I think I understand now the Cheever-Scheckter situation

[shawn67]

Start off by reading this non-AP article:
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...ts/3931718.htm

The thing that I keep on hearing is that he wants to stay in the IRL. Why??? CART would seem to be a more natural fit with road/street courses. The problem is we are all thinking in terms of NOW instead of the FUTURE. 2003 HONDA and TOYOTA will both be IRL manufacturers. Starting in 2003 the best way to get to F1 is through the IRL and not CART. Why?:

1.) Obviously HONDA and TOYOTA will be grooming people throgh the IRL for possible stepping up to F1.

2.) F1 people have taken notice of the more agressive driving and passing abilities brought about by close quarter oval racing. (ie Montoya)

I think Scheckter is trying to shop himself to Honda or Toyota for big money next year in the IRL. Cheever without the TWR-Infiniti being rebadged yet does not offer that. I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't looking at a CART team looking to make the jump through Honda/Toyota money.

BTW: This sucks for CART.

Shawn

[silva]

I am not buying the "IRL is a great way to get to F1" idea but I don't think that Cart will be the path there anymore either.

Cart is going to be so watered down next year that I doubt that it will carry much weight with F1 teams.

Even when Cart was at its strongest it only produced Jacques. Alex was a bust. Andretti was a bust. Dario didn't get the ride. Damatta might be the last one.

[stnkypete]

Originally posted by shawn67:
<STRONG>2.) F1 people have taken notice of the more agressive driving and passing abilities brought about by close quarter oval racing. (ie Montoya)
</STRONG>

People took notice of Juan Pablo long before he was dispatched to TCGR for a couple years. He didn't learn aggressive close quarters racing on ovals, he brought those skills with him.

[Sleepcheap]

A constant chant on this forum is that "CART is just a feeder, stepping stone, launching board, whatever, to formula 1. I've followed CART pretty closely for about 23 years and the only guys I remember jumping from CART to F1 were JV and MA. Zanardi and Montoya had F1 credentials before they came to CART.

[Indyknut]

Exactly Sleepcheap, and in the IRL's nearly 7 years they've lost 1 to Nascar with another hot on his heels.

The F1 thing I never got. So few guys over the 23 years and how many did Cart get back?

Fittipaldi
Mansell
Piquet
Blundell
Cheever
etc.

[StatMan]

Having connections to one of the three teams that have a chance to compete is the way to get into F1.