No problem. That's why I gave EVERYBODY a quick warning. I'm not going to purge any posts, but want to get the conversation back onto a PG rated level. It is bad enough if DC does the R rated talk to interviewers: http://www.blick.ch/sport/formel1/artikel21876 As a mod I now have to follow this thread and I couldn't have really cared less...
Does anyone recall the Bobby Riggs/Billie Jean King battle of years ago? At least that was funny. You have to admit, the IRL has fallen over itself exploiting "innuendo" - didn't they have a "we hear you like to watch" campaign featuring Danica? Danica and the IRL have opened themselves to ridicule over this one aspect of marketing the series - can you imagine what we'd be saying if one of the guys driving in the IRL posed for beefcake shots? Bad management, IMO. Also, to the various "she'd beat you with a stick" comments I'd say - sheesh, given that she's got one of the best rides available in open wheel racing, I'd sure hope she can outdrive a middle aged racer wannabe. Does anyone else think the intensity fo this debate is somewhat humorous?
You're quite right. IRL and Danica have opened a can of worms and the FHM shoot didn't help that either. That's why I have some understanding for innuendo and it is a fine line. But let's not do trash talk.
You also have to keep in mind the competition for IRL and the overall landscape for racing in America. IRL competes against garbage like NASCAR for its fan base... I will not be amazed if we soon see weapons mounted on those cars to take out other drivers. The American audience likes drama and nothing sells better than sex. As I said before driving around in an oval is not real racing. The fact that this situation is recieving so much attention is a testament to our lack of understanding for motorsport in America. Any team that brings Danica into F1 as a marketing ploy and not on merit is playing with fire. The backlash from fans in Europe and elsewhere will be extremely damaging. Already we have seen BAR Honda's image tarnished because of Sato. Danica would actually make Sato look good. Honda think they can use her to sell more junk around the world. But when people see how pathetic she looks infront of masters like Michael, Rubens, Alonso, Fisichella and Kimi it will be another poor choice for BAR Honda.
My discussion of boobies was not meant as a sexual innuendo. It is a realty that sex sells and such and that with a woman driver the fact that she is a woman plays into her marketability in a HUGE way. For Danica (and for ANY pro driver) the driving talent is just one aspect of what it takes to get to the top. A great driver who cannot attract and keep big sponsors will not make it. For Danica... leveraging her sexuality is SMART. Any other driver out there will do whatever they can to get the best ride they can. Want to win? Get the best car. How do you get the best car? Get the best sponsors. How do you get the best sponsors? ANY WAY YOU CAN. If that means being a cute chick with big boobies.... then by all means be a cute chick with big boobies! Has Jeff Gordon leveraged the fact that he is a handsome guy to build sponsorship? Of course he has. Should Danica leverage her good looks in the same way? YOU BET. I see nothing wrong with that at all. Like Mark Donohue alwasy said... The Unfair Advantage. Its what always seperates the winners from the losers and as long as the rules makers dont rule it out, its fair game. So if getting a boob job would bring in bigger sponsors and open doors to F1 or NASCRAP or any other career advancement in the name of winning.... DO IT. Terry
My first observation on this thread is that we have a lot of immature respondants who seem way off base in thier replys. Grow Up! To the question: I think it would be great if Patrick, or Speed, (or even Tony Stewart for that matter) or any other top American driver could get a credible drive in F1. It would do wonders for the exposure of the sport in the USA, and lord knows it needs it. That said, whether it DP, or SS, they had better be in a decent car and be able to compete. If you jump a driver into F1 thats not ready then you end up with the Michael Andretti disaster all over again, and unfortunately for Patrick or Speed thay won't have the family business to fall back into. I think we are a bit premature in jumping Dankia to F1. She still has to prove herself in Indy or maybe CART. Lets give her some time to make a long term impression on us.
I think there are quite a few of us that are tired of all the hype. That's when a backlash occurs. I will for one try to keep my feeling under control in the future
Thanks. I agree on the overexposure. Not knowing much about IRL I was happy to watch her in the Indy 500, but soon realized that the commentators turned that race into the Danica500. If I were an IRL fan, I'd probably bummed out pretty soon. Hopefully she can soon back up the hype with some real results and become "just another driver". Although I'm not sure that'll even be possible.
i agree that the danica hype is tiresome...i am sure she is fine young driver...is she the next aj foyt, or mario, or jackie stewart??? only time will tell but the odds are against her......nascar might be the natural place for her......but then again, nascar is demolition derby to me and i get no joy watching very low tech ugly american cars play bumper cars at 200mph.....but you cant argue with the money and popularity of nascar in this country....
I don't know about her boobs, and I think the challenges (and eventually failure) she would face in F1 are pretty obvious. For some reason though, this quote struck me as the funniest thing I've read on Fchat in awhile. Nice.
Ahem, well could you explain to me please then. I didn't quite get it. I thought Lindsey Lohan was in Herbie, not Danica. Maybe I'm searching too far.
Quite frankly I cant stand the lengths Publicists go through to get press. We are pawns in the game of PR by being at odds with each other and fueling water cooler discussion! Brother against brother, cousin against cousin..... MM
Apparently Danica is supposed to be at the Herbie premiere that's scheduled at the same time as the BAR test. I saw something about it in another thread, her agent said she was still planning on the premiere and not going to go ahead with the F1 test. For some reason I just can't help but laugh when reading this stuff. edit to add quote.
Ah thanks. In that context I have to say that is indeed a hilarious remark. And if Danica drops a chance at driving a F1 for a movie premier, well then that would speak volumes by itself.
Andreas only problem is the test is just speculation there is no proof that BAR has even offered her the shot in the first place
She is not doing a BAR test and never was. BAR has not made any comments about this, and Atlas F1 has quotes from BAR officials that says that they don't know what this whole deal is. Rumors, rumors, rumors... geez we are like a bunch of teenage school girls.
So, there we have it. When it looked like a Renault run-away all the media hyping of assorted nonsense filled the boring season in nicely. Thing is, the season is starting to turn out to be pretty good without all the over-hype. We've got a good battle between Mc and R, and now Ferrari shows they're not down and out. Dare I say, maybe the F1 PR world focus a bit more on the racing itself and leave the "Flavio said this, Bernie fell asleep here, and Montoya's wife was caught doing..." out at this point.
"The G-forces in IRL are nothing close to that of Formula 1. Because they're continuously going around a big oval, sudden huge G-forces don't happen unless the drivers swerve suddenly (and at 230mph this will likely result in a spin), or have a crash (obviously). The cars are heavier and not as nimble nor powerful as Formula 1 cars. In contrast, F1 circuits have a mix of every type of corner. Hairpins and chicanes where the drivers slow down from 300kmph+ to under 100kmph in around 100 meters (over 5G's of deceleration), and very fast, flatout corners like Maggots, Becketts, Bridge, 130R, etc, where lateral acceleration exceeds 3G's." Not to suggest that I favor IRL over F1 (entirely the opposite) but when was the last time F1 had to get doctors involved in a race because the constant heavy G forces actually threatened the lives of the drivers? Quoting immediate G's rather than constant seems a bit silly since constant heavy G's cause significantly more problems than high spikes which last short periods of time. That aside, I also think it's a bit hillarious that people are talking about Danica's skill and how she might not belong in F1 when there are drivers who may or may not be (I won't speculate on this) very good or really sh*te acting as nothing more than back markers for the rest of the field (not once, but 2-5 laps per race - hello Jordan, Minardi, etc) - I am in no way insinuating that the guys like Kartikheyan (sp?) are not good drivers, but heck, if they are, what would it matter if Danica was good or total crap - if a good driver ends up 3-8 seconds per lap slower than the leaders because the equipment sucks, why not spice up the image of your totally non-competitive team with a hottie? If you're going to spend the kind of money even the absolute worst teams spend (ala female goalie for the Tampa Bay Lightning circa mid 90's) why not use a sex symbol to at least try to increase the sponsorship revenue to offset that? I guess I just don't see the problem, even if she isn't a good driver (although the 4th at Indy, while not the most impressive race in the world, seemed to depend more on a mediocre pit strategy and a forced fuel conservation than her driving skill which had her first until they told her to cut it back)... Sorry for the rant, had to get $.02 in before the end of the day...
It would be good for Jordan or Minardi to have Danica drive to get more sponsors, but their current drivers pay to drive, the team doesn't pay them. Danica is being paid by Rahal to drive, I don't think she'd drop a job where she could win the Indy 500, a life long goal for her, to pay to be 5 laps down in F1 ruining her career.
Of course the ride was set up only because she's a woman it isn't because she finished 4th at Indy. I actually kinda respect her not doing it then. You go girl.
