Do you think Massa & Scheckter will be in Cart next year?

[Emil Goldstein]

Do you guys think that Felipe Massa and Tomas Scheckter will look to Cart, now they have left their current employeer? I hope so! We need these two fast super stars to give da Matta a run! Junqueira is good, but not good enough. IMO, Cart lost a lot when de Ferran & Castroneves left, maybe Massa & Scheckter can bring some of that magic back.

[camcartfan]

I agree, but da Matta most likely won't be in CART next year.

[Jay]

I don't know about Massa...hadn't heard that one. Are they testing Champ cars?

Scheckter sounds like a very good possibility. He has severed his contract with Cheever and has a Champ car test in the future with ...(Newman Haas?).

I also learned from Chris Pook, that Michael Valiente will be testing a champ car in the near future...he's a great guy, and an amaing racer, so hopefully something will come of it.

[Muzza]

Originally posted by Jay
I also learned from Chris Pook, that Michael Valiente will be testing a champ car in the near future...he's a great guy, and an amaing racer, so hopefully something will come of it.

Spot on, Jay. The most likely Atlantic drivers to make a leap into CART are...

- Valiante: talented, patient - and a nice fellow too, I had the chance to chat with him in Portland and I was surprised with his maturity. Should Lynx racing move up the ladder to CART - team owners Peggy Haas and Jackie Doty
have been approach by Chris Pook on this concern - he is almost sure to have a seat;

- Fogarty: besides being a good driver, he also brings sponsorship from his family's vineyards. Again, if Dorricott Racing moves up to CART, he has a book seat there;

- Gurney: a favourite of Pook, for obvious reasons;

- Luiz Diaz: there is a good chance that he will be driving for Fernández Racing next year, and sponsored by Telmex.

- David Wieringa: he is the son of Tom Wieringa, owner of Sigma, that is considering re-assembling its CART team again next year.

Cheers,

[DNQ]

I'd like to see Tomas in CART, he's got the big name, which is what CART needs, his got big balls, which is also what CART needs, and his young and talented.

Felipe, I can't see him in CART, doesnt seem right...?

[paul-collins]

Son-of-famous-Ferrari-driver Scheckter comes to CART, wins the title, moves on to F1, wins a title... (too bad he won't get another shot at the Indy 500, though)

Sound familiar?

[NME]

ALESI, IRVINE, HERBERT ... that would be interesting to have some "names" from F1 in CART, to compare with the establishment. I reckon the CART drivers are as good as any other including F1 drivers.

[macdaddy]

Just read an article about the possibility of da Matta going to F1. It didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know, but I was somewhat surprised by a Chris Pook quote:

"We want to be a feeder series for Formula One and prove that we have guys with the talent and will to win."

http://sports.yahoo.com/m/sm/news/re...ngdamatta.html

[Testure]

Here's another interesting Pook quote from http://f1.racing-live.com/en/headlin...26061649.shtml

"I'd love CART to be a feeder series for F1. My predecessors thought that CART was an alternative to F1. I don't believe that. I'm 180 degrees from that. F1 is at a level and class of its own. We fit in somewhere below them. It would be great if we could develop drivers to go there."

[macdaddy]

Oops! I just posted what Testure just did!

[Liz]

Pook said essentially that they were working very hard to get Scheckter into a CART drive, and they are also moving heaven and earth to keep Patrick Carpentier at Forsythe.

Team St. George, the new British team, have raised enough sponsorship and other interest to field a two car team for next year.

I had an interview with Adrian Fernandez and he said that there was nothing on the table yet about next season save that he himself will definitely be there for the next 3 years as a driver, and then after that possibly he will retire and run the team. His PR person also said that they had made no decisions about next year, and I did broach the idea of Luis Diaz but they're good poker players over there.

P.S. I think Mikey is shocked that he can't find anybody who wants to go to the Invisible Racing League with him.

[Jordi]

Of course... who wants to be invisible?

[Mr V]

from www.f1-live.com

Controversial racing driver Tomas Scheckter, son of 1979 Formula One champion Jody, has quit his IRL team (Team Cheever) due to safety concerns. The South African driver just didn't turn up for last weekend's event in St Louis after a problem in the previous round saw him refused entry to the pits by his own crew when he wanted to come in due to a problem with one of his tyres. He then crashed a few laps later due to the tyre shredding and as such has refused to participate any further.

Tomas was in Formula One briefly, in 2001 when he was test driver for the Jaguar Racing outfit and was sacked due to his dealings with a prostitute. However, Bobby Rahal, who was in charge of the Formula One squad at the time and has since returned to the CART series, still has faith in the 21-year-old and would love to see him compete in the American series, despite his somewhat erratic behaviour in IRL that has almost seen him fired on several occasions.

"I like Tomas, even when I was running Jaguar and had to get rid of him," Rahal said. "He's a sharp young man and a fine racing car driver. I would love to see him in this series. I think he'd be popular.”

[Sato san]

is that why Cheever Racing are gonna test Ricardo Mauricio from F3000 soon ?......


Tomas would be a star in Cart .......sorry , let me re phrase that , i think Tomas will be a star where ever he goes.......i remember him in Vauxhall Junior , and him and Pizzonia were pretty good to watch even back then dicing against each other .

[Dave S]

Well, now the posturing games begin. Was just reported that Cheever is sending letters to all CART & IRL Teams stating that he & his 'Partners' are ready to negotiate a contract buy-out. Also that if any team even tests him prior to purchasing his contract that he'll sue the team & Tomas. We'll have to see what the response is. Also, if Cheever or TWR aren't paying Tomas I believe he'll at least threaten suit for loss of income stating the 'safety concerns' as the reason he won't drive the car. As well as the above stated issues I believe he's also concerned about running 'repaired tubs'. Cheever's statement was that 'he broke them'. Yeah Eddie, what the Hell, throw your driver on track with a weakened tub.

[Liz]

Somehow I think Mr. Cheever will be in really big trouble in the USA if he tries that as a defence. And anyway, don't the Invisibles have some kind of standard which the tubs are required to meet regarding crash-worthiness? Surely they would not be allowed to run in the USA without something like that -- heck, even Honda Civics and Saturns have to pass crash tests!

As far as buying Tomas' contract out, how about "We won't sue you, Mr. Cheevers, for[list of about fifty things I can think of right now that Scheckter could claim] and we'll throw in a complete set of power tools just because we're nice guys, if you'll sign here."

[Sato san]

sounds to me like Cheevers just lost one of the most talented young chargers around ! ( even if he did wreck quite a few cars )

[greg.n]

Cheever said at Gateway that Tomas had a contract for three years and they were going to enforce it. This is after hinting earlier in the season that Tomas might be replaced. Tomas is good and they really don't want to loose him but my guessing is that Tomas may already have an offer from Cart and wants to leave the IRL (Invalids and Retiree's League) before he does himself any damage.

[greg.n]

eddie had better be careful. if red bull find their name being dragged through mud they'll disappear. the whole strategy for REd Bull was to market their product to an American audience and search for drivers for a red Bull F1 team. well, they wont find drivers in the IRL who will turn right (unless the're suicidal) and whats the bet they head the series that attracts paying customers, who will be more likely to buy their product.

[Sato san]

also , The Scheckter's have never really been people that like to be pushed about .

[StuiE]

Originally posted by mr v
from www.f1-live.com

Controversial racing driver Tomas Scheckter, son of 1979 Formula One champion Jody,

I never even knew that!

[greg.n]

Latest on Tomas is that he is a possibility for an Arrows seat at the Belgian GP this weekend. he is contracted to TWR who supply Eddies engines and just sold the Red Bull sponsored team to US investors. So what is the bet Tomas is red Bull sponsored next year in IRL or CART. Red Bull made an offer this week for Jaguar for whom Tomas was a test driver last year....

[Dave S]

Eddie's just ticked that he hasn't got a 'bobble-head' yet. Their still trying to figure out how to get it to stand up. The head's just to damn big for a standard 'bobble-body'!

[Crash Test]

Did I read correctly the other day that Tomas has caused the team $2.5mil in car damage for his team this year (no sure if that is the Aussie peso, or in greenback)... but still, put him on a leash for a while in banger racing until he gets all of that will to hit things out of his system...

[Jay]

Just to add to the rumours, apparently Scheckter was spotted in Montreal. It must not have been at the track though, as that we would have known, or at least it would be a topic of discussion.

check this: http://espn.go.com/rpm/irl/2002/0829/1424468.html

It's by Jack Arute, but it adds a little fuel to the fire.