson - The elusive first win is within his reach.

PKV - Do they have what it takes even with two former champions?

[Omega99]

Ranger. Like trout said, he's very talented. He showed he could keep pace with the leaders when he was off sequence at Long Beach, he's aggressive, and he's Canadian, so that's nice

Wilson. He's shown promise since the start of last season, and he'll really have a chance to show what he's got with RuSport

Allmendinger. Same as for Wilson. There's been a huge buzz around Allmendinger since his was in Barber Dodge, and he's one of the best young American talents in the business.

and Tagliani, because he's my favorite! He'll have a new set of challenges with the Walker team this year, and there's potential for some great successes. He should be able to get some great results this year, and maybe score a win or two...

[D.R.T.]

Bruno, can he do something stem the tide of his teammate.

Marshall, he Australian and would love to see him do well.

Allmendinger/Wilson can they challenge to top 2.

Glock - where will his first win be in 2005

[marcus]

Justin Wilson = I really like this guy

Timo Glock = thought he was great in F1 and so far impressive in CC

Marcus marshall = Because he's an aussie

Honestly I think Im watching everyone with alot of interest

[luke]

I like Bremer, he's the real deal. I didn't know much of him, untill his debut race at Long Beach, he put in a great race, on a difficult circuit, and didn't know the layout, and street racing etc. Glock was similar, he will also be a suprise and one to watch.
Expect to see more of Wirdheim, hopefully at Monterrey he'll finish in the top 7.

[macdaddy]

I'm unfamiliar with our new drivers, and so I'll be watching them all with interest. I think we've got the strongest rookie-lineup, perhaps in history. Of course, being Canadian, I have a special interest in Ranger...

I'll also be watching Servia, hoping that he can continue his (amazing) drives for Coyne.

[Amar7605]

AJ Allmendinger and Ryan Hunter-Reay: I am an American, so I want to see how well the young Americans can carry the torch!

Christiano Da Matta: Can the former champion regain his former glory?

Rudolpho Lavin: How does this guy keep getting work?

[trout]

Originally Posted by Snrub

Now that we've seen a race with everyone driving, which driver (or drivers) are you most looking forward to watching this year and why? For example, it might be your favorite, someone who you think will win the championship or a lot of races, someone who will provide entertainment value, or someone who will perform well in a lesser car, etc.

Okay Snrub, you ain't off the hook! What's yours?

[luke]

Originally Posted by Amar7605

Rudolpho Lavin: How does this guy keep getting work?

Lavin improved in 2004, quite respectfully, and turned out to be a good driver.

[racefanatic]

Andrew Ranger once I get over the scary fact that he is younger than I am,

Ronnie Bremer seemed very fast and he will be fun to follow,

And I've followed Bjorn Wirdheim and Sperafico for a while and I will continue to cheer for them.

I'll also be watching Cristiano da Matta because he's my favorite, but after thinking I was going to lose him to unemployment, anything he does this season will be good enough for me.

[Jordi]

Oriol ServiÃ* - basically because I'm his fan!

[mabs_nsx]

Marcus marshall - Because he's an aussie
Justin Wilson- because I have been a fan ever since I started following CCWS in 2004
Cristiano da Matta because I just want to see him do well

[macdaddy]

Earlier, I mentioned how I'd be watching the rookies, and Servia's Coyne program.

I neglected to mention how I'm curious to see how Dominguez does, especially in relation to Tracy. It wouldn't surprise me to see him outscore Paul this year, just as Patrick did last year. Both are working with new engineers, and I liked what I saw of Mario in LongBeach. That's not meant as a "knock" against PT, but this year may be Dominguez' best shot at a championship.

[astinus4]

Originally Posted by Amar7605

Rudolpho Lavin: How does this guy keep getting work?

Umm Lavin hasn't got a drive this year...

[Snrub]

Who am I going to be watching especially closely? Tagliani and Glock would be ones I'm most interested in.

Every driver in the field this year has a compelling reason to watch them, I think that is what's most intriguing about this year.

It's interesting that no one has mentioned Bourdais or PT. I've never been one to comment or cheer for Bourdais, but I was thinking about him after LB. It seems that every driver is expected to perform at the peak of their career in their first year and never actually get substantially better. Bourdais is constantly improving and eliminating areas of minor weakness. Normally one thinks of a driver as only maturing and becoming more consistant, but I think Bourdais' raw pace is improving and if anything he seems like he's infused some agressiveness learned from PT. Several times he's commented genuinely that he admired PT's aggressiveness (to a reasonable degree). What's interesting about Bourdais is that he's getting scary good and despite the fact that he's the obvious favorite for the championship, I think he'll be quiet compelling to watch.

[BootsOntheSide]

I'm keen to see what happens at RuSport, especially after Justin slightly outdid AJ last weekend. Both those drivers are hugely promising and will surely push each other on further.

Andrew Ranger is a promising newcomer, and it's good for Canda to still ahve 3 drivers, so I hope me makes use of a chance he's had to wait for. I'm also expecting HVM's drivers to do well (assuming that they keep the drives long-term) with an interesting intra-team rivalry between 2 Scandinavian rookies with different racing backgrounds as we;;

[Liz]

Timo Glock, because my motto is "Run with the Bulls, Swim with the Sharks, Race with the Germans." And I think he's very good on the track and will be interesting to get to know. Dominguez is my favourite veteran and I will be watching him and PT. And I will watch Mi-Jack for the usual reasons.

I'm not watching Bourdais particularly in Champ Cars because I'm tired of him winning, but will watch him in Sports Cars where he's learning a lot and showing very well.

[Tenoch]

For Sure i'll be watching Mario Dominguez this can really be the year for a Mexican to take the championship, and if he does maybe that will help convince him to stay, or it could proof that he can compete in F1 if thats still an option.

[Mr Jinxx]

Has Bremmer got a full season deal?

[Mr Jinxx]

And how many teams get a drive available during the season?

[Kicking-back]

Originally Posted by Mr Jinxx

And how many teams get a drive available during the season?

If you come up with a budget, any team will have a drive available.

[Russ-Turner]

C'mon Wilson!! AJ ain't all that and a bag of potato chips