Aiello escapes massive crash

[Super Tourer]

Laurent had a massive crash in testing at the Eurospeedway. The car is totally wrecked, but thankfully he walk away unaided.

Boy, this place is getting a reputation.

Story from Autosport.com
http://www.autosport.com/newsitem.asp?id=23265&s=17

[SPARK Msport]

ouch! but im glad hes okay. (If only Aiello would come back to the BTCC...)

[BSchneiderFan]

Apparently Christian Abt has done something very similar. I guess this kills off the idea of the DTM racing on the oval, then?

[Tim Harvey Fan]

The link doesn't seem to work. Oh well. No offense, but I think Aiello is too good for the BTCC. In previous years, the BTCC had a very high ranking in touring car importance (amny good drivers, many good cars/teams) but now, I guess it is no secret that the BTCC is dying. To be honest, I think that our Speed Channel Touring and GT cars over here in North America has now surpassed BTCC, with drivers like Hans Stuck, Bill Auberlen, Randy Pobst, Boris Said, Pierre Kleinubing, Will Turner, Nic Jonsson, Michael Galati...I could go on and on...

[krt917]

I don't know whether the BTCC is STILL dieing. It bottomed out in the last year of Super Tourers and the first year of the new rules, but is beginning to grow again. I hope it continues, though I agree that Aiello is better as part of the DTM at the moment.

[kristof14]

No offence either tim Harvey fan but i've never heard of any of those drivers whereas the BTCC still has some relatively big names in Yvan Muller, James Thompson, Anthony Reid and David Leslie.

[bella]

if you've not heard of any of those names then i'd have to say you've not followed motorsport for too long. laurent aiello was in the btcc not long ago, peter dumbreck's done le mans amongst other things, alain menu's a big btcc name, bernd schneider's arguably the best touring car driver around, and gary paffett's a promising british name for the future. all big names, either for the future or in the past and present.

back to the topic, that car was fairly well destroyed. if it was a tyre failure they need to be thinking very quickly...

[flor]

dunlop seems to have some problems with the track

[flor]

they changed their plans this morning and won't race turn 1 of the oval this weekend

[Muppet]

Originally posted by flor
they changed their plans this morning and won't race turn 1 of the oval this weekend

Tut tut! Bunch of woosies!!!!

[Muppet]

Maybe the BTCC will show them how to do it by running the full Oval at Rockingham, where crashing into the outside retaining wall will dramatically improve the look and styling of the cars...

TOCA... Two things to improve the show, etc: 1) V8 engines, 2) better looking cars

;-)

[kristof14]

Originally posted by bella
if you've not heard of any of those names then i'd have to say you've not followed motorsport for too long. laurent aiello was in the btcc not long ago, peter dumbreck's done le mans amongst other things, alain menu's a big btcc name, bernd schneider's arguably the best touring car driver around, and gary paffett's a promising british name for the future. all big names, either for the future or in the past and present.

back to the topic, that car was fairly well destroyed. if it was a tyre failure they need to be thinking very quickly...

i was talking about the names he mentioned that race in north america! I've got posters of Aiello and Menu on my bedroom wall! On the topic ovals should really be left to the cars that are designed purely for ova racing!

[krt917]

Originally posted by Muppet
Maybe the BTCC will show them how to do it by running the full Oval at Rockingham, where crashing into the outside retaining wall will dramatically improve the look and styling of the cars...

TOCA... Two things to improve the show, etc: 1) V8 engines, 2) better looking cars

;-)

And get rid of the weight ballast!

[Tim Harvey Fan]

Originally posted by kristof14
No offence either tim Harvey fan but i've never heard of any of those drivers whereas the BTCC still has some relatively big names in Yvan Muller, James Thompson, Anthony Reid and David Leslie.

You've never heard of Hans Stuck? You must be living somewhere else...not in the Touring Car world. Plus, you say these drivers (Thompson, Muller, Leslie) are big names, but practically nobody in North America has heard of them. (They are not "international" names)

[kristof14]

Originally posted by Tim Harvey Fan
You've never heard of Hans Stuck? You must be living somewhere else...not in the Touring Car world. Plus, you say these drivers (Thompson, Muller, Leslie) are big names, but practically nobody in North America has heard of them. (They are not "international" names)

Ah i see, if they've not been heard of in the US then they're not big names? Doesn't matter if most of europe have done?

[touringlegend]

Thompson, Muller, Leslie - it's not possible to pick 3 bigger stars over here!!!

[Tim Harvey Fan]

Originally posted by kristof14
Ah i see, if they've not been heard of in the US then they're not big names? Doesn't matter if most of europe have done?

First of all, I didn't say "in the U.S." I said in North America. It doesn't matter, either, that most of Europe knows who they are--the whole of Europe could fit inside Canada, alone so it is not a very large area (and therefore, not suprising to know who each national star is). In Canada and the U.S., if people know a name, then it (IMO) is more significant. Each country has their own big stars but if the name isn't known everywhere, then it is not a big name. Jus to add to that, I didn't say all of the drivers in Speed World Challenge were "big stars" either, I said they were good drivers.

P.S.-One guy ( I don't know if you would have heard of him) named David Leslie, races in Speed World Challengethe year before last.

[touringlegend]

David Leslie - one of the 90's BTCC stars and still dodging along in a BTCC Proton this year!

[kristof14]

So you're still saying that if they haven't been heard of in north america then they're not a big name and the rest of the world doesn't matter? Not even if they've raced in Asia and Australia and are known to fans on those continents?

[Tim Harvey Fan]

I never said that they have to be heard of in North America to be a "big name". You said, "even if most of Europe has heard of them" and I said, that doesn't count because Europe is small. But if they are fully recognized in Australia and Asia, then it's a different story. I would say then, that they are fairly big.

[ascarracinguk]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Muppet
[B]Maybe the BTCC will show them how to do it by running the full Oval at Rockingham, where crashing into the outside retaining wall will dramatically improve the look and styling of the cars...

TOCA... Two things to improve the show, etc: 1) V8 engines, 2) better looking cars

you wanna see ASCAR then!!!!

[speedy king]

Originally posted by Tim Harvey Fan
First of all, I didn't say "in the U.S." I said in North America. It doesn't matter, either, that most of Europe knows who they are--the whole of Europe could fit inside Canada, alone so it is not a very large area (and therefore, not suprising to know who each national star is). In Canada and the U.S., if people know a name, then it (IMO) is more significant. Each country has their own big stars but if the name isn't known everywhere, then it is not a big name. Jus to add to that, I didn't say all of the drivers in Speed World Challenge were "big stars" either, I said they were good drivers.

P.S.-One guy ( I don't know if you would have heard of him) named David Leslie, races in Speed World Challengethe year before last.

No offence mate but i have never heard of Hans Stuck and i am a BIG motorsport fan, Thompson, Muller, Reid and Leslie are very well known in Europe, Reid in Japan and places too. Just cos YOU havent heard of them dosen't mean the rest of America has not heard of them, after all tho, you think Oval Racing is good!

[speedy king]

Originally posted by Tim Harvey Fan
I never said that they have to be heard of in North America to be a "big name". You said, "even if most of Europe has heard of them" and I said, that doesn't count because Europe is small. But if they are fully recognized in Australia and Asia, then it's a different story. I would say then, that they are fairly big.

Europe small!?!?!??! I think we have enough people to make the names well known. Why don't you get your ass over hear and check out how "small" Europe is!

[flor]

Originally posted by speedy king
No offence mate but i have never heard of Hans Stuck and i am a BIG motorsport fan

oxymoron detected

[krt917]

Originally posted by Tim Harvey Fan
It doesn't matter, either, that most of Europe knows who they are--the whole of Europe could fit inside Canada, alone so it is not a very large area (and therefore, not suprising to know who each national star is). In Canada and the U.S., if people know a name, then it (IMO) is more significant. Each country has their own big stars but if the name isn't known everywhere, then it is not a big name.

So we're determining a big name by how many people know who they are - and you argue that being big in North America is "more significant". Lets look at this shall we:

1. More people know about certain drivers in N.A. because there ARE more people open to a given series. Just because millions-upon-millions of Americans watch NASCAR and know them, doesn't mean that they are bigger names overall - they're just big names in their series - which is still, essentially, a big domestic series, like the BTCC. A big name is one that is known either as someone who is on top of their series or (to be even bigger) has managed to gain respect or a following OUTSIDE of their main series, irrespective of population.

2. To be a big name doesn't even necessarily require THAT big a following. I'm more concerned with how they perform and would rather check out someone's records/abilities before commenting. Michael Schumacher, for example, is hardly known in the States, but that doesn't stop him being a big name.

3. The level of European racers is GENERALLY (there are several exceptions) better than in the States so a big name in Europe is therefore just as signifcant as one in the States.

One final point - I do agree with you about Hans Stuck - he really is a class driver - but then some of us knew that in Europe already!