Quotes of the Week
JUSTIN WILSON, Champ Car and former F1 driver
"It's been fantastic to come back to Europe. The promoters for these two events (Zolder and Assen) have done a great job. I was saying to my crew before the race that the circuit here is 2.8 miles long and the earth berms (and most of the 50,000 grandstand seats) all around the track were full of fans. The crowd seemed to me as good, if not better, than any Formula 1 race I've been to."
09/02/07
CAMERON EARNSHAW, a race fan
One of the most interesting moments I'd ever witnessed in motor racing occurred today when the crowd at the Detroit Grand Prix booed the start engine command. The unfortunate utterance that caused the commotion? "Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Honda engines." (Many would-be Detroit race fans lost their GM, Ford or Chrysler jobs because of Honda, Toyota, Nissan, etc. so they hate the Japanese manufacturers)
TERRY BLOUNT, Motorsports writer, ESPN.com
“I asked him (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) that question directly on Friday, I said, ‘Do you have a number?’ and he said, ‘Yeah, I think I do.’ I said, ‘Would you like to tell us that?’ and he said, ‘Dude, I’m not going to tell you that on pit road after a qualifying lap.’ So, he’s going to make us wait probably a couple of weeks, and it’s probably going to be No. 81. Now, they wanted No. 38, that belongs to Robert Yates. He doesn’t appear inclined to want to give that up. So it’s probably 81.
“When he announces the number, he’s also going to announce his new sponsor. I’ve learned today that announcement’s probably going to be PepsiCo Inc. products, Mountain Dew and the Amp energy drink. That announcement could come in Dallas, Texas, in the middle of this month because PepsiCo has an executive conference there in a couple of weeks."
DAN CLARKE, Champ Car World Series driver, Minardi Team USA
“For me, the most positive thing to come out of this race is that I succeeded in getting the monkey of the last race off my back. I would like to thank Tony (Cotman) for giving me the chance to race here in Assen and prove to those people who had quite a bit to say after Zolder that, strategy permitting, we can be right there in terms of pace. We may not have achieved the result we would have liked today, but I take great pleasure from our performance, and from the fact we set the fastest lap of the race. The No. 4 crew has done a wonderful job over the two weeks of this Champ Car European Tour, and even pulled an all-nighter to ensure our car was in the best possible shape for today’s race, so I would like to say a really special thank you to them for all their efforts. I’m definitely coming away from these two races a wiser and stronger person."
BRUNO JUNQUEIRA, Champ Car World Series driver, Dale Coyne Racing
"I mean, maybe, I've never been Zolder, I've never been here. I just like when I come to Europe. But I mean, I like what Champ Car is because it's easy to race all over the world. We race in U.S., Canada, México, I love the race in Australia. I actually love the race in Japan, that's a pretty nice place, as well. Unfortunately not racing there anymore but that's nice if one day we can come back. And Europe is very special. I think we need to have at least two races here, maybe more. If you go to a track that I know, it would be great, as well. In Europe there are so many nice tracks so it would be difficult to pick one."
PAUL TRACY, Champ Car World Series driver, Forsythe Championship Racing
“I guess that was a fitting end to a very bad weekend. The bad luck we’ve had all year came with us to Europe. I made a great start, I think I passed almost ten cars on the first couple of corners. I went inside to pass (Robert) Doornbos and he just closed the door on me and I had to slam on the brakes to avoid him, the rear end came around and I spun into the gravel and got stuck. So after that we were just running around a lap down until something happened with the gearbox and our day was over. We didn’t have a good result but overall I think these European events were a huge success for Champ Car, it’s a great feeling going around the track and seeing all the grandstands absolutely packed."
JOHN WATSON, former Formula One driver
“Alonso has two years left on his contract but you have to think that Lewis is only going to get better. If there’s an exit strategy for Alonso, should he so choose to do, then that might be his best option. It equally might be the best option for McLaren. The last thing you want is to have the lunatics take over the asylum, and that’s what happened in Hungary. And that’s not how a team should be."
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NASCAR driver, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
"I think I opened the door for a lot more people," Montoya said. “I think people are saying 'Man, this is the sport to be in' and I think in a way it's good for NASCAR because it's going to become the sport to be in and I think it is. I think I was smart enough to come here early enough."
ROBIN MILLER, Motorsports Journalist, Veteran Open Wheel Expert
"The big news in racing this week is that Jacques Villeneuve is going to go drive a truck next year in the Craftsman Truck Series. A good racing series, but this is Jacques Villeneuve, folks. 1997 Formula One Champ. 1995 CART Champ. 1995 Indy 500 Champ. You know what Jim Clark and James Hunt and Graham Hill would think about this? They'd say, Leave me in the ground. This guy was Formula One royalty and he's going to be driving a truck? You know when you were in CART, Jacques, and you used to leave your helmet on because you didn't want to talk to anybody? Here's my advice. Leave it on next year, too, because we don't want to see your face. Wear one of those dark visors. We're embarrassed for you because guess what, you run 32nd for about six months in these trucks and guess where you're going to go next? You'll go from the penthouse to the outhouse."