Marcus Marshall

[luke]

Originally Posted by macdaddy

18) 1:26.772 Marshall (3.623s off the pace)

Maybe but less than a tenth off Bremer.

[Kicking-back]

The more relevant comparison is that Marshall is 3.1 seconds off his own teammate.

He needs to step down, for his own good, I believe.

Get a talented Australian in the Team Australia car.

[BootsOntheSide]

How much of that 3.1 seconds is Tag's experience of the track? How much is his setup knowledge (which is going to be more important in a team with no engineer?) And how much is the apparent difficulty Marcus is having? In turth you would expect better from Bremer as well, although he is a true rookie on the track, with Wirdheim and Glock having been here in F1 cars.

[Bezzen]

I think Bremer was at Montreal last year in Atlantics.

[Kicking-back]

Boots - Derek Walker is an engineer, surely.

[Alex K]

Boots, Team Australia is running without engineers for #5 and #15 ? Are you kidding us, or is it true?

[Mosport67]

I think Tag was doing his own engineering with assistance from another team member.

Marcus is just lost right now. A tough way to learn how to race. Witness though how much Phillippe has improved this season. Maybe Marshall will be better next year but will he get the chance.

[luke]

Well every venue is new to him and most of the tracks in Champ Car are street events so you can't just go and test at them prior to the event and Champ Car's are also difficult cars.
We won't know how good he is if we will be fair untill next year, (similar to Nelson) wether we seem him in Champ Car next year is a different matter.

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by Kicking-back

The more relevant comparison is that Marshall is 3.1 seconds off his own teammate.

He needs to step down, for his own good, I believe.

Get a talented Australian in the Team Australia car.

Well Will Power has been testing at Portland. He is also tied in the A1 GP aswell.

It seems James Courtney (everyones number pick for the seat) has resigned with Toyota in the Super GT championship.

Will Davison has ties to the A1 GP but he would be a good addition.

Peter "Hollywood" Hackett is apparently heading to the US of A to meet with some Atlantic teams.

[Alex K]

It seems James Courtney (everyones number pick for the seat) has resigned with Toyota in the Super GT championship.

Really? He had very good contract there, I think he earned more than he would in Team Asutralia Racing?! Strange. But he is the best pick for Walker's stable.

[Kicking-back]

Re-signed, as in extended the deal.

Not resigned, as in quit.

[Hazza]

This is of course the James Courtney whom Mark Skaife Has Long Term Plans For. I personally would put him out of the picture of the seat as it was rumoured he would be Australian Touring Car racing...

But I'd like to once again plug the Davison brothers, very very talented.

[stmookeyj033]

And it looks as though he'll be going to V8's after that.

[Snrub]

There isn't an official full time engineer on Team Ausi. There are people with engineering credentials, but its effectively just Tag as the primary generator of setups. Tag has be utterly awsome this year (although the results may not show it). In all seriousness I rate him as at worst the 3rd most impressive.

I've said it numerous times, Marshall is not getting a particularly fair shot. He's lost in the wilderness so how could he possibly perform?

[GTRMagic]

At the risk of getting in trouble... there is a view around that the local V8Supercar series team from the same parent suffers from an engineering dearth as well....

.... indeed there was a fear that the V8Supercar team was going to help the ChampCar team with its engineerring solutions... which caused no end of impolite laughter from the paddock over this way....

Mr Marshall should bring his own engineer in, to fit the team, instead of wasting his year!!

[Fiorentina 1]

Where is Murcho?

[Liz]

Did anyone notice that on a wet track on Sunday morning, Marcus Marshall ran between P2 and P5 for most of the session with very respectable times? He ran very well indeed under trying conditions, considering he didn't get a lot of help.

I'm going to wait and see with him. I think he's another Philippe; he needs time and patience and experience to show what he can really do.

Incidentally, Philippe was one of only five drivers that did not have trouble with the San Jose track, and he gridded P6 there. He told me that he really liked that track a lot.

[mitchie]

Originally Posted by Liz

I'm going to wait and see with him. I think he's another Philippe; he needs time and patience and experience to show what he can really do.

The following will no doubt wrongly be taken as Australianism, but I have to agree. Yes, he is underprepared, and there are Australian drivers who could/would bring better results at the moment, but the way that some people have been talking about him in this thread and others, you would think Marcus had run over their dog or something and they had an axe to grind.

He doesnt have Atlantic experience like Bremer and Ranger. He doesnt have F1 experience like Glock and Wirdheim. Sperafico has high HP open wheel experience from his F3000 days. Marcus has a little over half a season of British F3, a couple of Australian F3 races, Australian Formula Ford and some British FRenault Summer series to his name.

Comparing him to Tagliani, who has shone this year and has five years Champ Car experience is moot. I think Marshall has done a respectable job. As Liz was alluding to, one year ago, Philippe was coming in for much the same treatment in mediums like this.

Fast forward twelve months, with a bit of experience and some more knowledge and Nelson has been pretty handy on occasions this year such as San Jose.

[Oaksnaf]

Well then it begs the question, why enter Champ Car straight away with limited preperation, no knowledge and basically ruining your image. But even from his Porsche days down here the Porsche engineers didn't even like him and they found him arrogant and basically full of himself.

I just dont think we should wait 2-3 years for Marcus to improve. A step backwards into Toyota Atlantic would do him a world of good despite those seats already appear to have been taken. But ive never really liked or thought Marshall as a driver capable of Champ Car success.

[Kicking-back]

Exactly - ChampCar is a top level series, it should have top level drivers.

If you're not good enough to be a frontrunner in Formula 3, you need to get more experience, rather than jumping up.

[Oaksnaf]

Originally Posted by Kicking-back

Exactly - ChampCar is a top level series, it should have top level drivers.

If you're not good enough to be a frontrunner in Formula 3, you need to get more experience, rather than jumping up.

Is Gore committed to Marshall though? Would he give him a shot in the V8's full time afterall he has tin-top experience and knowledge of the tracks.

Because, personally, i cant see many doors opening in open wheelers unless he wants to go backwards, World Series by Renault? Back to British F3? Toyota Atlantic? But really there would be no guarentee of sucess and he can really only thank his $$ for where he is at the moment rather than his talent.

And as far as the wet session goes he was still over a second behind his team-mate 2.5 behind the leader and did more laps than those behind him (most of them) Im not going to turn every session against him. But until he gets off that P18 and starts to mix it with those ahead of him, id get rid of him. Time doesn't stand still for those who cant make it at the top.

[N I Tram]

One good non-competitive session in fluke conditions doesn't erase a season of poor performances (not to mention an uncompetitive F3 season rescued by a fluke win). He's a waste of that car, and he's got to improve a lot to be worthy of it in 2-3 years. I accept that Tag is driving very well, but in perecentage terms the gap is bigger than (say) Button and Sato in F1, and Tag is perhaps equivalent to Jenson in ability.

[mac]

If you want someone to beat Tag, convince Craig Gore to throw megabucks at James Courtney. I've got no doubt he is as quick as or quicker than anyone in Champ Car.

[macdaddy]

That's a tall order, mac.

[mac]

I won't go through his credentials, but Courtney is a freak.

His speed is absolutely phenomenal and he's a talent that could be in Formula One right now if not for a few factors that saw him become disillusioned with the whole F1 circus.

He is an incredibly wasted talent in SuperGT and I have no doubt that he is as quick as anyone in America.