Graham vs Marco!

[F1boat]

Two talented new drivers, with big names, now we will be able to see who is better! What do you think? Marco seemed great in 2006 but looked very weak last year, I think that even Danica owned him and his teammate won the series! Graham was solid last year, but nothing really impressive. Who is better? Who will win this duel in 2008?

[Chris R]

I am thinking Graham might be the better of the two - seems like Andretti needs to pick up his game... They both are a bit young to be racing at this level and for us to expect lots from them - I suspect that early move is going to haunt both of them and severely limit their careers.....

[BobGarage]

i agree that Graham is the better of thew two. although with Champ Car teams playing catch up that might not show it on track straight away.

graham has the more experience... FBMW, Star Mazda, Atlantics, IPS, Grand Am, A1 Grand Prix, ALMS and Champ Car.

where as marco went Star mazda, just 6 races in IPS, IRL

graham has had a better build up to the top flight and is willing to jump into any car in any series to gain experience.

marco seems to have limited himself and jumped in at the top too soon.

I think that'll show at the end of the day and Graham will come out on top.

[Albert D. Kallal]

I think graham been pushed harder then Marco. Furthermore, in a VERY VERY competitive Atlantics field Graham finished in 2nd place. Graham was beat by Simon Pagonud. Note that Simon was a young 25 years old, and that means GR was 7 years younger!!!

GR been pushed as hard as he can be for his given age, and he’s risen to the challenge every time.

Unfortunately, with the new teams not knowing the car, poor Graham is about to struggle for two years until a new car can bring parity to the league. I hope the ensuing struggle does not ruin the confidance of such a young kid. I think GR understands the challege ahead, and will just have to suck it up for a few years of his career (two seasons).

While NHL is a first rate team, they are 5 or more years behind the teams that been running that car for a long time. No question that NHL will improve this year, but so will AGR, Penske, chip etc. In other words ALL TEAMS are improving as each year passes. I don’t think NHL can be on the podium until 2010 with a new car.

However, with a new car in 2010 and after? I think Graham is so good he likely be the person to BEAT for the championship! I seen him drive, and there is few at his young age that drive that good...I don't think even the late young Greg Moore was as good as GR at that age.

Albert D. Kallal
Edmonton, Alberta Canada
kallal@msn.com

[nigelred5]

with NHL conveniently paired with Rahal sr, somehow I expect that the NHL learning curve won't be so steep for Graham. If He has real aspirations in F1, I suspect daddy will make sure they are at least on pace asap. as far as age, again, if graham has true F1 aspirations, he needs to be on this level as young as possible, because he is likely going to need a season in GP2 on his way to F1 just to learn the tracks and that is already likely putting him in the 21 y/o range at best entering F1. That's almost over the hill for new F1 drivers of late.

[Albert D. Kallal]

with NHL conveniently paired with Rahal sr, somehow I expect that the NHL learning curve won't be so steep for Graham.

Without question, this attempt to “transfer” knowledge to the new teams should help a lot. In the case of Rahal, the Letterman/Rahal pair up certainly does open up the possibility of the NHL team becoming competitive in shorter time frame.

It not clear how much a team is going to give to a competitor. They certainly not going to give the farm away (and, it is darn “easy” now to state before the press that teams will get setup help).

I read the team pair ups as a way to get teams up to speed that don’t even have a clue as to the tips and tricks on general things like how tie down a wiring harness so it don’t make the ECU units flaky. Or, help for double checking how the engine mounts are supposed be torqued down after a engine swap.

The number of things a team has to learn right now is just mind boggling. It is this reason and challenge the IRL is trying to address here by pairing up some of the teams. You really got to give the IRL credit here, as they doing much more then just laying out a welcome mat.

Any help a team gets is going to shorten the leaning curve. Some teams like Vasser’s team commented that they think they can hit a top 5 by the end of the season. I think that is rather optimistic, and most these teams will barley be able to get a car running correctly, let alone look for top 5’s.

Perhaps some of these teams know something I don’t, but it is going to be rough ride for teams, and some teams likely will be happy just to finish a race for the first few times they go play with an unfamiliar car. The IRL also has scheduled a few extra days of testing, but that costs $$ that teams never budgeted for. Walker said they figure the season in IRL will cost about 3 million more then what they expected to spend in champ car, and that’s without the extra testing time now being scheduled.

For ovals, it’s even going to be worse for some of these teams. You have to admit the IRL is really doing it best, and it this speaks volumes for the IRL management, as they are addressing this challenge with the idea of “team ups”. This sharing idea will at least get the teams started, and enable them to run this year.

I sure there be some real brain freeze monuments as a result of this challenge, but even watching the trials and tribulations of teams learning to walk and run will make this season interesting.

I think if NHL can't get up to speed this year, then Graham can risk another year with NHL next year, or better yet switch to dad's team. No one wants to see Graham struggle for 2 years while we wait for parity with a new car.

As mentioned, age is a huge factor if Graham still wants to have a go at F1, and every year now is really important for him. GR can't throw out 2 years right now, and it would be better if he had a ride with an established team at this point in time...

Albert D. Kallal
Edmonton, Alberta Canada
kallal@msn.com

[bblocker68]

I think Greg Moore had Graham beat. He joined the Player's Indy Lights team at 18 and won 10 out of 12 races that year, 1995. He set the Indy Lights point record, led the championship by 102 points and lead 375 laps. Not too shabby. I remember watching him at Long Beach that year. He was like a man among boys out on the track.

I give the nod to Graham compared to Marco, but they both have loads of talent. This is going to be truly enjoyable to watch!

P.S. I miss you Greg!!!!

[gerkebi]

I've seen them race each other, at Mid Ohio in the formula Mazda's. They are very evenly matched, with Graham being a bit better.

I've been at the track with Graham all throughout his Formula BMW, Mazda and Atlantic seasons. I can tell you he adapts very quickly to new cars and new tracks.

He barely missed an opportunity with a GP2 team, which probably would have been a better road to F-1. It remains to be seen if the F-1 crowd will consider the unified series as a credible feeder series. The old IRL was not.