Ryan Briscoe & Toyota

[deejay]

So what are the odds on him making it to the end of Bathurst?

[HDTVKSS]

Originally Posted by deejay

So what are the odds on him making it to the end of Bathurst?

ill bet ya 10 bucks he makes it further than Courtney did!

[mac]

Originally Posted by knowlesy

Which Brit is getting rave reviews on here? Paffett? We don't really know how he is doing.

Unless you are referring to Lewis Hamilton, although he hasn't tested yet.

Geez, subtlety doesn't work here.

ANTHONY DAVIDSON!

I'm not suggesting he is rubbish, just that most Brits on these boards know every testing lap time he's ever done - where Briscoe is just written off, despite some truly remarkable testing performances over the years.

As for Bathurst, he's done pretty well in the 24 hour races he's run in...

[overflow]

Mac , just a few names that the TOO slow Briscoe had behind him in F3....Kubica , La Pierre , Rosberg , Klein etc etc . Not bad for a guy that some " Experts " say can't drive.....HO HUM

[ensign14]

Just a few of the names the TOO slow Briscoe had ahead of him in F3000 (whilst driving the championship winning car the previous year)...Zslow Baumgartner, Ricardo Mauricio, the embryo Rob Nguyen, Derek Hill, Alex Mueller, Alexandre Sperafico, Justin Keen, Mario Haberfeld, and his replacement in the number 1 car Thed Bjork.

[chunterer]

Ooh ouch!

[BootsOntheSide]

I'd remove Haberfeld from that list - his displays for Conqeust and Walker in ChampCars show what he can do. Otherwise, good point Ensign, and what you at a higher level is always more significant. Since F3 Ryan has only done the occasional good race.

[ensign14]

The problem with Briscoe is he had too much too soon. He was totally unready for F3000 and showed better when stepping back down (albeit with a well funded team in a subsidiary series). And he was totally unready for the IRL with its ovality. It's a bit like Roberto Moreno - DNQing a Lotus in 1982 was pathetic, but he bounced back with more experience.

[newoutsider]

But isn't that the problem with a lot of young 'hot shot' drivers with mega buck backing? they all want to emulate Kimmi (FR to F1 in one single bound) but can't cope so get written off. Maybe if they (and there backers) were a little bit more patient and took a little longer to learn their craft they would not be in this position - but that would, perversely cost more. A bit like a driver that one Mr Dennis and co have been nurturing for some time.

[racer69]

Ironically Briscoe this season is having one of his better season's in what is abit of a 'bitzer' (bit of this, bit of that) year for him.

He did well in his end-of-season runs in the A1GP
Scored a third (at Watkins Glen) and a 9th (Nashville) for D&R in the IRL, the two best results the car has scored this year (admittedly had a shocker at Milwaukee)
A strong run at Watkins Glen in the Grand-Am event.

Will be interesting to see how he goes in a touring car at Sandown and Bathurst......but i'd say F1 is finished for him

[mac]

Originally Posted by ensign14

Just a few of the names the TOO slow Briscoe had ahead of him in F3000 (whilst driving the championship winning car the previous year)...Zslow Baumgartner, Ricardo Mauricio, the embryo Rob Nguyen, Derek Hill, Alex Mueller, Alexandre Sperafico, Justin Keen, Mario Haberfeld, and his replacement in the number 1 car Thed Bjork.

So you'd put more weight in his handful of races in a POS F3000 car than a full season in EuroF3? How convenient.

Ryan won his first ever season in cars - in Italian Formula Renault.

He then went to F3000 and drove an underfunded, underdeveloped car. Stepped back after a some races and finished the season in German F3.

Then the following year, he won the Euro F3 title.

In his first three seasons racing cars, he won two championships.

To take a handful of F3000 races as a barometer of his ability in junior formulae is frankly ridiculous.

[ensign14]

Originally Posted by mac

To take a handful of F3000 races as a barometer of his ability in junior formulae is frankly ridiculous.

Obviously. Totally ridiculous to look at a season in the previous year's championship winning car and compare him with (a) his team-mate (who beat him in the 7 races together with a 9th place compared to 12th) and (b) his replacement (who in 4 races had 3 better finishes than Briscoe ever had).

Of course, if you add the IRL season to it, you get a more rounded picture.

[mountainstar]

True mac he did do some damage in the lower catagories and certainly should get some kudos for winning races. HOWEVER, for whatever reason or reasons it's all gone wonky now, so the question is 'where does ryan want to go now?' IRL, F1, sportscars, V8's, champcars..... And how does he get there?

[Knowlesy]

True, F3 was good for him. And, err, Italian something or other.

But really, it ends there doesn't it?

[BootsOntheSide]

And when the team-mate in question was Zsolt Baumgartner, and the repalcement was Thed Bjork (who I haven't heard of since), and Bjork failed to finish his other race after a collision on the warm-up lap, it looks even less impressive. The only reason it wasn't a full season is that Toyota pulled him out to stop him doing even more damage to his reputation.

[mac]

Ok, it's sorted - he's rubbish. It is a complete mystery why Toyota spent any money on him at all.

[Dixie Flatline]

Originally Posted by mac

Ok, it's sorted - he's rubbish. It is a complete mystery why Toyota spent any money on him at all.

Well, Toyota has spent millions employing Ralf Schumacher?

[ensign14]

And on Andre de Cortanze in building a car that was slightly faster than a Sherman tank?

[DPRacing]

Originally Posted by BootsOntheSide

And when the team-mate in question was Zsolt Baumgartner, and the repalcement was Thed Bjork (who I haven't heard of since

Björk is currently driving in the Swedish Touring Car Championship, but I think he drive a half season in F.Renault but ran out off money.

[BootsOntheSide]

He certainly isn't 'rubbish', but he's had a few seasons which didn't go too well. He seems to need things to be set up in a way that suits him, and you only get so many chances to have that at the highest level.