Talent? | Page 2 | FerrariChat

Talent?

Discussion in 'Other Racing' started by Hubert, Nov 11, 2003.

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  1. FLATOUTRACING

    FLATOUTRACING F1 Rookie

    Aug 20, 2001
    2,684
    East Coast
    Full Name:
    Jon K.
    Yep that's sounds like Milka! Stunningly beautiful and does have at least some talent though nothing special that some of us couldn't achieve with a blank checkbook.

    She caused a lot of carnage in the Challenge series and was finally thrown out when she straightlined the chicane (can't remember if it was Pocono or Texas Motorspeedway) and took out a competitor that had just overtaken her.

    She had been continually warned and put on probation during her two years in the series.

    She went on to the Panoz womens series and then to ALMS in GT class with some Viper team, an all women's 996 GT3 effort and then onto LMP675.

    Robert (Nuvolari) I have seen your profile. Did you race with Paul Edwards in the Palmer Audi Series?

    Looks like you have been quite successful in open wheel.

    There are two things you need to get to F1/CART or the other big leagues. Money and Natural talent.

    Can't have one without the other in today's world.

    It means a lot of great racers never get the shot at making a living in this sport and many who shouldn't do!

    Robert, are you still actively racing?

    Regards,

    Jon
     
  2. Gilles27

    Gilles27 F1 World Champ

    Mar 16, 2002
    13,337
    Ex-Urbia
    Full Name:
    Jack
    Yep, you guys are right. I found http://www.milkaduno.com, and it's definitely her.

    Let me ask you guys a question while you're here. I've mentioned before that I've been getting the racing itch again and am trying to decide the best way to give it a good old scratch. I've always been drawn to the open-wheelers, but I'm thinking more along the lines of a racing "sedan", or perhaps a mid-level Radical. My wife and I have a 10 year-old Civic that I've considered stripping/re-fitting, but I don't know if I have the energy. Opinions?
     
  3. FLATOUTRACING

    FLATOUTRACING F1 Rookie

    Aug 20, 2001
    2,684
    East Coast
    Full Name:
    Jon K.
    Gilles,

    Depends entirely on your budget and the level of risk you want to assume. None of the open wheel series are especially cheap and most of the SCCA open wheel ranks are in some disarray.

    FormulaVee is somehwat cheap but not really what most people want in an open wheel car. FFord is a lot of fun but the fields at the regional level are very sparse and not much better at the National level.

    Next up is FContinental which starts racking up big $$$'s and Formula Mazda which is the same. FAtlantic makes the other two look cheap unless you are running some sort of 80's car.

    You also face the increased risk of getting airborn in those cars.

    Tin tops can range anywhere from 10K to well over 100K. Depends on what you race (Acura Integra just cost me 10K). A well setup Porsche 996 GT3 costs 100K, while you can get equal thrills in a 50-60K GT1/TA car.

    It all depends on your budget, risk level, and what you are comfortable driving.

    Regards,

    Jon
     
  4. Gilles27

    Gilles27 F1 World Champ

    Mar 16, 2002
    13,337
    Ex-Urbia
    Full Name:
    Jack
    Jon, it was your Acura story that added fuel to the fire. There's always been a sexiness to the open wheel cars--I did a season of Mazdas, leased through ProOne, but like you implied, the survivalist in me is kicking in! Hey, I've got a wife and 2 dogs to think about! Any input is always welcome.
     
  5. ferrari_kid

    ferrari_kid Formula Junior

    Jul 5, 2003
    768
    I had the opportunity to race karts when I was a about 10 or 11. A prime age to start at, and my dad knew it too. He's a big F1 fan and he knew what it would take to get me racing at an professional level. What stopped him was the money issue. It's already been mentioned that the price to race is high. But that's exactly what the problem is. You may have the talent but it's not a cheap sport to get into.

    I'd say if you still really have the itch but don't want to spend huge bucks then go into kart racing. Those little shifter karts perform a hell of a lot better than a lot of sports cars. For the $7,000 you pay for a 125cc kit kart you get something that will lap faster then say...a stock import at any track. Actually the performance figures I've seen puts the 0-100-0 at 10s and lateral G's at 2+.
     
  6. Nuvolari

    Nuvolari F1 Veteran
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Sep 3, 2002
    6,370
    Toronto / SoCal
    Full Name:
    Rob C.
    Hi Jon,

    I did race in Palmer Audi but never against Paul Edwards (Our paths just never crossed). I am currently putting a package together to go GT racing as my longer term goals are to compete and win at LeMans and Daytona. As discussed heavily in this thread, Money is the prime mover and I come from a humble background. After my first year of karts (which cost less than $1000) my father took me aside and told me that he knew where this was going and that he hoped I'd understand that our family could never pay for it. I was pretty young back then but I agreed totally and have gotten the money myself now for over 10 years. It is possible to race without money but it is MUCH MUCH harder. I don't mind that much because it makes me hungrier when I get to the grid.

    ANY POTENTIAL SPONSORS OUT THERE?????????????????

    I'd love to hear from you
     
  7. tifosi12

    tifosi12 Four Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Oct 3, 2002
    48,581
    @ the wheel
    Full Name:
    Andreas
    Jack, my $ 0.02:

    I love the kart idea, but when I raced those myself I realized quickly, that due to their limited power and similarity, it does matter how much one weighs. Well, I have definitely a few kilos too many and you probably too. In your case not sideways, but because of your tallness.

    All the issues discussed here (risk acceptance level, money, preferance to a particular class) make sense, but IMHO miss one thing: Availability. Maybe I'm too lazy or maybe to busy, but I hate hobbies where I spend more time getting to the place than actually doing it. Kinda stopped me in my tracks from becoming an amateur pilot and also bothers me when it comes to racing. Living in the city of Chicago you have to ask yourself do you have the time to go racing somewhere?

    Again the go kart thing is probably the closest we have now (with the new inside track). Aside from that there is that racetrack they're building in the south, but that's expensive membership, I believe at 100k. Still I'm thinking once it is built, they might let others in on particular track days. That would be closer than Blackhawk or Gingerman.

    Finally since I got the bug too (but it doesn't itch as much), I found two cool open seater racecars for the street. One is called the Indycycle and the ultimate cheapo thrill: Front of a Formula Ford with the tranny, engine and rear of a motorcycle. I think you can't get the monoposto feeling for less money. And best of all it is street legal, so you could actually have fun driving it while going to the track as well.

    The other vehicle is a true single seater, four wheels, but with some add-ons to make it street legal. Found it in a replicar magazine. Can show you the details next time we meet.

    The disadvantage of both of these vehicles are that you probably only race against the clock. Would suit me, but probably not you. But I always thought that some cool electronics system could give the driver real time lap times in the cockpit so you could actually improve yourself and have fun.

    Any comments from the experts here on these two vehicles and some electronics btw?

    Finally, there is the sim.
    :)
     
  8. Gary(SF)

    Gary(SF) F1 Rookie

    Oct 13, 2003
    3,637
    Los Altos Hills, CA
    Full Name:
    Gary B.
    Great story Jon. It'll be fun watching this young man develop. Why don't we have any (North) Americans like this? Even the Red Bull youngsters aren't doing too well in Europe.

    Gary
     
  9. joeyy

    joeyy Karting

    Nov 11, 2003
    190
    long island
    Full Name:
    joe
    There are more purely talented drivers outside of racing or in limbo in some mid level series because of lack of funds. racing is a sport that at any level costs a lot of $$.

    EX- A great driver goes to racing team A with 0 $$ and lots of talent and will drive for nothing.

    -A crummy driver with $3mil goes to same team, now they can even buy a car.(enuf said)

    if you are thinking of turning pro at age 23 and have never even set foot on a race track, the odds are you have a long road ahead. if you have the desire to make no money. get no sleep, work all night prepping a car, towing long hours,racing your guts out on sunday just to tow whats left home afterwards and go to work monday morning, with or without talent you have it!
     
  10. Hubert

    Hubert F1 Rookie

    Jan 3, 2002
    2,642
    The Left Coast
    *Ahem* I'll drive *Ahem*
     
  11. ART360

    ART360 Guest

    If you want to race on the cheap, something that is fast: think production motorcycles: GSXR1000, 380#s, 145HP, cost 10k, suit, etc. about another 2k. $300 a weekend, less than 1k to set it up. Get $1000 per race if you win depending upon the series. You'd have to buy an Indy Car for the speed, a little risky however, timid need not apply.

    Art
     
  12. tifosi12

    tifosi12 Four Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Oct 3, 2002
    48,581
    @ the wheel
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    Andreas
    I think that Indycycle is cool as hell:
    http://www.indycycle.net/

    Think about it: The looks forward are just like a Formula Ford car. The propulsion and braking is like the real deal. Even the shifting is like a real racecar, sequentially up and down. But maintenance costs of a simple Suzuki.

    Handling is probably way different, not sure.
     
  13. Gilles27

    Gilles27 F1 World Champ

    Mar 16, 2002
    13,337
    Ex-Urbia
    Full Name:
    Jack
    Art, I wish I had the cajones for motorcycle racing. I'm 37, and unfortunately survival is part of my equation. We went to a party this past weekend, and a friend of mine (ex FFord racer) was telling me about the kart he and a buddy just bought. Now he's leaning on me to get one. It definitely has its advantages.
     
  14. FLATOUTRACING

    FLATOUTRACING F1 Rookie

    Aug 20, 2001
    2,684
    East Coast
    Full Name:
    Jon K.
    Ernesto Viso re-signs with P1 for upcoming F3 series.

    http://www.crash.net/uk/en/news_view.asp?cid=11&nid=83034

    He just resigned with his current F3 team after winning the scholarship class.

    Watch this kid he's going places!

    Regards,

    Jon
     
  15. tifosi12

    tifosi12 Four Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Oct 3, 2002
    48,581
    @ the wheel
    Full Name:
    Andreas
    Funny, I was thinking about him the other day, wondering what drive he'll get for next year.

    Well as we have seen in the recent past, from F3 it is a short way to F1 *IF* you're successful.

    PS: Just finished your DVDs. Will go out next week.
     

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