Scott Dixon to Williams??

[Mike Rotch]

Reigning IRL champion Scott Dixon is to test for Williams.

The New Zealander will get a chance to stake his claim for a 2005 race drive at Paul Ricard next week.

A source close to Williams told the BBC that the object of the test was to assess Dixon's potential as the team considers its options for 2005.

Dixon is only 23 years old but already has a terrific pedigree. He was Rookie of the Year in ChampCars in 2002 before winning the IRL title at his first attempt last season.

The Kiwi became only the third driver to win on his IRL debut at Homestead last year and set a new record midseason by leading an incredible 343 consecutive laps.

It is highly likely that Williams will be looking for two new race drivers for 2005 with Juan Pablo Montoya off to McLaren and negotiations with Ralf Schumacher stuttering.

Dixon drives for Ganassi, a team who have close ties with Williams. Both Alex Zanardi and Juan Pablo Montoya drove for the US team before moving across the Atlantic to join the Grove outfit.

Frank has liked indy drivers before...

 

[DRIFT4EVA]

Williams has made this really Hush Hush. This is not definate. Despite Dixon being the Rookie of the year in Champcars I don't think that he really enjoys circuit racing. In the Champcar Series When Dixon was in it the only race that he won was on an oval. It is his dream to get into F1 and with practice I think that he will do very well, assuming he gets the job with williams.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Or he could be another Andretti/Zanardi.

 

[DRIFT4EVA]

We'll just have to wait and see. I hope that he does make it. It would be good to see a Kiwi in F1 giving Schumi a run for his money.

 

[millencolin]

i dont think he will make the cut......he hasnt raced on a road circuit for a while. also, if he does, he would be under more pressure to proove himself as a f1 driver from an oval background (cart/irl).....but frank does like his indy and champcar drivers, also, he likes them when they come from chip ganassi.

still, as he was born in my home town, i wouldnt mind to see him go well, wish he would come back to champcars though

 

[3rdgenracerX]

I dont think he'll make it in F1 either. When he was in cart he never stood out or did anything spectacular other than what he's accomplished on the ovals.
Though it would be nice for him to proove everyone wrong and do well in F1

 

[millencolin]

well...he did surprising well in the test, only .45sec off ralf.

he has surprised me, thats for sure.......considering that he hasnt turned right for 18 months
still, he did have a road racing background in both australian and new zealand formula ford and australian formula holden.

 

[peter Bickle]

I reckon Scott Dixon will do well at F1. Lets face it, only 0.5s behind Ralf in his first outing shows that he is fast, I expect better things in his second outing next month. He is a naturally fast driver, not like Coulthard for example who has alwys had a good car. He has won races in the Indy Lights Series on road tracks. At CART he did very well in an underperforming car and in the IRL he burns up the field with the sort of ease that Senna and Schumacher do/did. In last years IRL he easily outdid his team mate, Schectker for race speed, Scheckter is not a bad driver either. Dixon gets things done with his crew very well, similar to Senna/Schumacher.
When he aclimatises to F1 he will be in the very top echelon of drivers, I am picking in the top 3.
He has been focussed on F1 since a young age, he even used to walk around home with a helmet on when he was 10-12 to get used to the extra weight that will need to be carried.
Regards
Peter Bickle

 

[daan]

He did OK. He did have problems with his neck during the test. He said it had been a couple of years since he turned right!

Autosport website
Reigning IRL IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon was wowed by his first experience of a Formula 1 car at Paul Ricard on Friday, saying the Williams-BMW FW26 was "very different and very cool".

Dixon, who is tipped to be in the running for a seat at Williams in 2005, wound up fourth fastest overall on the day with a lap of 1m11.753s after completing 59 laps.

When asked for his first impressions of driving an F1 car, Dixon told autosport.com: "It is very different and very cool! Especially in the first few laps, the car is so different to what I'm used to; it is just overwhelming the way it stops. I think the brakes are probably 100 times better, and the car handles a lot better. It is a lot more nimble, because you know how light the car is – probably a couple of hundred kilos lighter than a Champ Car – which makes the difference. It has a lot more grip too."

Dixon suffered a small gearbox glitch this morning, and had a new engine fitted for his afternoon runs. He suffered with his neck muscles (quipping: "I haven't turned right for a year or so!") and has promised to work on his fitness before his next test at Barcelona next month.

"The big thing was getting used to the speed of the car on these tyres," he added. "It is a strange feeling. Grooved tyres have totally different characteristics [to slicks]. The car is very much on the edge, but most of the time is very nimble. It feels nice to drive – it is a proper race car."

 

[team KIWI]

you all know nothing and never will until you open your eyes and realise that Dixon has done equal to, if not more than any current IRL and especially champ car driver in such a short period.

He could of easliy made an apperance in 2001 in a lowly team such as minardi but he doesnt want to piss around wasting time such as webber is with Jaguar! His plan since the age of 6 has always been to win win and win! Truth be known he is simply waiting for the right team and 2005 will see him win the respect of you all!!!!

 

[vat_man]

I'm pleased he tested well. He made a bit of an impact when he came into the Champ Car scene, and I would imagine he would have a lot of confidence having done well in IRL - not to mention a fair bit of $ in the kitty...

 

[millencolin]

Originally posted by team KIWI
you all know nothing and never will

thank you very uplifting

but on road and street courses...i cant rate dixon that much. he had a high quality drive with chip ganassi in champcars for 2/3 of the year and did not make much of an impact against people like formula one driver christiano da matta

 

[daan]

Originally posted by team KIWI
you all know nothing and never will until you open your eyes and realise that Dixon has done equal to, if not more than any current IRL and especially champ car driver in such a short period.

This is what I love about forums. You can always count on someone to come in with an unblickered, unbiased opinion about something or other as well as insulting everyone at the same time! In't it great?

IRL, to me, is the series that kills and injures more drivers than anything else. To be good at it, is to survive.

 

[SkylineObsession]

Scott's time sounds even more impressive when you hear that he did 75 less laps than Ralf and 21 laps less than Jenson.

I hope he does a bit more circuit racing before the next test so his neck loosens up a bit. :/

 

[Sharky.]

Go Scott Dixon!!!

 

[millencolin]

dixon just broke his ankle in an IRL crash at motegi

 

[DRIFT4EVA]

Again? Last year in Motegi he broke his wrist. That sux. He did his Williams test before he broke it didn't he? He better have.

Oh and

 

[3rdgenracerX]

Originally posted by daan
IRL, to me, is the series that kills and injures more drivers than anything else. To be good at it, is to survive.

I couldnt agree more with that. You couldnt get me to race in the IRL. Even if you had the barrel of a tank pointed at my forhead i'd still refuse to get into a IRL car. I dunno theres something about driving around a track where I know if someone makes wheel to wheel contact with me I will need a pilots liscens and i'll be lucky not to hit the cheese grater....er I mean the "catch fence" and discentrigrating At least you dont have that constant risk in all other forms or open wheel racing on road courses.


And wouldnt you know it Scott gets hurt in the IRL thus fubaring with his F1 prospects. I honestly dont see why anyone would want to drive in the IRL, hasnt someone been injured in every IRL race this season so far??

 

[DRIFT4EVA]

And don' forget about Tony Renna. He died testing for Chip Gannassi. He was going to be Dixons team-mate this season.

 

[millencolin]

and kenny bracks shocker of a crash......so many drivers have been injured or unfortuately killed in the irl....its a shocker of a series. danger aside, i still cant see why you would want to compete in it, turning left 100% of the time isnt enteraining

 

[DRIFT4EVA]

Originally posted by millencolin
and kenny bracks shocker of a crash......so many drivers have been injured or unfortuately killed in the irl....its a shocker of a series. danger aside, i still cant see why you would want to compete in it, turning left 100% of the time isnt enteraining

Yep and then you get offered a position in some other racing series where you can turn right and your neck gives up.

 

[millencolin]

no broken ankles though

 

[DRIFT4EVA]

Well. Less chance anyway

 

[3rdgenracerX]

Originally posted by DRIFT4EVA
Well. Less chance anyway

I slightly dissagree, theres a significant less chance that you will get an injury in a road racing series where most curcits have a run off areas and tire barriers. Ovals cant have that, even with the safer barriers it helps out some but not enough to prevent broken bones, then theres taking flight which everyone pretty much knows or should know about.

Me personally if I had the choice i'd race Nascar on ovals and open wheel racing on road tracks. I could do nascar since I have a roll cage around me, and a well protective seat + taking flight is a rarity in those series. Only at talladega and daytona is where flight can take place. I'd much rather perfer the open wheel gig on road tracks

 

[DRIFT4EVA]

Originally posted by 3rdgenracerX
I slightly dissagree, theres a significant less chance that you will get an injury in a road racing series where most curcits have a run off areas and tire barriers. Ovals cant have that, even with the safer barriers it helps out some but not enough to prevent broken bones, then theres taking flight which everyone pretty much knows or should know about.

Me personally if I had the choice i'd race Nascar on ovals and open wheel racing on road tracks. I could do nascar since I have a roll cage around me, and a well protective seat + taking flight is a rarity in those series. Only at talladega and daytona is where flight can take place. I'd much rather perfer the open wheel gig on road tracks

I was on about the circuite races when I said that. Ovals seem to do more harm than good.

What track was it? Ummmmm....... Well there was a NASCAR race on the weekend. A piece of the track came up and pretty much fooked the front of some drivers car. If someone had gone over that at full speed, the accident would have been catastrophic.

 

[3rdgenracerX]

That was last weekend's Nextel cup race at martinsville. I thought that was pretty funny since they are tearing up the track with serious sidebite of the cup cars, where the expansion joints were made for the concrete. Its been happening for the past few years in smaller chuncks. Nothing serious since they are only going 50-90mph in the turns and they will be re paving the track right now or after the next cup race. Jeff Gordon's nose got fubared up, sucked for him but thats racing where unpredictable crap can ruin your day.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Originally posted by 3rdgenracerX
And wouldnt you know it Scott gets hurt in the IRL thus fubaring with his F1 prospects.

Actually, you may be wrong. Because he's broke his ankle, his IRL season is blown, which could mean that he can secure an early release to begin testing F1 cars in early August. This would give him two months to prepare prior to the testing ban which comes into effect in October.

Before he broke his ankle, Dixon said that his racing commitments were such that he wouldn't have the right amount of time to prepare for F1, and that he would prefer a year of testing first.

Perhaps this broken ankle gives him the opportunity he needs.