2013 GP2 Silly Season

[bella]

i'm not kicking you off the forum. you've got a cute fluffy polar bear in your avatar.

being fair tho, it does seem daft, backwards and annoying for anyone of one nationality to support someone from a different country other than their own, but *if* there are potential investors, then i'm sure they have their reasons.

actually... what do rich kids *do* in the states? rich sons in the uk go and play with karts, daughters muck around with horses, but what do they do there?

[ptclaus98]

Originally Posted by Jacques Rabbit

Rossi joined what is now Caterham before CNN and GE did. AirAsia was his first major backer, and GE took months after they joined Caterham to begin supporting Rossi.

I realize from the perspective of a red, white, and blue high horse, you can see every last detail of these mysterious American investors and know how to spend their money better than they do. It is very American, after all, to demand freedom for yourself and give it to no others.

I'd have figured it'd be easy to be content that Caterham have stuck with Rossi despite a **** year in WSR, and that Rossi's backers are an F1 team and their major partners, rather than some American investors of whom we know nothing and have not committed any money yet.

Anyway, I'll disengage from this quibble. I've been kicked off a forum before for being an "unAmerican freedom freeloader" and I'd prefer it not happen again.

Back to GP2...

I've yet to really be excited by a rumor thus far. Still early, and perhaps I'm hard to please, but the GP2 grids seem to get progressively less relevant and interesting as the years go by. Kind of a shame.

I'm not content with Rossi's situation at all, and I AM surprised that he's held his status when vd Garde has cash and did a MUCH better job than Rossi did this year. This isn't about Rossi and his situation. This is about guys like John Michael Edwards or Josef Newgarden who showed the potential to be as good as Rossi but could never find the backing.

[ptclaus98]

Originally Posted by bella

i'm not kicking you off the forum. you've got a cute fluffy polar bear in your avatar.

being fair tho, it does seem daft, backwards and annoying for anyone of one nationality to support someone from a different country other than their own, but *if* there are potential investors, then i'm sure they have their reasons.

actually... what do rich kids *do* in the states? rich sons in the uk go and play with karts, daughters muck around with horses, but what do they do there?

Drink and do lots of drugs, then if they haven't killed themselves by the age of 18, go do a liberal arts degree and get the family business handed to them, then proceed to crash it into the ground.

Or become a socialite.

[verde]

Felipe Nasr and Rio Haryanto with Carlin.

Riccardo Agostini (Italian F3 runner-up), Daniel de Jöng and Luca Filippi (who else...) with Coloni. That's the last time GP2 will see a Coloni car in the track.

Daniel Abt and Stéphane Richelmi with Lotus.

Kevin Giovesi (who?) and René Binder with Venezuela Lazarus. Glad to see they are looking outward of the socialist country - or just trying to make some money to pay for the ultraexpensive things in Venezuela.

[Balaurderaa]

Giovesi won the Copa in F3 Open and he drove a part season in Italian F3 and Formula Renault 2.0.

[Jacques Rabbit]

Originally Posted by ptclaus98

I'm not content with Rossi's situation at all, and I AM surprised that he's held his status when vd Garde has cash and did a MUCH better job than Rossi did this year. This isn't about Rossi and his situation. This is about guys like John Michael Edwards or Josef Newgarden who showed the potential to be as good as Rossi but could never find the backing.

We'll agree to disagree. I've never heard someone outside the U.S. rate Edwards or Newgarden, and in my personal opinion, neither was much good. Edwards gets paid to plunk around in a tube-frame Pontiac GTO bodied as a Camaro, and Newgarden's "the best IndyCar driver to never have a top ten." Neither was going to climb the European ladder, even with backers.

Originally Posted by ptclaus98

Drink and do lots of drugs, then if they haven't killed themselves by the age of 18, go do a liberal arts degree and get the family business handed to them, then proceed to crash it into the ground.

Or become a socialite.

We'll agree to agree there. Exactly how it works in my experience, too.

Originally Posted by verde

Felipe Nasr and Rio Haryanto with Carlin.

I like this a lot. Nasr's very good and will get there in time. Haryanto's been rushed up too quickly, in my opinion, but there's some potential there I think. In a Maldanado-esque way, with Haryanto.

[verde]

Originally Posted by Balaurderaa

Giovesi won the Copa in F3 Open and he drove a part season in Italian F3 and Formula Renault 2.0.

He would be a good prospect for GP3, I bet. GP2 is something of a bit step for a driver like him, but I prefer to believe that he's only having a first touch with a very powerful car in order to enjoy a bit and maybe attract some attention to talk with further sponsors.

FINAL LIST:

Addax:
Jake Rosenzweig and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs

Dams:
Nigel Melker and Arthur Pic

Racing Engineering:
André Negrão and Gianmarco Raimondo

iSport:
Pal Varhaug and Facu Regalia

Lotus ART:
Daniel Abt and Stéphane Richelmi

Caterham:
Lucas Foresti and Alexander Rossi

Coloni:
Daniel de Jong, Luca Filippi and Riccardo Agostini

Trident:
Marcus Ericsson and Julian Leal

Venezuela Lazarus GP:
René Binder and Kevin Giovesi

Rapax:
Stefano Coletti and Daniel Juncadella

Arden:
Simon Trummer and Mitch Evans

Ocean:
Kevin Ceccon and Ramon Piñeiro

Carlin:
Felipe Nasr and Ryo Haryanto

Not a bad list, I must say. Fingers crossed expecting for a great 2013 season.

[Hawkwood]

Pineiro getting a run out for his birthday?

[ptclaus98]

Originally Posted by Jacques Rabbit

We'll agree to disagree. I've never heard someone outside the U.S. rate Edwards or Newgarden, and in my personal opinion, neither was much good. Edwards gets paid to plunk around in a tube-frame Pontiac GTO bodied as a Camaro, and Newgarden's "the best IndyCar driver to never have a top ten." Neither was going to climb the European ladder, even with backers.

What has Varhaug done, then? Newgarden was phenominal in FFord and jumped to GP3 when he should have gone to F3, but it was a money thing. JME did better than Hartley in NEC, yet was tossed by Red Bull before he was 18. Beat Summerton and de Silvestro(and admittedly no one else) in Atlantics after dominating Star Mazda much the same way Conor Daly did.

[W.A Trichlorostyrene]

Nice to see Kevin Ceccon on the list.

Ericsson testing F3.5 then GP2, still not decided on where to go next year?

Originally Posted by Balaurderaa

Giovesi won the Copa in F3 Open

And he did so in a dominant fashion. He took the class win 11 times out of 14(2 of them were DNFs).

He even put a real challenge at the outright classification sometimes, finishing 3rd overall on the dry at Monza.

Granted, it's hard to say just how good is the F3 Open field right now, and even more so the Copa class.

[Jacques Rabbit]

Originally Posted by ptclaus98

What has Varhaug done, then? Newgarden was phenominal in FFord and jumped to GP3 when he should have gone to F3, but it was a money thing. JME did better than Hartley in NEC, yet was tossed by Red Bull before he was 18. Beat Summerton and de Silvestro(and admittedly no one else) in Atlantics after dominating Star Mazda much the same way Conor Daly did.

He's done nothing, racing-wise, other than a fluke GP3 win. My point isn't that he's better, it's that it makes no difference what nationality the fillers are to me. I'm interested in the guys who have F1 potential, and Edwards/Newgarden did not. I don't see why it matters if Varhaug gets the money or anyone else does; if it isn't going to someone who might make it in F1, then I don't really care where it goes.

One thing Varhaug has done, though, is get the interest of investors, something Edwards/Newgarden couldn't. I'm sick of hearing that American drivers are "disadvantaged;" you can't be disadvantaged when you're from a first-world country and had the means to drive racing cars. They just didn't hustle hard enough to make it. We can't all have GP2 rides. Varhaug's a tough sell, but he's seemingly selling. The platform of "sponsor me because no one else will" didn't seem to work for the two boys you mentioned.

Just my opinion. Nothing against any of them. At least Edwards is getting paid to race and Newgarden might go somewhere in the States. Better they got on with that quicker than wasting their time chasing impossible dreams; Red Bull would have dropped Edwards eventually, and Newgarden couldn't go back in time and not drive for a shoddy Carlin team in GP3's year one.

EDIT: I guess this means Varhaug's my new favorite driver.

[ptclaus98]

Originally Posted by Jacques Rabbit

He's done nothing, racing-wise, other than a fluke GP3 win. My point isn't that he's better, it's that it makes no difference what nationality the fillers are to me. I'm interested in the guys who have F1 potential, and Edwards/Newgarden did not. I don't see why it matters if Varhaug gets the money or anyone else does; if it isn't going to someone who might make it in F1, then I don't really care where it goes.

One thing Varhaug has done, though, is get the interest of investors, something Edwards/Newgarden couldn't. I'm sick of hearing that American drivers are "disadvantaged;" you can't be disadvantaged when you're from a first-world country and had the means to drive racing cars. They just didn't hustle hard enough to make it. We can't all have GP2 rides. Varhaug's a tough sell, but he's seemingly selling. The platform of "sponsor me because no one else will" didn't seem to work for the two boys you mentioned.

Just my opinion. Nothing against any of them. At least Edwards is getting paid to race and Newgarden might go somewhere in the States. Better they got on with that quicker than wasting their time chasing impossible dreams; Red Bull would have dropped Edwards eventually, and Newgarden couldn't go back in time and not drive for a shoddy Carlin team in GP3's year one.

EDIT: I guess this means Varhaug's my new favorite driver.

Now is where we can agree to agree.

[W.A Trichlorostyrene]

Barcelona day 1 times: http://www.racer.com/filippi-sets-gp...rticle/266042/

Coloni swansong, as Filippi(morning) and de Jong(afternoon) go fastest...

[kotkot]

I think Coloni doesn't care about development work anymore, and they went only quali laps... Beside them, Ericsson, Melker and Richelmi seemed pretty good.
The best newcomer I think is Quaife-Hobbs, he was fast both sessions...but Juncadella's third place is also great, and Rossi...

[W.A Trichlorostyrene]

Giovesi was pretty good too, if you keep in mind Lazarus' difficult maiden season.

[Juntos]

Tiago Monteiro was racing in in Japan but Monteiro's Ocean was on the bench at Barcelona. Peter "TT" Thompson is sniffing in the paddock again. You expect us to believe he was just an innocent bystander?

[BackmarkerUK]

Originally Posted by Juntos

Tiago Monteiro was racing in in Japan but Monteiro's Ocean was on the bench at Barcelona. Peter "TT" Thompson is sniffing in the paddock again. You expect us to believe he was just an innocent bystander?

Meritus to GP2 then.

[BackmarkerUK]

Has anyone heard anything about the prospect of there being an American GP2 championship? Various European sources are reporting that preparations are being made.

http://fr.espnf1.com/usa/motorsport/...ce=twitterfeed

It would be exciting if it happened, though GP2 Asia wasn't a huge success. The series could support F1 at the Canadian, Brazilian and United States Grands Prix (though the Canadian Grand Prix currently takes place in the middle of the regular GP2 season). When and if F1 comes to New Jersey, Mexico and Argentina, there could also be support races there. Other than that there's the WTCC races at Sonoma and Curitiba, Formula E races in Rio de Janeiro and Miami (not sure how well it would go down though, petrol cars supporting electric).

[Alex K]

An epic failure I predict, just as with Asian series.

[chunterer]

All it would need to be is better than IRL Lights and Atlantic to survive. Frankly that wouldn't be too difficult and I suspect a load of journeymen Europeans would do it and act as reasonable benchmarks for the Americans etc

[Jacques Rabbit]

I had shared some ideas about an American GP2 here:

http://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=135577

I really do think it would be good to get a series to get some of the South American drivers in the F1 ladder. Even those who make it to Europe, like Guerrieri, end up in the U.S. eventually, which is a shame.

That said, I'm not sure if it will be any easier for these South American and North American drivers to get into a GP2 in the Americas. It will still require funding.

On top of that, who will run the cars? If there is nothing to lure IndyCar teams away, and if it is more expensive than Indy Lights, they won't have any U.S. ones, so that leaves you looking to Canada, Mexico, and South America, where I'm not as familiar with racing teams.

I do think a focus would have to be on outside the U.S., too. The U.S. F3 Championship wasn't exactly a winner:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...e_Championship

We also had a Formula Renault 2.0 championship here that didn't last.

[BackmarkerUK]

I don't expect him to be driving there in 2013, but Cecotto, Jr. is going to be testing for Arden.

[Mekola]

Rather than American GP2 Series, bring us back Formula 2 Codasur.

[Hawkwood]

First day of testing, Nasr and Ericsson draw first blood.

http://www.gp2series.com/News-Room/N...ay-1-in-Jerez/

[W.A Trichlorostyrene]

Originally Posted by Ostrogothicus

First day of testing, Nasr and Ericsson draw first blood.

http://www.gp2series.com/News-Room/N...ay-1-in-Jerez/

There must be some serious doubts about Ocean... First they withdraw from GP3, then they don't run at the latest GP2 test, and today they do only 1 lap...