January 25, 2012
Published on tags: Superleague
It was the 24th of January and a regular day by
all means in the press office for the GPVWC. Pre-season build up has gone into
overdrive with key personnel being announced and sponsorship bidding beginning shortly.
However, just when we thought the rumour mill for the 2012 season was all but
over, a spanner has been thrown in the works by former champion Janne
Tanskanen. The Finn has reputably expressed an interest in returning to the
league yesterday, to take up active participation in a top flight team, despite
announcing his retirement from racing shortly before Christmas 2010.



Naturally enough no team has expressed public interest in
offering the Finn a drive. However, it is known that Red 5 has done quite well
in the personnel bid, perhaps engineered in such a way to attract him to a full
time drive, if he so expressed one. This begs the questions then, with all 26
drives in the SL filled, who's going to get the boot? Let's face it; it's not
every day a former champion has taken time away from racing only to be
persuaded into making a return. In
Formula 1, this has occurred only a handful of times in its 62 year history.
Names synonymous with this have been Niki Lauda, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost,
Michael Schumacher and, most recently, Kimi Raikkonen.



Despite taking just a year off after winning his
championship, the flying Finn will have lost none of his passion and determination
that saw him take an incredible 14wins, 15 pole positions, and 16 podiums all
in one season. This broke every record the league has and will make him a much
sought after prize.



The rumour mill went into overdrive upon hearing this, with
Nordsjeon's MD Will Ponissi allegedly to have rescinded Pavel Loknovski's
contract; Woods' Ollie Woods is rumoured to have brought a certain Mr Tom
Parker into a meeting with lawyers to discuss his 2012 contract; and the
biggest rumour is Red 5's Gavin Thomas looking to steal the Finn away from
rival teams. Smart money might be on a driver/manager owned team to step back
as a test driver and let the vacated place be filled by Tanskanen. This leaves
options for the likes of Midnight, Constant, ST, Red 5, Kernow & GSR. Other
options for rival teams include paying off a driver's contract and letting them
go, a costly move so early into a season where we haven't even begun pre-season
testing.



Surprisingly we haven't had two world champions on the grid
of a SL race since the Austrian GP, 2005, where Mikko Jakanen (2002 & 2004
WC) and Jason Endean (2000 WC) lined up. While these two drivers were
exceptional, they both retired from the league that same year after woefully underperforming
by their standards. Jason Endean is the only former champion to return to the
league after retiring, but he only managed to finish 15th in the
drivers' standings that year, and promptly left the Phoenix team after being
out performed by his younger Irish team mate Ryan. There's no doubt this must
serve as a possible warning sign to prospective employers looking at their
options for 2012.



One thing is certain; it appears to be when not if, the 2010
world champion will get a drive. The only question remains is, who will be
without a drive before the five red lights go out in Australia? The vultures
are circling, and the musical chair game has begun...