With lots of potential but few results, Andretti-Green makes a tough call to change drivers before the season’s lost, but dropping Herta was the wrong move.

I was shocked and saddened when Bryan Herta was let go at AGR. I have been a fan of Bryan's since his days in Indy Lights and have followed his career pretty closely. Even though I was never a fan of the IRL, I would always check the results to see how Bryan finished in each race. Needless to say I was quite happy when he decided to move to the ALMS. I can only hope that he ends up with another quality ride. Good luck to you Bryan, and hope to see you back behind the wheel soon.

alms fan - 29 June 2008 09:38 PM

I was shocked and saddened when Bryan Herta was let go at AGR. I have been a fan of Bryan's since his days in Indy Lights and have followed his career pretty closely. Even though I was never a fan of the IRL, I would always check the results to see how Bryan finished in each race. Needless to say I was quite happy when he decided to move to the ALMS. I can only hope that he ends up with another quality ride. Good luck to you Bryan, and hope to see you back behind the wheel soon.

Herta's problem might be similar to Paul Tracy's in that both are past any prime they had and, with both now out of drives, aren't being considered for new ones. Montagny's hiring is simply that the sport and the cars in it need younger drivers - and you have to consider Bryan's age, along with PT's - drivers with some of their best years ahead of them. Herta's are behind him.

I believe "older" drivers still have their place and they are showing that they are still very fast and successful. Just look at the Audi crew. I believe 2 years they were rumored to be "retiring" the old guys like Pirro, Biela, etc. but only Biela is out of a seat this year. In the type of racing where experience, patience and guile count for more than outright pace and aggression (i.e. a 24 Hours of Le Mans) I would take an older, more experienced driver who may have lost that .05 but can still bring. Herta absolutely can get another seat but it'd be on merit only as he doesn't bring sponsorship, money and he doesn't have a patron in Mikey anymore. On the other hand, the sprint ALMS races required a more frenzied, faster, and more aggressive pace, and if a Marco-type driver on a twisty circuit can get the jump at the start he's got a good chance of winning overall just by going flat-out, hoping the car doesn't break and not losing time on stops.

thachairman - 30 June 2008 08:31 AM

I believe "older" drivers still have their place and they are showing that they are still very fast and successful. Just look at the Audi crew. I believe 2 years they were rumored to be "retiring" the old guys like Pirro, Biela, etc. but only Biela is out of a seat this year. In the type of racing where experience, patience and guile count for more than outright pace and aggression (i.e. a 24 Hours of Le Mans) I would take an older, more experienced driver who may have lost that .05 but can still bring. Herta absolutely can get another seat but it'd be on merit only as he doesn't bring sponsorship, money and he doesn't have a patron in Mikey anymore. On the other hand, the sprint ALMS races required a more frenzied, faster, and more aggressive pace, and if a Marco-type driver on a twisty circuit can get the jump at the start he's got a good chance of winning overall just by going flat-out, hoping the car doesn't break and not losing time on stops.

But what you have there is the difference between Audi's approach and anyone else's, a very specific instance. Admittedly, Herta could have been put to good use for his experience, but, again, it comes down to a lack of any winning record he had. Pirro, Biela (regardless of the loss of his ride), and especially Tom Kristensen are proven winners. The same thing could be said of Corvette. Fellows and Johnny O'Connell are proven winners. But to find one at AGR. . .

Part of it could have been Acura's initial approach to forming their factory teams, which admittedly, was a bit unorthodox going with 2 open wheel teams with no sports car experience and a privateer team running 2 different chassis instead of one unified factory team. Marshall's comment about how De Ferran coming in and in their first race going very quickly shows how much untapped potential the car has and that obviously the other teams aren't harnessing to the maximum. I admit that the Audi example is not normal and also since they have won 8 times at Le Mans, you have something like 10 different drivers who have won at least once and therefore it's easy to have experienced drivers to pick from. Gets a bit harder when you draw from the open wheel ranks and it's one driver per car.