Canada's Next Best Hope For An F1 Ride

[Last2LiftOff]

My apologies to any non-Canadians out there on this thread. Is Andrew Ranger Canada's next best hope for an F1 drive? He certainly seems to have some talent and at such a young age, lots of time to get noticed across the pond. Any other candidates?

[BSchneiderFan]

Michael Valiante is highly-rated by some.

[Snrub]

Ranger is only 18, but he's shocking many with his performances. He's met with two teams, one of them being Midland. Midland's interest seems to be more of the "can we milk you to bring sponsors on board" variety. I think it's safe to say that at the moment Ranger is probably the Canadian most likely to get into F1. How likely that is probably will depend on the next couple of years. A Canadian microbrewery called Steelback recently signed on as a Midland sponsor. Regardless, I think that Midland overesimates the ease of getting Canadian sponsors. Sponsoring Paul Tracy's car in Champ Car would have much more exposure and lower cost than sponsoring Midland and he's in his second season without a comercial sponsor.

Valiente's career isn't going anywhere (rightly or wrongly).

[BootsOntheSide]

He's certainly showing promise, but he's nowhere near being ready for F1, especially as ChampCar really isn't what it was in terms of talent level. A couple of Canadian-less years look likely before Andrew gets his chance.

[Last2LiftOff]

"a couple of Canadian-less years" indeed Boots.

[Boro]

I hope Ranger gets picked up, but his lack of european competition might hurt him some as far as getting recognized over there. Granted, JV and JPM also came from champ cars, but both have racing experience in other parts of the world.

As for the karters on the up, if Lacroix, Wickens and Cunningham can find some deep pockets supporting these two guys, you might find them racing in the bigs before long.

Morad for me is a dark-horse. I don't look too fondly at those who only excels in shifters but are mid-pack or worse in a clutch or direct drive kart.

[Hip Priest]

Originally Posted by Last2LiftOff

"a couple of Canadian-less years" indeed Boots.

Not if Jacques can keep going until he has a homegrown successor.

[BootsOntheSide]

Originally Posted by Hip Priest

Not if Jacques can keep going until he has a homegrown successor.

That's what I'm not expecting to happen right now. The last couple of races have taken the shine off what had been a run of respectabel races from Jacques.

Canadian motorsport seems to suffer from a lack of funding. Names like David Empringham and Michael Valiente come to mind, both have really found it hard to find rides worthy of their talent. Paul Tracy's ChampCar entry has been virtually unsponsored for 18 months, and he's the 2003 series champion, while Pat Carpentier had to switch to the IRL as no funding could be found for him. Even Alex Tagliani's backing mostly comes from Australians. Perhaps someone closer to the country knows why motor racing isn't seen as a good investment?

[Louis B.]

Andrew is excellent but, other than his second place earlier this season, has yet to show is full potential.

For those who don't know about him, he is a true racer whether it be with an open wheeler or a motor bike and whether it be on track or ice.

The good news about him is that Mr. Legault, the Canadian GP promoter, introduced him to a few teams at the last Montreal GP such that, with more of that combined with good results in Champs, he might one day be invited to test in f1.

Other than him, Canadians are going down the slope with the demise of the Players' connection further to the Canadian legal ban on all kinds of tobacco sponsorships.

[senna12]

It certainly does not help that there is an absolute lack of quality road course facilities in this country, particularly in Western Canada. There are very few places for youngsters to learn open wheel racing.

[Louis B.]

Originally Posted by BootsOntheSide

Perhaps someone closer to the country knows why motor racing isn't seen as a good investment?

A comparison between the respective livery of the Jordan & Benneton 1997 with those of this year's Renault & Jordan shows that this is in fact a worldwide problem.

I suspect that, other than for car manufacturers, the price to be paid by sponsors is not worth the exposure. This again brings us to the necessity for cutting costs such that f1 sponsoring becomes affordable again.

P.S. I also don't understand why people like Coke, Pepsi (I know, 7up did at some point), Nestle, Microsoft, 10/10th and other international giants are not sponsoring motorsport more than they do...

[Armco Bender]

Other than the Villeneuves I can only think of one other Canadian F1 driver,Eaton in the ,70s,been any others?.

[Mosport67]

Other than rent-a-drives in Canadian races there haven't been other Canadians. Eaton was only there because he had money.

I think Ranger is the next one but taking the next step is very difficult. Still he is only 18 so time is on his side.

[enemy-ace]

Originally Posted by Louis B.

P.S. I also don't understand why people like Coke, Pepsi (I know, 7up did at some point), Nestle, Microsoft, 10/10th and other international giants are not sponsoring motorsport more than they do...

Coke = NASCAR, Pepsi=NASCAR Nestle=NASCAR
Even Ranger's personal sponsor 'P&G-Tide detergent' is in NASCAR.

There is a lot of talent in Canada, but unless they go to Europe they probably won't get noticed. I know a lot of young kids in my Kart club dream of NASCAR as well. Don't get me wrong F1 is still very popular, but NASCAR is becoming a juggernaut.

[TedN]

Originally Posted by Mosport67

Other than rent-a-drives in Canadian races there haven't been other Canadians. Eaton was only there because he had money.

I think Ranger is the next one but taking the next step is very difficult. Still he is only 18 so time is on his side.

Allen Berg had a short stint with Osella in 1986.

Ted

[StickShift]

Ranger is only sponsored by the Canadian leg of Procter & Gamble. They've sponsored him since his days in Fran-Am, but I doubt that the company will give him much more support than he has now.

Ranger's ability to reach the international stage will depend on his next year or two in Champ Car. Paul Tracy said in an interview before Toronto that he thinks that Ranger will be the next driver to dominate the series if he's given the right seat -- I wouldn't be terribly surprised if Ranger is given that right seat at Forsythe next season...

To be honest though, unless the talent level in Champ Car drastically improves in the next couple years, I think Ranger will have to shift his career over to Europe before he attempts F1. At least his manager has some hefty F1 connections.

[Boro]

still young enough to do some GP2.

should be fairly quick out of the box over there, since the cars are somewhat similar since the only traction control is his right foot, much like a champ car.

[chunterer]

Ranger is a future star i would say, but that's no guarantee of an F1 ride. In 1985/86 everyone went crazy about Tracy, then it was Jacques and then the late great Greg Moore who was surely gonna get to F1 eventually?

Is Bruno Spengler Canadian? - he seemed pretty useful in F3 and is now in DTM- i guess that means his single seater career is over?

Mercedes quite like him though?

[runshaw]

Bruno Spengler only finished 11th I think in Euro F3 last year so that to me doesn't seem like F1 material, but who knows.

No one on this thread has mentioned Sean McIntosh and I reckon he's pretty handy. He raced in the UK last year for the first time and was a race winner in UK FRenault which is no mean feat considering it is probably the most competitive single-seater series in Britain, and along with his win and 4 podiums and 6th overall in the ch'ship, he won the Graduate Cup. He has won another race this year and sits 5th in the standings heading into the 2nd half of the season.

[Louis B.]

Originally Posted by Armco Bender

Other than the Villeneuves I can only think of one other Canadian F1 driver,Eaton in the ,70s,been any others?.

There was a team owner though named Walter Wolf. I remember that because they had a Canadian flag on the car. Frank Williams and Patrick Head made their first f1 steps in that team if I am not mistaken.

[BootsOntheSide]

Originally Posted by Louis B.

There was a team owner though named Walter Wolf. I remember that because they had a Canadian flag on the car. Frank Williams and Patrick Head made their first f1 steps in that team if I am not mistaken.

You're not entirely correct. Wolf and Williams ran a team together in 1976, which split after an unsuccessful season in which something like 10 drivers raced for them, but Frank had been entering cars on a private basis since 1969. Wolf's own team shone in 1977 but quickly faded.

[Armco Bender]

Allen Berg had a short stint with Osella in 1986.

How could I forget,he even raced a Formula Atlantic down here in the early '80"s.

[Mosport67]

Originally Posted by TedN

Allen Berg had a short stint with Osella in 1986.

Ted

Right. I had completely forgot about him.

There could be quite a list of one off for the Canadian GP including names like Eppie Weitzes, Bill Brack, John Cannon, John Cordts, and Al Pease (who was black flagged for being too slow).

Bruno Spengler hasn't been able to take the next step so he won't be the one.

Paul Tracy might have been except Flavio wanted money and Penske was paying Tracy.

Bertrand Fabi might have been one but he died in a F3 accident.

Peter Ryan drove in the 1961 USGP and then died in 1962 in a Formula 2 Lotus at Rhiems.

Making the step to F1 is very difficult. There are many who just don't get there for many different reasons.

Lets hope Ranger is the one.

[chunterer]

Mosport, well said.

Forgot about Bertrand - he was clearly an outstanding talent who would've reached the top echelons.

I admit, i'm not upto speed on Spengler, but a DTM drive doesn't necessarily mean he won't go further up the ladder, in same way as Gary Paffett and Jamie Green are clearly future possibles as well?

I'd like to see more of Ranger and by the sounds of it Runshaw, McIntosh as well

[RSportRacer]

another possible canadian given the right chances could be Jesse Mason. Didnt he do Brit F3 for a while and Infiniti Pro? Havent heard his name for a while thou