Montoya off to NASCAR

[Matt2101]

Just found this on BBC....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motor

How do you all think he will fare? I can see it either being a reminder of what a good racer he is (stifled somewhat in F1) or another example of NASCAR requiring its own special driving style and the speed not being exploited by a (so-far) open wheel specialist. It wont be middle of the road if its Montoya! Good luck to him though, its nice to see he's sorted for a drive in '07.

[Racingdude009]

Just further proof that Nascar not F1 is the biggest race series in the world in terms of status and supporters.

[rustybin]

Shame to see an F1 winner (still holder of the record for the fastest F1 race isn't he?) going banger racing.

[ErnestM]

Danica Patrick may be off to NASCAR as well...



http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story

ErnestM

[Digital]

Can't believe that a guy who's still among the fastest in F1 finds himself without a competitive drive, I doubt he'll be back again. F1 needs more drivers like Montoya, not fewer - he's still (IMHO) the most exciting driver out there.

[micky g]

Digital said:

Can't believe that a guy who's still among the fastest in F1 finds himself without a competitive drive, I doubt he'll be back again. F1 needs more drivers like Montoya, not fewer - he's still (IMHO) the most exciting driver out there.

Agreed.

[Mr Beckerman]

rustybin said:

Shame to see an F1 winner (still holder of the record for the fastest F1 race isn't he?) going banger racing.

Montoya has the record for the fastest lap ever

F1Technical.net said:

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya lapped Monza 2004 in an FW27 at an average speed of 262.242 km/h in pre-qualifying.

but Peter Gethin still holds the record for fastest ever race

F1Technical.net said:

Peter Gethin won the Grand Prix of 1971 with an average speed of 242,616 km/h.

it was also the closest finish ever

F1Technical.net said:

In the GP of Italy from 1971, there was only a difference of 0.01 seconds between winner Peter Gethin(BRM) and runner-up Ronnie Peterson(March-Ford).

Shame Monster is going, at least he looked like he was trying and you could normally expect an amusing quote. As I read somewhere today, Montoya is a racer and NASCAR is a racers series, unlike modern F1.

Edited by Mr Beckerman on Monday 10th July 19:32

[kevin ritson]

Mr Beckerman said:

Shame Monster is going, at least he looked like he was trying and you could normally expect an amusing quote. As I read somewhere today, Montoya is a racer and NASCAR is a racers series, unlike modern F1.

Yep, read that Montoya said that he's looking forward to racing again. Although Nigel Roebuck made a few interesting points about this in Autosport, Juan Pablo's words speak volumes. Shame as I'm really going to miss him in F1, the sport so desperately needs entertainers, especially when they have personalities.

Edited by kevin ritson on Monday 10th July 19:51

[Jimisaracer]

Sadly Montoya is probably a victim of himself. From what I have heard he is incredibly arrogant and self centered and refuses to modify his lifestyle to succeed in the sport. I'm not talking about the odd night out, more the fact he eats rubbish and doesn't stay in as good shape as he should.

Also he allegedly is a total pain to deal with for his engineers.

[davidd]

Jimisaracer said:

Sadly Montoya is probably a victim of himself. From what I have heard he is incredibly arrogant and self centered and refuses to modify his lifestyle to succeed in the sport. I'm not talking about the odd night out, more the fact he eats rubbish and doesn't stay in as good shape as he should.

Also he allegedly is a total pain to deal with for his engineers.

Thats interesting, I read at the start of the season that he had spent a lot of time with the team over the winter, was working really hard with the engineers, in there every day (supposedly unlike Kimi).

Maybe I was dreaming.

D

[Woody]

Looks like Monty might be going sooner than we thought

Due to a 'breach of contract' (Ron speak for telling everyone what he's doing without saying it through Mclaren - toSSer!!)

Yahoo!! F1 said:

Montoya to compete at Magny Cours?
Tue 11 Jul, 8:41 AM

Juan Pablo Montoya will not complete the 2006 season after announcing his intention to switch to NASCAR at the end of the year.

It is reported in Spain that the Colombian, who allegedly breached his McLaren contract by revealing the details of his new American deal, is to be replaced immediately by McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa.

De la Rosa will appear alongside Kimi Raikkonen as of the Magny Cours race and until the Brazilian finale, AS newspaper said.

"The news will be made official today," the media report added. AS speculated that 30-year-old Montoya may have deliberately breached his contract in order to commence his tin-top adventure early.

Spain's 35-year-old de la Rosa, who has raced full-time for defunct Arrows and Jaguar, replaced the injured Montoya in Bahrain last year.

It is reported that he was telephoned by team boss Ron Dennis yesterday morning with instructions to urgently travel to Woking.

On a side note though - why De la Rosa? - why not give Paffet a chance in a race?

Good bye Monty - we'll miss you!!!!

Chris

[Mr Beckerman]

Woody said:

On a side note though - why De la Rosa? - why not give Paffet a chance in a race?

Good bye Monty - we'll miss you!!!!

Chris

de la rosa is tried and tested and a known quantity, whereas paffet would be a big gamble. Admittedly, there's not going to (probably) be much movement in the constructors championship, but I would guess they can rely on de la Rosa to support Kimi (who is hoping for at least third in the championship) more effectively than Paffet.

[FourWheelDrift]

If Paffett who has only done a very short spell in F1 testing was chosen ahead of De La Rosa (the chief test driver and probably the officially nominated 3rd driver) I'm sure everyone would be asking the question of why De La Rosa wasn't picked instead.

[Magic Torch]

Shame, Bye Monty.

de la Rosa seems the obvious choice. Picked the team up some points in Bahrain last year.

[kevin ritson]

So it's OK for Ron to tell the world about how he poached Alonso from Renault over a year in advance, then...or when he pinched Montoya from Williams...seems Ron's no better then Frank when it comes to hypocrasy

[zaktoo]

He's overrated and dangerous, I'm very pleased we'll see him out of F1, to be honest. It's a sport with enough challenges to the drivers as it is, without them having to worry about what dangerous move Montoya will make next. Good riddance.

[micky g]

zaktoo said:

He's overrated and dangerous, I'm very pleased we'll see him out of F1, to be honest. It's a sport with enough challenges to the drivers as it is, without them having to worry about what dangerous move Montoya will make next. Good riddance.

At least Montoya has made some 'moves'

Carnival procession mainly nowadays.

I'll miss him

[Jimisaracer]

I had heard from a very reliable source that Montoya once gave his mechanics a Christmas present (as it traditional). However, considering the level of work these guys put in, often away from home for months and working all night when the driver makes a mistake these presents are usually very nice. Montoya however decided to buy his mechanics a t-shirt with a picture of him on it...

Make your own mind up what that makes him!

Exciting racer but often to the point of being eratic rather than quick and unpredictable.

[Eric Mc]

The biggest challenge facing modern F1 drivers is choosing their apartment blocks in Monaco.

[FUGatso]

Good Riddance. Ron Dennis hinted at personal problems and a need for JPM to stay stateside for longer. Either way, a lazy, petulant, inconsistentley quick, overrated driver.