14/03/2006
NEWS STORY
One of the true characters in the F1 paddock for the last couple of seasons has been Franck Montagny.
Unfortunately, at the end of 2005 the Frenchman was dropped by Renault in favour of Finnish hot-shot, Heikki Kovalainen.
There was talk of test drives, even race seats, with other F1 outfits, but in the long run it all came back to the substance that keeps F1 running... money, and Montagny's lack of it, appeared to herald the end of his F1 dream.
As is often the case, the Frenchman looked west, across the Atlantic.
Sadly, despite a positive test for the PKV Champ Car team, Montagny lost out to Spanish driver, Oriol Servia, who joins Katherine Legge at the Kevin Kalkhoven owned team.
Speaking of PKV's decision, on his website Franck admits; "I am a little saddened by the bad news that PKV has signed the Catalan driver, Servia, whom I had dominated in our F3 days.
"Is 2006 the year of happiness?" he continues. "I always said that the wheel will turn and that my turn would come one day, but it seems to be stuck or something…
"I've been the most surprised by this deal," he says, referring to the decision to sign Servia, "but anyway, good for him!"
Yet Franck hasn't completely given up on the idea of Champ Cars; "there still remains hope with the option to race with Rocketsports," he admits.
But for now, Franck must concentrate on his duties as third driver for Super Aguri, even though the team, as yet, doesn't have a third car.
"Personally, I work with the engineers on the set-up of the car, the differential, in fact, all the fields where my assistance can be invaluable to them," he reveals.
"In Bahrain, our first day wasn't too bad," he continues. "We encountered a few problems, we are far from delivering 100% yet, but the team has been working its head off to get here.
"It should be said that 3 or 4 months ago there was next to no one in their factories! Hats off! The cars are not the fastest, this is true, but give it time and who knows what we may see..."
Of his Super Aguri teammates, has his this to say: "Taku is a very nice guy, he speaks good English and the exchange between us is very interesting, it is free and easy and we speak a lot about our personal experiences with Renault and Honda, and I must say that it is constructive for both of us...
"Yuji (Ide) does not speak English and he has hard times to get info and give some to the engineers. He has a hard time with the car, but he is not a magician! With only 44 laps under his belt before coming here he could not perform miracles. I don't think that any driver will say no to the chance to step up into F1 if it is offered to him, as his dream then becomes a reality!"
There is already speculation in the paddock that should Ide fail to get to grips with the Super Aguri, or indeed F1, Montagny could find himself partnering Sato.