Christian Fittipaldi

[jjspierx]

This is somewhat off-topic, but every once in awhile I hear someone bring up Christian Fittipaldi and wondering what he's up to. Well it looks like he's going to be doing the last 4 races in Grand Am for Bell Motorsports.

http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/roadracing/12535/

[StickShift]

Christian recently drove one of the two seater Formula 1 cars at Minardi's F1x2 Grand Prix at Kyalami.

[Kicking-back]

He's generally concentrating on business interests as far as I know.

[boom boom]

speaking of off topic and wondering what old champ car people are up to. What is Barry Green up to, scince he sold his team to his brother Kim and Micheal A?

[BootsOntheSide]

Personally I'm glad Christian isn't taking up one of the few sponsored rides anymore. He was adequate, but never spectacular, and is certainly past his best.

[Kicking-back]

Boots, that assessment initially seems harsh, but on reflection is accurate.

[luke]

Didn't he go of to Nascar in 2003 after a stint in f1 then Champcars?

[Kicking-back]

Yes he did.

F1 1992-94.

Champ Car 1995-2002.

[luke]

I belive he didn't have much suscess in both.

[Kicking-back]

He was decent in F1, in poor cars, and he did become a ChampCar winner.

Had several accidents forcing him to miss races, both in F1 and CART.

[luke]

When I started following Champcars in 2002 he dodn't look good a gainst his team mate Cristiano da matta who went on to be champ in similar equipment.

[Kicking-back]

By that time Christian was pretty beaten up by several crashes and I felt his heart was no longer really in it.

[macdaddy]

Christian's wreck in Australia (1997?) was horrific.
At least, I think it was Australia.

To be honest, Christian never impressed me much while in ChampCars.

I echo boom boom's question, what's Barry Green up to?
Sitting on a yacht and drinking (Budweisers)?

[Kicking-back]

It was Australia 1997.

[Cowboy]

Wasn't it Christan who had that wicked front flip on turn 1 of Laguna Seca in 2001{?}. I was speachless while I watched it happen but when I found out that he was alright I had to laugh at how the car flipped completely over, nose first and landed on its wheels.

[macdaddy]

I'm thinking that was Servia?

[Cowboy]

I just checked and you were correct Macdaddy it was Servia, he ran into the back of Mauricio Gugelmin. Even though it is not about this thread and I was way off, I thought it was one heck of a CARTwheel.

[luke]

Didn't Christian have a bad crash at the Italian GP at Monza in 1993 when his car flipped over on the main straight then landed back done and amazingly only broke the front nose.

[N I Tram]

Yes - on the final lap, trying to take 7th place from Pierliugi Martini (his team-mate!)

[rustyfan]

According to this article, Fittipaldi hasn't completely given up on his stock-car career either;

FITTIPALDI TO ROLEX: Former Champ Car driver Christian Fittipaldi, whose move to NASCAR with Petty Enterprises stalled this year due to a lack of sponsorship, will compete in the final four races of the Grand American Rolex Series with reigning Daytona Prototype champion Terry Borcheller.
Team owner and driver Forest Barber said Fittipaldi would co-drive with Borcheller in Bell Motorsports' Kodak EasyShare DORAN JE4 Pontiac. Fittipaldi was one of the team's four drivers when it won the 2004 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in February.

"I'm really excited -- especially because I have a chance to go back to the Daytona 24 Hour-winning car," Fittipaldi said. "Hopefully the team, Terry and myself can put four good finishes together so Bell Motorsports will be in a very good position for 2005."

Although still under contract with Petty Enterprises, Fittipaldi is scheduled to compete in four Busch Series races later this season for Innovative Motorsports.

Guess the SpeedTV article found it convenient to leave that out (or they simply didn't know - granted it's true, that is).

[luke]

What NASACAR series did he race in?

[luke]

What NASACAR series did he race in?

[BootsOntheSide]

I think he did a few races in both Winston Cup and the second-tier Busch Series, but don't quote me.

[racefanatic]

Didn't he do some ARCA races too?

[Kicking-back]

Yes.

He did all three.