MORE CHAMP CARS ON THEIR WAY TO GOLD COAST
26/3/2004 20:26 (Press Release) -
Ex-Formula 1 pilot Justin Wilson has been added overnight to the ever-growing list of Champ Car drivers to contest this year’s Champ Car World Series including the Lexmark Indy 300 on the Gold Coast.
The 25-year-old Briton will drive for the Mi-Jack Conquest Racing team which will field two cars in the series set to commence in Long Beach on April 18. Today’s news takes the current car numbers to 16 with more announcements set to come over the next two weeks.
New series owners, Open Wheel Racing Series, have remained steadfast in their aim to have 18 cars or more on the grid by round one in three week’s time.
On a big day of announcements for the ‘Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford’, Canada’s Patrick Carpentier has been officially confirmed as the third driver for Forsythe Racing. While an independent study has ranked the Champ Car World Series second among all forms of motorsport in the world in average attendance per event.
Wilson joins the Champ Car fray following a 2003 season in the Formula 1 World Championship where he drove the first 11 races of the season for Minardi before partnering Aussie Mark Webber in the Jaguar team at the German Grand Prix. He earned his first World Championship point in the season’s penultimate event with an eighth-place performance at the United States Grand Prix.
"I'm very excited about coming over to Champ Car," Wilson said. "It's something that I've been looking at, really since 2001 when I won the Formula 3000 championship.
“It's something I've always admired and wanted to be a part of at the right time, and this is the right time. I think the racing is fantastic, and that's what I've been brought up on."
Wilson won the 2001 FIA International Formula 3000 championship on the strength of three race victories, six second-place finishes, and one third-place run, establishing the series record for most points in a single season and most podium finishes in a dominating performance.
In fact, Wilson broke records established by 1999 Champ Car World Series champion and current Formula 1 front-runner Juan Pablo Montoya, who won the '98 F3000 title.
Mi-Jack Conquest Racing plans to field a two-car program in the 2004 Champ Car World Series with the second driver to be announced shortly.
"Justin is a proven winner with a great deal of talent that has been evident at every level," said team co-owner Eric Bachelart. "He won a major European championship in Formula 3000 in 2001. That year, he drove for Nordic Racing, where our team manager, Chris Mower, was the team manager and Justin's engineer. That history helped us put this together.”
Carpentier was officially named as driver for a third car for Forsythe Racing, joining reigning series champion Paul Tracy and Rodolfo Lavin at the Canadian team. The effort marks the first full-time three-car Champ Car team in the last 10 years and gives team owner Gerald Forsythe a driver lineup with 353 Champ Car starts, 30 wins, 23 poles and 75 podiums to its credit.
The current list of Champ Car drivers and teams for 2004 includes:
HERDEZ COMPETITION
Mario Dominguez – Mexico
Ryan Hunter-Reay – USA
ROCKETSPORTS RACING
Alex Tagliani – Canada
Nelson Philippe – France
FORSYTHE RACING
Paul Tracy – Canada
Patrick Carpentier – Canada
Rodolfo Lavin – Mexico
PKV RACING
Jimmy Vasser – USA
Roberto Gonzalez – Mexico
NEWMAN/HAAS RACING
Bruno Junqueira – Brazil
Sebastian Bourdais – France
RUSPORT
A.J Allmendinger - USA
DALE COYNE RACING
Driver 1 – TBA
Driver 2 – TBA
MI-JACK CONQUEST RACING
Justin Wilson – England
Driver 2 – TBA
CHAMP CAR ONLY SECOND TO NASCAR IN ATTENDANCES
An independent study done by the Sports Business Daily business publication has found that the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford ranks second among all forms of motorsport in the world in average attendance per event.
The average Champ Car World Series event crowd of more than 133,000 was second only to NASCAR Nextel Cup in 2003, while Formula 1, the American Le Mans Series and NASCAR Busch Series rounded out the top five in the study. The Indy Racing League and the World of Outlaws series ranked sixth and seventh on the list.
The Lexmark Indy 300 on the Gold Coast attracted 306,184 in 2003 to highlight its value in the entire championship.
Tickets for the Lexmark Indy 300 are now on sale through Ticketek on phone 1300 303 103, via www.ticketek.com.au or at any Ticketek agency. Adult prices start at just $29.00 for a Thursday General Admission ticket, while a Four Day GA ticket will cost $145.00. Four Day Grandstand tickets start at $205.00. (A Ticketek Booking Fee of $3.20 applies on all pre-paid ticket sales. Prices include GST)
Release Date: 26/03/2004
GCMEC
|
|
