Rossi off to F1 - Official

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/4543781.stm

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Manufacturer of the "Champion-105" range of rearsets
and Ducati Race Engineer.

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"plans to" "according to".

This smacks of TOG style journalism to me.

 

That happens each week anyway.

 

41 midgets to fight Valentino Rossi!

 

It'll give someone else a chance I suppose.

What are the odds he wins the F1 championship in his first year?

--
Martin:
"For a minute there, you bored me to death."
VTR1000 Firestorm
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martin dot smith nine zero three at ntlworld dot com

 

Very slim. However, if he does win it, it'll be an incredible
achievement. The only other person to be car and motorcycle world
champion is Surtees, across the 50s and 60s, and I can't help but
think it'll be much harder to do now.

 

If he walked into the team with the best car, I see no reason why he
wouldn't succeed. He's already proved particulary adept at moving to a
new bike that requires a totally different riding style, so could
probably learn how to get the most out of any vehicle quicker than most.

If he started with Minardi or Jordan, he'd be toast.

 

You reckon?

He's got the tactics down to a tee and the cars have so much
technological wizardry in them that the driver is almost redundant, on
top of that he has a couple of years to practice.

It'll be interesting to see how he does although he did mention that he
like the WRC Scooby and there have been rumours of rallying before.

--
Martin:
"For a minute there, you bored me to death."
VTR1000 Firestorm
TDR250 http://ukrm.net/BIKES/Yamaha/tdr250.html
martin dot smith nine zero three at ntlworld dot com

 

That rings a bell now you mention it, feel free to make outrageous
claims on Rossi's WRC skills. ;->
--
Martin:
"For a minute there, you bored me to death."
VTR1000 Firestorm
TDR250 http://ukrm.net/BIKES/Yamaha/tdr250.html
martin dot smith nine zero three at ntlworld dot com

 

He was setting some remarkably good times on the Network Q when he did
it - right up to the point where he drove into a tree.

 

I reckon so. If one of the Minardi drivers swapped with Schuey for a
few laps, I know who my money would be on, & it wouldn't be Schuey,
unless maybe if it was a wet/drying track.

 

Mark Webber is probably in the best car of the current recent
ex-Minardi drivers. Still not quite on it yet.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Martin

Try telling Barichello that.

I was at the Williams factory for a conference a while back, and the guy
was showing us the latest steering wheel. It's absolutely *plastered* in
buttons that the diver can use to affect brake balance, the diff,
traction control, all that shit. The drivers set up for the next corner
before entering it.

Schumacher's wheel is (apparently) a little different. It has one extra
button. He sets up for the *corner after next*, then presses the button
to engage the settings on the exit from the next corner, sets up...

All this, remember, whilst hanging on the ragged edge of whatever grip
is available.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Manufacturer of the "Champion-105" range of rearsets
and Ducati Race Engineer.

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
ZZR1100, Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"

 

Like touch typing but different.

--
Martin:
"For a minute there, you bored me to death."
VTR1000 Firestorm
TDR250 http://ukrm.net/BIKES/Yamaha/tdr250.html
martin dot smith nine zero three at ntlworld dot com

 

Bit different from simply getting in a car and driving it fast, like
what Moss/Clark/Stewart used to do.

 

I dunno; a season with Jordan would give him valuable experience without
huge pressure to win (since it's not likely to happen, unless WUN gets
undercover).

"Sacre Bleu! Ze veel nuts err fuecked!"

 

Grimly Curmudgeon emerged from their own little world to say

It would be a good test of his character too. There have been accusations
of arrogance recently. He showed a degree of humility in his rookie seasons
at 125, 250 & 500 GPs. I hope he still has that humility to do a season or
two learning something new.

 

Doesn't he have an open invite from Ferrari?

 

He was bloody good at sticking to a controlled drift round corners.
There was a study done on his steering technique years ago, and long
after he hung up his helmet - it found he didn't let the wheel bounce
around, he set up a turn and stuck to it all the way round the curve. In
contrast, other drivers tended to let the steering feedback too much and
rob them of time in the turn. The results were interesting - even though
he'd been retired for years at that point he was still as quick if not
quicker than the drivers of the day.

As you say though, today's cars need a different technique and for
example, while I think Schumacher is a ****, there's no denying his
talent with modern machinery. I recall his first few outings a couple of
years back with a new Ferrari - it was obvious the thing was trying to
kill him and was an utterly evil handling pig of the first order; I
doubt if there was any other driver there that could have coped with it
for an entire race.

 

I think Rossi would be closer to the front of an F1 race than Schumi
would be to the front of a MotoGP race.