No one will replace da Matta

UPDATE #5 Another reader chimes in, If you heard Tagliani during his San Jose tirade on PT said he was out of cars, and asked PT would he give him a car? Folks, this says to me, and counting the crashed cars so far this year, Champ Car has to be dangerously low on spare parts, tubs, you name it. I can't help but think RuSPORT running 1 car may be a way to assure there's enough to get at least 16-17 cars through to the end. RuSPORT going to 1 car for the rest of the season does one thing that could be huge; free up a primary, and I assume a spare car, so that Champ Car, if required at any of the remaining races, can meet an 18 car field minimum.

Maybe RuSPORT goes with one car at Montreal, loans their cars to whomever needs one (Team Australia?), hopes to heck the entire field makes it through Montreal without totaling a car. If they go to 2 cars for Elkhart and beyond, then CC has 3 races to hope whatever spares are left, probably with RuSPORT, Forsythe, and NHR, can help sustain at least 16-17 cars.

What I hope CC would do is somehow reward a team with spares to either run or loan their car to a team who would then run an American like RHR at Elkhart, and Aussie like Briscoe at Australia, and a Mexican like Jourdain for the finale in Mexico City. The series is 4 races away from the end of the Lola Champ Car, and there isn't much of Lola to go around! Andy Fogiel, Lansing, MI

08/19/06 Another reader writes, Dear Autoracing.com, I take great offense at the writer that calls RuSPORT ‘deadbeat no counts.’ While I understand the anger of this fan, the characterization is uncalled for. The fact is that RuSPORT is a second year team that has had a very rough year.

Carl Russo is nothing if not a gentleman and a cornerstone of Champ Car these past few years. This is a man that stood up and wrote huge personal checks not only to enable the series to have their latest star, A.J. Allmendinger, (and have no doubt without Carl Russo there would be no A.J. Allmendinger) but was the epitome of a good corporate citizen when he was asked by the series, and agreed, to take on Michel Jourdain on short notice and at great personal expense and disruption to his stated business plan. When Fernandez and Rahal Racing bolted to the dark side Carl Russo stayed the course and was there for us in our time of need.

The recent interviews with A.J. Allmendinger make clear that A.J. was miserable and didn’t want to be at RuSPORT and for Russo to be forced to make the difficult decision for the good of his team at the same time actively assist Allmendinger into another top level seat at Forsythe (many team owners would have enforced their driver contract and had their fired out of favor driver on ‘gardening leave’ unable to drive for another team until the following year like Montoya finds himself) so the integrity of the team owner should not be in question as he has been spending millions and millions of his own money to field a top level competitive team.

That said a top Champ Car team not fielding a car for the second race in a row is nothing short of unprofessional and casts the Champ Car series in a very negative light. Racing is a tough dangerous business, as are many sports, however Cristiano would be the first one to say the show must go on and the team should act professionally. For RuSPORT to use the extremely unfortunate circumstance of the freak accident that befell one of the genuinely nicest, sincere and well liked drivers in the series as a crutch is a disservice not only to the tradition of racing but to the Champion of their fallen driver Cristiano da Matta. Many drivers, from the great to rookies, have been injured, or worse, but their seats have always been filled. In the NFL if a star quarterback is severely injured a backup is in on the next play and when they make an appearance at the next game there is a replacement and the playbook has been adjusted to accommodate the reality of the situation to put the team in a position to obtain the best results possible. The same for Formula One, the Indy Racing League, NASCAR, etc.

In this instance I think it is the management of RuSPORT, not Carl Russo, that is dropping the ball and acting unprofessionally. It is not only a disservice to the tradition of motorsport and the series but it is also substantially diminishing their teams and Justin Wilson’s ability to challenge for the Championship. There are experienced Champ Car drivers that know the tracks and have a record of winning that could be in the seat for not much more than a phone call. Look at the example of Newman/Haas Racing last year when they put in a substitute for their injured driver Bruno Junqueira without missing a race. The substitute, Servia, was immediately on the pace and took points away from the other drivers and greatly assisted Bourdais and the Newman/Haas Team in winning the Championship. Justin can still win this thing as can RuSPORT. When the going gets tough the tough get going.

Let’s all pray for the full recovery of a fantastic human being, Cristiano da Matta, and let's all hope RuSPORT quickly exhibits the level of professionalism expected of teams at this level of racing and names a replacement for our fallen hero. Alan Mendelson Lake Forest, Illinois

08/18/06 This rumor is upgraded to 'fact' as AutoRacing1.com has been bombarded with emails from fans disappointed with Champ Car's low car count in Montreal and the fact that one of the top 3 teams cannot field a 2nd car, something that would NEVER happen in F1, NASCAR or the IRL.

One of Champ Car's staunchest supporters wrote, Dear AutoRacing1.com, Can this be true? One of the biggest teams in Champ Car acting like deadbeat no counts. At the very time CC needs to empower its teams to show its strength they fold? What is the story and what is the pathetic car count in Montreal? They need Carpentier in a car, and RuSPORT has a car. If they could afford to run da Matta without a sponsor they certainly can afford to run another driver. End of discussion. Is this the beginning of the end of Champ Car? Adolf Saul

08/18/06 Part of the rumor going around is that RuSPORT laid off 10 people as well. The team categorically denies this, so perhaps the rumor that they are shutting down the No. 10 car is false. Stay tuned…..for a press release on the future of the No. 10 car this afternoon.

08/18/06 There are unconfirmed rumors that RuSPORT, one of the top teams in Champ Car, has decided to not continue with the No.10 car and focus on Justin Wilson the rest of the year. However, when we tried to confirm this rumor with a team spokesperson we were told they cannot comment, but that there will be a press release later this afternoon.

If the rumor is true (could be false) it will be a major blow to Champ Car when one of its top-3 teams cannot field two cars, especially given the already low car count.

08/13/06 There is much speculation about who might replace the injured Cristiano da Matta at RuSPORT. Here are the names being mentioned:

Ryan Hunter-Reay – Clean cut American, a proven winner
Ryan Briscoe – Australian who crashes too much
Giorgio Pantano – Italian, with no experience in Champ Cars
Jacques Villeneuve – Canadian, his pride won't let him do it, said no
Patrick Carpentier – Canadian, a NASCAR boy now
Ricardo Zonta – Brazilian, would do zero for the series
Buddy Rice – American, still under contract in the IRL, gets beat by teammate Danica Patrick regularly. Enough said.
Dario Franchitti – Scottish, well known name, but under contract with Andretti Green Racing
Jamie Melo – Brazilian, not well known in the USA. 2002 Euro F3000 Champion