ECR will give England’s Jack Aitken his first run in an IndyCar, which comes after the British driver recovered from a broken collarbone and compression fracture to his upper spine in a GT racing incident in August.
At Sebring on Monday 6 December alongside Ilott at Juncos, Stoffel Vandoorne at McLaren, and Nyck de Vries at Shank.
I realise its only a test and may not come to anything but more Euro drivers has to be good. Obviously guys seeing RG and ME doing ok in the series now thinking / realising it (Indy) is a better option than an F1 sim job with only a threat of a real drive if they stay in Europe.... Good luck to them. Can only be good for the status of Indycar.
* I started life with nothing, and still have most of it left
“Good drivers have dead flies on the side windows!” (Walter Röhrl)
* I married Miss Right. Just didn't know her first name was Always
US market has Pigot and Daly. Why they failed with ECR? Grosjean & Ericsson actually had decent F1 careers. The idea Aitken will be any good is a mirage. Didn't Stefano Coletti serve as the guinea pig? GP2/F2 drivers who boost their resume based on reverse grid results won't steal the IndyCar headlines overnight like Montoya did.
07.04.1968 - Flower of Scotland when will we see your like again? 01.05.1994 - We'll never forget...
Vassago wrote: ↑2 years ago
US market has Pigot and Daly. Why they failed with ECR? Grosjean & Ericsson actually had decent F1 careers. The idea Aitken will be any good is a mirage. Didn't Stefano Coletti serve as the guinea pig? GP2/F2 drivers who boost their resume based on reverse grid results won't steal the IndyCar headlines overnight like Montoya did.
Can't say I'm enthused about him, but there are certainly worse drivers.
I would never have picked Palou as a champion, for instance.
So who knows.
But he's better than Kellett.
Oscar Piastri in F1! Catch the fever! Vettel Hate Club. Life membership.
Meant to use a current situation in F1 as an example of the Euro option in my point responding to the Euro driver testing Indycars matter.....A good example (sure @MonteCristo will agree), being Oscar Piastri.
Always at the pointy end of the feeder championships and clearly talented, tied to an F1 manufacturer junior academy, and yet his reward for his success is no racing for 2022..... a few hours in a sim and if he is lucky maybe a Friday morning P1 and a young drivers day out. Yes he is playing a long game, but sat on the sidelines doesnt build "track smarts and racecraft" beyond watching others.
"What could possibly go wrong" springs to mind.....The dangers of becoming a name in some forum "unfulfilled talent" thread beckons!
* I started life with nothing, and still have most of it left
“Good drivers have dead flies on the side windows!” (Walter Röhrl)
* I married Miss Right. Just didn't know her first name was Always
ECR will give England’s Jack Aitken his first run in an IndyCar, which comes after the British driver recovered from a broken collarbone and compression fracture to his upper spine in a GT racing incident in August.
At Sebring on Monday 6 December alongside Ilott at Juncos, Stoffel Vandoorne at McLaren, and Nyck de Vries at Shank.
I realise its only a test and may not come to anything but more Euro drivers has to be good. Obviously guys seeing RG and ME doing ok in the series now thinking / realising it (Indy) is a better option than an F1 sim job with only a threat of a real drive if they stay in Europe.... Good luck to them. Can only be good for the status of Indycar.
To succeed in Indycar, you have to want to be there. For Marcus and Romain, their hearts are all in. Some of these F2 drivers obviously sees this as plan B, which does not bode well. Callum Ilott has been very clear that he rathers want to be somewhere else. Coupling a rookie team with limited resources with him, I don't think that is recipe for success. And Aitken is not exactly frontline material. I have a hard time seeing any of these drivers staying in Indycar for too long.
And this wave is barely anything new. Remember Jordan King? Rene Binder? Esteban Gutierrez?
I think Indycar is full of European refugees at the moment.
***Some say you should live each day like it was your last... but who wants to live each day in wild panic and extreme death anxiety?
The universe, look at the hugeness of it... it is a dizzying thought that little ol' me is the centre of it all!***
Cheeveer wrote: ↑2 years ago
I think Indycar is full of European refugees at the moment.
Yea, F1 needs to have more teams and cars. To many good drivers being left out. They have to go somewhere. So, Formula E and Indy take them, but in the end, they all want a crack at F1.
The idea that Piastri goes to IndyCar for a one-year rental and then returns to F1 once Alonso retires will not happen. F1 drivers go to IndyCar once they realize their F1 path has closed. About more teams in F1, well, we saw what the big triple influx did 10 years ago. Marussia, Catherham & HRT have all failed in dramatic fashion and it has scared FIA from opening the door for the time being. Formula E is the new graveyard for ex-F1 drivers and other failed hopefuls.
07.04.1968 - Flower of Scotland when will we see your like again? 01.05.1994 - We'll never forget...
With JJ, assuming he doesn't get bumped, the '500 could have some real solid TV ratings.
I hope he can build on his "form" in the last couple of races, where he at least was racing Kellett.
I think he'll 'decently' improve next year.
Some might compare him to McLaughlin as a cab driver, but Supercars with exclusively road courses and street circuits is worlds apart from NASCAR with its 90% ovals. So it's an unfair comparison
I think he'll still be towards the tail end, and sometimes dead last. But I think he'll be amongst the last 4 or so cars. I think he'll mix it with the likes of DeFrancesco and Kellett most races (maybe Malukas and Kirkwood depending on the Coyne/Foyt cars and how the kids adapt to the big cars), and could reach mid-pack on ovals.
I think we're up to 25 full time announced cars though, which is great. Hopefully one or two more, and then some more part time programs get announced.
Oscar Piastri in F1! Catch the fever! Vettel Hate Club. Life membership.
The last time the NTT IndyCar Series had a female driver signed to a full-time effort was in 2013 with Simona De Silvestro and KVSH Racing, and thanks to a late decision by A.J. Foyt Racing sponsor ROKiT, Tatiana Calderon will take a step towards ending the long representation drought when she takes the wheel of the No. 11 Chevy for the road and street course events.
The 28-year-old will also continue the tradition of Colombian talent being represented in IndyCar as she helps the Foyt team — which RACER revealed in September — realize ROKiT’s desire to have two cars carrying its branding and gives the series an unexpected 26th entry for the entire season. The team is yet to sign a driver for the oval races.
