06-17-2014, 05:59 PM
2000
After a very competitive season in the IRL with one win and a third place finish in the final point standings, Robby decided that the Indy Racing League was not where he wanted to be for the rest of his racing career and so would not stay in the series, despite a very competitive season in 1999. Robby has had some talks with a couple of NASCAR teams, but nothing materialized.
Ultimately, Juan Montoya, the man who replaced Robby at Ganassi in the CART World Series and immediately won the championship as a rookie, was offered a job as test driver at BMW Williams in Formula One for 2000, in order to be able to secure his racing seat at Williams for 2001. Montoya immediately accepted this offer and of course this meant Chip Ganassi had once again to search for a driver to run in one of his Target cars in the CART World Series with the start of the 2000 campaign being barely 2 months away.
Robby in the meanwhile, tested a Minardi F1 car but this test ended up being disastrous, after Robby spun off the car around 3 or 4 times a lap. Robby told afterwards that he's done with Formula One for the rest of his career, because the cars do not suit his driving style.
Chip Ganassi was very clear in telling the media that he didn't want to get Robby onboard of his team ever again, despite the Dutchman being a former CART champion and the fact that Robby won two races in a row for his team in 1998. However, storylines can change dramatically in the world of motorsport. Roger Penske, Ganassi's main rival, was very interested in getting Robby back to the CART World Series in his team but of course wasn't able to do because of both Gil de Ferran and Hélio Castro-Neves being contracted already. Roger however, wanted Robby back in CART so badly, that he managed to get a deal with Chip Ganassi to put the Flying Dutchman in one of Chip's Target cars. In fact, Roger Penske, had paid Robby's ride at Ganassi and this would turn out be a great deal, especially for Roger Penske's future with Robby.
With Robby being back in CART in a very surprising way, the expectations were not half as high for the Dutchman, as they were back in 1998, because of the disastrous season which the Flying Dutchman had with Ganassi before moving to the IRL in 1999, despite two wins in a row, however with the exception of his two wins at Houston and Surfers Paradise, 1998 was indeed considered as a disaster season for Robby.
The 2000 season would start in exactly the same way as 1998 for Robby, as Robby ironically once again crashed in turn 2 at Homestead and so wouldn't finish his first CART race in two years. At Long Beach and Rio, things looked a little bit better as Robby with two 11th place finishes in a row, was able to score 4 points in these two races, however two 11th place finishes still has to be considered as disappointing results.
With Jimmy Vasser leading the championship and with Chip's focus being mostly on Vasser, Robby would surprise his team owner by winning the race at the Japanese Twin Ring Motegi SuperSpeedway, it was Robby's first win on an oval since Phoenix in 1995 and his first win in CART since Surfers Paradise back in 1998. Robby would once again drive a great race in Nazareth, he would not win two in a row but he would finish the race in second position and had overtaken his team mate Jimmy Vasser in the point standings. At this point, Robby is in second position in the point standings, behind new points leader Michael Andretti.
Robby would have a disappointing weekend at Milwaukee, where he ran mid pack all weekend and would only finish in 15th place. At the streets of Belle Isle things went a lot better, as the Flying Dutchman would finish that race in 5th place, he would have another solid weekend in Portland, where he finished 8th. At Cleveland, Robby would be involved in a huge start crash, after qualifying in 6th place, Robby would retire already in turn one. In Toronto, things would get worse as Robby crashed into the back of another car and so ended into the tyre barriers with only three wheels left. During the race weekend at Michigan, things looked promising again as Robby took his first ever career pole position and based on his great pole, he was expected to win his second race of the year. Sadly for him and his fans, this didn't happen as Robby crashed already in turn one and retired for the third time in a row this season.
At Chicago Motor Speedway, Robby seemed once again to be a candidate for the win, but once again would the Flying Dutchman find himself in the wall. Robby's 5th retirement of the season and his 4th consecutive, had became a hard fact. The Mid-Ohio race weekend proved to be very competitive as Robby would finish in 5th place, his first top 5 result since Belle Isle earlier in the year. At Road America, things looked very promising after a 7th place on the grid but Robby would be involved again in a start crash and so had to retire the race with barely having completed a lap.
In Vancouver, Robby showed again lots of promise but he would again put his Target Lola in the wall. This meant retirement #7 of the year for Robby. The next two races would go quite well again, with a 6th place finish at Laguna Seca and a 10th place finish at Gateway International Raceway.
Robby would be very competitive as well at the streets of Houston but unlike in 1998, he would not repeat his win from two years ago but sadly would crash into the wall in turn 3 instead and retire. At Surfers Paradise, Robby scored his final points of the season with an 11th place finish. Robby would close the season in a very disappointing way at Fontana, despite securing his second career pole, which meant Robby's two only poles at this point of his career had been secured at two 500-mile race weekends ironically. The Flying Dutchman would finish the race on a disappointing 17th place, one lap down from the leaders. Chip Ganassi still could look back to a great season, since Jimmy Vasser had become the series champion for the second time of his career and immediately announced that he wanted a new challenge in his career and so had signed a contract with Patrick Racing for the 2001 season.
Robby finished his 2000 campaign in 15th place with 78 points, two poles and one win. With Gil de Ferran moving to the IRL in 2001 to become a team mate of the young and talented Sam Hornish Jr., with lots of Penske backing behind him, Robby would replace De Ferran at Marlboro Team Penske with immediate effect to become the team mate of Hélio Castro-Neves and so being back working together again with the team owner which made the Flying Dutchman a very unexpected champion in 1995. The goal for 2001 is very simple for Roger, Robby and also Hélio; Winning the championship.
TO BE CONTINUED.....
After a very competitive season in the IRL with one win and a third place finish in the final point standings, Robby decided that the Indy Racing League was not where he wanted to be for the rest of his racing career and so would not stay in the series, despite a very competitive season in 1999. Robby has had some talks with a couple of NASCAR teams, but nothing materialized.
Ultimately, Juan Montoya, the man who replaced Robby at Ganassi in the CART World Series and immediately won the championship as a rookie, was offered a job as test driver at BMW Williams in Formula One for 2000, in order to be able to secure his racing seat at Williams for 2001. Montoya immediately accepted this offer and of course this meant Chip Ganassi had once again to search for a driver to run in one of his Target cars in the CART World Series with the start of the 2000 campaign being barely 2 months away.
Robby in the meanwhile, tested a Minardi F1 car but this test ended up being disastrous, after Robby spun off the car around 3 or 4 times a lap. Robby told afterwards that he's done with Formula One for the rest of his career, because the cars do not suit his driving style.
Chip Ganassi was very clear in telling the media that he didn't want to get Robby onboard of his team ever again, despite the Dutchman being a former CART champion and the fact that Robby won two races in a row for his team in 1998. However, storylines can change dramatically in the world of motorsport. Roger Penske, Ganassi's main rival, was very interested in getting Robby back to the CART World Series in his team but of course wasn't able to do because of both Gil de Ferran and Hélio Castro-Neves being contracted already. Roger however, wanted Robby back in CART so badly, that he managed to get a deal with Chip Ganassi to put the Flying Dutchman in one of Chip's Target cars. In fact, Roger Penske, had paid Robby's ride at Ganassi and this would turn out be a great deal, especially for Roger Penske's future with Robby.
With Robby being back in CART in a very surprising way, the expectations were not half as high for the Dutchman, as they were back in 1998, because of the disastrous season which the Flying Dutchman had with Ganassi before moving to the IRL in 1999, despite two wins in a row, however with the exception of his two wins at Houston and Surfers Paradise, 1998 was indeed considered as a disaster season for Robby.
The 2000 season would start in exactly the same way as 1998 for Robby, as Robby ironically once again crashed in turn 2 at Homestead and so wouldn't finish his first CART race in two years. At Long Beach and Rio, things looked a little bit better as Robby with two 11th place finishes in a row, was able to score 4 points in these two races, however two 11th place finishes still has to be considered as disappointing results.
With Jimmy Vasser leading the championship and with Chip's focus being mostly on Vasser, Robby would surprise his team owner by winning the race at the Japanese Twin Ring Motegi SuperSpeedway, it was Robby's first win on an oval since Phoenix in 1995 and his first win in CART since Surfers Paradise back in 1998. Robby would once again drive a great race in Nazareth, he would not win two in a row but he would finish the race in second position and had overtaken his team mate Jimmy Vasser in the point standings. At this point, Robby is in second position in the point standings, behind new points leader Michael Andretti.
Robby would have a disappointing weekend at Milwaukee, where he ran mid pack all weekend and would only finish in 15th place. At the streets of Belle Isle things went a lot better, as the Flying Dutchman would finish that race in 5th place, he would have another solid weekend in Portland, where he finished 8th. At Cleveland, Robby would be involved in a huge start crash, after qualifying in 6th place, Robby would retire already in turn one. In Toronto, things would get worse as Robby crashed into the back of another car and so ended into the tyre barriers with only three wheels left. During the race weekend at Michigan, things looked promising again as Robby took his first ever career pole position and based on his great pole, he was expected to win his second race of the year. Sadly for him and his fans, this didn't happen as Robby crashed already in turn one and retired for the third time in a row this season.
At Chicago Motor Speedway, Robby seemed once again to be a candidate for the win, but once again would the Flying Dutchman find himself in the wall. Robby's 5th retirement of the season and his 4th consecutive, had became a hard fact. The Mid-Ohio race weekend proved to be very competitive as Robby would finish in 5th place, his first top 5 result since Belle Isle earlier in the year. At Road America, things looked very promising after a 7th place on the grid but Robby would be involved again in a start crash and so had to retire the race with barely having completed a lap.
In Vancouver, Robby showed again lots of promise but he would again put his Target Lola in the wall. This meant retirement #7 of the year for Robby. The next two races would go quite well again, with a 6th place finish at Laguna Seca and a 10th place finish at Gateway International Raceway.
Robby would be very competitive as well at the streets of Houston but unlike in 1998, he would not repeat his win from two years ago but sadly would crash into the wall in turn 3 instead and retire. At Surfers Paradise, Robby scored his final points of the season with an 11th place finish. Robby would close the season in a very disappointing way at Fontana, despite securing his second career pole, which meant Robby's two only poles at this point of his career had been secured at two 500-mile race weekends ironically. The Flying Dutchman would finish the race on a disappointing 17th place, one lap down from the leaders. Chip Ganassi still could look back to a great season, since Jimmy Vasser had become the series champion for the second time of his career and immediately announced that he wanted a new challenge in his career and so had signed a contract with Patrick Racing for the 2001 season.
Robby finished his 2000 campaign in 15th place with 78 points, two poles and one win. With Gil de Ferran moving to the IRL in 2001 to become a team mate of the young and talented Sam Hornish Jr., with lots of Penske backing behind him, Robby would replace De Ferran at Marlboro Team Penske with immediate effect to become the team mate of Hélio Castro-Neves and so being back working together again with the team owner which made the Flying Dutchman a very unexpected champion in 1995. The goal for 2001 is very simple for Roger, Robby and also Hélio; Winning the championship.
TO BE CONTINUED.....