Van der Garde gets SA 3rd seat

Dutch chap · 15 Dec 2006, 18:24 (Ref:1791625)

As revealed today in Dutch press: Giedo van der Garde will be test and reserve driver for Super Aguri for 2007. I just wonder how much money was involved....

alonso11 · 15 Dec 2006, 19:20 (Ref:1791657)

well he was always well off and this year even Mclaren added to his budget. Here:

Me started the the Van der Garde to Super Aguri thread about a week ago and the interest was limited

I dont think van der Garde is anything special, its a shame tho that Di Resta doesnt even have a one-off test offer.

Also, i think Yamamoto did a decent job given the circumstances, and 7th fastest lap in Brazil was brilliant. If Super Aguri still mean to be an all-Japanese team, i dont really see why Yamamoto couldnt stay there as the team's 3rd driver.

hotwheels · 15 Dec 2006, 20:39 (Ref:1791716)

Why Van der Garde? Is he paying for the driver? And, is he ACTUALLY linked to McLaren, still? After been a world champion in Karting I can't remember anything really special coming from him.

nobster · 15 Dec 2006, 20:48 (Ref:1791722)

Quote:

Originally Posted by hotwheels

Why Van der Garde? Is he paying for the driver? And, is he ACTUALLY linked to McLaren, still? After been a world champion in Karting I can't remember anything really special coming from him.

You better watch out for him next year then, I think he has the talent and is very popular in the paddock and he is good for the press.

Dutch chap · 15 Dec 2006, 21:45 (Ref:1791761)

Quote:

Originally Posted by nobster

.... I think he has the talent.....

No, he hasn't. Sorry.

Daisy · 15 Dec 2006, 23:15 (Ref:1791823)

If Yamamoto can do it, than Giedo should be able to show some good things without a doubt. Yamamoto's CV before F1 showed nothing, but he did not bad. Giedo has been at the front of F3, he's fast (look at the Masters), but he needs to be more consisent. Inconsitensy was his problem this year. I think he qualified 4 or 5 times on the front row in the F3 Euroseries, but was involved in some accidents which cost him a lot of points. If he can keep out of this trouble in the future and learn a lot this year with F1 testing, he can have a nice break in F1.

alonso11 · 16 Dec 2006, 11:33 (Ref:1792027)

funny thing just happend, they removed him from the mclaren site overnight

http://www.mclaren.com/theteam/young_driver.php

FPV GTHO · 16 Dec 2006, 11:40 (Ref:1792032)

It seems alot of F3 drivers are getting into F1 lately. I have to wonder if theyre doing themselves any favours putting themselves under the spotlight so quickly.

alonso11 · 16 Dec 2006, 11:45 (Ref:1792034)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daisy

If Yamamoto can do it, than Giedo should be able to show some good things without a doubt. Yamamoto's CV before F1 showed nothing, but he did not bad. Giedo has been at the front of F3, he's fast (look at the Masters), but he needs to be more consisent. Inconsitensy was his problem this year. I think he qualified 4 or 5 times on the front row in the F3 Euroseries, but was involved in some accidents which cost him a lot of points. If he can keep out of this trouble in the future and learn a lot this year with F1 testing, he can have a nice break in F1.

yea the problem is, one could tell you are dutch without even taking a look at your flag

van der Garde's CV is even poorer. He was team-mate to Vettel and Di Resta, yet, scored less than half as many points than those guys did

and it was his 3rd season... always with top teams

he couldnt even manage to win the Dutch FRenault title could he? he came 4th to guys who all went on being mediocre elsewhere

Quote:

Originally Posted by FPV GTHO

It seems alot of F3 drivers are getting into F1 lately. I have to wonder if theyre doing themselves any favours putting themselves under the spotlight so quickly.

well there is a slight possibility it wont work out for him the same way it did for Vettel

then again, if you are on pay per mile basis, it doesnt really matter what series are you coming from. if he still manages to shine, people will think :coooool, what were the odds. and if he doesnt people will go: ohh well .. what did you expect

FPV GTHO · 16 Dec 2006, 12:02 (Ref:1792046)

Quote:

Originally Posted by alonso11

well there is a slight possibility it wont work out for him the same way it did for Vettel

Didnt Kubica also come from F3, or was that WSBR?

Quote:

then again, if you are on pay per mile basis, it doesnt really matter what series are you coming from. if he still manages to shine, people will think :coooool, what were the odds. and if he doesnt people will go: ohh well .. what did you expect

I guess thats the nature of F1. SA probably feel Davidson and Sato can develop the car, and anybody else is simply there to fill a sponsorship gap so talent and development skills are secondary needs.

alonso11 · 16 Dec 2006, 12:47 (Ref:1792087)

Quote:

Originally Posted by FPV GTHO

Didnt Kubica also come from F3, or was that WSBR?

Kubica came from WS yeah, he dominated the series and won a RenaultF1 test in Barcelona as the prize.

EVERYTHING he was able to achieve in F1, stems from there. He did 40laps in the Renault and was absolutely increddible how quick he adopted, finished the day only 2 tenths off Motagny's pace and some 2 second ahead Mondini (who also won his testday courtesy of his FRenault V6 title) After the test Dr. Theissen approached Kubica in the paddock and the rest is history

btw, i've read in a Flav interview that overlooking Kubica was one of his greatest mistakes (and thats quite a compliment if you think about it)

anyway back to van der Garde

Daisy · 16 Dec 2006, 15:00 (Ref:1792146)

Quote:

Originally Posted by alonso11

yea the problem is, one could tell you are dutch without even taking a look at your flag

van der Garde's CV is even poorer. He was team-mate to Vettel and Di Resta, yet, scored less than half as many points than those guys did

and it was his 3rd season... always with top teams

he couldnt even manage to win the Dutch FRenault title could he? he came 4th to guys who all went on being mediocre elsewhere

At least he won a race in a big F3 championship ... I haven't seen Yamamoto doing that, he was always at the back of the same championship

. Giedo can be quick, but he has made some mistakes. He only can profit from a year testdriving, learning to use the car. An if he get's a chance to race, let's see what he can. Look at Doornbos, not a brilliant CV before F1 (expect for F3000, but Arden was very good that year), but he's doing well.

alonso11 · 16 Dec 2006, 15:18 (Ref:1792151)

Yamamoto also had the occasional success and race wins, and i would in no way put the Japanese F3 down. More importantly, he was good in F1, he is not "might be" he was.

But what you're saying makes sense i guess, lets see how hes doin

alonso11 · 26 Dec 2006, 11:15 (Ref:1799336)

team just confirmed they keep Yamamoto as their 2nd test driver. Mr. Aguri helps him finding the budget so that he can afford to race (most likely in GP2 or WSbR) paralel to his testing duties in F1.

I think its cool he gets another chance. Now we have 4 Japanese juniors to do F1 tests in 2007, Nakajima, Yamamoto, Hirate and Kobayashi. Wonder who makes the most out of it.

**Born Racer** · 28 Dec 2006, 12:19 (Ref:1800458)

Super Aguri said Yuji Ide would be kept on as a test driver, but as far as I'm aware he never tested after his last race with the team (not that I'm saying this'll be the case for Yamamoto.)

Was his licence revoked? Did he go back to Formula Nippon?

Kieran20 · 28 Dec 2006, 12:35 (Ref:1800472)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Born Racer

Super Aguri said Yuji Ide would be kept on as a test driver, but as far as I'm aware he never tested after his last race with the team (not that I'm saying this'll be the case for Yamamoto.)

Was his licence revoked? Did he go back to Formula Nippon?

yer i thought his super liscence was taken from him, not sure where he went though.

Knowlesy · 28 Dec 2006, 13:15 (Ref:1800530)

He did indeed lose his super license. I'd be surprised if we saw him back in an F1 car again to be honest, testing or otherwise.

alonso11 · 28 Dec 2006, 14:57 (Ref:1800580)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Born Racer

Super Aguri said Yuji Ide would be kept on as a test driver, but as far as I'm aware he never tested after his last race with the team (not that I'm saying this'll be the case for Yamamoto.)

Was his licence revoked? Did he go back to Formula Nippon?

Yea he did go back to Nippon straight after losing his licence to partner another F1/CART refugee Wirdheim at Dandelion Racing

Just for the record Wirdheim outqualified him 5 to 1, and scored 13 points as compared to Ide's zero (best finish of a 10th place)

He did look like a complete disaster in 2006 didnt he, which is kinda odd considering he did outpace some big names in Macau back in the days and was kinda good in Nippon too. Having FIA banning you from the pinnacle of motorsports must be hard to recover from, wonder if he puts his act together again, ever.

**Born Racer** · 28 Dec 2006, 19:41 (Ref:1800718)

Surprised he´s not on the ´F1 Rejects´ website actually, given that he was rejected by none other than the sport´s governing body.

SennaTheGreat · 29 Dec 2006, 19:48 (Ref:1801419)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Born Racer

Surprised he´s not on the ´F1 Rejects´ website actually, given that he was rejected by none other than the sport´s governing body.

Still plenty of time for him to end up on it mate!!!!

Rennen · 29 Dec 2006, 22:26 (Ref:1801518)

I have a healthy respect for any driver that won the World Championships in International karting, but I have reservations about him getting the 3rd seat over Yamamoto, who has been retained as an Aguri test driver. He did a respectable job I thought when one compared his times to Sato.

van de Garde will be out on unknow circuits when the track will be at it's most green and tricky. Even if he keeps it on the black stuff, the Aguri mechanics will have plenty to do adjusting his car, as he's loads taller than Sato and Ant!

Teretonga · 29 Dec 2006, 23:25 (Ref:1801536)

Van der Garde drove for CRG the year Liuzzi won the world title in FA for them. He matched Liuzzi in everything except wins in the finals so there is little difference in speed at that stage. He is probably potentially as good as Liuzzi but a little later in the development cycle. Where he goes from here though will depend on how well he does in GP2...

**FIRE** · 1 Feb 2007, 21:08 (Ref:1831383)

Van de Garde has left SA and will be the new testdriver of Spyker

http://www.f1racing.net/en/news/2007..._test_drivers/

kipper · 1 Feb 2007, 21:37 (Ref:1831404)

Quote:

Originally Posted by FIRE

Van de Garde has left SA and will be the new testdriver of Spyker

I can't really see why van der Garde has made the switch, after all with test drivers, he is unlikely to get much running.

safc_fan89 · 2 Feb 2007, 06:38 (Ref:1831597)

Surely if he was that good, a better team would have snapped him up? I don't see why SA are so angry about it...but they claim he was under contract so this could lead to more trouble...

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