15 years later and Montoya is still just as formidable 15 years later and Montoya is still just as formidable | INDYCAR news | Motorsport.com The remarkable career of Juan Pablo Montoya; not a F1-reject, but a driver who rejected F1.
JPM has always been a formidable opponent and even though I did not get to watch the 500 I am very happy for him. He has won in every series he has raced in so that says a lot about his skill and true grit.
He drove a fantastic 500, from 30th to the winner's circle. (Indy don't need no stinkin' podium!) . The Captain is pleased.....
I was in Marlin, TX for the past five days spending quality time with my friend (brother) James who's cancer is now stage-4 so I missed the race. Got the news via ESPN.
JPM needs to put together a Lemans 24-hour superteam and go for the win in that race. Indy 500 Monaco GP Lemans 24 hour. Only one driver has won all three (Jim Clark), JPM is really the only conceivable driver that could do it soon (sure Webber may have 2 on the list in a few weeks, but I don't see him at Indy anytime soon.)
BTW, did anyone notice Jeff Gordon's answer when they asked him if he ever wanted to race Indy? he said he was broadcasting next year but his body language told me he has no interest. Strange, I would think he would be great at it, not to mention huge name for the race.
I always liked the guy, or at least what we saw from him (I don't know him personally...) and remain sad to this day that something did not click with Formula One, because I feel there is unfinished business for him here...too bad. Happy with this year 500 miles result, though! Rgds
I agree yet I also disagree. JPM won F1 races so he is no MA thus maybe it was him who did not click with F1? Having watched him race since his CART days he does has a crappy attitude a lot of the time and complains about other drivers doing the same moves that he pulls on them.
Frank Williams once said that although obviously a very fast driver, JPM was an impossible guy to manage in the stands, with all his friends and family around him, lots of noise, etc...and after having had JPM for four years in his team, he changed his mind about Nigel Mansell that eventually looked "not such a difficult guy" after all... JPM left Formula One in the middle of the 2006 season after disagreement with Ron Dennis, not even going to the end of his contract. There was the story of the two missed races at the beginning of the same season for having hurt himself playing tennis (according to JPM) or riding a motorcycle (according to others) plus a premature exit with a spin in the warm-up lap of the Australian Grand Prix; so his 2006 season was quite a mess in fact, not worth a good driver, and this left me with a rather sad feeling. Rgds
Always quite liked him. Came into F1 from out of nowhere when I was young. Highly entertaining to watch, perhaps even more so out of the car. Warning: Contains mild swearing: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8gmVRIoQok[/ame]
At least you cannot say that he "lacked character", that he was too "politically correct", etc... Rgds
My only interaction with him was at the 2004 USGP, when we were guests of Williams in the Paddock Club. He was teamed with Ralf Schumacher that year, and while the rest of the team was very nice JPM was completely out of touch. After qualifying a group of about six of us were standing in the garage and asked for a pic. His reply was that he didn't do photographs with fans. Really Juan?!? Not for anything but first Jackie Stewart isn't too good for that, and second we didn't ambush him in the toilet; one of the crew asked him politely. I mean, our group was made up of the three largest sponsors to the team (BMW, Castrol, HP). So much for that once in a lifetime experience. Even though I think he's an aloof ******, it was an impressive drive on Sunday. I would have preferred to see TK win it, but at least Juan earned it. JK
Well Jim you met him and I didn't, but as I have written above, Frank Williams, who is certainly not softie when driver's handling is in question, said that JPM was such a handful to manage that he was in a way relieved when he left. Then JPM went to McLaren for 2005 and 2006, and it didn't go very well with Ron Dennis either...but "ol' Ron" did not have much luck at this time with spanish-speaking drivers, did he?... But I miss him, he was a colorful driver. Rgds
Personally, I can understand that. Fans can be very intrusive with their demands. I have watched some drivers going all the way, with autographs, answering questions, posing for photos and doing it for hours and hours. I driver I know (WEC driver) told me once that Japanese fans are the worst in that respect. Frankly, I could never do that, and I understand drivers who avoid doing it.
Sorry my mistake. I had been in the sun all day. I get my old dead English race car drivers confused sometimes.
In his first stint in Indycar (this would have been about '99), he reportedly refused to sign autographs using a blue pen. Good driver but probably a head case.
For the money they are paid they should do whatever the fans request of them (as long as it is reasonable, pictures are a no brainer). If you don't like it then go do something else. If it wasn't for the fans, TV, Sponsors...etc. They wouldn't be where they are today. I don't feel sorry for any celebrity hounded by fans making millions of dollars. I once saw William Shatner at a restaurant (Centro) here in Toronto. It was my University Graduation party. I saw him and politely said "You do great work" and left him alone. He later sent over a bottle of champagne and came to take pictures with the whole family. Class act all the way. M.
I know the feeling.... I was in England recently for the Goodwood Members' Meeting and there was a superb documentary on the telly about Graham Hill. It mentioned Graham's triple crown. Of course I was aware of it, but I never really thought about the fact that he is the only one to achieve it. It is a feat that will almost certainly never be matched.
Well, there isn't a lot of potential candidates, isn't it? the pre-requisites aren't easy to satisfy. Jacques Villeneuve could have had a chance...at least he should have tried. Rgds
