41 replies to this topic

[BRG]

From the Atlas F1 News Room

"Tomas Scheckter has said he will continue his testing duties with Jaguar Racing despite confirming that he will contest the Open Telefonica Nissan championship for Vergani Racing."

Is this a serious mistake for young Scheckter? Surely he needed to be in F3000 full-time this year, to be racing under F1 team managers' eyes regularly. Who will watch him racing in Spain? No offence to Spanish readers, but this championship isn't a step forward for him.

His father Jody has been pushing him too fast in my view and and, in his desperation to re-live his own glory days, has now shunted him onto the wrong track. In British F3, he was beaten by Pizzonia (the man to watch in F3000 this year and a future WDC for certain). Either he should have got into F3000 and taken on Pizzonia again, or if that is too great a challenge, he should have gone to the US and done Indy Lights or even CART.

With so many others buzzing around Jaguar, his chances there don't look very promising either.

[Ghostrider]

He seem to be going the wrong way at the moment. Cannot understand why he is not running F3000 this year, must be a big tactical mistake. There are many youngsters coming up with equal or better reputation, so why would anyone take notice of Schekter when he is racing in some championship in Spain?

[schumilover]

that dude has a serious attitude problem,probably thing he is too good for all that.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Do you have something to qualify that statement?

[HighTower]

Is F3000 really relivant how many of the current crop to F1 racers came through F3000(only Heidfield comes to mind)?
How many successful F3000 racers are racing elsewhere or found their F1 career over before it began?
HT

[Indian Chief]

I was surprised to see him racing in Spain, because he was racing in F3000 from Austria onwards, last year.

But, he's still just 20 years old - he can afford to race in Spain for a few years and still be young enough to get into F1.

[FlatFoot]

It doesn't appear he'll have any problems this year in Formula Nissan...whether he made the right choice or not we'll see.

http://www.motorspor...le.asp?ID=60450

Though F3000 was an option I personally think the Scheckter(s) thought that since they'd already secured the test drive why bother competing in f3000 against the likes of: Mark Webber, Antonio Pizzonia, Mario Haberfeld, Darren Manning, Justin Wilson, Ricardo Sperafico. Stiff competition indeed.

I suspect they thought they'd run this FNissan category, test extensively and gain some valuable mileage. Unfortunately, Jag has barely got car production down...let alone driver development.

[Pacific]

I doubt Scheckter has a future in F1 anyway. He's trying to get the Jaguar ride, but I fully expect Eddie Irvine to hold down his ride and, unless Burti has some really great results, de la Rosa (and his Repsol sponsorship) is certain to replace Luciano at the end of the season. This is too bad because Luciano is not a bad driver.

Scheckter, I seem to recall, said he didn't plan on testing for more than 1 season, and if he doesn't have a ride by 2002, he'll focus his efforts elsewhere.

As far as Pizzonia is concerned, the fact that he got "let go" by Benetton/Renault is interesting. They said he reached that "95%" level fast, but he wasn't making much progress beyond that. Making him not unlike Gaston Mazzacane. I think Gaston is a pretty good driver, F1 worthy, but...he doesn't appear WDC material. Gaston provides a consistent, steady driver who will get your car to the finish race in and race out and provides some sponsorship. Not a bad number two driver to have for a lesser team. Prost's car looks somewhat bare, not as bad as Minardi though. Minardi's total sponsorship probably doesn't even approach what MasterCard gives to Jordan. Hopefully Stoddart can get Minardi sponsors for next season. I envision Minardi becoming a Renault Jr. Team of sorts and having Alonso and Webber at the helm next year. Put a Renault customer engine in a Gustav Brunner designed chassis and you should get some results. Maybe not even points, but...they'd be that much more competitive. Alonso and Tarso Marques haven't done too bad considering. Poor Tarso and his tire at Malaysia. It was interesting that both Minardis finished Malaysia. Those wet races are when it's good to be down on power a bit like Minardi and Arrows. It wasn't all wet, just that monsoon, but...that less horsepower means you don't have to be as gentle on the throttle if everything else is equal, so...Although Jos' race at Malaysia was REALLY good. He was competitive, I meant lower-powered engines being good for finishing wet races, not competing for wins or points in Jos' case.

[Nathan]

I think it may be a confidence builder.

#1 he is already under F1 teams eyes by his testing results vs Irvine and Burti

#2 I cant see the Spanish championship being too competitive. So it may be a rather easy championship or race wins to build up his confidence.

#3 As said before...F3000 doesnt seem to be too kind to is drivers afetrwards.

Maybe he should go to F3 Seems to be working as of late.

[BRG]

Originally posted by HighTower
Is F3000 really relivant how many of the current crop to F1 racers came through F3000(only Heidfield comes to mind)?

Well, Montoya was a F3000 champ like Heidfeld, Alonso did some F3000m and won a race, Bernoldi was in F3000. Burti didn't go into F3000 and pf ccourse Raikonen famously never even got as far as F3. So it still looks like a worthwhile feeder formula to F1. F1

Most current F1 pilots are ex-F3000, although for some reason winning the F3000 championship has never translated into winning the WDC IIRC.

So moving sideways (and even slightly downwards) to Formula Open Nissan seems a bizarre route to take. Flatfoot is right - F3000 is going to be at least as competitive as usual, but Scheckter did show well in his F3000 outings last year and should at least have been a contender. I think Daddy has really misdirected his little lad this time!!!;)

[HighTower]

Sorry I forgot JPM realised it later. But F3000 seems more of a waiting room than a proving ground. Who else 4 out of 22 doesn't seem like most.
F3 esp. say Macau is more of an indicator to future F1 success!

As for Scheckter he has time on his side to build on his race skills(if its only overtaking lapped cars that he is practicing:lol:) Esp. if he is in the queue of drivers looking to drive for Jag.

HT

[MattB]

It seems that in order to keep F1 teams interested one needs to possess access to funds, stay in sight of team bosses as well as pace and having a good manager. Moving away from the F3000 really does seem odd. The temperment at Jaguar right now does not seem very predictable and Scheckter may find himself squeezed out if one of the many drivers in F3000 stand out exceptionally this season.

[Ross Stonefeld]

I think he was trying to do a Burti, but then PDR came in

[Sean L]

Jody told him he's got 2 years to get a F1 drive. Otherwise it's off to uni for him.

Ross is right. He wasn't going to race this year but just concentrate on gaining experience in driving a F1 car and get noticed. But Jag (so impressed by his technical knowledge signed him after only 2 tests) hardly used him at all last year. This year he's had a little time in the old car and with with PdLR coming in he's losing out on testing since Pedro has experience and knows what the car should feel like.

I think because the Pedro-Prost/Jaguar confusion happened so late in February 2001, Tomas had no place to go in F3000 as all drivers in top teams were already signed. Possibly considered F3 but the same problem - all good drives taken. So to try and salvage something from a bad situation he's gone to one of the few available options. He's going to have to have a lucky break somewhere if he wants to be in F1.

[schumilover]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
Do you have something to qualify that statement?

i've meet him ,and that's the vibe he emanates

[LuckyStrike1]

I think that he and his dad pushed very hard to get the Jaguar test drive. After all, an extensive testprogram with a good F1 team is nowadays perceived as a better option than doing F3000. So when they got the deal, why bother with F3000 ? Good thinking until it was announced that de la Rosa was signed as a second testdriver with a promise to race next year. And with Scheckter not having done so much testing so far, suddenly he was out in the cold with no options at all to combine with limited testing at Jaguar.

F3000, all the seats taken.
F3 i Germany or Britain. all the seats (at least the good ones) taken

I think the poor guy suddenly is out in the cold, no real testing seat, no race seat, no nothing. Better to race in Spain and at least win races and maybe the titel than doing nothing but going around a few weeks in a not very good F1 car in a team that has it's own problems and without the prospect of graduating to a raceseat. So yes, right now he seems to be out in the cold. But he is only 20, so he still has some time to turn his career around.

But I feel that he should get another manager/advisor than his dad. He seems to think a bit too much about his own past than what might be in the best interest of Scheckter. What do all of you think ? Maybe Keke Rosberg instead who might fix in him at McLaren ?

[JPMCrew]

F3000 drivers in F1:

Juan Pablo Montoya
Nick Heidfield
Fernando Alonso
Rubens Barichello
David Coulthard
Enrique Bernoldi
Gaston Mazzacane
Tarso Marques
Hans Harald Frentzen
Jean Alesi
Olivier Panis
Eddie Irvine

That's a total of 12 F1 drivers who have been in F3000. From that bunch, Olivier Panis, Juan Pablo Montoya, Nick Heidfield, and Jean Alesi have been champions.

I think F3000 is still a very good source of F1 drivers.

[Pacific]

Scheckter needs to rethink his "2002 or bust" statement. If he sticks with Jaguar long enough...Irvine's contract expires after next year I think. I think it's next year and then an option year.

I expect Burti to be the one displaced by Pedro de la Rosa. Eddie Irvine has to be there to supply the experienced feedback. Eddie talks a lot, but unless they can attract somebody better and experienced, perhaps David Coulthard or maybe Jenson Button in 2003.

Remember, Williams has to make a choice after 2002: Montoya or Button. Don't expect the experienced, German, and fast, Ralf Schumacher to be given the boot. (I say German because of BMW) Montoya has two years to prove himself at Williams, and I expect he will win the battle over Button merely because Button will not be able to achieve a whole lot with Benetton Renault at this time and memories fade fast. Benetton and Renault are trying to sort things out, I suspect they will eventually. But, at that point, after Button and Montoya's contract expire, and I expect Montoya to win, Button can go elsewhere. He might be the one to go to Jaguar in 2003 to team with Pedro de la Rosa, the fast Spaniard who also provides Repsol sponsorship.

But, if Button goes to some other team for some reason, then perhaps Tomas Scheckter is the one called upon by Jaguar after two seasons of testing, just like Luciano Burti.

While Burti may be destined to get the boot at Jaguar after this season, he could salvage a test ride with another team after this season or perhaps even a drive with Minardi. (I'd expect Renault/Nissan to work with Minardi and have Alonso and Webber the drivers in 2002.) Arrows may be looking at another driver after the season too if Bernoldi does not earn his permanent super license. Sure, Herbert is there for this season if he doesn't, but how long would Herbert continue to race in F1 again? Or does Arrows go after Austrian Alexander Wurz, somebody Red Bull would likely support? (I'd expect them to support Herbert again though too. Also, in another thread, I discuss how it would be in Mercedes' best interest to keep Wurz in a complicated Mercedes/Sauber plot.)

But I think Tomas needs to keep a more open mind, race in Spain this year, but then next year continue testing for somebody and get a seat in F3000 for 2002. He'd be hard up to find a ride in CART without sponsorship. If Johnny Herbert can't, Tomas Scheckter won't. Nicolas and Bruno were more proven in an open wheel series than Tomas, and if they don't turn it up, they could burn F3000 bridges to CART to a degree. But they're younger drivers a team can market to the public as CART stars. With Herbert, he will always be an F1 driver first and foremost. America took to Juan Montoya well. They took to the lesser F1 driver Alessandro Zanardi as well. I didn't see the same support for Nigel Mansell as I did for Zanardi and Montoya. They SEEMED like CART stars because most people don't follow F3000 in the US.

If Tomas up and quits testing in F1 and doesn't get an F3000 ride in 2002, then what? Tomas goes IRL racing? ALMS racing? ALMS would make more sense for his skills. But, I hope Tomas tests for an F1 team in 2002 and gets an F3000 seat. F3000 ensures him of being seen as F3000 events are support events for F1 races. He's impressed there before, he can again. He has an outside shot at earning an F1 drive someday. Especially if the 12 team ban is lifted and a 13th team is allowed again. Like say Robin Herd gets his consortium together to mount a challenge for an F1 team again. He did try when Honda and Toyota came in. And there are always those rumors that Gerald Forsythe might go F1 racing.

[Sean L]

So LuckyStrike1, you agree me post then?;)

I think he's got a chance to show what he can do testing Jag this year.

In only his second test for Jag in 2000 he was 2 seconds/lap faster than Burti on a wet Silverstone track. In all other tests he's done, he hasn't been testing the same car at the same time as another Jag driver/tester so it's difficult to evaluate him. I'm hoping that he'll get his first drive in the R2 sometime soon so that we can compare his pace.

He has to make sure that even though he's racing in Spain, he doesn't miss any crucial testing for Jaguar. He was to keep his face around the F1 paddock.

[BRG]

I see that big daddy Jody has started complaining that jaguar are giving Tomas a raw deal as a test driver. Jody says that last year Tomas had "many good avenues open to him, but Jaguar had an option on him and that was taken". It still sounds like a duff decision to me, but he may be getting lucky with today's news. I guess the promotion of Pedro to the race team may help him.

Jody has also (finally) woken up to the fact that he is not helping Tomas much and wants to hand over management to someone else (maybe the Robertsons, Rosberg or Willi Weber) because he says "when I tell people how good he is they look at me and say"It's his father" ". Duh, ya think, Jody???

[Dimo]

Hmmm, is Jody the test driver for Jag now? Or are they still planning on playing with Franchitti and Karthikeyan?

[shoofirbin]

now that burti is gone, and de la rosa has the ride, schekter should be the one and only jaguar official test driver, and then maybe he'll actually get to drive the car.

[BRG]

Well, Tomas seems to be the sole full-time contracted Jag test driver now. Franchitti might be asked to test again, but he has a full schedule in CART and won't be able to do much serous work.

But given the turmoil at Jag, who knows what they might do next? They'll probably take Mazzacane on as test driver now!!!

[LuckyStrike1]

Who knows what happens at Jaguar . drivers seem to come and go in an never-ending stream. But maybe now the situation is a bit clearer ..... Irvine and de la Rosa are the reca drivers and Scheckter is the testdriver . end of story. Well end of story until Lauda decides to come out with a new statement saying that none of the current drivers can expect to be obvious choices for the next season and that the team is talking to a lot of other drivers already .....;) Maybe he even could rehire Burti as a testdriver this year with a promise of a race seat next year ... or buy the whole Formula Nissan series ;) I simply don't know what to say anymore about Jaguar ...

[magic]

JPMCrew
------------------------------------------------------------------------

F3000 drivers in F1:

Juan Pablo Montoya
Nick Heidfield
Fernando Alonso
Rubens Barichello
David Coulthard
Enrique Bernoldi
Gaston Mazzacane
Tarso Marques
Hans Harald Frentzen
Jean Alesi
Olivier Panis
Eddie Irvine

That's a total of 12 F1 drivers who have been in F3000. From that bunch, Olivier Panis, Juan Pablo Montoya, Nick Heidfield, and Jean Alesi have been champions.
I think F3000 is still a very good source of F1 drivers.
------------------------

the jap f3000 = formula nippon

irvine, salo, ralf and ms ( 1 race), jv?

[lulup]

F1 driver in Macau
Winner:Senna83
MS90
DC91
RS95

Runner-up:
Trulli95
Hill88
Button00
Salo90
Lamy92
Gene91
Bernoldi98

3rd Place:
Rosa95
JVill92
Irvine90
Magensson94
Berger83
RB91(5th)
RS94(4th)

Win one Leg:
Heidfield96
Bernoldi98
MH90

Top 3 in one leg:
Trulli96
Fisichella95

Other Winner:
89-D.Braham
92-R.Rydell
93-J.Muller
94-S.Maassen
96-R.Firman
97-S.Ayari
98-P.Dunbreck
99-D.Manning
00-A.Couto

[BRG]

I am bringing this thread up again as I see that Tomas Scheckter has failed to win the Open Telefonica Nissan championship in Spain (Franck Montagny beat him), so his step sideways &/or down has not worked.

I see that he is now to test for F3000 Arden team Russia (along with Sebastian Bourdais and Rodrigo Sperafico) so is presumably looking to get back into F3000. But Arden are hardly a front-runner and also have the disadvantage of the uncompetitive Viktor Maslov as a regular driver, so this may not be the best move.

So, Tomas Scheckter - heading for oblivion?

[HSJ]

Originally posted by BRG
Pizzonia (the man to watch in F3000 this year and a future WDC for certain

WDC for certain? Let him debut in F1 first. I'm not saying he has no chance, but we have "certain" future WDCs in abundance now: KR, JB, FA, NH(?), Sato, Massa,... The thing is, there might not be enough titles to "distribute" to everyone during the 10-15 years these guys will be competing. That doesn't mean they're not good enough, but that the competition might be so stiff that some will be left without a title. I'm just pointing out a possibility.

Tomas? Tomas who?;) I doubt he'll make it.

[BRG]

Originally posted by HSJ
we have "certain" future WDCs in abundance now: KR, JB, FA, NH(?), Sato, Massa

Hey, I was right about Pizzonia in F3000 - he won a race and ended up easily best rookie driver. It is a travesty that guys like Massa are swanning into F1 on the strength of a good performance on their Playstation or something, when Pizzonia (and more to the point, the 2001 F3000 champion, Justin Wilson) don't seem to be getting a chance.

Of the new intake, we all know Montoya will be a WDC and I can see Sato and Heidfeld as likely future WDCs as well, but none of the others - especially the overhyped Kimi. If Pizzonia gets a seat, then I stand by my prediction that he will also win a WDC - but as you say, he has to get into F1 first.

[HSJ]

Originally posted by BRG
Of the new intake, we all know Montoya will be a WDC and I can see Sato and Heidfeld as likely future WDCs as well, but none of the others - especially the overhyped Kimi. If Pizzonia gets a seat, then I stand by my prediction that he will also win a WDC - but as you say, he has to get into F1 first.

I have nothing against Pizzonia, but I don't have a good feeling about him. I don't doubt he'll make a good mid-fielder, but a WDC? Do you have his CV? That would tell me a lot.

If that is what you think about KR (and JB) then you should reconsider. Aren't you the one who had "DC 01, JPM 02, Pizzonia 03" as your signature?

[BRG]

Originally posted by HSJ
Do you have his CV? That would tell me a lot.

Well, his main claims fto fame are that he won British Formula Renault in 1999 and was easily as domiant as Kimi was in 2000. He won the Brit F3 championship in 2000 at his first attempt (it took Sato two seasons), then in F3000 he scored one win and was best rookie in 2001, in a season when Wilson dominated the championship. I think that those are pretty good credentials.

And yes, I did use that signature & so far I am only out by one place ;) (DC 2nd 2001) and I am confident that Montoya will do the business in 2002. I just hope that Jungle Boy will get a chance to be in there for 2003...

[KenC]

Originally posted by BRG
Well, his main claims fto fame are that he won British Formula Renault in 1999 and was easily as domiant as Kimi was in 2000. He won the Brit F3 championship in 2000 at his first attempt (it took Sato two seasons), then in F3000 he scored one win and was best rookie in 2001, in a season when Wilson dominated the championship. I think that those are pretty good credentials.

And yes, I did use that signature & so far I am only out by one place ;) (DC 2nd 2001) and I am confident that Montoya will do the business in 2002. I just hope that Jungle Boy will get a chance to be in there for 2003...

I was impressed by Pizzonia early last season. He was very, very fast. However, by the latter half of the season, Sato seemed to have his measure, and appeared to be as strong, or stronger as a prospect. Certainly, Pizzonia was a clear champion in Brit F3, but when drivers are this young in their career, they are improving/maturing very quickly. Measuring their potential by whole season's results, can be a mistake, as their rate of improvement means a driver can change considerably in just one season. It's an old cliche, but it is sometimes appropriate to judge a driver at this level, by his most recent results. Clearly, Sato wasn't the same driver at the end of last year as he was at the beginning of last year, and this season's results reinforced that impression. And, really, that seems to be the difference in perception between Sato and Pizzonia. Sato has kept the momentum going, while Pizzonia has struggled to some extent.

I hope to see both doing well in F1 someday, though Pizzonia may take another year to get there.

[Dudley]

Pizzonia won't get anywhere until he learns how to drive without driving into people or making insane moves behind the pace car.

Scheckter was superb during his brief time at Minardi this year surprised he can't get anything from the smaller F3k teams.

[HSJ]

OK everyone, how about that Pizzonia's CV???

COME ON! I'm really dying to know. I did know the stuff BRG mentioned above, but that is not yet the whole picture. Many drivers have glory at one point but still fail in the end.

[BRG]

Originally posted by HSJ
OK everyone, how about that Pizzonia's CV???

I don't have all the details I am afraid. I believe that Pizzonia was a karting champion in Brazil and may have won a single-seater series there as well, before he came to the UK. Maybe one of our Brazilian memebrs can help?

[BRG]

HSJ

Hang on, I found this - it is in Portuguese, but I am sure you can get the drift:-

http://formulabrasil.../pizzonia.shtml

I wonder what "wakeboarding" is? Sounds a great hobby...

[Billy]

Originally posted by magic
JPMCrew
------------------------------------------------------------------------

F3000 drivers in F1:

Juan Pablo Montoya
Nick Heidfield
Fernando Alonso
Rubens Barichello
David Coulthard
Enrique Bernoldi
Gaston Mazzacane
Tarso Marques
Hans Harald Frentzen
Jean Alesi
Olivier Panis
Eddie Irvine

That's a total of 12 F1 drivers who have been in F3000. From that bunch, Olivier Panis, Juan Pablo Montoya, Nick Heidfield, and Jean Alesi have been champions.
I think F3000 is still a very good source of F1 drivers.
------------------------

the jap f3000 = formula nippon

irvine, salo, ralf and ms ( 1 race), jv?

MS did one race with Johnny Herbert as teammate. I think JV did Japanese F3, but Frentzen did formula nippon for two years, and de la Rosa was formula nippon champion in 1997. Also Alex Yoong did Italian F3000, International F3000, Formula Nippon ... etc etc

[HSJ]

BRG,

Do you think my translation of it is correct:

Born: 11 Sept 1980

(the relevant years for me: )

1996 Brazilian Kart, 1st; Paulista Kart(?), 2nd; FDodge, 2nd
1997 FVauxhall Jr. Britain, 2nd; then there is another similar thing, what is it? (F-Vauxhall Jr: Campeão Britânico de inverno -- what does that "de inverno" mean?)
1998 FVauxhall Jr. Britain, 1st; again the same thing: F-Renault: Campeão Britânico de inverno
1999 British FRenault, 1st; European FRenault, 2nd; F1 tests
2000 Brit F3, 1st; F1 tests

Here they are in original language:

1996 Kart: Campeão Brasileiro; Kart: Vice campeão paulista; F-Dodge: Vice campeão americano
1997 F-Vauxhall Jr: Vice campeão Britânico; F-Vauxhall Jr: Campeão Britânico de inverno;
1998 F-Vauxhall Jr: Campeão Britânico; F-Renault: Campeão Britânico de inverno
1999 F-Renault: Campeão Britânico; F-Renault: Vice campeão Europeu; F-1: Teste na equipe Williams
2000 F3 Britânica: Campeão; F-1: Teste na equipe Arrows; F-1: Teste na equipe Benetton


If some of you can explain the parts that I have a problem with I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

BRG, it is a pretty good list, I think Pizzonia would get a rather good rating (score) in my theory. However, 2001 and 2002 could change that depending how he does. If he had entered F1 right after that F3 title then he'd look much better to me.

And one more thing: in what place did Pizzonia finish 2001 F3000 season? (final standing)

[BRG]

Originally posted by HSJ
If some of you can explain the parts that I have a problem with I'd appreciate it.

I think that Paulista Kart would be a regional championship for Sao Paolo State of Brazil (as this includes Sao Paolo city, the biggest in Brazil, I guess this would be quite important)

Campeão Britânico de Inverno = Winter championship for F. Vauxhall Junior (a short championship at the end of the main season; these usually give people a chance to step up from lower formulas to have a go, before doing the main championship the next year)

He finished fifth in the 2001 F3000 championship (see http://www.formula30...o.uk/index.html ), behind four guys all in their second or third F3000 season. F3000 seems to take two years to conquer nowadays (viz Junqueira in 2000) so best rookie is a good effort.

Pizzonia's record puts Felipe Massa's well into the shade, yet Massa is snapped up by Sauber - there really is something wrong with all this

[Ross Stonefeld]

Inverno is probably 'winter series'

[HSJ]

BRG, yes, Pizzonia has a rather impressive record, but I'm not so sure that it surpasses Massa's:

Felipe Massa - Biography,
Wednesday, September 19th, 2001

He was born in São Paulo of Brazil, the 25th of April 1981.

Career
1990 4th place at Paulista Micro-Kart Championship cat. A
1991 6th place at Paulista Micro-Kart Championship
1992 3rd Paulista Micro-Kart Championship cat. Kart Junior Menor
1993 4th place at Paulista Micro-Kart Championship cat. Kart Junior Menor,
2nd place at Brazil Championship cat. Kart Menor
1994 6th place at Paulista Kart Championship Junior Menor,
4th place at Schincariol Trophy Super Junior,
1st place at First Trophy Parilla Junior,
7th place at Brazil Championship cat. Kart Junior
1995 3rd place at Paulista Championship Formula Kart
1997 3rd place at Brazil Championship cat. Kart "Graduados",
1st place Trophy 500 Milles Granja Viana
1998 5th Brazil Championship Formula Chevrolet
1999 1st place at Brazil Championship Formula Chevrolet
2000 1st place at Formula Renault Italian Series Championship,
1st place at Formula Renault European Series Championship
2001 Presently leading Euro FORMULA 3000 Series with four victories. (Vallelunga, Pergusa, Monza and Imola). [Won the Euro F3000 later]

-----------------------------------------------

I'd be hard pressed to say right away which one is more impressive. However, if and when Pizzonia makes it to F1 I'll have calculated scores for both of them, I guess that is then what I personally think about them.

[BRG]

Objectively, you are probably right, HSJ. But I am a bit of a Pizonnia fan, as you can tell, so I am biased ;)