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Raceboy 18-03-2004 16:49
Dixon test williams
 
Quote:
The BMW WilliamsF1 Team today confirmed that the 2003 Indy Racing League Champion and Target Chip Ganassi Team driver, Scott Dixon, will test for the team later this month.

The native New Zealander, who is currently contesting the 2004 IRL series with the Target Chip Ganassi Team, will test an FW26 on March 26 at the Paul Ricard circuit in Le Castellet in the South of France, before undertaking a three day test in early April at the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona.

"I'm very excited about heading to Paul Ricard at the end of next week for my first taste of a Formula One car, although the real test will be in April in Barcelona," said Dixon. "Frank Williams and Chip Ganassi have both been very supportive of this test and are giving me every chance to prove myself. In the meantime, my focus will be on defending Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Championship this season and on the Indy 500 in just over a month from now. With all these opportunities ahead of me, I will do my best to take advantage of them."

Dixon will work alongside regular BMW WilliamsF1 Team drivers conducting the tests in Ricard and Barcelona - Ralf Schumacher, Marc Gene and Antonio Pizzonia.

"Scott is clearly very talented, and it will be fascinating to see how he performs in a Formula One car," commented team boss, Sir Frank Williams, "We are grateful to Chip Ganassi for sanctioning this test, it of course reflects our close and long standing co-operation with an organisation that I hold in the highest regard."

"We have always had a good working relationship with Frank and both teams have reaped the benefits of an arsenal of remarkably talented drivers over the years as a result," added Target Chip Ganassi Racing owner, Chip Ganassi. "This is a good opportunity for Scott to test his mettle in an F1 car and we have always encouraged our drivers to live up to new challenges and strive to be the best."

bron: crash.net

Raceboy 26-03-2004 14:29
Tis niet zomaar een cadeautestje blijkbaar:

Quote:
Reigning IRL champion Scott Dixon is held in sufficiently high regard by the BMW WilliamsF1 team that his two scheduled in the FW26 will be genuine, full-fledged evaluations to see if he is 'good enough' to become one of the team's drivers for the 2005 world championship campaign.

Juan Pablo Montoya has already signed to drive for McLaren next season, and team-mate Ralf Schumacher has yet to renew his Williams contract, so Dixon is potentially auditioning for one, if not two, guaranteed vacancies at the former championship-winning team. The 23-year old Kiwi is just one of the names being bandied about with regard to the role, along with Jenson Button and Mark Webber, but is the only one likely to test with the team before the end of the season.

"There are a number of people that we are interested in, and Scott Dixon is one of them," said technical director Patrick Head, "We have at least one place on the team that we have to fill - and we have not filled it yet.

"We have talked to a number of people. A number of people who could be available have limiting clauses in their contracts that might mean that they are available, or it might mean that they are not available. It is always useful to know that, if people that we might be talking to are not available, where we go from there."

Dixon will have two tests in the Williams-BMW with the first, at Paul Ricard in southern France, scheduled for today [26 March]. This will be a chance for Dixon to familiarise himself with a F1 car before he undertakes a more intense three-day test at Barcelona in early April.

"He is running for a day at Ricard," Head confirmed, "and it is really for him to do acclimatisation so that it will give him a bit of time to think about it before he runs sometime later at Barcelona.

"It is just for an opportunity to have a look at him. He's a young chap, who has openly stated that he'd like to be in F1. He was the IRL champion last year. We are interested to have a look at him and let him have a look at F1."

Dixon's performances in the high-speed close competition in the IndyCar Series races, where he drives for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, have impressed the Williams-BMW team.

"His record in a short period in IRL, which is very high-speed racing, says we should give him a try," said team owner Sir Frank Williams, "There is not a lot of opportunity to test championship-winning people from another formula during the season. The IRL is a high-speed formula - Juan Pablo came from a formula similar to that and did well [in F1]."

Montoya was racing in the CART series, and winning the Indy 500, in 2000 while Dixon was serving notice of his talent by winning the Indy Lights championship. According to the Colombian, however, it will take a bit of time for Dixon to get out of the 'oval' groove of the IndyCar Series and back into road-racing mode.

"In the last one or two years, he has only been doing ovals," Montoya said, "so it is going to take a little time to get into the rhythm, especially in an F1 car. He's pretty good though, so I think he will do all right. In the first test, I don't expect anything from him but, in the second, he should be a little bit more competitive. It will be a good experience for him."

The team insists that the fact that Schumacher is from Germany, as is BMW, will have no bearing on whether his contract will be renewed for 2005.

"It is important to us to have the two quickest drivers available," said the engine builder's motorsport director Mario Theissen, "If one of them is a German like Ralf, that is a bonus, but it would not influence of our decision. F1 is a global business. The nationality of the driver is not too big an issue."

If Dixon does switch to F1, he will be the latest in a string of drivers who have raced in North America and then come to the grand prix scene. He would follow in the footsteps of 1995 Indianapolis 500 winner Jacques Villeneuve, and CART champions Alex Zanardi, Montoya and Cristiano da Matta.

da Matta raced against Dixon in CART and is now in his second season with the Panasonic Toyota Racing F1 team.

"The grooved tyres and the light weight of a F1 car are the two biggest things that he will have to get used to," the Brazilian said of Dixon's F1 test, "He won the IRL championship, which is a difficult championship, but obviously it is only ovals. However, he is a good road-course driver, especially if you look at his background from the races he's done in CART.

"He will have to get a bit better shape physically because he has only been driving on ovals for so long that he might have lost a bit of his neck muscles. But, as for his ability, I'm pretty sure that he is not going to have any problems. It is always difficult, but I am sure that he is going to be all right."


bron: crash.net

JPMontoya 26-03-2004 22:42
Dixon draait meteen 0.2 trager dan Ralf, Indrukwekkend.

Volgens mij is de kans groot dat we dixon volgens jaar bij BMW terugzien.

Robby 13-04-2004 13:09
hij doet het inderdaad niet slecht. Hij heeft veel potentieel. De IRL win je enkel en alleen maar als je snel bent, consistent. En dat is Dixon.

Maar voor de F1 zou ik nog een jaartje wachten. Een jaar als testrijder zorgt voor een betere basis, zeker als je bij het team testrijder bent waar je het volgende jaar zal racen.

Kijk maar naar Alonso.

airco 13-04-2004 13:25
ik verwacht dat hij dit seizoen nog regelmatig zal testen .... Om dan volgend jaar een race-zitje te krijgen.

een nieuw-zeelander in de F1 .... Das eens iets anders dan de zoveelste duitser he ;)

Robby 14-04-2004 18:06
Dat zitje zou wel eens bij Toyota kunnen zijn dat graag de kans aan rookies geeft (McNish en Da Matta)


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