VNAF Ace - 19 August 2008 07:13 AM

It would be nice to have both A1GP and the IRL on Versus. That would make Versus the channel for open wheel racing.

Well, aside from this little series called Formula 1.

KartChampion1 - 28 August 2008 05:53 PM

having either tested with or raced with Rahal, Marco, and Summerton and knowing them all to a fair degree........

Marco: I can say that I think seating Marco would truly be a waste of an otherwise great SEAT for a relatively poor driver (summerton) who has gotten where he is completely based on talent (very very rare thing in the USA) I know Marco has a lot of guts and is reasonably intelligent, but he has a very acute lack of talent (in international racing terms)
He really used to struggle to find speed compared to the rest of us, despite having a budget that was more than double the nearest driver. I don;t know why on earth you would waste a great international seat on someone just because their name is Andretti.....outside of marketing

A1GP is made to be a proving ground among great drivers from different nations and is as serious about racing as Enzo Ferrari was, not focused almost solely on marketing like most American Series (i'm sure the A1GP series owner, from Dubai, can afford to miss out on marketing opportunities)

Rahal: Rahal I have always loved and he is really pleasant to talk with and extremely intelligent and without ego. But he took years to come along and up to speed in karting and although I think his approach to racing, professionalism, and intelligence is exemplary its amazing how much RAW talent is needed to even get through GP2 and into F1……unfortunately he does not posses this to a high enough degree. Great guy though and wish him the best.

Charlie Kimball: he was born in Britian and lived there for half his life, give an American a chance instead!

Jonathan Summerton: quickest guy I have seen since AJ Allmindinger, but MUCH more mature and controls his emotions far better. As mature and possibly as intelligent as Rahal (tuff call) the most RAW talent I have ever seen of our generation. Beat F1 super talent Sebass Vettel on several occasions....he is the real deal. Really wish American companies would back him for GP2 but unfortunately it is not happening and our best hope for an F1 star in decades may never get the opportunity…….great shame.

If A1GPUSA is there to win races and not purely for marketing, they need to keep Jon for every race. Though it would be funny to see the contrast between a talent like Jonathan and Marco and I guess would get his name out there is the good thing about it.

O yeah Jonathan was the first American to win Gold in China during their Olympic year ; ) put that on the final gold tally count!

U…S…A

For Charlie Kimball: He has to wait for another year after losing his major sponsor.

Jonathan Summerton has proven that he is a racer's racer with him trailing Jonathan
Bomarito in the Atlantic standings. He should be kept as their race driver for Team USA. AGR is expecting to throw Marco into the wolves just like he did in 2006 after
a season with Star Mazda jumping him into Indy Car. Both Marco and Danica should get
test roles.

Aside from Rahal, I would also have AGR and GP2 teams to have a look to these other
US drivers:

From the Atlantics: Carl Skerlong and Dane Cameron.

From the Formula BMW series: Alexander Rossi (America Series) and Sean McDonagh (Pacific).