Has Forsythe Gone Mad?

[Liz]

Poached from AutoSport On Line:

"Carpentier to drive against Air Force CF18


Team Player's have announced their participation in a bizarre contest to be held on June the 20th, when they will pit their Champ Car against an airforce CF18 Hornet jet fighter.

Canadian Patrick Carpentier will line up against one of the most powerful weapons his country's armed forces possesses, with 32,000lbs of thrust and the ability to achieve 180 knots before it even leaves the ground.

His mount will be his usual Reynard-Ford Champ Car, somewhat trimmed out for straight line speed.

"It must be quite a feeling to see a CF18 in your rear view mirror," said Carpentier.

"This event will certainly show the courage and composure that race car drivers and jet pilots must possess, requiring razor sharp precision at high speeds using state-of-the-art technology," said Colonel Dwight D. Davies of the Canadian air force."

Personally I think this is the nuttiest thing I have seen since Joie Chitwood's Thrill Show. What do you think?

[enzo]

Actually, this has been done a few time before.

Just one question though:

Where on his car do they plan to mount the Sidewinders ?

[Jay]

Liz, do you remember the race between Ben Johnson, a horse, and a stock car. Then there was the one between Sprinter Bruny Surin and a Ferrari F1 car at the Canadian GP.

Will we be able to see this on TV?

[Liz]

Jay, I remember the race among Ben Jonson et al., but not who won. And I'm sure it will be on TV - what other reason to do it? But what a risk for Patrick "Accident Prone" Carpentier! None of his serious injuries have happened on the track during competition, have they? Always doing some stunt or walking downstairs? What happens to his chances if he is hit by a Jet Fighter?

[marcus]

I got shown a magazine where an Aussie V8 supercar VT commodore raced a jet (not sure what kind) Mark Poole was behind the wheel of the VT and actually won the drag race until the jet lifted off the ground that is and Poole had no chance of keeping up with him...so i guess a champ car should stand a pretty good chance...gonna go find that magazine tommorrow and will post more accurate info for yas.

[Crash Test]

Also Marcus, remember last year when Porsche paid for a hour hour commercial on channel 10 to show off the GT3? Peter Fitzgerald raced one against a jet, won the start, and led the whole way until lift off when it was declared a draw.

[marcus]

yeh thats right crash ..i forgot all about that ..a little surprising to these results arent they..so if a porsche and a commodore can keep up I guess a champcar will have no problem at all .