Oriol Servia - the new Moreno?

[Hazard]

• Replaces Bell at Patrick

• Replaces Junqueira at Newman-Haas

• Replaces Tracy at Forsythe

Whilst his regular rides (PPI, PWR, PKV never work out [new ride excluded, not run yet] - or is the pattern that they're all three letter acronyms beggining with P?)

So, is he the new supersub of the Champcar series?

(Loaded question)

[Hazard]

I also think Servia's answered it

[Snrub]

Servia like Moreno has good technical abilities and I think that makes him able to be dropped into any car. They've both well liked which I think means that they can get along with any team. They are both happy to race and thus they're very motivated to do a good job.

Like Servia's opportunity at Newman-Hass, the Forsythe chance is a great one. Dominguez has sponsorship for 3 races. He hasn't exactly done well at the first two of those races. I can imagine a scenerio when PT is healthy, where Forsythe is faced with the decision to race Servia or Dominguez. The Forsythe team has to be absolutely thrilled with the job that Servia did at Long Beach.

Then there's Dan Clarke. He's not exactly setting the world on fire at Minardi so far this year. That is unless you consider the "world" what happends to the car after he runs it into things. Perhaps Minardi or someone else will be impressed with Servia's super-sub performance and hire him on.

The other thing that Servia and Moreno have in common is that if they're "safe" they perform mostly at a satisfactory level. When they have a fire lit under them they raise their game to be impressive.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by Snrub

The other thing that Servia and Moreno have in common is that if they're "safe" they perform mostly at a satisfactory level. When they have a fire lit under them they raise their game to be impressive.

I think you nailed it on the head and it's why they always did get passed over in favor of other drivers for top rides.

[rustyfan]

Looks like Servia will have a shot at getting a ride for the rest of the season. From Robin Miller's latest article over at SpeedTV.com:

While congratulating his new driver Sunday afternoon, Forsythe beamed: "There are not many guys who could have jumped into a strange car and did what Oriol did today."

Yet the co-owner of Champ Car wouldn't endorse him for the rest of the season.

"I'm not making any decisions yet," he said.

What if Servia wins Houston?

"Then he's definitely got the ride," replied Forsythe.

[Jimmy Magnusson]

*Cue to Dominguez looking very worried*

[BootsOntheSide]

I think Servia has an engineering degree, which probably explains what Snrub points to. Still, his drive at Long Beach was superb under any circumstances, and you have to wonder how the series has managed to leave him without a ride for this season.

[Snrub]

Good point Boots, it's a mechanical engineering degree to boot. In other words teams hire people like him to be their engineer. I'm pretty sure that his technical abilities are one of the reasons he did well with DCR.

Bourdais is a mechanical engineer as well, which creates additional confusion as to why F1 teams see little value in him.

Additional interesting comments from that Miller article:

"It ****es me off that Oriol doesn't have a ride because he deserves one," said Sebastien Bourdais following his third straight LBGP victory. "I don't think it's right. I think if we're a professional series, we should have professional drivers.

Originally Posted by Neil Mickelwright

I lobbied to get Oriol in our other car all winter, I just didn't want it to be under these circumstances.."
"I think he's a quality driver and he showed it today. And I think everyone agrees he belongs in this series full-time."

[Neil iDT]

Servia should have definately had a seat for this season. He's a damn nice bloke and a damn good driver.

Alas, ChampCar teams are short on sponsor money, so teams would rather take a driver who brings money, even if it lessens their chances of winning significantly. ChampCar should not really be here at all anymore, but it defied the odds, which is a great thing. It's on the up again and hopefully this situation will sort itself in the near future.

[Peno]

Call me crazy, but Servia seems to perform better when he is substituting for someone, compared to when he has his own full-time seat.

[D.R.T.]

In fairness though his subsitute rides are usually better cars than his full time rides

[roachy101]

it depends on the team he's with. like he did well last year with newman-haas as they're one of the more experienced teams

[Hazard]

Originally Posted by roachy101

it depends on the team he's with. like he did well last year with newman-haas as they're one of the more experienced teams

How was your year long coma?

Servia subbed at Newman-Haas in 2005. Last year he drove for PKV Racing.

And you're countering D.R.T.'s point with another substitute ride. It's not argued he did will with Haas - but it wasn't his full time ride. He'd replaced Junqueira after his Indy 500 crash.

[Hazard]

Clearly Servia isn't the new Moreno - as Moreno is!

(Already reported in the race thread)

[D.R.T.]

Quite unbelievable the lastest turn of events

[TWRv12]

Originally Posted by BootsOntheSide

I think Servia has an engineering degree, which probably explains what Snrub points to. Still, his drive at Long Beach was superb under any circumstances, and you have to wonder how the series has managed to leave him without a ride for this season.

Just like all the other people left without a ride. Theres a long way to go before CART is anything like healthy

[Tenoch]

I think Oriol is gonna get the ride. Although I feel like some of Dominguez' woes may of been because his part of team was thrown together so quickly.