Vasser at Long Beach

[the bro]

On Wind Tunnel Jimmy Vasser confirmed the rumour stated by Robin Miller that he will drive at Long Beach. Jimmy hinted that there will be several other "guest" drivers at Long Beach. Smart move to add interest to the race, given that the other half of the drivers will be in Japan.

Anyone care to speculate on who else might drive?

How about Alex Zanardi, Jimmy Vasser last year said he was trying to convince him to come back to Champcar for this year. Before the merger of course.

[indafastln]

moreno maybe?

stoddart mentioned in an interview that since he has 3 cars, he might as well run 'em all in the CC finale.

[Jonesi]

Mario Andretti should run, didn't he win the first (F5000) race there? Also Al Unser Jr, Bobby Rahal. No F1 race that weekend maybe they could get SeaBass.

[V12]

Re. Zanardi - Has the Panoz got a hand-control conversion like the old Reynard that Alex did those demonstration laps in a few years back?

[Rogelio]

I am certainly glad to see Vasser racing in the LB Grand Prix. Hopefully, he races in the Indy 500 as well. Since the "merger" or "capitulation" I have been extremely negative and I will continue to be. Like I said I am happy for Vasser but the Long Beach race is going to be nothing short of a circus on wheels. I feel for the veterans like PT, Vasser, Servia, and Bruno that are going to have to race around a track for fans that probably will not show up. In the last 20 years, I have only missed one race and this will be the second race I will miss. Frankly, I could care less if this end of the DPO1, the car we fell in Love with for one year, BFD.

In missing the last race, I would be saddened if it were a true celebration of what the Champ Car World Series was kind of all about or at least a semi celebration of what was once CART. This is nothing short of a joke and a way for the Amigos to stick it to us. Our series had potential but these guys were clueless.

I hope there is good racing in LB and for those who are there to say goodbye, my best wishes. I will be riding the Rosaritio to Ensenada Fun Bike Race. Then again, I guess this years Long Beach race is nothing short of a "fun" race. How freakin sad.

Sorry for my negativity, but I know there are many out there who feel the same.

[jimispeed]

I am certainly glad to see Vasser racing in the LB Grand Prix. Hopefully, he races in the Indy 500 as well. Since the "merger" or "capitulation" I have been extremely negative and I will continue to be. Like I said I am happy for Vasser but the Long Beach race is going to be nothing short of a circus on wheels. I feel for the veterans like PT, Vasser, Servia, and Bruno that are going to have to race around a track for fans that probably will not show up. In the last 20 years, I have only missed one race and this will be the second race I will miss. Frankly, I could care less if this end of the DPO1, the car we fell in Love with for one year, BFD.

In missing the last race, I would be saddened if it were a true celebration of what the Champ Car World Series was kind of all about or at least a semi celebration of what was once CART. This is nothing short of a joke and a way for the Amigos to stick it to us. Our series had potential but these guys were clueless.

I hope there is good racing in LB and for those who are there to say goodbye, my best wishes. I will be riding the Rosaritio to Ensenada Fun Bike Race. Then again, I guess this years Long Beach race is nothing short of a "fun" race. How freakin sad.

Sorry for my negativity, but I know there are many out there who feel the same.


Yes, I agree it is sad.

I hope that someday Indycar will feel the same passionately as it did for me with Champcar.

For some of us, it will take some changes for that to happen.

[-Helix-]

I am certainly glad to see Vasser racing in the LB Grand Prix. Hopefully, he races in the Indy 500 as well. Since the "merger" or "capitulation" I have been extremely negative and I will continue to be. Like I said I am happy for Vasser but the Long Beach race is going to be nothing short of a circus on wheels. I feel for the veterans like PT, Vasser, Servia, and Bruno that are going to have to race around a track for fans that probably will not show up. In the last 20 years, I have only missed one race and this will be the second race I will miss. Frankly, I could care less if this end of the DPO1, the car we fell in Love with for one year, BFD.

In missing the last race, I would be saddened if it were a true celebration of what the Champ Car World Series was kind of all about or at least a semi celebration of what was once CART. This is nothing short of a joke and a way for the Amigos to stick it to us. Our series had potential but these guys were clueless.

I hope there is good racing in LB and for those who are there to say goodbye, my best wishes. I will be riding the Rosaritio to Ensenada Fun Bike Race. Then again, I guess this years Long Beach race is nothing short of a "fun" race. How freakin sad.

Sorry for my negativity, but I know there are many out there who feel the same.

No, it'll still count in the points. Though that doesn't really matter for the "guest" drivers. But at least it will have meaning to the full time drivers.

I also heard Da Matta might be racing too which I would enjoy immensely. Hopefully a full time comeback is still in the cards for him.

[F1boat]

I think that it is good than Champ Car will have its own finale, a farewell to the fans. At the beginning I was very frustrated when I understood that Indycar will have two races in one weekend, but now I think that it is for the better. CCWS deserve to has a farewell after the merger with IRL and hopefully the now unified series will become one of the premier motorsports series in the world, with Formula One and the Sprint Cup series.
I hope that Eurosport will show the LBGP :)

[bblocker68]

Mario Andretti should run, didn't he win the first (F5000) race there? Also Al Unser Jr, Bobby Rahal. No F1 race that weekend maybe they could get SeaBass.


Pretty sure Brian Redman won the first LBGP, but Mario sure had his share of wins there. He won in both F1 and CART cars.

[SpeedyRB]

How cool would it be to see Dario and Montoya there? After all, I believe there's no NASCAR cup race that weekend... Prolly too good to be true!

How about Patrick Carpentier?

[BobGarage]

Nige will be in the paddock that weekend as his sons will be in the atlantic race. Get him in a car!!!!!!!!

[nanders]

Nige will be in the paddock that weekend as his sons will be in the atlantic race. Get him in a car!!!!!!!!

In his Lola.

[Phoenixent]

What would be cool would be to repaint the cars in a retro theme for the last race. Bring back paint schemes dating back to 1984.

That would be cool. :cool:

[edv]

Villeneuve is somewhere right now sitting on his thumbs....get him in a car.

[!!WALDO!!]

But let's just get it up to 18 cars so the fans get their monies worth.

[Rogelio]

But let's just get it up to 18 cars so the fans get their monies worth.

Since the Amigos took over, scrambling to fill seats for the race and not knowing who was driving with whom has been the norm. I think we will be lucky to have 17 cars. In my opinion get every freaking DPO1 out there and give the fans something to cheer for.

But, do you think KK and Forsythe and Gentilozzi really give a you know what about this race? I will compare it to a wife just having sex for the sake of it or better yet having sex with a prostitute that will not even give you a kiss. It is like ok, let's just get it over with and well...thanks...are you done.

That is what irritates me most with KK. He tries to promote this race like it is a Champ Car farewell and the end of our beloved DPO1 that we knew for only one year. Surely, the towel needed to be thrown in, but not the way it took place. Many honest and hardworking teams/drivers/fans/cities feel alienated and cheated and violated. KK has tried to sugar-coat the whole "merger" rather than simply admitting that they could not run a business and had no choice but to quit or capitulate to TG.

Sorry about the negativity, but hey if things get better, then I will be the first to jump on the bandwagon and start cheering. Just find PT a real ride!

[bblocker68]

KK and Forsythe do care about the race. They own it.

[Rogelio]

KK and Forsythe do care about the race. They own it.

Yes, they own it but does that mean they care? I am guessing that KK and Forsythe are not on the greatest of terms right now. KK/Amigos thought enough about the fans/teams/drivers/cities/tracks/sponsors-the few to just simply captitulate at the last minute. Call me a negative person, but this race is nothing short of sad.

I became a die-hard CART/Champ Car fan after watching my first race in 1989. I am saddened by the way they are trying to promote and put this race together. Vasser is one of my favorite drivers of all time, but it saddens me to see him have to "sell" himself out to meet the "quota".

I am sure that it will be an exciting weekend but in my opinion, the honest and dedicated CART/Champ Car faithful deserved better. What is better? I can not answer that, but the current status of the race is a joke.

Perhaps better, is KK/Amigos saying simply "Thank you for supporting the series and we are sorry we had to fold and not "merge," please join us in Long Beach and we will buy you more than a few Tecates at the Yardhouse or the Spring Bok." Also, "We are sorry for misleading the teams/sponsors/drivers/cities/fans into believing that there would be a 2008 season, sorry for showing up at Sebring when I knew that I would be folding the series."

[!!WALDO!!]

Yes, they own it but does that mean they care? I am guessing that KK and Forsythe are not on the greatest of terms right now. KK/Amigos thought enough about the fans/teams/drivers/cities/tracks/sponsors-the few to just simply captitulate at the last minute. Call me a negative person, but this race is nothing short of sad.

I became a die-hard CART/Champ Car fan after watching my first race in 1989. I am saddened by the way they are trying to promote and put this race together. Vasser is one of my favorite drivers of all time, but it saddens me to see him have to "sell" himself out to meet the "quota".

I am sure that it will be an exciting weekend but in my opinion, the honest and dedicated CART/Champ Car faithful deserved better. What is better? I can not answer that, but the current status of the race is a joke.

Perhaps better, is KK/Amigos saying simply "Thank you for supporting the series and we are sorry we had to fold and not "merge," please join us in Long Beach and we will buy you more than a few Tecates at the Yardhouse or the Spring Bok." Also, "We are sorry for misleading the teams/sponsors/drivers/cities/fans into believing that there would be a 2008 season, sorry for showing up at Sebring when I knew that I would be folding the series."

They better care otherwise it could produce RED INK and TG will buy the show from them for less money than they paid Dover. So they better pay attention.

[Chaparral66]

If Shorty is racing at Long Beach will someone please make sure there are no woodland creatures within 20 miles of the racetrack...? ;)

[Hoop-98]

I think I'll head out there to see the finale. Should be an interesting show and some worthwhile conversation in the paddock.

rh

[MAX_THRUST]

It sort of seems a pointless exercise, however its all about keeping the race alive for next year. Shame they didn't do the same for a few of the other top CCWS tracks such as Cleveland Toronto....

Looking forard to next years championship. Things should be more settled then and an improved more balanced schedule.

[Rogelio]

It sort of seems a pointless exercise, however its all about keeping the race alive for next year. Shame they didn't do the same for a few of the other top CCWS tracks such as Cleveland Toronto....

Looking forard to next years championship. Things should be more settled then and an improved more balanced schedule.

Well put and that is my main point of contention. Long Beach was and will be the series' "crown jewell" and like you said this years race is comparable to a "pointless exercise." Hey, I want a great race to take place in LB, but the method in which everything has unfolded ("merger") leaves a lot to be desired. Certainly, not all of the former Champ Car tracks could be assimilated, but places like Toronto, Cleveland, Portland were simply thrown under the bus.

Yes, I know it was a merger/bankruptcy and that is all part of business, yet the last miniute capitulation by the Amigos reflects their true lack of comittment to the Champ Car community (teams/drivers/cities/sponsors/fans). And that explains a lot of the animosity and sense of alienation that exsists in the racing community.

All we can hope for is that the fans of those cities with long ties to Champ Car are willing to wait a year or two for their race to return. Years ago, I pretty much "lived" for the excitement of the Long Beach Grand Prixand and even when I moved away, I still returned to the LB race in the 90s. Had the race been cancelled during that time, I would have been devasted and certainly distraught.

[Ruben Barrios]

They sure know their market... The purpose of this race is to get money and to re-sign the even... this last one has happened already so now it is only for money...

If they wanted a farewell race... I would suggest Road America, Laguna Seca or something else... I would also suggest several different chasis...

[weeflyonthewall]

Now its official!