Forsythe's Driver Line Up

[astinus4]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

Seems rather odd and contradictory considering all the testing FCR has been doing with 2nd drivers.

I wouldnt write a 2nd car off totally for the moment, as Mickelwright said but something is going to have to happen.

Walmart to step up higher behind Ranger or Simone with his 2million and some additional sponsors from somewhere.

A Walmart Forsythe car for Ranger would be my ideal situation.

[drewdawg727]

Originally Posted by NoGuts-NoGlory

See snrub, I wasn't making this stuff up!

I believe i mentioned it first, buddy

[BootsOntheSide]

I can understand Forsythe's point of view here - he's pumped a lot of money into this team, and lost out over AJ after putting a lot of effort into him and taking a big chance. He's a businessman first and foremost, and something he's put so much into has to eventually produce some rewards, be they financial or success.

[Snrub]

I'll give you credit for next time NoGuts-NoGlory. You have to understand that a lot of people show up with no posts and make wild claims.

The ramifications of Forsythe's discontent cannot be exagerated. Keep in mind that he and KK must pay a lot of money to all of the teams to keep them going. He subsidizes races and the overall running of the series. For Forsythe to be upset about spending money and not getting anywhere may indicate a deeper frustration with the success of the entire series. If GF decides that he has had enough and takes his money and leaves, there may be no series.

Let's say for a moment that Forsythe ran Simone with his $2M Atlantics money. In reality that's still GF's money! $5M is quiet a bit. I think perhaps that's the problem right there. A company may feel it more worthwhile to sponsor a small team for $1M (who would probably then have the remaining ~$1M costs paid by GF and KK) rather than sponsor a Forsythe car for $5M. I question the validity of spending $5M in the 2007 environment. Setup ability is extremely limited so is that full $3M over a bottom team really going to make a night or day difference?

Who knows if Ranger can convince Walmart to give him anything, let alone $5M! Proctor and Gamble definately ramped up their Ranger/CC marketing efforts last year over 2005. Canadian Tide bottles had Andrew Ranger stickers on them. Perhaps they will step up enough. Recall that Forsythe has tested Ranger in the past. It was reported that Neil Mickelwright (team manager) was so impressed with Ranger that he begged GF to run Ranger.

[NoGuts-NoGlory]

Originally Posted by luke

In other words CCF/CW....

you might be on to something there Luke!

[NoGuts-NoGlory]

Originally Posted by Snrub

I'll give you credit for next time NoGuts-NoGlory. You have to understand that a lot of people show up with no posts and make wild claims.

The ramifications of Forsythe's discontent cannot be exaggerated. Keep in mind that he and KK must pay a lot of money to all of the teams to keep them going. He subsidizes races and the overall running of the series. For Forsythe to be upset about spending money and not getting anywhere may indicate a deeper frustration with the success of the entire series. If GF decides that he has had enough and takes his money and leaves, there may be no series.

Let's say for a moment that Forsythe ran Simone with his $2M Atlantics money. In reality that's still GF's money! $5M is quiet a bit. I think perhaps that's the problem right there. A company may feel it more worthwhile to sponsor a small team for $1M (who would probably then have the remaining ~$1M costs paid by GF and KK) rather than sponsor a Forsythe car for $5M. I question the validity of spending $5M in the 2007 environment. Setup ability is extremely limited so is that full $3M over a bottom team really going to make a night or day difference?

Who knows if Ranger can convince Walmart to give him anything, let alone $5M! Proctor and Gamble definately ramped up their Ranger/CC marketing efforts last year over 2005. Canadian Tide bottles had Andrew Ranger stickers on them. Perhaps they will step up enough. Recall that Forsythe has tested Ranger in the past. It was reported that Neil Mickelwright (team manager) was so impressed with Ranger that he begged GF to run Ranger.

No worries Snrub ...but I do have a different take on the forsythe downsizing thing. 1st, Gerry forsythe is a billionaire and could fiance the entire field of champcar if he wanted to.

Remember this, not just 3-4 months ago Gerry was not only prepared to field a second car for 2007 at around a cost of 6-7 million dollars, but he was also willing to pay a 1-2 million d0llar salary to keep AJ on the team!! for a total cost of around 9-10 million dollars. How come now he doesn't have the money to run a second car. I don't buy at all and as I alluded to in previous posts i think his motives for dropping down to a one car team had more to do with restructuring his company and getting rid of all the malcontents on the team!!

My personal opinion is that FCR will run a second car in 2007 when it is all said an done and the dust settles. Gerry Forsythe wants to win as badly as anyone in CC, and he knows that running a one car effort will put his team at a serious disadvantage to the competition for 2007. Paul does not have a chance to compete for the championship if he is the only driver. I talked about how having a second car is vital to testing and fielding a competitive team a few posts back.

I think gerry is simply giving the team a wake-up call and instilling the fear of god on his employess that they had better clean up their act and not become complacent. Expect to see an attitude shift on team forsythe this year, in fact that shift has already begone.

I expect gerry will have a change of heart about how many cars he is going to run in the future, but i think he already knows that himself!

[Minicross424]

A shame for Adam Carrol as he deserves a chance in cc.
I think he could go a long way.

[NoGuts-NoGlory]

Adam carroll would be a great addition to Champcar and don't count him out. he is in the running from what I here.

[Snrub]

A lot of team owners can afford to put their own money into their teams, but don't on principle. There's no question that GF can afford another car or ten, but he doesn't want to.

The fact that Forsythe can't get sponsors is a barometer for the series. The only full paying legitimate sponsors in 2006 were McDs on Bourdais' car and CDW on Wilson's. Everyone else makes due with subsidies, pay drivers, team owners footing the bill (eg. MiJack) and small time sponsors. For all of GF's efforts over the past few years he still can't get a legitimate sponsor for his cars. I can certainly understand his frustration.

That said, he's shown in the past that he's an emotional guy, I wouldn't be surprised if as has been suggested that he runs a 2 car operation in '07.

[norman-normal]

It's a vicious circle: if there were not so many pay drivers around, car owners would need to get drivers good enough to attract sponsors and prize money.

[NoGuts-NoGlory]

Originally Posted by Snrub

A lot of team owners can afford to put their own money into their teams, but don't on principle. There's no question that GF can afford another car or ten, but he doesn't want to.

The fact that Forsythe can't get sponsors is a barometer for the series. The only full paying legitimate sponsors in 2006 were McDs on Bourdais' car and CDW on Wilson's. Everyone else makes due with subsidies, pay drivers, team owners footing the bill (eg. MiJack) and small time sponsors. For all of GF's efforts over the past few years he still can't get a legitimate sponsor for his cars. I can certainly understand his frustration.

That said, he's shown in the past that he's an emotional guy, I wouldn't be surprised if as has been suggested that he runs a 2 car operation in '07.

agree snrub....I too believe Gerry forsythe will have a change of heart about running two cars when it is all said and done. He's too smart not to!

[mountainstar]

I don't think it's a money issue. I think it's more that a 2nd car is a distraction to him and what he wants to do.