Panther hires Hildebrand

[DBell]

J.R. gets the ride and brings no sponsorship money. I hope he does well.

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-panther-racing-hires-jr-hildebrand/

In the same article, Miller said Ganassi has called a conference for Thursday to announce Rahal and Kimball in a new team that he owns.

[Placid]

This is a ride that JR really earned. And is better that an mid-pack or back-marking F1 team. But still. I like to see JR in F1 in the future.

[beachbum]

Lots of good news lately. Especially for all of those people who say we need more 'merican drivers.....................

Glad to see the young talent get a chance without having to bring bags of money

[Steve-o]

The release from Indycar
http://www.fanviewpoint.com/2010/12/izod-indycar-series-hildebrand-signs.html

[I am evil Homer]

As someone who'#s only seen glimpses of JR could our US members tell me if he's any good? And by that I don't mena able to drive that much is obvious, I mean ability to set cars up, race a poor car by the scruff of its neck etc.

Is he the best US prospect out there compared to Marco, Graham?

[beachbum]

There are a couple things that make Hildebrand attractive to a team. He is a proven winner having won 3 championships - FIL, USF2000, and SCCA Formula Russell, has been competitive in everything from karts to A1GP, and is very intelligent. He was accepted at MIT and had a 2 year deferral to start, which is very unusual. Many still think he is the one US driver who could make it in F1.

[TURN3]

There are a couple things that make Hildebrand attractive to a team. He is a proven winner having won 3 championships - FIL, USF2000, and SCCA Formula Russell, has been competitive in everything from karts to A1GP, and is very intelligent. He was accepted at MIT and had a 2 year deferral to start, which is very unusual. Many still think he is the one US driver who could make it in F1.

No kidding...he was accepted at MIT? Wow, that certainly says something about his understanding of physics. By translation, I assume he'll end up being fantastic. An engineers knowlege with the skill of a race car driver is a pretty good combo. Some guys get their knowledge through testing and experience (i.e. Franchitti, PT, etc.) while others are naturally understanding of principals (i.e. Schumacher, etc.). I'll look forward to him succeeding.

[Chamoo]

It is unfortunate though that it seems he will have to go through his first season without a teammate. Hopefully if this whole TV NBC/Comcast thing goes through, Panther has something waiting from a sponsor to get a second car onto the grid.

With Highcroft Racing saying they would be looking at a few Izod Indycar Series events this season, I wonder if they would partner with Panther. They do have history together from the 2009 Indy 500.

JR would strive with a teammate to share data with.

Look how much stronger Panther Racing was when Ed Carpenter ran those four races with them last year.