Dan Clarke

Well, he’s taking it like a man. Despite a stupid mistake on the outlap of the first session of the weekend, Dan Clarke isn’t running from the consequences of his actions. He’s addressing the media, he’s addressing Jan and the drivers and as I write this, he’s signing autograph at the (very packed) autographed session. Yes, despite being suspended for the race on Sunday, Dan Clarke is already looking to Assen and beyond. He respects Tony Cotman’s decision and is sorry for what he did. He told me you learn from your mistakes. Hopefully he did. I know this decision wasn’t easy for Tony Cotman because Dan is a nice guy who means well. He makes bonehead moves on occasion, but has also displayed speed on tracks where speed counts (Cleveland, Road America to name a couple). Cotman has (maybe had at this point) faith in Dan Clarke, as did his team Minardi USA. But, alas, punishment needed to be handed out and I suspect Dan Clarke knew immediately following the incident that he’d be parked. Its part of Tony’s job to make tough decisions and props to him for not being persuaded by any outside factors. During the press conference Tony Cotman shot from the hip and didn’t mince words. Dan had been on probation since San Jose. Tony had even thought of suspending Dan after San Jose, but decided that probation would suffice. It appears that Dan Clarke didn’t learn his lesson and now will watch the race on Sunday from the grandstands. Tony stated that after the race he will re-evaluate the situation to see if further action is needed. Like he said, he likes to sit back and take his time on those types of long term decisions. Let data and logic help your decision, not raw emotion. Today was tough for everybody because he took out Jan Heylen. There is no question that emotions from Champ Car were hotter because of who it was. I’m not suggesting Tony’s decision would have been different if it had been another driver. But let’s face it, Jan is a huge part of this weekend. He’s Belgian, drives for a Belgian Team and has a Belgian sponsor. End of story.

Question is who replaces Dan on Sunday. Mario Dominguez is floating around, as his Zsolt. But, there is also Frank Perrera hanging around. It would be a hell of a jump for the young Frenchman, but he is close to home and given the popularity of Seabass, Simon and Tristan, the series could do a lot worse than put Perrera in the car. Its how a lot of careers are born, right place right time. As of this writing, they haven’t announced who the second driver is going to be.

early on in Belgium

Well, just got back from the press conference in Brussels at the automotive museum with all of the Champ Car drivers. The media turnout was impressive and there were a few fans on hand. Bourdais was by far the most popular, but I have to say I am surprised that the fans were cognizant of all champ car drivers, not just the stars. David Higdon was the MC for the presser and they had a French translator and it worked real well.

Spoke with Alex Tagliani who seems to be having a marvelous time in Belgium with his wife, really taking advantage of the scenery and making the most of his short free time. I also took advantage of the scenery today, but it was mostly because I got lost several times in Brussels and what should have been an hour ride back home turned out to be 3 and a half. Nice city and countryside, I assure you.

When speaking with Tags, he mentioned how he drove on the track on Wednesday in a rental and thought the set up was going to be difficult, as there are “street corner” turns as he put it, as well as long sweeping, fast turns, thus the right balanced set up will be key. It should make for an interesting race.

Meanwhile, the city we are staying in, Hasselt is just beautiful and everybody at champ car is having a great time, taking advantage of the many cafes in the neighborhood. And the shops too. And all the folks have been real friendly. And the food. Oh boy! I’ll probably gain a few pounds on cheese alone in the next two weeks.

And check out the podcast Jim and I just completed. Click on the title of this blog to be redirected to our podcast.