Maro Engel

GROUPA · 29 Jul 2013, 23:27 (Ref:3283528)

After watching Engel last year at Phillip Island for the GT’s I thought he showed a lot of promise and was pleased he got the final Erebus seat. To date he has been a massive disappointment…I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt given he was learning the tracks and the development of the E Class AMG….but last weekends efforts or lack of has left me disappointed.

Quick in Friday means very little late on Sunday afternoon….this is his home track and he would have done plenty of laps but still he had a poor weekend.

Erebus can only play the development card so often and frankly it’s getting a little tired….another thing just what is Ryan Maddison bringing to the table as a CEO ? It would appear he just sits next to Betty and watch the race from the pit garage….other CEO’s appear to be more hands on….if you are just going to watch the monitors wouldn’t it be better to do this in the comfort of your own home ?

I'm prepared to give Engel one more chance - Phillip Island if he does not improve on a track he already knows he should be replaced.

**GTRMagic** · 30 Jul 2013, 01:52 (Ref:3283576)

I thought Mr Maddison is in charge of commercial operations, while Mr Stone is still in charge of technical operations.

So sitting next to the main commercial partner probably makes sense

mikuni · 30 Jul 2013, 02:28 (Ref:3283587)

I had exactly the same thoughts about Engel this weekend. He seems a great chap, and I'd been going pretty easy on him (and Holdsworth) due to the steep learning curve of everything this year, but when a team mate is consistantly trumping the other car(s), you have to take a step back and look at what the next step is.

V8 Supercars is proper touring car racing, bumper to bumper, and if you don't hold your shoulders firm you will find the kitty litter on every outing. This is what it looks like for Maro at the moment. I actually think open wheel and DTM is not a good breeding ground for this sort of racing.

Umai Naa · 30 Jul 2013, 03:50 (Ref:3283606)

The one thing that annoys me about multi-car operations, is when one car in the team is a rocketship, and the other(s) is (are) a pig, with no pace and shredded tyres.

At what point does the team manager say "Hey, that setup clearly isn't working, set it up the same as the faster one, and tweak it from there."?

**GTRMagic** · 30 Jul 2013, 04:29 (Ref:3283618)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Umai Naa

The one thing that annoys me about multi-car operations, is when one car in the team is a rocketship, and the other(s) is (are) a pig, with no pace and shredded tyres.

At what point does the team manager say "Hey, that setup clearly isn't working, set it up the same as the faster one, and tweak it from there."?

And if it is setup the same as the faster one?

"Drive it harder son..."

Chris - Melb · 31 Jul 2013, 01:55 (Ref:3284027)

Keep in mind that he is racing against guys who have a lot more miles on the tracks that he is trying to learn.

Probably more importantly he is up against guys who have more experience with the quirky V8 Supercars that effectively don't have a differential (search other threads if you don't understand what that means).

On that basis he has far less experience than even, for arguments sake, Chaz Mostert, and Maro is driving a make of car that isn't currently competitive, unlike Chaz. (BTW, I'm not knocking Chaz; he is obviously very talented)

Anyway, that's all I'm saying...

M Jones · 31 Jul 2013, 08:15 (Ref:3284105)

Not knocking Maro, but from what I have seen in this years DTM, I would say the driving standard is not as good as the V8 Supercars. Probably a bit of a generalisation I admit, but to me they look like a bunch of desperados, who will go for any gap that is not even there.

Chappelli · 31 Jul 2013, 20:23 (Ref:3284378)

Premat was rubbish in his first year.... and he had a half decent car.

I feel for Maro, it's a tough assignment with the added toughness.