The fact that Bourdais has not been given his F1 chance is a disgusting indictment of F1's corrupt culture and duplicitous insularity. I challenge any one of F1's top teams -
Ferrari, Renault, McLaren-Mercedes or
Williams - to give Bourdais a proper test. I have no doubt that Sebastien is a much more complete driver than Juan Montoya, and every bit the match of Alonso and Schumacher. What's their problem in giving the brilliant Frenchman a chance?
I'll be at the Canadian GP in a few weeks and I look forward to hearing the likes of Jean Todt, Briatore, Ron Dennis and Frank Williams explain why Bourdais is not qualified to drive one of their cars. I hope their explanations are thorough enough, and believable enough, for me to refrain from calling them a load of tossers.
Then, of course, there's the case of 19-year old Marco Andretti. His grandfather, father and uncle have been telling me for years that Marco is the real deal and, after his great performances at Indianapolis last month and again on Sunday at Watkins Glen - where some of the IRL regulars showed that they've managed to forget some things about road racing - Marco has demonstrated that his raw talent will be wasted in the dysfunctional world of American open-wheel racing.
Next year, Marco must race in Europe in GP2, or even
F1. His father and grandfather know this is where Marco's heart and destiny lays, and the race fans of America know it too. In fact, it would be a great thing for America's flagging standing in international motorsport to see both Marco and Graham Rahal racing in Europe next year, a pair of third generation American racers who I'm sure will perform like few Americans have in recent decades.
Meanwhile, Kevin Kalkhoven continues to put the best possible face on his hopes for the future of American open-wheel racing despite, if not a breakdown, some serious stalling in the Champ Car/IRL unification talks. Regarding the state of his discussions with Tony George and the IRL, Kalkhoven commented: "I think they are best described as slow, but well-intentioned."
