Justin Wilson to Champ Cars?!?

[SALEEN S7R]

Just found this article. http://www.autosport.com/newsitem.asp?id=25574&s=5 Would be great if he came into Champ Cars - even if it is only because he cant get a drive in F1 for 2004, perhaps then he would realise that CART is maybe AS good as F1 in terms of racing. Sure the driving line up might not be as good as the F1 grids but its not far off, and the racing is probably better. So, will Wilson be in CART next year? Id like to think so, would more than compensate for losing Manning to the IRL.

[enemy-ace]

Come on in Justin! The racing's fine.
The more quality drivers the better. Would help keep him in the spotlight for a future F1 ride to.

[BootsOntheSide]

He might struggle to get a drive, purely thought lacking funding. He's a great driver who probably belongs in F1, so he ought to at least get into CART. Fingers crossed.

[mountainstar]

Wilson must have been reading my post the other day. I was saying wouldn't it be nice if Ford helped him find a drive in CART.

[Dov]

From TSN.ca: http://www.tsn.ca/auto_racing/news_s...me=auto_racing

[GTRMagic]

Dale Coyne always has a seat free

[codename_47]

He said he had an offer from a Champ Car team last year, but turned them down to go with F1...

Who could that have been??

COULD it have been Newman-Haas?? (being that the 2002 F3000 champion is one of their drivers now, could they have opted for the 2001 F3000 champion first? :confused: )

Could their 3rd car with their Driver "trying to get out of a contract" be for Manning?

Should I shut up now....probably!

[macdaddy]

Manning is off the radar screen. Sure, Silly Season is a time to dream, but it just ain't gonna happen, folks.

RocketSports and PK are looking for second pilots, perhaps Justin can line something up with Kalkhoven for next year? (I've got a funny feeling that RHR may go to RocketSports).

At any rate, it would be great to see him in the series. And it would help to increase the fanbase.

[GTRMagic]

Any chance of some commercial sponsors joining some of these teams???

[Tailwind]

Well there is the rumor of Nokia on Salo's car at PK racing.

[Hazza]

Ha, maybe wilson was NHR's "3rd Driver"
Still I think in the long run he's looking to do an Alex Zanardi move
Bottom Of F1 -> ChampCars -> Top Of F1

[GTRMagic]

Yes but Zanardi wasnt good when he went back to F1 with Williams

[mountainstar]

I believe I am correct in saying that Newman was interested in Justin last year.

If I was him that's the direction I would head. I mean, where else is he going to go. F1 teams haven't exactly been gagging to get their hands on him.

The only question is would he fit in a champ car? I imagine so, but I haven't seen a current model close up so I can't say. Does anyone else know?

[mountainstar]

Originally posted by GTRMagic
Yes but Zanardi wasnt good when he went back to F1 with Williams

But all told he walked away with 11 million US$. $7 mil for 1999, $4 mil for contract payoff.

I bet that comes in handy now. Ganassi in CART paid him peanuts. In 1995 when he drove GT's he did not get anything and in 1994 lotus barely paid him anything. I think they actually defaulted on some of his paychecks.

[jjspierx]

Originally posted by mountainstar
I believe I am correct in saying that Newman was interested in Justin last year.

If I was him that's the direction I would head. I mean, where else is he going to go. F1 teams haven't exactly been gagging to get their hands on him.

The only question is would he fit in a champ car? I imagine so, but I haven't seen a current model close up so I can't say. Does anyone else know?

I imagine if he can fit into an F1 car, he could fit into a champcar. However his F1 car had to be slightly modified to accomadate him.

[jjspierx]

Yep, I remember in an interview a few years back, he stated that in his last year in F1, his best finish was 11th place, and he made more money in that season, then he would have made in 5 Champcar seasons as the series Champion.

[The Treester]

Zanardi didn't suck, Williams did! Plus his driving style was made for a Champ Car not F1. He's a naturally aggressive! A La JPM, but it's amazing how JPM change his driving style in his second year at Williams!?!?!?!?

His first year was starting to look like a flashback of Zanardi's return.

[BootsOntheSide]

Zanardi finished 7th and Monza and 8th at Belgium, and there may have been other top 10s.

I actually felt Wilson should've gone for Newman-Haas over Mianrdi, as he would've got paid for it and really built hsi reputation. Bourdais' F1 chances now look better than Justin's in the long term, and I don't belive Seb is any better a driver.

[mountainstar]

Originally posted by BootsOntheSide

I actually felt Wilson should've gone for Newman-Haas over Mianrdi, as he would've got paid for it and really built hsi reputation. Bourdais' F1 chances now look better than Justin's in the long term, and I don't belive Seb is any better a driver.

I think you are right. If I was in his position I would have taken the paid ride and forgotten all the nonsense with minardi.

[Hazza]

Maybe Seb for Williams in 2005? or Renault in 2006?

[Raven]

I started this thread a year ago and posted basically what Boots is saying. Bourdais, Junqueira and probably Dixon are now better poised for an F1 seat if they can impress in 2004.

[Snrub]

I hope Justin comes over to CART. The only reason why anyone can claim CART's racing is 'maybe as good as F1's' is because we've seen a big decline in the quality of races in 2002 and 2003. If CART gets back to what it was in 1998-2001 then there would be no contest.

From a PR perspective Wilson has more than Manning, but I'm not sure that he's better.

[BootsOntheSide]

Not sure I agree with that Snrub. I would've said Wilson is the better driver of the two, epseically once you compare their F3000 records, but Manning's height is an advantage in terms of getting hm a good drive, and Darren came across as a very personable, lively, witty guy in 2003, perhaps more so than Justin. He seems to be the better looking of the two as well, whcih sadly can make a difference.

Formula 1 has a higher overall quality of drivers, no doubt about it. In the late 90s CART had the better racing, but a combination of F1's new rules for 2003 and CART's gradual decline mean that that's no longer the case.

[zerO]

Hey Guys,
look at it this way: if Justin Wilson could scrape-up $8mil for his Minardi seat last year - he definitely can scrape half as much for a Champ Car ride - especially since he still has bunch of idiots invested in him (not that his stock is doing any better that the current CART one at 13 cents per, but...)... anything can happen: $$$ talk ?!?!

zerO

[GTRMagic]

How can he get more $$ when the original money came from the sharemarket float? Would the listing rules of the London Stock Exchange allow a further share issue with no immediate view of any income at all wandering thru the door?