Will Neal go for Gio in 2008?

[kali]

I reckon it's going to be like the Hamilton / Alonso feud, they're both going to want the title and they're in the same team, in the same machinery.

Can see Neal doing a lot of whining next year if he doesn't get a lead over Fab early on.

[Super Aguri]

I think/hope Giovanardi will crush Neal.

[SC76]

Neal will hate it if Gio is doing better than him (which I'm sure he will).

And yes I agree that it will be like Hamilton/Alonso, I'm sure Neal will go crying to Daddy Neal when it doesn't go his way.

[taffy]

Not so sure about that.. Gio is a great driver, but as he has shown in the last few years MN is a quick driver. Hopefully Gio will get the better of him at the start of the season and put MN in his place. However I will be hoping for JP take the title in 2008.

[dannybo]

I reckon it's going to be like the Hamilton / Alonso feud, they're both going to want the title and they're in the same team, in the same machinery.

Can see Neal doing a lot of whining next year if he doesn't get a lead over Fab early on.
There wont be a feud, Fabrizio will not rise to anything like that.
His driving will say everything he has to, to Neal.

[New Clio man]

I wasnt going to reply to this because of some of the frankly silly comments, but I think what we will see will be some great racing between two very hard determined competitors both who are very keen to win, I think you will see some team playing and support from both drivers to help Vauxhall win as much as they can.

Please lets stop the Matt Neal bashing its becoming really boring now :mad:

[dannybo]

Please lets stop the Matt Neal bashing its becoming really boring now :mad:
okay by me.

If people still have something to say on the subject, perhaps they could use the thread that was designed for just that!

Here... http://btcc.net/forum/showthread.php?t=5144&page=11

[New Clio man]

I have to say I was genuinely excited by the announcement yesterday, Im looking forward to two very quick drivers in what could be the fastest car out next year....?

I think this is a great opportunity for him to prove just how good he is, up against the best touring car driver in the championship if not the world, will be interesting to see how Gio works with Matt within the team, I suspect they will work closer than many think, to a degree being away from the responsibility driving for the family team must bring.

[VkmSpouge]

I think it will be very competitive between the two. Giovanardi will probably have the edge early knowing the car but Neal is a hard working driver and I'm sure he'll be able to give a good account of himself at VXR. The team really do have an excellent line-up for 2008.

[adet406]

i am not a neal fan at all as some of u know .to me it seams like mat may have one more go at the title in 08 with a works team then go back to daddys team with number 1 on the car ?????


and now whats tom going to do get his hair cut ,,,


maybe td drive or even rac :eek:

[bigred]

irrespective or who is in the 2nd vxr seat is seems in recent years that only the number one car gets it right in the setup qualifiing and races over the length of a season

[simon1220]

I dont think this is a Hamilton/Alonso situation, i think these too will work perfectly together. Matt Neal will bring more to the team than a Tom Chilton or a Gavin Smith ever would. He will go out, fight in the car, push the car too the limits and in the end be very successful. He will make the team better, and i reckon the team are behind him. They have 2 world class drivers this season and they cant deny either of them anything bar 100% support. I think VX Racing are going to dominate the BTCC for years to come!

[bringbacktheolddays]

I think VX Racing are going to dominate the BTCC for years to come! Thats not that hard nowadays as there is only 2 works team!!:p :p :p :p Would of never Happened in the 1990s.:p :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[laurat]

let's wait and see eh guys???
these two may work brilliantly together or they could be bad together...whichever option they take, it will be a good entertaining season...i look forward to it

[thommo_fan]

I can't see there being any feuds between the two of them, as dannybo has said.
Gio will out perform next year, because in my opinion Gio is a cut above Matt.

[laurat]

I can't see there being any feuds between the two of them, as dannybo has said.
Gio will out perform next year, because in my opinion Gio is a cut above Matt.
maybe their is method in vxr's madness...we dont know what they're thinking!!

[New Clio man]

irrespective or who is in the 2nd vxr seat is seems in recent years that only the number one car gets it right in the setup qualifiing and races over the length of a season


Might that be due to the fact that the second drivers recently have had both Yvan Muller and Gio as their team mates...? I suspect there is no difference in the machinery they are given, its just down to ability...?

I think Matts exerience is far greater than others and we will see different results next year.

[dannybo]

Its annoying really, I can see them pulling together & having a very workable relationship.
It doesnt worry me too much as SEAT are a very professional outfit, Turner needs to up his game next season though. Its going to be alot harder next time out!

[laurat]

Its annoying really, I can see them pulling together & having a very workable relationship.
It doesnt worry me too much as SEAT are a very professional outfit, Turner needs to up his game next season though. Its going to be alot harder next time out!
yeah i totally agree on Turner...he seemed to be in a world of his own on sunday!!

[SEATFreak]

I can't see there being any feuds between the two of them, as dannybo has said.
Gio will out perform next year, because in my opinion Gio is a cut above Matt.

For years at Team Dynamics he was Mr Untouchable.

What if Neal is still with VXR in say 2 or 3 years and Fab is still out performing and out scoring him?

Will he get used to it and let the better man beat him to the Drivers trophy....or will he begin to resent missing out on the trophy to Fab each time?

[sinclat]

Hi Bigred,

You say the other driver at VXR has always been 'disadvantaged'? What about when it was Thompson and Muller?

VXR do have a history of having 2 top ranked drivers and then letting them fight it out on the track. I think it will be the same next year. Neal has shown he can learn a new car really quickly, and whtehter you like him or not you've got to admit he's fast. Gio, however, is in my opinion one of the best tin-top drivers ever. He's right up there with Andy P.

And as VXR and Gio have a years worth of data, he should be unstoppable.

Bring it on!

[bigred]

Hi Bigred,

You say the other driver at VXR has always been 'disadvantaged'? What about when it was Thompson and Muller?

VXR do have a history of having 2 top ranked drivers and then letting them fight it out on the track. I think it will be the same next year. Neal has shown he can learn a new car really quickly, and whtehter you like him or not you've got to admit he's fast. Gio, however, is in my opinion one of the best tin-top drivers ever. He's right up there with Andy P.

And as VXR and Gio have a years worth of data, he should be unstoppable.

Bring it on!

i did prefix my comments with the phrase in recent year thommo and muller are a tad less recent

my comments are more based on the results it seems they tell the driver this is the way the cars goes best now go learn to drive it rather than adapting a car to the indivdual

[sinclat]

Hi again Bigred.

Accepted. I guess i'm just getting Old. I don't consider Thompson's win in BTCC to be old news. No worries, consider me chastised.

[btccbryn]

i dont know i think there could be allot of friction between neal and gio as we get into the season we know what neal is like if he doesnt get his own way then well who knows and gio i think is going to be strong again next year i guess we will just have to wait and see.

[sinclat]

I don't think Neal's going to have a problem with Gio being better than him. Flash has out performed him all year and I haven't seen any problems between them. Agreed last year when Mat was going for the title things were a little different towards the end, but this year they've had a good working relationship in my eyes. And Flash is signed for TD next year isn't he? If the Neal clan had a problem with him beating Mat then they're not showing the childish behaviour they're been accused of.

Or is it just me?

[laurat]

well hopefully if neal starts to throw his weight about the Fab is strong enough to fight back...after all fab is the new champion and probably will be for a good few years yet!!!
neal will have to learn that there are bigger and better drivers than him...he'll have to get on with it!!!

[MartinM]

Gio had pure talent on his side without having to resort to the dirty tactics employed by drivers from the Midlands;)

[turk06]

well i cant see any fueds on the horizon because gio is so good i think he wil let hios driving do all of the talking he needs to do.
as for neal being able to out class gio i just cant see that happening, i aint saying that matt is going to have a poor season but gio is a cut above at the moment.

[laurat]

i'm just hoping that fab can keep his cool, collected calm all throughout the 2008 season as I would hate some of neal's bad habits to rub off onto him and spoil what he has proved himself to be...an excellent champion!

[VR6Steve]

Its undoubted that VXR now have the strongest driver pairing in the Championship for next year.

I will say that if they are to win races then I would prefer it to be by Fabrizio.

From a Seat / Plato stand point I can only hope that a Senna / Prost or a Hamilton / Alonso era come in to being! :D

For next year Darren Turner does need to raise his game for either JP or the team to win anything come the end of the Championship. He is going to need to take points off VXR to stop them running away with it.

[bigred]

perhaps mat sees the vxr/gm/cheve as his way to a wtcc drive. the TD honda "works" car is only btcc homolgated. if honda had wtcc ambitions it would have made sense to chose a model that could be accepted in wtcc.
i also think vxr acted to sign neal when there was some doubt about gio extending his contract with them for another year, so now vxr have two champions in the team pretty much a win win situation in terms of reputations but i think ill wait till a race of two is over to see how well the two gel into a team