Not Me . . . I Don't Want It

Nuvolari · 20 Oct 2000, 14:24 (Ref:43710)

Well, friends, it's come to this:

After the crash fest at Surfer's, who's going to limp away with the title?

marcus · 20 Oct 2000, 16:48 (Ref:43721)

I personally hope Moreno can get up to win but my gut telss me de ferran will win if he can keep it all together.

this is also the topic of this weeks poll cast your vote at http://tentenths.com/poll

ChefJohn · 20 Oct 2000, 19:08 (Ref:43739)

The championship has basically boiled down to Gil or Adrian. Vasser & Moreno are out of it; a tie in points with Gil would still give the crown to DeFerran based on number of victories. Paul Tracy would have to score a victory (20 points) AND have Gil self-destruct; not likely with Roger Penske & Rick Mears coaching Gil. Kenny Brack finally win a race, hhhmmmmm.... I'm going with DeFerran to take the title

R · 20 Oct 2000, 19:29 (Ref:43747)

My prediction is that Adrian Fernandez will win the title. I think he's on a roll now, and he won at Fontana last year.

Liz · 20 Oct 2000, 22:47 (Ref:43778)

It will be either Gil or Adrian. If Gil doesn't win this year he will never win at all. But does he have to win the race at all costs, or is there some kind of mathemagical way he can win if Fernandez has a bad race? Somebody who can do that anorak math please enlighten me? :confused:

Crash Test · 20 Oct 2000, 23:21 (Ref:43787)

I always have this picture in my head of Penske falling over in long distance races. Out of interest, when was their last win over 500 miles? 94?

Fernandez might get up, but what a shock that will be? What has he done all year? It would be good to see Kenny get up but it's not going to happen. Paul has forced himself out through carnage. Moreno...well umm, i think he has done well to get to where he is anyways.

Liz · 20 Oct 2000, 23:53 (Ref:43796)

Will he cry on the podium, whoever he is?

ChefJohn · 21 Oct 2000, 04:30 (Ref:43828)

As far as points go, if Fernandez finishes in 7th place, that's good for 6 points which would give him the title if Gil fails to finish in the points. If Fernandez wins, Gil needs to be right behind him in 2nd in order to take the title. In order for Tracy or Brack to win the title, they would need 2 miracles followed by an act of God. I am gonna watch the race without socks on so I'll be ready to count to 20!

Airhead · 21 Oct 2000, 11:03 (Ref:43867)

Well the heart says Paul Tracey. He is the most inspired and deluded in one package. Not a bad thing really. But the head says Gil. Old F1 guys never die they just keep on keeping on. Blundel anybody....

**bella** · 22 Oct 2000, 12:22 (Ref:44029)

go gil go gil.....i want the good guy to win. mr tracy has been too rude in the past for me to like him.
and besides, i wanna see him on the podium on the phone trying to explain what he won now....

adrian never has a bad race, does he? he's always in the points, trolling along to himself. and look what happened last year. despite everything that went on, he picked the right fuel strategy and won it.

Liz · 22 Oct 2000, 15:11 (Ref:44054)

And what a way for Adrian to get the last push to start his own team too, eh?

Nevertheless, I want Gil to win. Adrian can win next year. I really think this is Gil's last chance.....

**bella** · 22 Oct 2000, 19:51 (Ref:44085)

he's still quite young, in the sceme of things. what will stop him next year then? helio perhaps?

Crash Test · 22 Oct 2000, 22:07 (Ref:44133)

Gil's last chance? You've got to be joking! The form Penske has shown this year is about the same as what they did in 93...and what happened in 94?? They should be able to absolutely clean up next year, and I' say that Gil is still stronger than Helio anyways...

Liz · 22 Oct 2000, 22:34 (Ref:44141)

Erm, I don't think so. Helio is a wild man, but once he settles down a bit he's going to leave tire tracks all over Gil's helmet.

And I think Gil is among the older tier of the CART pilots, is he not? He will be 33 next month ...

Crash Test · 23 Oct 2000, 00:10 (Ref:44158)

But how old is Moreno?
How old is Mikey?
They're plenty old and could still win the championship. Heck, mikey would have already won teh championship this year if it wasn't for the team giving him a furnace on wheels...

Paul is also a mad man. He was told to settle down in 1992. Lets hope it doesn't take Helio 8 years to settle down...

Airhead · 23 Oct 2000, 00:23 (Ref:44161)

I guess that settling down is a comparative thing. It's funny really when you try to compare driver behavour from one series to the next. I'll start the ball rolling...

Paul certainly drives aggressively (so does Jaun, so does Michael) I believe he has shown more maturity of late. He is less likely to take out his team mate than before. My conclusion from some of the posts above is that people believe he is too aggressive. My impression is (and I could be wrong here)that one MS (I didn't go the TGF route) is also extremely aggressive to the point of previously punting people out of the way. Yet this is somehow acceptable in his case and not in the case of other drivers. Remember we are talking about driver behavour here, not levels of skill. One rule for all?

Liz · 23 Oct 2000, 00:58 (Ref:44166)

Helio isn't aggressive - he just won't back down. (Montooya is the same way I think - "get out of my way or I will leave tire tracks on your head.") This is generally speaking a good thing but it does lead to pitlane crashes and punctured tires - and getting put out of the races.

Mikey is way too old for CART. Moreno is a different and unique story - he will be racing until he's 85 years old or as long as somebody will give him something to drive. By and large I think racing is a young man's game these days.

But I do agree there should be one rule for all - and shoving someone off the track to get the win, except in the BTCC, should be punished with an immediate DQ. Racing is dangerous enough.

Airhead · 23 Oct 2000, 01:13 (Ref:44168)

Mikey may well be too old for CART - I'm not really a fan of Michael Andretti's (although when he retired at Surfers he walked past me back to the pits, to my "bad luck Michael" - well you think of something intelligent to say at short notice - he just vaguely nodded his head in a disparing sort of way)but when you compare results of Moreno and Andretti for the year the American comes out on top. He also is always placed higher than his younger team mate in a race and would have won the championship but for consistent exhaust header problems. Not bad for an old guy.

Liz · 23 Oct 2000, 02:22 (Ref:44174)

If it wasn't for that Red Mist Macho Move at Surfer's, Gil would already be champion.

But even if he comes in second, it's not bad for an old guy.

I know what you mean about coming up with something sensible to say when you're face to face with a pilot - I usually say something totally lame and then think of brilliant remarks all the way home.

Crash Test · 23 Oct 2000, 02:31 (Ref:44175)

Gees Mr Moffat, I have a feeling you werestanding somewhere near me... I gave old Mikey a high five and a pat on the back... he was in a very grumbly mood, but can you blame him?

I really doubt Paul has changed much lately. What happened at the last race is a carbon copy of what he as involved with in '97...tangled with a competitor on a restart, and then tangled later that lap with another competitor and took himself out...

I've said it before, and i will no doubt say it again, but the season he can limit himself to 1 DNF due to contact he will be the champion...

Airhead · 23 Oct 2000, 04:28 (Ref:44179)

Dear Crash Test,

I was standing up from Honda corner at that stage. The reason I noticed Michael was some guy was shouting something to somebody on the other side of the fence. I wondered why somebody would bother abusing a marshal when I realised they were saying something to Michael and then patting him on the back. You didn't have a yellow shirt on did you?

Airhead · 23 Oct 2000, 04:31 (Ref:44180)

Dear Liz,

Gil being a championship contender is a relatively recent event. Michael was a contender to the last four or five rounds worth of DNF ruled him out. If the car had held together where would Michael be now?

Valve Bounce · 23 Oct 2000, 05:48 (Ref:44190)

This will be a long race. I think that the guy running the tactics (standing on a tool box, I gather) for Patrick will win the race for either Moreno or more likely Fernandez. It will be a long race, and plenty of opportunities for Gil and several others to do something silly. Montoya will be desperately trying to impress everyone in his last CART for a couple of years, and I don't really fancy his chances. Maybe Franchitti will win the race. If de ferran had any grey matter in his head, all he really had to do was get some points at Surfer's but we have all discussed this already. I'll run with Fernandez to take out the series.

Nuvolari · 23 Oct 2000, 07:19 (Ref:44209)

Well . . . since I started this thing:

I said a few races ago I liked The Mexican's chances. Given his history on ovals -- I think my money may be safer than ever.

It would be nice to see Gil with the title, though I've gotta believe SOMETHING will happen to scuttle his chances.

But . . . if he can't do it, then Adrian would wear the crown well, I think.

Bud 1 · 23 Oct 2000, 07:38 (Ref:44212)

Basically I`m happy with who ever takes it as long as it is a good race, Gil always seems to be there or thereabouts whilst Adrian seems to sneak in without you realising.
With regard to the age thing, I think as long as you can still do the job, as Mikey has this year, then it is not a problem, he has been let down more by car failure, but then so has Montoya.