Hungry for Success: Interview with Nelson Philippe

At Las Vegas in 2004, during a chat with Justin Wilson, I asked him whether he could gauge how much progress he had made over the course of his maiden Champ Car season. After all, as an ex-F1 driver, I figured his teammates at Conquest Racing - first Alex Sperafico, then Nelson Philippe - weren't going to produce much worthwhile data with which he could learn.

Wilson swiftly corrected me. "Nelson's all right, actually," he said, "he's just very inexperienced. He's 17, and it's only his second year in cars. If he gets more races under his belt, he'll be fine. If he learns as he's going along, he should be pretty good. He's not a wanker."

I heeded Wilson's advice: I had tried to make a judgement too quickly. After all, by the end of 2004, Philippe had just 11 Champ Car starts under his belt - five with Rocketsports Racing, and then six as Wilson's teammate at Conquest Racing. When Eric Bachelart decided to keep Nelson for a second term at Conquest, that was a second person in a better position to judge than I, revealing his belief in Nelson's potential.

Nonetheless, I expected 2005 teammate Andrew Ranger to outperform Philippe over the course of the year, despite the fact that Ranger was a rookie, and Andrew's startling second place finish at Monterrey, Mexico, appeared to endorse that view.

However, talented though he undoubtedly is, Ranger went off the boil as the season went on, appearing to lose confidence after a series of incidents and accidents. And a lot of those seemed to occur as he tried to match one Nelson Philippe.

Nelson himself didn't have a great year in terms of results, but from mid-season, his driving came on in leaps and bounds, and suddenly I - indeed, everyone - could see the potential that Wilson had observed some 12 months earlier.

This year, Keith Wiggins of CTE Racing-HVM snatched him away from Conquest, and Nelson has put his talent, bravery and now experience to good use.

In the second round of the year, he took fourth at Houston, holding off his former teammate Wilson in the final stint, and at Milwaukee, at the start of this month, he scored his first podium.

In the course of the race he made successful overtaking manoeuvres on pretty much everyone, and gave spectators heart palpitations when in a duel with compatriot and eventual winner Sebastien Bourdais, he drove round the outside of the Newman/Haas car through Turns 3 and 4 and was ahead as they crossed the start finish line.

A little later, Philippe was battling Wilson (again), and despite running with less downforce than the RuSPORT driver, he had the confidence to stick with him through the turns as well as trying every which way for a route around the Briton.

Eventually, after a huge tank-slapper in Justin's wake, Nelson backed off and settled for third, but by then he had shown not only his skill but that his testing accident between Turns 3 and 4 two days earlier had done nothing to dent his confidence.

No question, then, Philippe has been one of the stars of the season, and before sitting down with the Frenchman for this feature, it seemed wise to seek out Wilson and get an updated opinion of his former teammate.

"I always thought Nelson had a lot of potential," said Justin. "I remember looking at his data the first time we were together back in 2004 and thinking that if he could learn as he went along, he would fulfil that potential.

"Of course, the downside for him was that he was doing most of his learning in a 750bhp single-seater, but I was impressed at how quickly he did gain the knowledge. He was remembering the stuff he learned, so his technical understanding built up quite quickly.

"Nelson also kept his composure, which was important, and I liked the fact that he was always honest: if something went wrong in a session or in a race, he always admitted if it was because of a mistake he had made.

"So no, I'm not surprised he's come good. And as a person, I'm pleased to see it, too. Nelson's a really good guy."

It's time, then, to get the views of the man himself.

DM: You faced quite a lot of criticism when you first came into Champ Car, and a lot of us thought you were in over your head. Did you feel at the time that your career was progressing too quickly?

Philippe: "Well, you're right, I was very young and I hadn't been racing that long. In fact, after karting, I had only done one year of cars, Barber Dodge, when I came into this series. But the opportunity came up to race a Champ Car and... well to be honest, I didn't think about it twice! I was like, 'yeah, let's do it!'

"I don't think I was in over my head. I mean, for sure it was a huge step, and that's something I realised at the time. But, you know, in my head, I had always thought I'd rather learn with the big guys and have my life real hard, than learn in a place where I might win races, maybe win a championship. Sure, I would be learning by winning, but in my opinion, the best lessons you learn are the ones you learn from mistakes. Not that I made a lot of mistakes, but I just got thrown in at the deep end, and with a team that didn't really fit with me, which was Rocketsports.

"Rocketsports gave me very cautious set-ups because they thought I was going to crash the car, and that's not really me, that's pretty rare. I tend not to make mistakes. If I crash, it's because I'm pushing hard. And that first year I didn't crash, I was being very careful to take my time and we weren't just a good fit.

"When we went to Sebring, I was testing along with Alex Tagliani, who had been with the team for a year, I was running with no data - we had a speed trace, and that was about it! That was pretty impressive, because we were just doing it based on feeling, and on the second day of the three-day test, I was quicker than Tag who was a seasoned veteran. And then he put on my set-up and he went quicker!

"I never felt the car was too fast for me, and it wasn't a maturing thing, it was an experience thing. I mean, I had had to mature early because I was living here in the US, but I was racing overseas when I was 12 or 13. I had to learn about cars, how they work and how to change them to get the best out of them. Even when I did Barber Dodge in 2003, the cars were pretty much stock, you couldn't change them much."

DM: If you were a driver manager now - say for your brother Richard - what would you advise him? Do you think he should step up to Champ Car next year, or would you tell him to spend a second season in Atlantics?

Philippe: "I think it's a bit early to say yet. He's done his learning through winning - he's won in everything he's ever raced in. This season in Atlantics is the first year where for him, it's started to get harder. He's learning new tracks, and he's learning about downforce, something he's not used to. He's got to get accustomed to those things.

"He's going to have to take his time. We can't say for sure what he's going to do. Our management is looking in everywhere, too, seeing what's worth doing, but to be honest, by the end of this season, he will probably be just as ready - maybe more ready - for Champ Cars than I was when I joined. So it's not something I would not count out for 2007.

"If he's with Forsythe Atlantic team again next year and he wins a load of races and wins the championship and is guaranteed a race seat at Forsythe Champ Car team in 2008, then yeah, maybe that's worth waiting for, instead of going in with a team that's not so good. He has that option of doing a second year in Atlantics because he is so young."

DM: Why did you make that mid-season switch from Rocketsports to Conquest?

Philippe: "I didn't think I was being treated fairly at Rocketsports, and so I had a couple of falling-outs with the management there. At Conquest, I felt really wanted. In fact, I think Eric [Bachelart] had been pissed at Paul Gentilozzi [Rocketsports team-owner] for signing me pre-season.

"So it was good to be in an environment where I was appreciated, and it was much easier to work. I understand why Rocketsports didn't take me seriously because I was so young, I was looked at as a baby. But I wasn't doing anything bad or wrong."

DM: Last year you didn't have a good start to the year, but at San Jose, you qualified sixth and at the time you put it down to psychology, or a change in philosophy. Can you explain that?

Philippe: "I had been frustrated over the winter because Eric had partnered me with a driver who was exactly the same profile as me. I was looking forward to the challenge, obviously, but I had been looking forward to having an experienced teammate, not somebody that I was going to have to baby, pretty much. And although it was a good experience in one way, because I was now a leader, it wasn't the best of times in the first few races.

"I thought, 'Well, there's no point in getting mad about it and holding a grudge about something I can't control', and instead I just started looking forward, focusing, taking care of my business, my car, my race weekend. And it immediately made a huge, huge difference. It was like you wrote in your season review [for Autosport magazine], like a switch had been turned on."

DM: A lot of people were surprised when you switched from Conquest to CTE Racing-HVM because it seemed you were swapping like with like. What potential was it that you saw that others didn't?

Philippe: "Well, change doesn't hurt sometimes. The most important thing was that after discussing it with my management, we decided it was good to go and learn with another team. In some ways it's good to be with the same team for a couple of years, but you may not actually be progressing. So it was more important to go to somewhere else, and learn with another engineer.

"You're right, the teams aren't that much different, and I wouldn't necessarily say one is better than the other. But here, they have won before, they know what it feels like, and they want to win again. In 2003 and '04, this team were on top of their game, and won races with Mario Dominguez and Ryan Hunter-Reay, and were consistently on the podium. That was the deciding factor for me.

"And I'm searching for that win, too. Finally I got my first podium in Milwaukee a couple of weeks back, and I know a win isn't out of the question too. Strange words to hear a 19-year-old say, huh? There are some places where.... I wouldn't say we don't have a chance, but it would be a lot more difficult on road courses than street courses. I like street courses and I think our car is good for that."

DM: Scoring a podium at Milwaukee was a great achievement, no question, but the bummer for you is that Milwaukee is the only oval on our schedule. Would you say your fourth place at Houston was a better indicator of what CTE Racing-HVM can do on the sort of tracks that dominate this championship?

Philippe: "Yeah, exactly, that Houston race was more impressive in some ways. I'm only 19, but I'm pretty mature. I realised in that first stint that my car was horrible, and I went to dead last.

"Other drivers would have tried to keep their position and got a drive-through penalty for blocking and then gone a lap down, or they'd have pushed and probably crashed. But I kept my head screwed on right, and thought to myself, keep it together, keep your patience, and wait until the car gets better.

"And that's what I did: I kept my patience and collected my best finish. Well, my best finish until Milwaukee!"

DM: How far do you think this team can go? Can you win here, or is this a platform for you to show your talent in order to get an even better ride in 2007?

Philippe: "I haven't even thought about that. I don't even know what I'm gonna do next year. Contracts are not being talked about yet. Who knows, maybe I'll go to Europe."

DM: So would you go to Formula One if you got the chance?

Philippe: "Yes, definitely."

DM: Would a team like Midland interest you?

Philippe: "No, I've bought rides early in my career, and I'm at a point now where I don't want to do that again. I don't have that kind of money from sponsors to drive around in 18th or 19th place.

"What I like about racing here in the US is that you have a chance to succeed every weekend. It doesn't matter if you are with Dale Coyne Racing or Newman/Haas. You can just go out there and get good results. So I know I will always be able to find a good ride in the US."

DM: On which circuits do you expect to do well?

Philippe: "Well, psychologically I should tell myself 'All of them', but I think my real strong point is street courses. In 2004, my first year in Champ Cars, I grew accustomed to driving close to walls. At Houston, in the first stint this year, I was touching the wall coming out of Turn 2 almost every lap!

"But I'm also looking forward to Cleveland and Road America. That will be my first experience at Road America, because when Champ Car went there last time, in 2004, it was in the period between my stints with Rocketsports and Conquest. So thank God we're going testing there in July. But I know it's a place I'm going to love."

DM: So can you get more podiums this year?

Philippe: "That's the goal. Before CTE can think about winning, which will be much harder, we need to get regular podium finishes. That's tough enough: the series is so competitive, because over the last two or three years you've had a lot of engineers switching teams, and so now everyone has pretty much the same set-up. It just comes down to nailing it perfectly.

"But I believe this team has the potential to do that. The team and myself, we're so hungry for success."

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