More proof the Vision worked

[Napoleon]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43076-2003Jun27.html?nav=hptoc_s

[KLang]

Anyone keeping track of which version of the vision this is? :shakehead

[Cam]

Version 1.73alpha. Build number 2003-6-28.335.

The vision is GPL'd therefore they are following the Mozilla style of version numbering so that there is absolutely no confusion with previous versions. :rolleyes: :gomer:

[pchall]

They want to set cookies. I don't want to bother.

Somebody please cut and paste for lazy me on a Saturday morning.

[devilmaster]

Brazil's Auto Focus
Country's Racing Tradition Translates to Indy Racing League Succes

By Liz Clarke
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, June 28, 2003; Page D01

RICHMOND, June 27 -- The Indy Racing League was started as an incubator for promising drivers from the American heartland. But eight years later, the Billys and Buddys for whom it was intended are being blown off the track by a gifted generation of Brazilians, who have won the last three Indianapolis 500s and currently occupy first (Tony Kanaan) and third (Helio Castroneves and Gil de Ferran) in the championship standings.

When the IRL stops at Richmond International Raceway for Saturday's SunTrust Indy Challenge, Brazilian drivers will be behind the wheel in five of the 22 cars entered.

The Brazilian influx is a testament to the country's rich motor sports tradition and its rigorous feeder system of go-kart circuits that groom young drivers for export to Europe and, increasingly, the United States to follow the course set by Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet and the late Ayrton Senna -- former world champions and Brazilian national heroes.

The Brazilian influx is also a testament to the IRL's growing ability, after sputtering through its early years, to siphon off accomplished drivers and top teams from Championship Auto Racing Teams, its rival in U.S.-based open-wheel racing.

Says de Ferran, 35, the defending Indianapolis 500 winner: "What's going on today is, the IRL has become a victim of its own success. Because it's successful, it's attracting talent. From everywhere! The little guy in Brazil going, 'Wheeeee!' in his go-kart is thinking, 'Man, next year, that's what I'm going to do!'

" . . . And you can't stop a guy from dreaming."

As with the national pastimes of soccer, samba and carnival, there are romantic notions about why Brazilians excel at motor sports.

"They say it's the water, but I don't know," Kanaan says. "You know how they say in basketball, sometimes, that white men can't jump? Well, we can't play basketball at all. This is a sport that was given to us as a gift. And we succeed."

Castroneves credits an early start on the track -- not uncommon for privileged Brazilian youngsters who dream of becoming the next Senna or Piquet. Kanaan was no different, starting in go-karts at 8.

"I barely knew what to do," says Kanaan, now 28.

But he learned through an adolescence that was geared around racetracks, with his best friend, Castroneves, by his side. Together they polished their helmets, shared their dreams and tested their mettle.

De Ferran, a half-generation older, was reared in a race-car obsessed home in Sao Paolo, where the exploits of Fittipaldi and Piquet dominated Sunday dinner conversations.

"We didn't talk about politics; we didn't talk about soccer," de Ferran said. "My dad and my uncles had these tremendous arguments about which car did this and what car did that. And they were very heated discussions, like you see on the Italian films."

As an aspiring racer, de Ferran went as far as he could on the financial backing of family and friends, winning the Brazilian Formula Ford 1600 championship at age 20. Then he went to England, finding a mentor in three-time Formula One champion Jackie Stewart.

A few years later, Castroneves followed.

Both say that being forced to leave Brazil -- and the challenges of language and culture that entailed -- was critical to their development.

"The situation itself gives you tremendous focus," de Ferran says. "You have no support system. And you can either go back [home] and do something totally different -- or you can succeed."

But the lessons learned in go-karting, well before they were old enough for a driver's license, remain valuable today.

Of course, the go-karts Brazilians youngsters race are far more sophisticated than the sort built out of wooden crates. They cost thousands of dollars, top 80 miles an hour and are typically tuned by expert mechanics. For the youngster, there's only a throttle and brake to worry about. But there's plenty of learning to be gained on the Brazilian go-kart circuits, with their undulating terrain and varied turns.

Castroneves seizes a notepad to illustrate, drawing a wide, sweeping turn and marking an "x" at the spots the kart must hit to make the fastest time.

"The best school is go-karts," Castroneves declares.

Says de Ferran, nodding: "From an early age, you learn pressure -- the pressure of people following you all day long, of having to pass somebody, of making the right move or not making the right move. If you're successful in go-kart racing, you've become quite polished already."

Still, the IRL didn't necessarily want these polished, imported drivers initially. Founder Tony George, heir to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, envisioned a series built around his legendary oval and comprised of young Americans with easy-to-pronounce names who learned to turn left on the dirt tracks of the Midwest.

But in using the Indianapolis 500 to marginalize the established CART series, George ultimately triggered the defection that has infused the IRL with its current international flavor.

In Castroneves and de Ferran, who have won the last three Indianapolis 500s, the IRL has gained not only two expert racers, but also a pair of polished ambassadors for the league.

They were in Fairfax earlier this week visiting employees at Exxon Mobil, a longtime sponsor of their team, Penske Racing. They posed for pictures beside de Ferran's No. 6 Dallara/Toyota show car, which was parked out front; taped interviews with Voice of America; posed for pictures and recounted the recent Indianapolis 500, in which de Ferran passed Castroneves for the lead with 30 laps to go, with grace and good humor.

"I offered him $1 million over the radio to let me pass him by," quipped Castroneves.

"I never got the message," de Ferran deadpanned.

Then they signed autographs as hundreds of employees filed past, extending hats, T-shirts, postcards, posters, tiny racecars and at least one cast for their signatures. The men offered congratulations, good luck and a handshake. Most of the women blushed. And one employee's son told the drivers that he, too, was a racer. And he challenged Castroneves to beat the record lap that he held at his local go-kart track.

Castroneves rose to the occasion, challenging the 11-year-old to come to the IRL and race with him in 10 years.

"That's how you start," de Ferran said later. "The kid is 11, but he is passionate!"

Castroneves agreed.

"You cannot break this passion!" he said. "You can see the kid was fired up. And when I said, 'I'll see you in 10 years,' I was dead serious."

Notes: New Zealand's Scott Dixon will start from the pole with his qualifying lap of 168.138 mph on the three-quarter-mile oval. . . . American Sarah Fisher earned a front-low starting spot with her lap of 167.004 mph.



© 2003 The Washington Post Company

[Eagle104]

Oh, for Pete's sake!..I couldn't read past de Ferran's quote. :shakehead I've seen enough..........

[rabbit]

But he learned through an adolescence that was geared around racetracks, with his best friend, Castroneves, by his side. Together they polished their helmets, shared their dreams and tested their mettle.
:eek: :eek: :rofl:

[cart7]

Originally posted by Eagle104
Oh, for Pete's sake!..I couldn't read past de Ferran's quote. :shakehead I've seen enough..........

Well, 2 concussions in less than a year can kind of cloud you're thought process. :(

[JT265]

Together they polished their helmets, shared their dreams and tested their mettle.

Shouldn't this quote be reserved for "OUT" magazine? 'course, I understand that this IS a new millenium and all, but sheesh!

Oh, and it's now legal in Canada too! :rofl:

[RaceGrrl]

Originally posted by Eagle104
Oh, for Pete's sake!..I couldn't read past de Ferran's quote. :shakehead I've seen enough..........

Same thing I did. I respect Gil as a driver, but I'll pay no attention to anything he says while in Penske's employ.

[Treeface]

Work on a hog farm and you will get used to the smell. Doesn't mean it don't stink though.

[RaceGrrl]

Originally posted by Treeface
Work on a hog farm and you will get used to the smell. Doesn't mean it don't stink though.

You know, I think that holds true if you live near the hog farm too.

[Peter Venkman]

"Same thing I did. I respect Gil as a driver, but I'll pay no attention to anything he says while in Penske's employ."

My thoughts, exactly.

'Say no evil' about the IRL must be in everybody's contract.

A neccessary subterfuge to Tony's ego.

[cartmanoz]

I think I want to throw up...


*BARF*

[WickerBill]

Originally posted by RaceGrrl
Same thing I did. I respect Gil as a driver, but I'll pay no attention to anything he says while in Penske's employ.


When Gil was either a rook or second year, Tracy made an insanely dangerous move on him at Portland which saw them both hard into the wall. Gil, when interviewed as soon as he got back to the pits, was the picture of a gentleman who picks his words very carefully: "Paul made a very reeesky maneuver." Out of context like this, it's hard to convey just how much of an understatement that was, but it was obvious to Jack Arute that there was no way he was going to get a cross word out of Gil.

That incident was the reason he became my favorite driver in CART -- he basically couldn't be any different from Paul Tracy if he tried.

While I don't applaud him for being an IRL cheerleader, I am fairly certain that he's just applying a (very important) rule of decorum to his speech: don't insult present company.

WB

[RaceGrrl]

Originally posted by WickerBill

While I don't applaud him for being an IRL cheerleader, I am fairly certain that he's just applying a (very important) rule of decorum to his speech: don't insult present company.

WB

The fact that he's being a company man doesn't change my respect for him as a driver. It just means that I don't take seriously much of what he says. It's a shame because I'd like to be able to respect not only his driving, but his words as well.

[Foxman]

I really have to apologize on behalf of my hometown newspaper.. I can't believe they would even waste their time with this drivel, or that they can't call the vision what it really is....

[racer2c]

Anyone who has ever had anything to do with shifter karts knows that an all oval series is not the end game. Unfortunately it seems to be for some of our favorite former Champ Car drivers.

[oddlycalm]

Just another cheerleader piece. With regard to the drivers, speaking ill of one's employer is never good form. The rule that I live by is that if I can't bring myself to speak well of my employer, then it's time to change jobs.

oc

[Kate]

The Invisible Racing League is a good place to go "Wheeee!" in a go-kart? Okay ...

I am perplexed by Gil's lending his name to this idiocy, but not the other two; Helio is desperate for attention and Kanaan desperate for money. Both are excellent excuses to engage in prostitution.

[FRANKY]

Originally posted by Kate
The Invisible Racing League is a good place to go "Wheeee!" in a go-kart? Okay ...

I am perplexed by Gil's lending his name to this idiocy, but not the other two; Helio is desperate for attention and Kanaan desperate for money. Both are excellent excuses to engage in prostitution.


No... you are a bit mixed up. "The little guy in Brazil going, 'Wheeeee!' in his go-kart is thinking, 'Man, next year, that's what I'm going to do!'"

As far a Kanaan, Helio and any others that went over. They would be in the CART soup line for unemployed drivers if they hadn't.

This tidbit from the article about says it all: " But in using the Indianapolis 500 to marginalize the established CART series, George ultimately triggered the defection that has infused the IRL with its current international flavor."

[nrc]

Originally posted by FRANKY
As far a Kanaan, Helio and any others that went over. They would be in the CART soup line for unemployed drivers if they hadn't.

Donnie Beechler tells me that "Soup is good food."

[FRANKY]

Originally posted by nrc
Donnie Beechler tells me that "Soup is good food."

I don't think he was ever employed long enough to make the soup line a step down. :D

[Lizzerd]

Our favorite unemployed earl whipping boy is one helluva dirt track driver. He's not hurting for rides, but he has risen to the maximum of his abilities. I'm sure he eats steak whenever he wants it.

[Kate]

Considering who's employed in CWS today, I can't imagine those two deserters being unemployed for long. Of course, a one year contract for $1 million, if the cheque clears, is better than having to work for your money, though.

Okay, the Brazilian kid is dreaming of going "Weeee!" in a crapwagon. Once he gets in it that's probably not what he's going to say.

[Dr. Corkski]

Originally posted by Kate
Considering who's employed in CWS today, I can't imagine those two deserters being unemployed for long. Of course, a one year contract for $1 million, if the cheque clears, is better than having to work for your money, though.

Okay, the Brazilian kid is dreaming of going "Weeee!" in a crapwagon. Once he gets in it that's probably not what he's going to say. Other than Newman-Haas and Herdez, what CART teams were ready to give a ride to any new drivers bringing less than $1 million?

[paper]

could this mean that soon , very soon we will see an incredible improvement in youth soccer in the winchester area? paper

[pchall]

The Vision™ training must be working! Today I could see the bleechers through the "sell out" crowd in Kansas!

:p