Rossi, could he emulate Surtees?

[veetwin]

Excerpt from: www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=34967

Wednesday's testing times from Valencia

1. ALONSO Renault 1m11.291s
2. BUTTON Honda 1m11.327s
3. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m11.831s
4. MONTOYA McLaren 1m11.978s
5. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m12.062s
6. KOVALAINEN Renault 1m12.113s
7. VILLENEUVE BMW 1m12.619s
8. ZONTA Toyota 1m12.660s
9. ROSSI Ferrari 1m12.856s
10. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m12.883s
11. WURZ Williams 1m12.925s
12. PAFFETT McLaren 1m12.937s
13. WEBBER Williams 1m13.050s
14. TRULLI Toyota 1m13.078s
15. KUBICA BMW 1m13.332s

9th after his second official drive out amongst other F1 drivers. He is not in the 06 car either! Ok, so he may never adapt completely to the car/team/F1 atmosphere; he certainly shows good signs that he could be quite competitive in the long term. Yesterday he does what he always seems to do; that is find the limits of the vehicle by going through them (ie. spinning out). Very quick learning curve.

The downside of all this, of course, is that we may lose someone quite special from MotoGP.

[Darth Dave]

I don't want to see Rossi go from Moto GP, but I also never want to see him get beaten again in that series and the longer he stays there the more likely it is to happen.

I think he has the chance to do really well in F1. After a season or two of settling in he'll be posting times to rival anyone else in the series and should hopefully challenge for the title.

All if of course he chooses to go there.

[BT52]

Except he was in a V10 2004 car which should theoretically blow the '06 cars away...

I'm not putting down his efforts, I'm a big fan and would love to see him win in F1, but he has not done anything special in this test, yet.

Mark

[simes205]

BT52 said:

Except he was in a V10 2004 car which should theoretically blow the '06 cars away... I'm not putting down his efforts, I'm a big fan and would love to see him win in F1, but he has not done anything special in this test, yet. Mark

Actually a V8 F2004.

[F.M]

I think rossi knows F1 is just too different to what he does...The G forces alone take some getting used to surely and T.C has taken away a lot of the skill required to drive them......Put your money on him going rallying...

[BT52]

simes205 said:

BT52 said: Except he was in a V10 2004 car which should theoretically blow the '06 cars away... I'm not putting down his efforts, I'm a big fan and would love to see him win in F1, but he has not done anything special in this test, yet. Mark Actually a V8 F2004.

Actually a V10 F2004 according to Reuters, F1-Live and various other sites.
Schumacher is driving the V8 F2004.
I'm pretty sure ITV got it wrong.

(Consider also that Schumacher was faster in the '04 car with the V8 than the '06 car. The '04 cars are faster with less aero restrictions).



>> Edited by BT52 on Thursday 2nd February 09:40

[rubystone]

Yep, it's a detuned V10 - ought to help him out of the corners too - the traction control actually has some torque to work against. Was Schumacher using the V8?

I can't see Rossi getting down to the competitive times - there are too many younger hotshots with a bank of car-time to draw upon. Let's hope he gets to test a 2006 car at the official test at Silverstone in April (I'm assuming that's the date) - that'd attract the crowds wouldn't it and also give a true indication of just how competitive he will be.

[veetwin]

However, although it is tempting to make direct comparisons between Rossi and the F1 regulars present - including seven times world champion Michael Schumacher, who was just over a second quicker than Vale - it is worth remembering that Rossi was driving a Ferrari F2004 M, rather than the 2006 spec Ferrari 248, muddying the waters slightly.

The most important - but by no means only - difference between the two machines is the engine: The 248 used by Schumacher (and most other F1 cars at Valencia) is powered by an 'unlimited' 2.4-litre V8 engine, as required by the 2006 regulations.

However, a rule designed to help teams unable to acquire a new V8 means that 3.0-litre V10 engines can still be raced in 2006, providing their power is limited to a level comparable to the V8 - and it was this type of 'limited' V10 engine (rather than an unlimited pre-2006 spec V10) which ANSA reports Rossi's car as having.

If that is the case - and providing Ferrari have accurately limited the engine - then Rossi has done a very impressive job today (despite a late spin) and will no doubt be seeking to improve even further tomorrow - when 2006 Ferrari race driver Felipe Massa will join Schumacher and Rossi in action for the Italian team.

[nightdriver]

Take all testing times with a pinch of salt. Schumacher may have been doing long distance testing, tyre comparisons etc etc. They would have used the session to gain as much info about the car where as Rossi would have bee more focussed on doing short stints and therefore less fuel so would be able to go faster..

Its almost impossible to compare unless Schumacher and Rossi drive the same car on the same day at the same track.

[FourWheelDrift]

Valencia is quite a tight and twisty circuit, other than the long pit straight there's nowhere else a F1 can really stretch it legs so even if he was in a delimited V10 or not I think his performance in a 2 year old chassis admitidly around a circuit he knows was very impressive. Kubica, Wurz and Paffett weren't running 2006 cars either.

[rubystone]

The V10 has a lot more torque than the V8 - this surely helps on a twist circuit in particular in terms of greater corner exit speed? Let's wait until he's out in a 2006 spec V8 before judging him against others...

[kingb]

when i read his book he didnt give the impression he would every move into F1. i got the feeling he saw it as a bit of fun and took advantage. i seemed he was playing with ferari and leading them on falsely to have a laugh and drive something very fun!! it would be certainly his style! i could never see him in F1 because its too ridgid and not enough fun for him.

[racefan_uk]

kingb said:

i could never see him in F1 because its too ridgid and not enough fun for him.

But when you look at how old he is, maybe he's having his fun by taking the piss out of everyone else on the MotoGPgrid and will maybe have a 'serious' few years in F1 (think of the money he could rake in, if nothing else) and also the only other man since Surtees to have a propertilt at both two and four wheels.

Worth a try if nothing else.

[FourWheelDrift]

apart from Mike Hailwood.

[Dakkon]

kingb said:

when i read his book he didnt give the impression he would every move into F1. i got the feeling he saw it as a bit of fun and took advantage. i seemed he was playing with ferari and leading them on falsely to have a laugh and drive something very fun!! it would be certainly his style! i could never see him in F1 because its too ridgid and not enough fun for him.

Strange I did not get that impression from his book, the impression I did get is that he is getting bored and seeks new challenges, hence the whole flirting with F1, would certainly be a new challenge for him.

Hope he does, would be great to see if he could really achieve in another discipline.

[Holst]

I think rossi might do it if he genuinely thought he was in with a chance of winning.

F1 being very dependant on the car I only think he will join in the technical package is right.

[Furyous]

Has nobody thought of the fact that the boy is in fact a genius on a GP bike ?

Anybody knows what happens to geniuses ?

They often have unnaturally short lives...........

See Wayne Rainey (altho not dead, wheel chair bound after only having 2 crashes all season )
....Steve Hislop.....


Etc etc.

Sorry to be a downer, but when did you last see Rossi make a mistake ? My fear is that when he does it will be a biggun.

He has already done enough to go down in legend, who cares if he goes to snoozeville...sorry.... F1 ?

Just my 2p worth.