Igor Fraga Talks About His Difficult Formula 3 Season

[GTPNewsWire]

This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:

Igor Fraga Talks About His Difficult Formula 3 Season

This article was published by Jordan Greer (@Jordan) on August 14th, 2020 in the Gran Turismo Series category.

 

[Pigems]

Why has Gran Turismo singled out Igor to Sponsor in Racing? Or do they also sponsor other top racers that come from playing GT? I’ve always wondered this.

 

[GregOr1971]

keep on keeping on)

 

[HaydenFan69]

Why has Gran Turismo singled out Igor to Sponsor in Racing? Or do they also sponsor other top racers that come from playing GT? I’ve always wondered this.

I think a lot has to due to that he is more than just a sim racer moving to the real cars. He has previous experience and some solid results. I think that makes him a safe bet for PD to back.

You do have Harrison Newey (yes, son of that Newey) running a GT logo on his DTM ride.

 

[NosOsH]

Hopefully he gets a couple rounds in with no car trouble one of these days, he Deserves an award for most places made up during his races. True Gran Turismo style!

 

[ChocolateBox]

Hope he gets a decent seat next year in F3, the Charouz car has been super unreliable and just lacks the pace.

I think Igor has the talent to fight up there for good points and maybe even podiums.

 

[ShiftingGears]

Why has Gran Turismo singled out Igor to Sponsor in Racing? Or do they also sponsor other top racers that come from playing GT? I’ve always wondered this.

He's won multiple GT events so it makes it easier for PD to spin the narrative that Gran Turismo was an integral part of his career progression, rather than it just being something done in his spare time

 

[watto79]

He's won multiple GT events so it makes it easier for PD to spin the narrative that Gran Turismo was an integral part of his career progression, rather than it just being something done in his spare time

That's not really the case at all. He had had a good amount of success in real life racing but that had stopped, basically because of lack of funds, before he started dominating in GTSport. That essentially got him his F3 seat. This is well worth a read.

https://www.gtplanet.net/gran-turismo-saved-igor-fraga-20200701/

From Igor himself:

When I asked Igor if he could have made it without Gran Turismo, his answer was clear. “No, of course not,” he said. “Three years ago we were just trying to survive. Now, we are going to race in Formula 3. It is just amazing.”

 

[PSN:And-War]

Igor is a talented fellow you don't get to the top of gtsport without having skill.

And he is struggling in f3, all the same car little options to change the car so you really see what each can do, I think he has had some bad luck in f3 thou

 

[Auditore]

Igor is a talented fellow you don't get to the top of gtsport without having skill.

And he is struggling in f3, all the same car little options to change the car so you really see what each can do, I think he has had some bad luck in f3 thou

Cars might be equal but igor's f3 sure has alot of reliability issues.

 

[Famine]

all the same car little options to change the car so you really see what each can do

Mmmm, no. The car itself is spec certainly, but there's plenty of scope for changing the suspension and aero settings - and it looks like how Charouz goes about this is not up with how other teams do.

Not to mention four separate mechanical failures.

 

[HaydenFan69]

Mmmm, no. The car itself is spec certainly, but there's plenty of scope for changing the suspension and aero settings - and it looks like how Charouz goes about this is not up with how other teams do.

Not to mention four separate mechanical failures.

Charouz has never been a go-to team. Always a second tier squad in the junior formula level. Though reliability in a spec Series is alarming and Igor should be questioning his team about that.

 

[ShiftingGears]

From Igor himself:

When I asked Igor if he could have made it without Gran Turismo, his answer was clear. “No, of course not,” he said. “Three years ago we were just trying to survive. Now, we are going to race in Formula 3. It is just amazing.”

Yes but that's the same as any sponsorship. PD just saw a window where they could maximise their exposure with the money they were offering.

What PD gets out of the sponsorship is painting the GT brand as being a stepping stone.

 

[watto79]

Yes but that's the same as any sponsorship. PD just saw a window where they could maximise their exposure with the money they were offering.

What PD gets out of the sponsorship is painting the GT brand as being a stepping stone.

For sure I completely agree. My comment was more a discussion around the point of

easier for PD to spin the narrative that Gran Turismo was an integral part of his career progression, rather than it just being something done in his spare time

when Igor himself says that GTSport got him into F3. Without what he achieved in GTSport his real life racing career had stalled. GTSport gave him a springboard into an international championship that can ultimately lead to F1. He didn't have that before and had essentially run out of funds.

But of course PD are going to back people who have proven potential, rather than someone who is "only" good at the game and no proven racing experience.

Maybe your point is that Fraga isn't good at real life racing because of GTSport, to which I'd agree. He was good before GTSport just not internationally recognised.