nrc
12-22-07, 12:37 PM
http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071221/FREE/879109195/1528/FREE
What do you consider your greatest racing accomplishment?
The Formula One World Championship is no doubt the pinnacle. No question about it. To me, F1 is the ultimate form of motorsport. You can argue it either way, but it is. I've been there, done all of it.
Did I derive the most satisfaction from winning it? Probably not. I probably derived the most satisfaction out of CART, because of the mix of ovals to road courses. I was never totally fond of ovals, but I loved the mix, loved the challenge of ovals. When CART was at its best, the mix was good, percentage-wise. I loved the idea that if you won the CART championship, you won on a road course and you won on an oval. There were times when there was so much satisfaction to be had from that series.
What about the IRL-Champ Car split?
Tony George is finally admitting certain things [by the series going to road and street courses, along with the ovals on which the series was based]. We've come close several times to making progress [in reconciliation], and then it just falls apart. They're all in denial. I've tried so hard to get some sense in them. They just don't seem to realize they keep losing ground. More and more, that's the thing [Champ Car's] Kevin Kalkoven doesn't really realize. He's in Dubai, cultivating those foreign markets, and it just doesn't work. It's going to be another A1 series, and there already is an A1 series that doesn't work. They are off everyone's radar, no story line. It's a shame, a total shame.
Can't argue too much about Dubai, except to say that if it helps keep CC afloat while the IRL's position continues to erode it's a good thing. Sorry Mario, no compromise with Tony George - ever.
What do you consider your greatest racing accomplishment?
The Formula One World Championship is no doubt the pinnacle. No question about it. To me, F1 is the ultimate form of motorsport. You can argue it either way, but it is. I've been there, done all of it.
Did I derive the most satisfaction from winning it? Probably not. I probably derived the most satisfaction out of CART, because of the mix of ovals to road courses. I was never totally fond of ovals, but I loved the mix, loved the challenge of ovals. When CART was at its best, the mix was good, percentage-wise. I loved the idea that if you won the CART championship, you won on a road course and you won on an oval. There were times when there was so much satisfaction to be had from that series.
What about the IRL-Champ Car split?
Tony George is finally admitting certain things [by the series going to road and street courses, along with the ovals on which the series was based]. We've come close several times to making progress [in reconciliation], and then it just falls apart. They're all in denial. I've tried so hard to get some sense in them. They just don't seem to realize they keep losing ground. More and more, that's the thing [Champ Car's] Kevin Kalkoven doesn't really realize. He's in Dubai, cultivating those foreign markets, and it just doesn't work. It's going to be another A1 series, and there already is an A1 series that doesn't work. They are off everyone's radar, no story line. It's a shame, a total shame.
Can't argue too much about Dubai, except to say that if it helps keep CC afloat while the IRL's position continues to erode it's a good thing. Sorry Mario, no compromise with Tony George - ever.