Pizzonia Champ Car return

[luke]

Former Formula 1 driver Antonio Pizzonia is set to drive for Rocketsports Racing in the final two rounds of the 2006 Champ Car World Series season, at Surfer’s Paradise in Australia and Mexico City.

Pizzonia, who recently participated in the GP2 Series’ winter testing sessions at Paul Ricard, topping the charts on occasion driving for Giancarlo Fisichella’s FMS International team, returns to Paul Gentilozzi’s outfit after making two starts with the operation, at the Long Beach season opener and in Montreal back in August. The “Jungle Boy”’s best result was a 10th-place finish at LB.

"I’m glad to be invited by Rocketsports to drive once again, and I accepted the challenge of getting to know a new circuit and help with the team’s development,” said the 26-year-old. “Street circuits are usually narrow and short, but Surfer’s seems to be wide and long, so it’s going to be a new experience for me.”

Pizzonia will race alongside Mexican Mario Dominguez at both events.

"It will be good to have an experienced driver to race with, as Mario should be a good benchmark to set up our car,” he concluded.

Source :: SpeedTV.com

[drewdawg727]

Australia's street course is wide and long? I think he needs to reevaluate that statement

[marcus]

good to see him back (again) now thats definately the end of Nicky Patorelli.

Man its been musical chairs at rocketsports this year

[SALEEN S7R]

Good to have Pizzonia back racing, he has been sat on the sidelines too long recently. Will we still see him in Champcar next year though, or it will it perhaps be GP2? GP2 is the better choice at the moment if he still has F1 aspirations, going by the ammount of drivers who make the switch from GP2 to F1 that is.

[BootsOntheSide]

Anyone looking to sign him for ChampCar next year will have a better idea of what he can do after he's done 4 races. He's probably more capable than Pastorelli or Kasemets, so it's good to see him get his chance. Personally I wouldn't consider him for F1 no matter how well he does - he's had his chances and consistently struggled.

[luke]

Pizzonia and Dominguez you'd have to say is one of Rocketsports' strongest line ups if not ever.

[SALEEN S7R]

Originally Posted by BootsOntheSide

Personally I wouldn't consider him for F1 no matter how well he does - he's had his chances and consistently struggled.

I really dont think these comments are fair, in 2003 he was in a uncompetitve Jaguar and really didnt have much chance of scoring big points but he was there. In 2004 however where he raced for 4 races at Williams he got three 7th places and 1 DNF thanks to a gearbox problem.

To me these are pretty good results, especially when you consider how uncompetitve Williams were back in 2004 finishing 4th in the constructors Championship. I dont think Pizzonia will win any races this year, but he might in 2007 if he is still in Champcar.

[Knowlesy]

Pizzonia was rubbish in F1. Apart from the podium that never was at Spa 2004 and a good Monza seventh place in 2005 he was a bit of a lemon. Which is a shame, as he looked good in lower categories like F3 and in F3000 at times.

So he will never make an F1 return IMO. Therefore, best to have a crack at Champcar and see how it goes rather than a GP2 season.

[SALEEN S7R]

Hey dont get me wrong Knowlesy, Im not saying he is a fantastic driver. However, he is definately a few rungs above the Bruni, Pantano, Yoong leauge. IMO. Pizzonia I think is at least as fast as some of the guys racing in F1 at the moment if not a bit faster. He just doesent have the budget. Still, what you say is correct his 2004 season was a lot better than his results in 2005. Although in his defence, compare the Williams of 2004 to the Williams of 2005. The 2004 car was pretty good whereas the 2005 car was a bit of a lemon. IMO.

Whether Pizzonia ends up in GP2 or Champcar next year nobody knows yet, but if it is GP2 I would expect him to dominate the series, or at the very least be in the top 3 in the points standings by the end of the year. If however he makes the switch to Champcar things will be rather tougher for him I feel, after all he knows 95% of the tracks that GP2 race at. Champcar and US tracks are fairly new to him.

[mayhem]

I reckon he's best remembered for this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmLIQiB8Aao

[Tenoch]

Originally Posted by mayhem

I reckon he's best remembered for this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmLIQiB8Aao

wat was going on there?

[norman-normal]

I don't expect him to stay at Roketsports long.
J.Stewart said "he has buckets full of talent" if thats true, I have a whole lot of questions about his judgment.

[mayhem]

Originally Posted by Tenoch

wat was going on there?

Jaguar had Pizza boy and Webber doing hotlaps with journos in their all new model, old Pizza boy went into that corner about 50mph too fast, and you see the result.

[luke]

Well he was never special in Formula 1. He'll never be in F1 again most likely. But there is no reason why he can't be good in Champ Car. Alex Zanardi was very disapointing in F1 yet a double champion and a hero in CART... What I'm saying is, I feel he can bring good results to Rocketsports, and maybe in a top team who knows, a win down the line?

[norman-normal]

That cuts both ways, eg, a good F1 driver has no guarantee of success in Cart due to greater emphasis on driving skills.

[BootsOntheSide]

Not many drivers have a better record in F1 than ChampCar though - Teo Fabi is the only one who comes to mind - so the standard must be higher in F1.

As for Pizzonia, he would have to win at least 2 GP2 races to get anything positive from it - he was at that basic level in 2001, and you have to move forward at that stage of your career.

[norman-normal]

It seems as though F-1 et al, view Champ Car as a future competitor. I believe they make an effort to exclude CC from any of the tracks they use. It makes sense: with the changes a foot, CC should be faster and F-1 slower. Also, a lot of fans are dismayed at the level of electronic aids; it has been too much of a technology contest for too many years now

[N I Tram]

2008 F1 will have much less of the technology, so ChampCar doesn't have long to make up ground. A grid full of F1 rejects won't do the job anyway.