great explanation Fran90! you should be Pechito´s "public relations consultant"! jajaja.

cool....the brazil x argentina (soccer) rivalry will now be in F1 )

I am sure that in soccer issues, Brazilian are better (specially with Maradona as coach :S ). but it would be nice to have the latin american rivalry in F1 again...

cesar87 - 19 November 2009 04:37 PM

I am sure that in soccer issues, Brazilian are better (specially with Maradona as coach :S ). but it would be nice to have the latin american rivalry in F1 again...

Much respect for the Hermanos! Always a stressfull game for us!

Maybe we can see some good fights on the back of the field w/ digrassi, bruno & pechito. Massa and rubens should be a bit more towards the front.

José María "Pechito" López esta cerca de cumplir su sueño de ser piloto de Fórmula Uno.
En diálogo con Carburando Radio por AM 550 Radio Colonia el piloto cordobés manifestó: "Estoy muy contento, la visita al USF1 fue muy positiva, a Peter Windsor yo ya lo conocía y él también a mí, mostraron mucho interés en que yo sea parte del equipo. De palabra está todo arreglado, en unos días vendrán representantes del equipo a certificar los avales y poder de esta manera firmar un pre contrato. Hay mucha gente empujando detrás de esto y le estoy agradecido a todos ellos. En el equipo conocen perfectamente mi actualidad en la Argentina porque Felipe Mc Gough hace bastante tiempo los tiene al tanto. Hubo tanta buena onda con ellos que hasta me permitirían correr alguna carrara como invitado en Argentina en 2010 si yo fuera piloto de ellos. Espero que se cierre totalmente todo lo más rápido posible porque luché y trabajé mucho para que se me diera esta oportunidad".
-----------------
Quick Translation:

He went to USF1 and met witn Windsor and Anderson (which he known). He explained that they were very interested in him to be part of USF1. He mentioned some type of verbal agreement that will be finalized after some people go to Argentina to verify something. He also said that he cannot wait until it is finalized because he has fought hard to get this opportunity.

If he has fought hard to get this opportunity" i expect he makes the most of it.

fran90 - 19 November 2009 11:46 AM

well DaFoose (nice to meet you all, i'm new here ) I'll try to explain that
First of all, I'm argentinean, like Lopez. Since Norberto Fontana, he is the greatest talent of all Argentine drivers, so we were all hoping for his enter into F1 since 2005/2006 when he was the test driver who developed the Renault R25 and R26, those Alonso took to the constructors' championship.
López was supposed to race at Minardi in 2005 or 2006 and Renault in 2007. Kovalainen took that place, him and Lopez were very equalised during the tests.
But, then came up Nelsinho Piquet (I don't know to explain how he did in F1, I guess you all know...), himself and a HUGE budget of 25 million euros (of course, that's absolutely impossible to approach here in Argentina)
the lack of sponsorship has always been a problem for the argentine young drivers, and we all said "well, if after being so close, Lopez couldn't get there, nobody will for many many years"
so, in 2007 he had to come back to the argentine touring car series.. during that year he showed his skills, he improved in 2008 winning the TC2000 title and having a short spell at FIA GT, driving the Ferrari 550 from the ACA Team Argentina.
And, now in 2009, he's taking part in the three most important touring car series from here (TC, TC2000 and Top Race V6, you can read about them in wikipedia). You can't imagine how superb his performances were during all the year. He recomposed himself after a huge amount of critics by journalists and some fans who take him as an arrogant person because of the single fact of his professional attitude in life.
So, after many companies and the argentine government started this campaing to place him in F1, we all got mad

I hope this was an useful explanation/introduction of Jose, who I met a couple of times, and I can say, he's a great guy!


cheers from Buenos Aires

From what I hear the Argentine government is his primary sponsor so he pretty much has unlimited funds. I have yet to find any article that specifies he had 15,000 km miles in a Renault F1 car. For one, he wasn't even a Renault test driver until the 2006 season. Franck Montagny was the primary Renault development driver in the 2005 season, while Heikki Kovalainen was the primary Renault test driver in 2006, logging over 28,000 km. Jose Maria Lopez raced the 2004 season in F3000 and placed 6th. The next year in 2005 they raced for the DAMS team and won 1 race but placed 9th in the championship. Then he raced in Supernova racing in 2006, and placed 10th in the championship and had a highest finish of 2nd place for the German sprint race. He hasn't raced a formula type car in anger in 3 years, and his last outing in an F1 car was a demo run in a Williams car back in 2007.

Also reported on F1-live.com

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/091121093955.shtml

So apparenty, it takes $11 Million to buy a ride @ USF1.

http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/lopezs-deal-with-usf1/

What happened to Windsor saying that they wouldn't take pay drivers? They could of had 3/4 of their racing budget and the name Senna if they wanted $$$.
Guess this means no Pedro/Seabass pairing.

jimjones - 21 November 2009 08:42 AM

So apparenty, it takes $11 Million to buy a ride @ USF1.

USF1...goodness. I guess American + open wheel well always equal ride buying.