Cecotto Jnr on his backing from Venezuela
- This topic has 10 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 9 months ago by
.
- Posts
Someone who speaks better Spanish than me (not difficult!) may be able to offer a better translation, but this looks like Johnny Cecotto Jnr thanking the president of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro for extending his financial backing for the rest of the season. The support Venezuelan drivers such as Cecotto Jnr and Pastor Maldonado receive from their government has been in question since the death of president Huga Chavez last year:
Quiero agradecer al presidente @NicolasMaduro y a @potroalvarez por haber atendido mi caso y permitir que pueda culminar la temporada de GP2
— Johnny Cecotto (@JCecotto) July 9, 2014
Mi comportamiento al no incurrir en ninguna situación administrativa irregular en los trámites fueron determinantes en esta decisión
— Johnny Cecotto (@JCecotto) July 9, 2014
Destacaron mi desempeño deportivo gracias a los excelentes resultados, la pasión que he demostrado y el deseo de poner en alto Venezuela
— Johnny Cecotto (@JCecotto) July 9, 2014
Colombian here and yes, those tweets are confirming Venezuelan backing until the end of the season. Here I’ll provide a rough translation to those tweets.
I want to thank the president @NicolasMaduro and @potroalvarez for listening to my case and allow me to end the GP2 season
My behavior not incurring into any irregular administrative situation when processing [my case] were fundamental to this decision
They highlighted my sport performance given the excellent results, the passion that I have showed and the desire to make Venezuela stand out
@oeuribe Thanks!
I know Cecotto hasn’t got the best reputation (possibly putting it mildly), and the Venezuelan government may not be whiter than white (again, that could be putting it mildly), but I think every government should support a few of their countries drivers, it’s a really good idea I think!
@mathers If a country has something to gain by one of its citizens being in F1, they usually do. Venezuela and Mexico have sort of directly sponsored their drivers, as has Malaysia (both on the Stewart cars and when Alex Yoong was proving why we needed a 107% rule).
I think a lot of countries have far wiser means to spend their millions on, though. If the Dutch government would pull out a few million to get Giedo van der Garde in a Sauber, I’m pretty sure they’d be rioting harder than they’re right now after losing the semi finals.
Interesting that he has only mentioned this GP2 season which seems to suggest his funding for any future campaigns is not secure.
@npf1 Surely that money would have to go to Robin Frijns? 3 titles in a row, yet can’t get more than the odd F1 test day in two years?! The other Dutch talents (Verstappen, de Vries… indirectly Vandoorne?) look like they will all get enough support to make it into F1. Quite amazing to think we could have almost 5 Dutch F1 drivers (VDG) on the grid in a few years time, and Albers as a team principal.. unless the incoming Gerhard Unger displaces him..
Jaafar will be the next Petronas-backed Malaysian.. maybe he’ll be getting a few Lotus FP1s next year for taking the Mercedes engines..
Cecotto, strangely enough, has turned over a new leaf this year – he now looks like a respectable driver! Getting married has really calmed him down. A Top 3 finish in GP2 this year – finally ready for F1! Can’t believe I’m saying that, after watching GP2 the last few years..
The 2014 GP2 Feature race winners so far are: Vandoorne, Palmer, Cecotto, Nasr, Evans. All probably ready for F1 pretty soon IMO, while Marciello looks like the one most likely to join that list next, if he can get some luck.
@oeuribe Julian Leal now has a super-licence, after completing a fraction over 300km with Caterham.. 51 laps exactly was the minimum running needed. Montoya looks very strong in Indycars right now, and Munoz a good rookie of the year, to go with Huertas’ victory. Not to mention James Rodriguez.. a good moment for Colombian sport!So I take it that EJ Viso was the one blasted for fraud? He’s disappeared from racing.. La Rocca might have some potential, but definitely more than Gomez or Gonzalez. I can understand some state support for those 3 drivers (Pastor, Jnr and La Rocca), if it works for Venezuela. Although Viso is lucky to be alive at all after France 2007.
@fastiesty The Dutch government hasn’t stepped in to save the Dutch cycling team known as Belkin now, Rabobank before, despite being a lot more popular than any Dutch F1 driver post-Verstappen. I really don’t think they’d sponsor Frijns even if he went on to win in other classes, which he should start considering soon, because he’s on the road to oblivion, rather than F1 right now.
There have been more Dutch F1 candidates in recent years who had no problem getting through the lower classes, but never got into F1, like Melker, van der Zande and Crevels in the past. All talented drivers, which leads me to think de Vries and Verstappen might not get through as easy as people are thinking right now either.
Dutch sponsors are historically more likely to sponsor a team than a driver as well, as is evident with Randstad sponsoring Williams and Philips sponsoring them in the past. Apart from Shell, Unilever, Philips and Randstad, we don’t have that many multinationals which have anything to do in F1, either.
Even if the government gets involved, that doesn’t have to mean success in the long run. Prost Grand Prix basically went under because Chirac ended the mandate that French businesses had to support French sporting teams, Gauloises left, as did Total, as did Bic and one could argue about Agfa (even though they’re Belgian, they left the sport entirely after leaving Prost).
My behavior not incurring into any irregular administrative situation when processing [my case] were fundamental to this decision
If I’m interpreting this right, he’s saying that he’s been keeping his nose out of trouble this year to help his chances of securing the funding. Looking at the difference maybe he should have been made to feel less sure of that funding a couple of years ago, who knows what could have happened…
I think he’s referring to the reason Venezuelan funding was withdrawn to racing drivers last year: a lot of them were putting in dodgy expenses claims.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.