Championship Fight

[sundaydriver]

There is a nice championship fight brewing in CCWS. Both of the Players cars and Newman/Haas cars are gunnin' for the trophy as well as Jourdain.

The racing this year is a 100% better and I'm really looking forward to see how things turn out. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say PT wins this whole thing but not by much. I would pick Jourdain but this guy sucked so bad for so many years that it's hard to think of him a contender.

My darkhorses to finish well are Servia and Vasser. (Damn that Reynard)

[JLMannin]

I would contend that Jourdain did not suck all those years. He drove for the likes of Dale Coyne and the Herdez/Bettenhausen teams. I think he may have driven for Dick Simon as well. All of these teams have, for the most part, been out to lunch for a decade or more. Jourdain's best career finishes prior to joining the Rahal team were at Elkart lake and MIS - Tracks that are very technically demanding (Elkart Lake, anyway). In 2001, Jourdain finished thirs at Michigan in a photo finish with Franchitti for second and just a couple of car lenghts from winning. Also that same year, he was leading late in the race at the paperclip and blew up.

He had the field covered at Long Beach ans was one of the few guys at Laguna Seca actually passing on the track. He kept his composure and finished fourth, preserving his championship lead.

Everyone thought Fernandez was a wanker when he was driving for Walker, and he was labelled a no talent ride buyer. Then with Tasman, Patrick Racing, he was a contender for championships. Going into this season, he was regarded among the serious contenders for the championship.

When Jourdain got the Rahal ride, the general consensus was it was either a make it or break it deal for him - he has prevailed.

John

[Hot Rod Otis]

When did Fernandez drive for Walker? He started out with Galles in an Amway car in 93, picked up Tecate the next year, stayed with Galles thru 95, then moved to Tasman in 96.

I agree with the Jourdain take. I don't think he sucked, I think he was in Champcars WAY to young. He basically had to learn his craft at the Major League level, which is a tall order for anybody except for a select few. And having to learn your craft driving for the likes of Andy Evans/Dick Simon and Dale Coyne, plus being stuck with a 97 Lola(one whole season shot down the tubes), and running without a teamate with Bettenhausen made the learning curve even steeper. I wonder how much having Vasser as a teamamate last year helped get Jourdain over the top, from field filler, to front runner?

[sundaydriver]

Don't get me wrong JL, I like Jourdain. I do think the guy has proven himself to be a winner and a guy with some major talent. However, he has never taken a **** car and driven it to the front like Castroneves did with Bettenhausen and Tracy did with Penske. He WAS in bad equipment but you never saw any flashes of brilliance, or at least that I could see.

I do think having a teammate last year helped him a lot. I think he mentioned it a few time last year and has obviously shown quite well this year. This years fight is going to be great and I hope it goes down to the wire. :thumbup:

[RaceGrrl]

Originally posted by sundaydriver
[B He WAS in bad equipment but you never saw any flashes of brilliance, or at least that I could see. [/B]

Part of his brilliance has been his ability to consistently finish races in the points. That counts for a lot, IMO. Now he's got a good team behind him and can really show what he's capable of. I'm pulling for him for the Championship.

[JLMannin]

Originally posted by Hot Rod Otis
When did Fernandez drive for Walker? He started out with Galles in an Amway car in 93, picked up Tecate the next year, stayed with Galles thru 95, then moved to Tasman in 96.

I agree with the Jourdain take. I don't think he sucked, I think he was in Champcars WAY to young. He basically had to learn his craft at the Major League level, which is a tall order for anybody except for a select few. And having to learn your craft driving for the likes of Andy Evans/Dick Simon and Dale Coyne, plus being stuck with a 97 Lola(one whole season shot down the tubes), and running without a teamate with Bettenhausen made the learning curve even steeper. I wonder how much having Vasser as a teamamate last year helped get Jourdain over the top, from field filler, to front runner?

HRO, I stand corrected regarding Walker. I forgot all about Galles. Jourdains team mate for two years at Coyne was Vitolo, and that may be worse than no team mate at all. When Jourdain was at Herdez/Bettenhausen, there was a lot of internal politics there - many in the team wanted to give Jourdain the boot and hand the ride over to Dominguez, but those whose opinion mattered favored Jourdain. I'm sure that was a difficult situation.

[JLMannin]

Originally posted by RaceGrrl
Part of his brilliance has been his ability to consistently finish races in the points. That counts for a lot, IMO. Now he's got a good team behind him and can really show what he's capable of. I'm pulling for him for the Championship.

I agree. everyone takes notice when you are running at the finish in all the races in positions 1 - 6, but many, many less notice this when the finishes are in the 7 - 12 bracket. Jourdain did the latter when the grids were 22 to 26 cars strong. And I think that for two years running, he led the series in miles completed.

I've been a Jourdain fan since '96 or so. Yes, he drove for bad teams, but when I was at the track, he was on the gas early and braking late - signs that a driver has what it takes. His team mates at the time were off the gas and braking much earlier. Looking at the box score at the end of the race does not give the full measure of a racers potential, IMO