ESPN Jourdain to NHR

[racinthestreets]

From ESPN dated Friday, March 19th

In addition, Michel Jourdain Jr. and his Gigante stores sponsorship will land at Newman/Haas Racing, where the groundwork for a third car was laid over the last six months. That car would have had Eli Lilly/Cialis sponsorship and Dario Franchitti behind the wheel, but the uncertainty about Champ Car's future over the last six months scuppered the plan.

Instead, the Newman/Haas/Gigante deal means Champ Car keeps one of its most influential sponsors and allows rising star Jourdain to land solidly on his feet. Masterminding the expanded Newman/Haas attack (which could still include an entry in the Indianapolis 500 for lead driver Bruno Junqueira) is Jim McGee, the Champ Car legend who returned to the team in February after a stint at Patrick Racing.

If this is true, then the rumours that NHR does not want a third car unless absolutely necessary, are simply rumours. Makes sense to me, Jourdain deserves to be with a a front running team.

The complete article: http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?id=1763779

[cartpix]

I guess this means Bruno will be the #2 NH driver, like last year, or will he be #3?

Jeff

[Tailwind]

Interesting. I had just seen the rumor that Jourdain and Gigante were going to RuSPORT. That would have been good for RuSPORT and A.J. bringing money and experience. On the other hand, going to NHR lands Jourdain a seat with Championship potential. Where does Eli Lilly/Cialis fit into all of this now? Are they a secondary sponsor for the cars?

[Testure]

Originally posted by racinthestreets
If this is true, then the rumours that NHR does not want a third car unless absolutely necessary, are simply rumours. Makes sense to me, Jourdain deserves to be with a a front running team.

More likely reason is that it is absolutely necessary Way classier than the way certain other teams have taken on well-sponsored drivers (i.e. it's rumoured to be a third car).

Good for Michel, though, if it's confirmed. I totally agree that he deserves to be with a front-running team; he had a great 2003 season. With a team like Newman/Haas, he should be challenging for wins at every track.

[macdaddy]

If true, Jourdain has instantly become a real title contender.

[sgw2]

racinthestreets,

Neither rumor is mutually exclusive. This could constitute "absolutely necessary" or read that "well-funded." :-)

[Snrub]

I think this is a great thing to happen. It will keep the level of competition higher in the series. I agree with the prediction that Bruno becomes the #3 driver.

Ofcourse we can't seem to get some good without some bad so the news that Dario would have been with NH with Lilly sponsorship if not for all the issues with the series is a kick in the pants. It would be somewhat strange that Dario could have Ciacalis (sp?) banners on the car. Given his circumstances there'd be something very wrong with him if he required such a product.

[macdaddy]

LOL

[Tenoch]

Does anyone else see a problem with having three championship contenders in one team?

[codename_47]

Originally posted by Tenoch
Does anyone else see a problem with having three championship contenders in one team?

Talk to BMWWilliams on how hard it is to just have TWO!

Or Talk to Andretti Green, and the 17 or so drivers they have, I don't know...haven't checked recently!

[Flatspot]

Originally posted by Tenoch
Does anyone else see a problem with having three championship contenders in one team?

Yes, 4th place back

Seriously, it is because thay are on that team that they are championship contenders. No serious problem as I see it.

[racinthestreets]

The question really is - Is it good for the series? I really don't know the answer to that. It seems that a team like RuSport, new to CCWS, with a one car effort and rookie driver would benefit tremendously from MJ's experience. It appears to me that Gigante is a big time sponsor, but possibly not enough to fund the car and personnel for the entire season. NH is very good at funding, and that may be what is need for MJ. Also, another thought is that MJ and his sponsor Gigante agreed to stay but did not want to struggle with a first year team, underfunded team or start over with a new team. In order for the three owners of OWRS to erase some of the bad feeling on the paddock it would not be good for them to have a third car using Gigante so why not go with the best (IMO) in NH?

[Fogelhund]

This IS the best possibility for all involved.

NHR gets a fully funded quality driver, so the costs are not an issue. Jourdain gets to driver for a team that can give him a car capable of competing for the championship.

This is much better then being placed with the three amigos, which would send out the wrong message to other teams, and is better then being placed with one of the other, likely non-competitive teams.

One of the first things handled well by OWRS.

[Ac.]

Agreed Fogelhund. As much as it would have been great to see Jourdain join a squad like Rusport, I'm sure it would have made their preparations for their first season even more difficult.

Hopefully NHR and OWRS have enough foresight to make this a one year deal. Allow NHR to give Jourdain the chance to assemble a crew and have a run at the championship, then after this season, take the crew with him to join a one car team that was competetive.

It will take some creative team building for OWRS to grow, this may be the start.

[macdaddy]

Why does it take ESPN, and not OWRS, to make an announcement of this magnitude? And why hasn't N/Haas commented? What the ChampCar fan needs right now is encouragement. And second-hand announcements like this don't help.

[Teretonga]

Isn't it a pity Rahal hadn't gone to the IRL before Adrian and Gigante/Jordain had gone to Fernandez....

[racinthestreets]

Isn't it a pity Rahal hadn't gone to the IRL before Adrian and Gigante/Jordain had gone to Fernandez....

Good scenario Teretonga. I think this is AF's last year as a driver. He is looking to being strictly an owner next year, and with Honda's help he had more incentive to go that way. He truly is looking to next year.

Why does it take ESPN, and not OWRS, to make an announcement of this magnitude? And why hasn't N/Haas commented? What the ChampCar fan needs right now is encouragement. And second-hand announcements like this don't help.

Great question McDaddy. I doubt that the behind the scenes planning is helping the LBGP sale tickets. Less than a month away it is time to see positive announcements from OWRS like the one from Denver last week.

[Fogelhund]

Please note this is not an announcement, and that ESPN has changed their wording in the article, to reflect that. It is a rumour.

In addition, Michel Jourdain Jr. and his Gigante stores sponsorship still may land at Newman/Haas Racing, where the groundwork for a third car was laid over the last six months. That car would have had Eli Lilly/Cialis sponsorship and Dario Franchitti behind the wheel, but the uncertainty about Champ Car's future over the last six months scuppered the plan.

[Muzza]

Thanks for posting that, Fogelhund!

I just talked to a professional racing journalist this morning and she said something in the lines of (*) "ESPN jumped the gun - they got this from one of these web forums [sic] and published it as news. We talked with Newman/Haas and we were told that the team's drivers are Sebastien Bourdais and Bruno Junqueira. I guess someone will be in trouble at ESPN, people are making news or rumours - also in other websites and papers."

(*) this is how I recall the conversation. I was not taking notes, so her statement is not verbatim.

I asked about the Franchitti-Cialis connection, and she said that she had no idea about it either.

Regards,

Muzza

[racinthestreets]

Thanks for the update Muzza. Do you have any idea when the Jourdain/Gigante and/or Tecate/Telemex picture will bemade clear?:confused:

[sgw2]

Lets be even more clear. This is not ESPN (generic) but gang of four member Jon Oreowicz who ffff'd up here (in hex). Pretty sad when a guy who was on the CART payroll only six months ago, now resorts to internet forums for his speculations.

[Muzza]

Originally posted by racinthestreets
Thanks for the update Muzza. Do you have any idea when the Jourdain/Gigante and/or Tecate/Telemex picture will bemade clear?:confused:

Hello, racinthestreets,

Unfortunately I have no idea when an annoucement will be made - and that's another reason to be cautious with these rumours.

Jourdain is a "hot potato" for Champ Car to peel. He is a title-contender, backed by a strong sponsor and from a country that (mostly) backs Champ Car (Mexico is what I would call a "Champ Car stronghold").

Champ Car has to exercize strategy before "orienting" (that means, deciding) where Jourdain will land - particularly after the bad consequences of the "driver poaching" of three weeks ago.

I for one believe that landing him in Newman/Haas (already a powerhouse) or any of the teams owned by Los Tres Amigos (PKVR, Rocketsports and Forsthe) would not be good policy. Herdez could be a good choice - making it become "El Equipo Mexicano" in Champ Cars that Adrian had envisioned Fernández Racing to be.

I question RuSPORT capacity of properly running two cars with such a small-numebered organization. Fittipaldi would like to run South American drivers - well, Jourdain is not exactly South American, but he could fit in well... if there was such a thing as Fittipaldi Racing.

All things considered, Jourdain - and, to a lesser extent, Carpentier (who I believe will be shoved down Forsythe's throat by Kalkhoven and Gentilozzi) - is a key piece in the chess game that the Champ Car line-up has become.

Cheers,

Muzza

[Liz]

If Herdez hadn't already signed RHR, Jourdain Jr. would have been a natural for that team.

And if Fernandez had been able to keep the faith for another two weeks, he might have had a worthy driver to take his place and build Fernandez Racing into something of a Mexican Legend. I hope he's kept awake nights thinking of what might have been.

[corkholio]

Considering the fallout Jourdain had with Herdez at the end of 2001, I am not sure he wants to go back there, especially with Dominguez being the established #1 there.

[Tenoch]

If Michel cant find a competitive ride iam going to be really angry, heres a great driver who wants to stay and has money to back him up. So whats the deal one would think teams would be jumping for a guy like him. As for Herdez Michel and Keith Wiggens dont like each other the first thing Keith did when he took over was fire Michel.