Dario Franchitti to CART???

[Liz]

Most of us knew he wasn't coming back.

[Dov]

Originally posted by codename_47
No Brits for the Champ Cars next year....I know which series will be getting more attention from this isle!

Do you mean that the EARL will be getting more attention from the U.K. media, the racing fans or both??

[Testure]

Originally posted by Dov
Do you mean that the EARL will be getting more attention from the U.K. media, the racing fans or both??

IRL and CART have zero profile in the mainstream media in the U.K. (and here in Ireland). Motorsport is Formula 1, some rally and some bikes, though at least CART is known for Montoya, Villeneuve and da Matta. Among sports and motorsport media, however, I think the IRL is being reported on more, purely because of the British drivers. While that'll undoubtedly increase next year, in general there's just no interest in oval racing. Put it like this - if Darren Manning won the IRL championship next year, it might get a 20 second blurb on the evening news, if at all. I think it's seen as a rather bizarre American idea. Absolutely no offence meant by that!

[codename_47]

Originally posted by Dov
Do you mean that the EARL will be getting more attention from the U.K. media, the racing fans or both??

Probably the specialist press will devote more time to a series with 4 Brits in it than one with none. (It goes down to that statistic that any country's interest in a sport depends on their abilty to support a countryman....look at the Mexicans in Champ Cars and the Wonders Alonso has done for F1 viewership in Spain)

Also remains to be seen what BRITISH Eurosport does...continue with Champ Cars or switch to IRL where the casual fans have some Brits to back...

However, the mainstream media will continue not caring....I dread to say it but I doubt they'd notice even if the worst case scenario happened!

Oh well....won't affect me anyway!

[thebear]

Originally posted by Snrub
Remember how the SCCA is now in charge of corner workers, etc?

I believe at the time of Franchitti's incedent SCCA 'supported' the CART "Observers". Currently the CART "Observers" have joined SCCA and will hopefully be better supervised.

[Tailwind]

Oh well...good luck to him.

[Dov]

Originally posted by codename_47
(It goes down to that statistic that any country's interest in a sport depends on their abilty to support a countryman....look at the Mexicans in Champ Cars and the Wonders Alonso has done for F1 viewership in Spain)

I completely understand what you are saying.....if you have very little sports/news coverage of CART, no live or fully rebroadcasted races to watch and no countryman to support, then it would be very hard to maintain one's interest in the sport! I truly feel your frustration! That being said, we (the fans) can't control the amount of coverage the British media gives CART and we have no control over Brit drivers who want or have to drive in the IRL!

I've been watching ChampCars since the early 80's and there were a number of years where I didn't have a countryman to follow & support, yet I still conrinued to watch. Why? Because the ChampCars raced on all kinds of different circuits/tracks....road courses, street courses, large/medium/small ovals and an airport circuit!!! CART had and still has the diversity that makes it the most exciting and entertaining auto racing series to watch in the world. They're the quickest and best looking open/closed wheeled racing cars in the world. The racing in CART has always been very competitive, very close and action filled, but the races haven't been manufactured.....unlike another racing series we know....

Originally posted by codename_47
Oh well....won't affect me anyway!

That's good to hear! I hope you remain a ChampCar fan for many years to come and hey, you never know, maybe a few years down the road when OWRS has this ship pointed in the right direction hopefully you and your fellow Brits will have a decent TV package to watch the CART races and you will have 2 or 3 countryman to cheer on! I was really looking forward to watching Darren Manning continue his ChampCar career....after PT, Darren quickly became my favourite driver to cheer for. Although I think he made an unwise decision to head to the IRL (safety reasons), I'm not sure he had much of a choice. Hopefully we will see him in CART again in the near future!
KEEP ON ROLL'IN CART>>>

Cheers,
Dov