18 replies to this topic

[Arrows4Ever]

After reading this article...

http://www.radio-can...22pilotes.shtml

I can't help by reinforce this bad vibe that I have about this great kid!!!
It seems his set of wheels have always been hanging a dark shadow on his career. Year in, year out(that also includes mid-season crisis situations), he's always UNSURE if he'll be on track or not because of financial support as he's always been with smaller teams(and you know what they say: "With smaller teams come smaller budgets!!!").

For example:
http://rds.ca/cart/c...ues/211588.html
August 27th 2006
Ranger will end the season!!!
Wal-Mart and Tide have accepted to pitch in some money. That was the only way he made it through the '06 season.
But as you can see, the new season is approaching and the same tune is playing: No fixed set of wheels, no money...
As of today, the Radio-Canada source(first link) provides that(according to Autosport!!!), Andrew is in line for the 2nd seat at RuSport. Ranger says:"I've gotten no phone calls yet...I won't be at the first tests...But my manager Alan Labrosse is negociating hard."

More unstability?:
July 12th 2006
http://rds.ca/cart/c...ues/208371.html
About to close his deal with Wal-Mart, his manager annonces a more stable financial for his protégé and also declares that with his actual 4th position in the championship, Andrew Ranger is getting noticed and is interesting major teams such as Forsythe, Newman-Haas and to a lesser degree, also RuSport.

Let's see here...From closing in with the big players in July '06 to begging a test at Rusport today!!!???!!!???

After a few years and after watching this great kid drive, I've come to think that the main problem is his manager Alan Labrosse.
http://www2.canoe.co...825-142722.html
This guy can't get it right for Andrew, can he?
He's been way too busy organizing(or messing up) the Champ Car event in Montreal. And to see how that event barely lives from one year to another just shows how unsuccessful he is... Is it him? Is it the series itself? Does that image(or lack of success) affect his negotiations as Ranger's manager???
I've come to think Andrew IS NOT his top priority as much as it should be and that he, Mr Labrosse that is, simply is not good enough for the job. Anyone's who's seen this man in an interview can see the lack of power and passion in this man. He just does not seem ON. He does not speak like someone who should be selling something or someone. He speaks slowly, without conviction and lacks persuasion. He also had little business brawls with Normand Legault(Montreal F1 promoter), that surely didn't help his rep either...(http://www.canoe.com...r.cgi?id=234910)

(Another mystery??? Labrosse has got experience!!! He's worked with Miguel Duhamel, Pascal Picotte, the Bostrom brothers in the US, Jordan Szoke, Patrick Carpentier and Andrew Ranger. He's gotta be good somewhere, right?)

I don't understand!!! To sponsors, this kid should be GOLD. He's bilingual(french/english). He's always willing to participate to commercial deals, appearances, etc. All that is always done with a smile. He's happy to meet his fans everytime and will sign autographs generously. In other words, he appreciates all the supports he gets out there...
For sure, he does not shy away from strong opinions:
http://rds.ca/cart/c...ues/211402.html
August 24 th '06
Ranger suggests Villeneuve to shut up!!!
Following JV's interview in F1 Racing at the time when JV was fresh out of his F1 drive and shooting bullets at everyone, when Jacques had this to say about Champ Car: "F1 teams don't look nor take seriously drivers in Champ Car or IRL, they'd rather look into MOTOGP or Nascar. That just shows how much Champ Car and IRL have dropped..."
Ranger had replied this: "That's JV for you! He can say whatever he wants, he's got his millions!!! He should stay home a little and stop whining..."

What is Andrew's career hiding in the next few years??? I think he still hopes for F1 and if he does not make a change soon about his manager, he will be the next wasted talent...
What a shame!!!

Anyone care to share views about this???

Do you guys rate him worthy of a decent drive???
Do you think he'll get his chance somewhere, somehow, sometime???
Does he belong in CART or should he aim at F1???
Is he F1 material???
Should he knock on DTM's door??? Or look for other series???
Am I too sentimental about this kid???

BTW, I'm happy for the Minardi name making a comeback in motorsports!!!
http://rds.ca/cart/c...ues/219516.html

[Juan Kerr]

Why are you canvassing him ? He hasn't done that much and didn't look particularly special against his teammate either. I don't understand the big fuss ?

[917k]

Most every driver in CC needs to bring money. No biggie.

[John B]

Didn't he get his funding extended last year because of his resemblance to a cartoon character?

[Chubby_Deuce]

Minardi never left motorsports. They raced Euro 3000 last year and will add GP2 this year.

[Limits]

"[insert_name_here], the next great wasted talent meats [insert_name_here], the current great wasted talent and a wasted talent of the path [insert_name_here], to discuss new ways of wasting talents next week at the Santa Monica golf club at a sponsored event where bla bla bla..."

World is full of wasted talents and motorsport world doubly so.

[Dudley]

Originally posted by Chubby_Deuce
Minardi never left motorsports. They raced Euro 3000 last year and will add GP2 this year.

Indeed

1979-1985 - F2
1985 - 2005 - F1
2006 - Euro F3000
2007 - Euro F3000 (afaik), GP2 and CART

Seems pretty constant to me.

[Arrows4Ever]

Originally posted by Dudley


Indeed

1979-1985 - F2
1985 - 2005 - F1
2006 - Euro F3000
2007 - Euro F3000 (afaik), GP2 and CART

Seems pretty constant to me.

Allright, allright...My bad...
I meant a comeback to the top of the food chain in motorsports...

[ehagar]

He is a good kid that managed to stay out of trouble and get consistent finishes. He had to take it easy because if he crashed he wouldn't have enough sponsorship money to complete the season. I only wish he had a shot at a team like Forsythe... and serious sponsorship dollars.

[Dudley]

Originally posted by Arrows4Ever


Allright, allright...My bad...
I meant a comeback to the top of the food chain in motorsports...

I'd consider GP2 closer to that than CART anyway but point taken.

[cheesy poofs]

Naaaah. Just like many other talented drivers, he's always had money issues. I still think his manager made the wrong decision a few years ago when he didn't choose to push Andrew towards British FRenault.

[dbltop]

A friend and I went to the Toronto race last July and had paddock passes. We saw quite a few of the drivers and there were a lot of spectators milling around. We watched one guy go up to Andrew to ask for an autograph, just one mind you, not a pack of people. He said " No, I have to go." and hopped on a bicycle and rode away.

[fumes]

Wasted?? Well, I guess McLaren's out of the picture then.

[WGD706]

Andrew Ranger has a message for all those people who said he made a mistake quitting the Champ Car World Series to go NASCAR racing.

"It was the best mistake I ever made," the 20-year-old from Roxton Pond, Que., said yesterday at Kawartha Speedway.

Ranger won in only his second start in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series this season and has not finished outside of the top 10 since then.

He was leading the championship race going into last night's Dodge Charger 250 by a slim 41 points over the No. 17 Castrol Dodge of D.J. Kennington of St. Thomas.

And when the checkered flag dropped to end NASCAR's first season of weekly racing in Canada under the Canadian Tire banner, Ranger became the first champion of the new series.

Scott Steckly won the race in the No. 22 Erb Transportation Dodge.

His first NASCAR season was more than just results for Ranger, however.

"When I made the decision to leave open-wheel racing I didn't know what to expect," he said. "I was so tired of spending more time finding money to race than actually racing that I started not to like it."

Ranger said that it was hard to justify having to come up with $4 million a season to race in Champ Car, when all that got him was a ride with a team that had no real chance of winning.

Yet in spite of under-funded efforts, Ranger managed a top-10 championship finish in his second Champ Car season.

"I thought that would mean an automatic job back in the series where they would pay me," he said. "I was disappointed and disillusioned when I wasn't offered anything to go back this season."

Enter Dave Jacombs, who put Ranger in the No. 27 Wal-Mart/Tide Jacombs Racing Ford.

"They are actually paying me to race," Ranger said. "What a concept."
http://torontosun.co...521369-sun.html

[Crazy Canuck]

Cool! thanks for the follow up udpate. As far as I knew he disappeared from racing completely. Glad he's doing well for himeslf.



CC

[whitewaterMkII]

And people wonder why there is a huge interest in NASCAR now...
It's the only NA series that actually pays drivers.

[Manson]

With his prodigious use of the bumper this year, yes his future is in tin tops!

[MaxScelerate]

Actually I thought the reverse : he didn't bump enough and he should have tried and trashed stupid Kerry Micks once or twice to teach him a lesson. I'm sure most of the other (read 'Not Micks') Ontario guys would have applauded too.

[Arrows4Ever]

Originally posted by MaxScelerate
Actually I thought the reverse : he didn't bump enough and he should have tried and trashed stupid Kerry Micks once or twice to teach him a lesson. I'm sure most of the other (read 'Not Micks') Ontario guys would have applauded too.

Yeah...Micks is quite the uncool racer!!! And I'm being polite in my choice of words...