Grid boost likely for Mexico

[D.R.T.]

The return of Dale Jensen.

with

Servia, Daziel or Perrera

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/62993

[Peter Ford]

it may be 4 only 1 race but at least it will make the grid a bit longer ,hope to see the team in the series fulltime in 08.

[Leighton Irwin]

I think you mean Eric Jensen.

[luke]

Good to see him back atleast! Makes the last race more interesting.

[stradlin21]

nice to see Kalkhoven is stepping up again, lending out his own cars now

how will this Jensen fair?

[luke]

A half assed effort? mid-field? My guess its another car though.

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by Leighton Irwin

I think you mean Eric Jensen.

Arh yes. Too many Jensens involved in Champcar.

If they pick Servia, there might be a chance of a good result.

Extra car, good news for ChampCar

[stradlin21]

Originally Posted by luke

A half assed effort? mid-field? My guess its another car though.

a quality boost to the grid then!

Champ Car must be really desperate but when Kalkhoven is putting up the cash and equipment for extra entries then you know that it's beyond desperate

[JohnSSC]

Originally Posted by stradlin21

a quality boost to the grid then!

Champ Car must be really desperate but when Kalkhoven is putting up the cash and equipment for extra entries then you know that it's beyond desperate

Especially when you consider all of the statements about individual teams needing to secure their own sponsorship and not rely on the series owners to fund cars, there seems to be a certain amount of "re-evaluation" going on in regard to that.

I wonder too if Forsythe will show up for this race.

[stradlin21]

Originally Posted by JohnSSC

Especially when you consider all of the statements about individual teams needing to secure their own sponsorship and not rely on the series owners to fund cars, there seems to be a certain amount of "re-evaluation" going on in regard to that.

I wonder too if Forsythe will show up for this race.

I really don't see this as postive news for Champ Car, it concerns me what is happening here

I fear for this series over the winter, things look bad

[JohnSSC]

It seems that there are real issues for this series that are beginning to manifest themselves: races being canceled, driver changes this late in the season and now an entrant apparently being funded by KK after the pronouncement earlier this season that this would no longer be occurring.

I am wondering if the promoters have contracted to have 18 cars as a minimum grid and that this car is being added to satisfy that requirement at Surfer's and Mexico.

[mountainstar]

If one goes back to the miller article you will find it is a wild assed guess that it is being funded by Kalkoven.

Even if it is, so what? The same people ***** if we add cars or subtract them.

[stradlin21]

Originally Posted by JohnSSC

It seems that there are real issues for this series that are beginning to manifest themselves: races being canceled, driver changes this late in the season and now an entrant apparently being funded by KK after the pronouncement earlier this season that this would no longer be occurring.

I am wondering if the promoters have contracted to have 18 cars as a minimum grid and that this car is being added to satisfy that requirement at Surfer's and Mexico.

That would seem to be the case John and because of that then Kalkhoven has had to step up to support the series again

It's a shame really but this is the current situation Champ Car finds itself in

The series has been shockingly bad this season

[JohnSSC]

Originally Posted by mountainstar

If one goes back to the miller article you will find it is a wild assed guess that it is being funded by Kalkoven.

Even if it is, so what? The same people ***** if we add cars or subtract them.

Except, mountainstar, we have been treated this season to statements directly from KK regarding the "interest" in CC due to the DP-01 and therefore a grid limit was being set. Then there were the statements from KK regarding the need for teams to stand on their own and secure their own funding as no more would be forthcoming from whatever the combination of hobby owners is currently that are the majority partners. Then there were the pronouncements about the wonderful schedule, which has gotten smaller for this year, during the year. Then there is the revolving door approach to drivers parachuting into the series and staying so long as their Visa card hasn't hit the limit.

The "So what?" here regarding the addition or subtraction of cars is that these actions are not those of a series that is stable, on the rebound or attractive to sponsors.

So, you can bad-mouth Miller all you want, but it wasn't Miller who made the glorious announcements. It wasn't Miller who canceled the races. It wasn't Miller who has been playing musical chairs with the drivers. It wasn't Miller who had to be talked into adding a car as otherwise the grid would have been 16 all season, even though the team in question is owned by one of the majority owners. It wasn't Miller who decided that this was a series that would keep then eliminate ovals, focus on street courses, get rid of street courses, get rid of road courses, gain road courses and then last but not least, rool out "Motorock" and then deep six it.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the focus on making this a "Pacific Rim" series, unless Europe could be considered part of the Pacific Rim...

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by JohnSSC

Except, mountainstar, we have been treated this season to statements directly from KK regarding the "interest" in CC due to the DP-01 and therefore a grid limit was being set. Then there were the statements from KK regarding the need for teams to stand on their own and secure their own funding as no more would be forthcoming from whatever the combination of hobby owners is currently that are the majority partners. Then there were the pronouncements about the wonderful schedule, which has gotten smaller for this year, during the year. Then there is the revolving door approach to drivers parachuting into the series and staying so long as their Visa card hasn't hit the limit.

The "So what?" here regarding the addition or subtraction of cars is that these actions are not those of a series that is stable, on the rebound or attractive to sponsors.

So, you can bad-mouth Miller all you want, but it wasn't Miller who made the glorious announcements. It wasn't Miller who canceled the races. It wasn't Miller who has been playing musical chairs with the drivers. It wasn't Miller who had to be talked into adding a car as otherwise the grid would have been 16 all season, even though the team in question is owned by one of the majority owners. It wasn't Miller who decided that this was a series that would keep then eliminate ovals, focus on street courses, get rid of street courses, get rid of road courses, gain road courses and then last but not least, rool out "Motorock" and then deep six it.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the focus on making this a "Pacific Rim" series, unless Europe could be considered part of the Pacific Rim...

Thanks for proving my point. Add a car, complain.

[luke]

[stradlin21]

Originally Posted by mountainstar

Thanks for proving my point. Add a car, complain.

John made some excellent points

but if you want to go on living in denial and delusion, then be our guest!

[stradlin21]

Originally Posted by JohnSSC

Especially when you consider all of the statements about individual teams needing to secure their own sponsorship and not rely on the series owners to fund cars, there seems to be a certain amount of "re-evaluation" going on in regard to that.

I wonder too if Forsythe will show up for this race.

I think GF gets more and more fed up as time goes on

Things look bleak for the series and like we've said, it looks real bad when one of the series owners is putting out his own equipment and cash to get another car for another team on the grid

It's a shame really, the series has been crippled by weak grids with weak drivers and awful scheduling problems

A total rethink is needed, even with the KK's cash it's only 18 cars, despite KK assuring us before the season started that there would be 24 cars on the grid at every race. Everyone was happy to believe that but it never got close to happening and it's just been one big shambles all season

Hopefully things will improve over the winter but I believe this is now a dying series

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by stradlin21

John made some excellent points

but if you want to go on living in denial and delusion, then be our guest!

Yep, Ansan, Motorock, etc. Old, tired, exhausted complaints that have nothing to do with adding another car to the grid in Mexico.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by stradlin21

it looks real bad when one of the series owners is putting out his own equipment and cash to get another car for another team on the grid

Really? How so? And yes the car is a PKV spare but how do you know the financial arrangements?

[JohnSSC]

The dead horse analogy is very CC. Thank you for the image, mountainstar!

Leaving out Ansan and Motorock, we still have the cancellations of races this season and the uncertainty of venues for next season. We still have Gerry in seclusion and his plan for the season did not include a second car. We had the arrival of Minardi as a "new" team except that they bought an "old" team with no net gain of cars on the "limited" grid.

Interesting though, that some of you interpret a discussion of the reality on the ground in CC as "complaining." I was not complaining about adding a car for Mexico. The more, the merrier. What I (and others) are pointing out is that the circumstances under which these things are happening are curious to say the least.

Now I can see that some folks seem only able to join in the conversation via the use of the Blessed Emoticons. For those willing to engage in the discussion I will once again ask the question: "Is CC contractually obligated to provide an 18-car grid for Mexico?" That was one of the obstacles when CC took over from CART: the venues had contracts requiring 18 car minimum fields. Is Mexico's contract a last vestige of that?

[Hazza]

Forgive them john, some people have trouble stringing two words together.

[f1manoz]

I will say that it's just looking bleak for ChampCar. Period.

It's sad that the series has plummeted to the depths it has. Although I think it may survive, it's hard to see it ever coming out of the trough it is currently in.

[JohnSSC]

Originally Posted by Hazza

Forgive them john, some people have trouble stringing two words together.

"So it is written, so it shall be done!"

[luke]

John you complained when there were 17 cars instead of 18 n not enough, now you are complaining there are 18 instead of 17, you find a wrong in everything. At the end of the day 18 cars is better than 17! O well.