Cart drivers...

[Speed]

CDM 8
OP 6

JPM 71
RS 58

...are getting good results lately.

[climb]

Defining "CART drivers" some drivers who have in F1 for years is a little bit hazardous: in my opinion only CDM can still be defined like that; JPM has such an experience in F1 that it's hard to find a specific "CART-original" contribution to his present results.
However CDM seems to me underachieving: he surely deserves something better to run.

[Knowlesy]

Juan was a Williams tester for a year before he went to CART! He's an F1 driver in my book!

Agree with you on Da Matta though.

[Adam43]

Surely both are F1 drivers. Used to be CART drivers and have at various other times been F3000, F3, etc drivers.

Still that old sportscar driver is the one with the most wins.

[Jordi]

And the Radio Control racer is McLaren tester, alongside the BMX champion....

[BootsOntheSide]

I don't think Da Matta has underachieved. Considering that he's the only one without friday testing,a dn that more than half the tracks are completely new to him,a dn he hasn't raced on any of them for years (other than Montreal, and even that was backwards), he's done extremely well against Panis. Panis ahs been unlucky on ocassions, for sure, but in Canada Olivier scored thanks to Da Matta's leate car failure.

Another good question is, which of the current CART drivers could do a job in F1? In my view, Bourdais is ready, and Junquiera has showed that he'd be up to it. Tracy could, but he has some peronslaity flaws and is old to learn new things. In future, Manning, Haberfeld and Hunter-Reay might all be up to the job.

[Snrub]

Da Matta has performed okay and that's it. He's good enough that even the very limited experience he gets on the tracks should put him further up. That said, when you qualify poorly it's very difficult to move up and grab points, even if you learn a course as the race progresses.

Contrary to popular belief, there are a substantial number of drivers that would do okay in F1. A good portion of the Atlantic drivers have the talent to be in F1, it's just a matter of experience.

JPM proved himself in CART as a world class driver at a time when CART had a comparable field to F1 (the best were not as good as the best in F1, but the overall average was similar). That said I wouldn't call him a product of the CART side of things like Da Matta. On the other hand he seems to keep in touch with CART so obviously it ment something to him.

[Raven]

da Matta has done a good enough job to keep his job for another term, and I can't say he doesn't deserve it.

What impresses me about CdM is that throughout a race-weekend you can see him climbing the learning curve. He's often not too hot on Fridays, but he's better on Saturdays and has rarely been more than 5 seconds behind Panis after 10 laps of a GP. The tracks where he has done extensive testing have been where he has shone, Silverstone and Barcelona.

[codename_47]

Originally posted by BootsOntheSide
that more than half the tracks are completely new to him,a dn he hasn't raced on any of them for years (other than Montreal, and even that was backwards),

What????
Did I miss something??

And are we leaving out JV in this little CART round-up :confused:

CART has been a good training ground for a good few F1 drivers recently....but It's way more than just that!

[Speed]

Originally posted by knowlesy
Juan was a Williams tester for a year before he went to CART! He's an F1 driver in my book!

Agree with you on Da Matta though.

Racing = Testing ?!?...... NOT. Change your book my friend.

[Jay]

Over a hundred drivers test in F1 each year, 20 race. I've spoken with enough drivers to not be impressed by the "Tested an F1 car for <insert team name>" on their resume. Sometimes it's just a one off like Townsend Bell is getting.

[Mark Webber]

when did RS drive in CART?

[*formula3*]

never, it´s just a comparison between RS and JPM , to show that the CART drivers are doing well

[corkholio]

JPM was a full time Williams tester in 98 while winning the F3000 championship, and he got it on merit as Frankie was already grooming him for a full-time seat for 99 until JVil decided to retire to BARF-1 and Frankie sent him to CART because he didn't want two unproven drivers (the other being Ralf) so he took Zanardi to be the team leader for that year, except it didn't work out as planned. I don't think he got to F1 because of CART, but his 2 years there didn't hurt.

da Matta is the only one that I would consider to have gotten his F1 ride solely because of his CART record.

[Speed]

Originally posted by *formula3*
never, it´s just a comparison between RS and JPM , to show that the CART drivers are doing well

Exactly...

[BootsOntheSide]

Originally posted by corkholio
JPM was a full time Williams tester in 98 while winning the F3000 championship, and he got it on merit as Frankie was already grooming him for a full-time seat for 99 until JVil decided to retire to BARF-1 and Frankie sent him to CART because he didn't want two unproven drivers (the other being Ralf) so he took Zanardi to be the team leader for that year, except it didn't work out as planned. I don't think he got to F1 because of CART, but his 2 years there didn't hurt.

Villeneuve got his f1 ride through his CART record, his performances in Europe beforehand showed little of the brilliantce he nurtured by winning the 500 from 2 laps down, or taking his first win at Raod America. Perhaps it's because he had much less attention and pressure in the US

I'm a bit confused by the rest of the first paragraph, to be hoenst. Are you saying Frank Williams originally planned to have Villeneuve and Montoya as his 1999 lineup? What rubbish.

By early 1998 it was a badly-kept secret that Jacques was off to face a new challenge in the way people praise Michael for, and Frentzen had proved disappointing. Frank knew that he planned to change both drivers, especially as the team was in the limbo before BMW provided them with new works engines. So I see no reason to doubt that Zanardi and Ralf wqas the plan all along.

[steve nielsen]

that does'nt go for all ex cart drivers:

JB 12
JV 3

[corkholio]

Originally posted by BootsOntheSide
Villeneuve got his f1 ride through his CART record, his performances in Europe beforehand showed little of the brilliantce he nurtured by winning the 500 from 2 laps down, or taking his first win at Raod America. Perhaps it's because he had much less attention and pressure in the US

Bernie wanted his name as much as he wanted his talent in F1. da Matta didn't have that luxury.

Originally posted by BootsOntheSide
I'm a bit confused by the rest of the first paragraph, to be hoenst. Are you saying Frank Williams originally planned to have Villeneuve and Montoya as his 1999 lineup? What rubbish.

By early 1998 it was a badly-kept secret that Jacques was off to face a new challenge in the way people praise Michael for, and Frentzen had proved disappointing. Frank knew that he planned to change both drivers, especially as the team was in the limbo before BMW provided them with new works engines. So I see no reason to doubt that Zanardi and Ralf wqas the plan all along.

Is that from the same sources that told you MS couldn't finish on the podium at every race in 02?

[BootsOntheSide]

I never said Michael didn't, or couldn't, score podium finishes in every race last year. I just said that, with the same situation, Montoya could repeat the feat, and none of your *****y remarks have made me doubt that. But, it's easier to use an innacurate half-joke than actually respond to my comment, isn't it?

[Speed]

Da Matta !!! Great Q1 Lap

[corkholio]

LOL this was you exact quote: "If Montoya had the dominant car, experiecned personnel entirely on his side, and realtively weak opposition, as Michael did last year, I'm sure he'd be on the podium in every race. And I'm not sure Michael or Ralf could."

As most of what you said was speculation as much as mine, so there was no need for me to call it rubbish, though I am just trying to remind you to check your the facts you based it on since you seem to have a knack for ignoring them.