Euro Moves
When Neel Jani finished third at Cleveland 2007, he became the first Swiss driver ever to finish on the podium in a CART/ChampCar event, and of course this wasn't his last podium of 2007. With Switzerland having lifted its longtime ban on motor racing (one could make an obvious pun and say that Swiss motorsport has been in "neutral" for decades), perhaps we will gradually see more Swiss drivers on the world motorsport stage in the near future. All Swiss drivers of course should aspire to have a career like that of the great and colorful Clay Regazzoni (1939-2006), who finished in the Top 5 of the Formula One World Championship five times in the 1970s and won five grands prix, most notably for Ferrari.
The ChampCar World Series has a more European flavor than ever before. The 2007 season has shown the talent of Jani as well as fellow rookie drivers Robert Doornbos and Simon Pagenaud, and we continue to see great performances from Sebastien Bourdais. The French experience is telling, actually. Consider that the 2007 Formula One Grand Prix of France, the last that will be held at the countrified Circuit Magny-Cours (which nevertheless has some outstanding corners), featured not one French driver in the field, despite the presence of factory team Renault. Right now the best French drivers in the world are racing in the United States, in the person of Bourdais, Pagenaud, and Tristan Gommendy, and possibly young Franck Perera will be next. It's interesting too that a Dutch driver, Doornbos, is mounting a serious challenge to Bourdais' stranglehold on the Vanderbilt Cup in ChampCar. If Doornbos finishes better than sixth in the championship, he will surpass the best placing by a Dutchman to date; Arie Luyendyk finished sixth in 1991 behind champion Michael Andretti, winning two races that year.
To put some of this history in perspective, take a look at the Top 3 Europeans in three major statistical categories:
| Top 3 European Drivers, CART/ChampCar Era (through Toronto 2007) | ||
| Wins | Poles | Podiums |
|
1. Sebastien Bourdais (FRA) 26 |
1. Sebastien Bourdais (FRA) 28 |
1. Sebastien Bourdais (FRA) 39 |
|
2. Alex Zanardi (ITA) 15 |
2. Dario Franchitti (GBR) 11 |
2. Dario Franchitti (GBR) 32 |
|
3. Dario Franchitti (GBR) 10 |
3. Teo Fabi (ITA), Nigel Mansell (GBR), Alex Zanardi (ITA) 10 |
3. Alex Zanardi (ITA) 27 |
Nigel Mansell started only 31 ChampCar races but was on the pole in virtually one-third of them, a feat reflective of his brilliant career as a qualifier in Formula One as well (32 poles). But Bourdais has started on point in 28 of his 66 starts to date, a staggering 42 percent. If Bourdais eventually competes in F1, will he be able to display such qualifying speed?
WDA
posted 9 July 2007