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Pastimes : Motor Sports Notes -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: zonder who wrote (352)	3/9/2004 11:15:21 PM
From: X Y Zebra	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 764

He was going around telling all the girls that he is Jensen Button I bet he was! Jenson seems to be one of those nice guys that need to lose their "nice" part in order to advance. At least that is the perception of some. I personally do not agree. You are who you are and yes, if an adjustment is needed to get the right sponsorship/support fine... but one ought not "sell one's soul" Jenson career is really taking off. Last year at the US GP he managed to lead the race for a brief moment, (in part due to the terrible weather conditions --that cost Montoya his final effort for the championship, notwithstanding Schumacher's incredible competitiveness and never say die attitude. During last winter, BAR has improved tremendously, no doubt the best improvement of all teams. Jenson benefited twice over since former world champion Jacques Villeneuve finally succeeded in self-destructing his F-1 career and doing Jenson a tremendous favor by giving Jenson the "lead driver" position. If the BAR team is able to complete the "make-over" he will definitively be a contender. A sign of greatness is the way in which Jenson was able to recover from a massive shunt he had last year... of all places, Monte Carlo, during practice/qualifying. The crash was so violent that doctors did not allow him to race, "just in case". However, he came back as if nothing had happened. Great attitude and spirit. Currently, Jenson Button is the sole F-1 driver representing England, a tremendous source of fabulous drivers. David Coulthard (who also lives in Monte Carlo, I understand) is from Scotland so; I suppose that there are two Britons. This year there are 4 Italians, (Trulli, Fisichella, Pantano and Bruni) and 3 Brazilians, (Barrichello, da Mata and Massa in the championship Trulli reminds me a little of Chris Amon (from the 70's and from New Zealand) Both drivers are fast, tremendously skilled and capable to battle.... yet both drivers are incredibly unlucky. Last year in Japan, Trulli was set to get pole position and possibly win the race... yet, in the last qualifying session, it rained as Jarno was on the track and spun-off and damaged the suspension... so, no pole position for him and had to race with the spare car... In the Australian GP this year he had a superb start (almost as good as Alonso's ) but then in the first corner Takuma Sato bumped him and made his car very unstable for the rest of the race.... If Alonso was not Trulli's team mate, I would give more possibilities for Jarno to improve. However, with Alonso as lead driver (in spite that Renault will not admit to that) it is hard to imagine that Trulli would receive that "extra" help it always is needed (unless he improves on Alonso --most definitively not an easy feat-- In addition, Alonso is Flavio Briatore (Renault's Capo) protégé (a position that Michael Schumacher once held), so I hope that Jarno turns some superb performances this year and he gets some well deserved podiums and even wins... Alonso is a star in the making... perhaps a little early to say so, but I can see a very unique instinct similar to Ronnie Peterson, and possibly Jim Clark. The way he rocketed off the line and leave Montoya in the dust and cause him to make a mistake, without Fernando even getting into a risky situation... tells me a LOT about his reflexes and his hungry to win a race. He can last the distance without problems... this tells me a lot about his maturity as a driver (and he is 22 years old!). This combination of abilities is very, very rare... Alonso won his maiden GP last year (The Hungarian GP) the youngest driver to ever win a GP and he was also the youngest driver to get a pole position (Malaysian GP last year)... this is no small potatoes... and he did this with not really a first tier car... Renault is lacking about 30 - 40 horse power less than the BMW, Mercedes and Ferrari motors... I would LOVE to see Alonso in a Williams, (BMW motor) or a Ferrari... better yet... I would love to see him in his current team but with an improved engine... Fernando Alonso will be world champion... I do not believe this will happen this year (unless Renault can find those missing horses...) but soon... As for Trulli having the advantage... Yes, I definitively agree... although it is not the same driving around a street at 30 - 40 mph in normal traffic... as it is to ... rush into a corner at about 120 mph and braking hard to take the turn at around 80 - 90 mph (such as the corner at Rascasse --> where you met Button ? --well, that was the bar... -g I am not sure about this but the Rascasse and Antoine Nogues corners replaced the Gasometer Hairpin, where Jochen Rindt forced Jack Brabham into a mistake a mere 150 feet before the finish line and took the race from Jack.... this was 1970, the year Jochen Rindt became world champion... posthumously, as he killed himself in Monza the same year in September... It must be nice to live in MC... Live and breath the Grand Prix... (not to mention a million other reasons too)... more power to you....