da Matta's Promise

[NismoZ]

Had to promise his doctors not to try racing again 'til '08 at the earliest. Said he could do Go Karts. Do they know how fast his karts are!?:eek:

[Ziggy]

Well, it's kind of a good thing. I dont think he would want to be embarrased by being asked to pay to drive.....

I really doubt he will ever be back. That is not a slam on him. Head injuries are very, very serious. His was alot worse than what many understood by reading the tripe out of AR1.

The old saying

"any day above ground is a good day"

best of luck Christiano :thumbup:

[Joelski]

When a section of your skull is removed so the brain can swell beyond its normal terrritory, functioning above a drooling poop factory is a miracle.

[cameraman]

Yeah it is a straight up miracle that he is in as good a condition that he is.

Personally I think he should be glad that he is okay and he should stay away from ccws and remain okay.

[gjc2]

I hope to see him in the cockpit again, but if not he should have no regrets. He competed at the highest levels of the sport. He won the adoration of his fans and the respect of his peers, what more could one ask?

Oh yeah, and he made a lot of money too.

[jonovision_man]

I'll be he regrets either going to F1 or at the very least stinking it up while he was there.

jono

[JohnHKart]

I'll be he regrets either going to F1 or at the very least stinking it up while he was there.

jono

I loved the smell of him leading several laps at Silverstone in 2003. :shakehead

JH

[Anteater]

I'll be he regrets either going to F1 or at the very least stinking it up while he was there.

jono

That’s not what he told Gordon Kirby awhile back:
"I'm not sitting here thinking I should never have left Newman/Haas to go to Formula 1, that maybe I should have stayed," he commented. "That doesn't do me any good. It's much better if I just think how to make my car go faster… I don't have time to sit and think about the struggle. I just like to look forward. Obviously, you try to learn from what you've done wrong in the past, but it's more about looking forward than looking back."”
http://www.champcarworldseries.com/News/Article.asp?ID=10173

There was a recent article on a Brazilian website—Cristiano wants to race again, but he seems to understand that it may be awhile. In the meantime, he looks and sounds great now! :)
http://oglobo.globo.com/fotos/2007/02/07/07_MHG_ESP_DAMATTA3.jpg
http://oglobo.globo.com/esportes/mat/2007/02/07/294477674.asp

[jonovision_man]

I loved the smell of him leading several laps at Silverstone in 2003. :shakehead

JH

Thanks to this nutcase and some fuel strategy... and how'd he finish?

http://www.in.gr/auto/agwnistika/Big/BritishGP.jpg

He didn't do well in F1. Too bad. And it interrupted an otherwise stellar ChampCar career.

jono

[Fried]

I'll be he regrets either going to F1 or at the very least stinking it up while he was there.

jono not only a hijack but a slam on top of it. very appropriate in a thread discussing his health. and very classy, as well. :thumdown:

[Lizzerd]

not only a hijack but a slam on top of it. very appropriate in a thread discussing his health. and very classy, as well. :thumdown:

Agreed. Bad timing, jono. :thumdown: :thumdown:

[emjaya]

I suppose you have to take what you can get in F1. :\

Da Matta was unlucky that Toyota was (and still is) a third rate team.

[jonovision_man]

Agreed. Bad timing, jono. :thumdown: :thumdown:

Hey I was just responding to a claim that he had "no regrets". I just said he probably does. Yeesh... how long are we going to have to forget that his F1 stint ever happened? And I also said he had a stellar ChampCar career... thought my comments were completely fair.

jono

[Joelski]

This isn't funeral calling hours, what Jono said was a perfectly true statement. Dude can't help that he got stuck with a s***** F1 team beyond chosing to sign with the winning aspect of that team in CC. His fault? Hell no! True? Of course it is, and I bet he loses 0 sleep over it.

This forum is not known for a "Black or White, but not both, and certainly not GRAY!" approach to discussion of racing and the people involved. I certainly hope it stays that way.

[robot9000]

That F1 money is going to keep him very well furnished for the rest of his life. He would never have made that kind of dough even if he stayed in CC.

One of the side benefits of the MA/AZ/CD CC->F1->CC deal is a nice pocket full of money.

[Anteater]

Da Matta's other promise: "Of course, what I told the doctor is, ‘Hey I’m not planning to crash again. Don’t worry about that!' Especially run over another deer. I guess there are zero deers running around in Las Vegas, Houston and Long Beach."
http://www.speedtv.com/commentary/35334/

Great story, but I'm not sure about the wisdom of letting Cristiano near a DP01 at Vegas. With those onboard starters, he might hop into one and take off!

[rabbit]

Great story, but I'm not sure about the wisdom of letting Cristiano near a DP01 at Vegas. With those onboard starters, he might hop into one and take off!

Joe Tanto?

[Opposite Lock]

Joe Tanto?

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/7681/joetantodrivenqr6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

(watch out for those loose sewer caps while driving from Chicago to Toronto)

[Easy]

I don't see why he would have any regrets about going to F1. He could have stayed in Champ Car and waxed a 3rd rate field for $500k a year or give the pinnacle of the sport a chance make enough millions to set him up nicely for a long damn time. Third option, a million a year from Toyota to run circles in the Tony League. Easy choice.