no more swede

sr230772 · 3 Dec 2003, 17:33 (Ref:802834)

more bad news no more stefan johhansen what about american spirit does this mean the end for them too does cart need anymore bad news or are assist stripping for a new seris to start to replace cart when it finaly sadly goes bust

carsten66 · 3 Dec 2003, 23:44 (Ref:803183)

Stefan Johansson only announced that he is no longer associated with the ASTJ Team ( he had resigned as a director
of the team ) and is now "looking forward to new and different challenges"...

... and perhaps we will see Björn Wirdheim (he was test ing with Patrick Racing) next year (hope so), he is a swede...

BootsOntheSide · 4 Dec 2003, 14:38 (Ref:803778)

American Sprit are beign wound up at present. Hunter-Reay's moeny should go elsewhere, while Vasser is looking to buy into Patrick.

And by the way, some parts of the world have something called punctuation. It's really good.

Jay · 4 Dec 2003, 19:28 (Ref:804014)

Yup, ASTJ is being licquidated right now... hopefully the parts will be bought up by the OWRS bunch to prepare for next year...my guess is that they'll have to have a similar (series supported) team in 2004 to make up the grid...so maybe some of those who lost their job at ASTJ will be rehired.

sr230772 · 4 Dec 2003, 21:32 (Ref:804112)

sorry for the spelling

carsten66 · 4 Dec 2003, 22:11 (Ref:804148)

Quote:

Originally posted by Jay
Yup, ASTJ is being licquidated right now... hopefully the parts will be bought up by the OWRS bunch to prepare for next year...my guess is that they'll have to have a similar (series supported) team in 2004 to make up the grid...so maybe some of those who lost their job at ASTJ will be rehired.

Carl Russo's RuSport for sure needs some parts for his entry in 2004... (I know, Toyota is also knocking on his door...)

f1manoz · 5 Dec 2003, 06:13 (Ref:804419)

Sad for Stefan, but it was always difficult for the guy running with next-to-no sponsorship for an entire season. Hopefully he can move on to another challenge. But we should all give thanks for his two-car effort this year.

OWRS should buy the stock and sell it to new teams!

jetsetter · 5 Dec 2003, 07:35 (Ref:804462)

This is bad news for the series, they really need to be out trying to entice guys to keep their money in the series, hopefully someone can ensure that the team survives.

SALEEN S7R · 5 Dec 2003, 09:50 (Ref:804536)

Yes indeed a blow for the series.

Still things are slowly getting better, and as has already been mentioned we should have (hopefully) another Swede in CART for 2004 in the shape of Bjorn Wirdheim, hes a F3000 champion and ultra fast and could do with a break.

BootsOntheSide · 5 Dec 2003, 12:49 (Ref:804695)

Quote:

Originally posted by SALEEN S7R
Still things are slowly getting better

Yep, the last month has been brillaint:

A prestigious race cancelled, leaving the series massively unbalanced
A massive lawsuit imposed against CART for the cancellation
A race winning team going bankrupt, leaving a former champion driveless
A successful ex-IRL team, whose defection was cited as a major coup, on the brink, leaving Haberfeld rideless
The cancellation of the season-opener, one of the major successes of 2003, meaning that the series won't start until everything else has been underway for weeks
The buyout looking to be dead, replaced by a complex agreement which looks unlikely to be ready by April

It's a champagne era for CART!

Dov · 5 Dec 2003, 13:15 (Ref:804726)

Boots,

you're right, CART is in the emergency room at the moment, but we're still alive and kicking! OWRS (KK/GF/PG) are all intelligent businessmen.....KK is LOADED with money, Forsythe isn't doing to bad himself and Mr. Gentilozzi will be a great CEO....he know's how to talk to people! They have Big Plans for ChampCars!!! They will be successful....it won't happen overnight, but give it 2-3 years and you will see this series turned around. The more I talk the smaller the "fat lady that sings" gets...

rustyfan · 5 Dec 2003, 14:09 (Ref:804782)

While I sincerely hope OWRS does manage to gain control of CART and turn it around, I think it's a bit premature and praise them before we actually see some solid results.

Talk is, after all, cheap regardless of how noble it may sound until you actually produce the goods as well.

Dov · 5 Dec 2003, 14:21 (Ref:804789)

It's also cheap when some people can't stop talking about the D & G! The question is....do you see the glass as half empty or half full? I choose to look at it as half full....

rustyfan · 5 Dec 2003, 14:34 (Ref:804797)

Once OWRS manages to gain control of the assets and presents a solid plan for what they intend to do, then I might start to see the glass as half full.

BootsOntheSide · 5 Dec 2003, 14:51 (Ref:804811)

The glass is half-full, but all that's been added recently is poison. I speak as a somewhat distressed CART fan (open-wheel road-racing fan in general) who is seeing my favourite series disintegrating before my eyes. I apologise if I came across too engative, but that is how I see the state of play.

Dov · 5 Dec 2003, 15:28 (Ref:804857)

Fair enough, Boots!

climb · 5 Dec 2003, 15:32 (Ref:804860)

The main problem about people who seem interested at taking CART over, is that fans' situations apparently is the last and the least of their thoughts...

dirtfan · 5 Dec 2003, 16:43 (Ref:804949)

Tha fan's interest being last has been the problem since the early 90's, and was one of the reasons TG split. Unfortunately, he has ended up doing the same thing, as has NASCAR. They should all take a look at NHRA, with the pits full of fans watching engine teardowns, talking to drivers and crewmembers and getting a Nitro High. When you get too "elite" for the little guy, he's going to drift off to the Saturday Night bullrings or local road events.
By the way, I don't smoke, but I do drink Bud and drive a pickup truck!

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