18 CHAMP CARS CONFIRMED FOR GOLD COAST
14/4/2004 23:14 (Press Release) -
The magical number of 18 cars has been reached for the 2004 Champ Car World Series and it looks likely there will be more when the series hits the Gold Coast from October 21 to 24 for the Lexmark Indy 300.
The announcement by veteran Champ Car team owner Derrick Walker that he would field a car driven by Brazilian Mario Haberfeld for the full season has put an end to months of speculation that the new series owners would reach a viable 18 entries.
The Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford commences this week with round one – the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach in California from April 16 to 18.
The Lexmark Indy 300 will be headlined by round 14 of the Champ Car World Series and round 11 (Gillette V8 Supercar Challenge) of the V8 Supercar Championship Series.
The Lexmark Indy 300 is already pushing 20 Champ Cars with last week’s announcement that 18-year-old Gold Coaster Josh Hunt will drive a Champ Car on the Gold Coast, adding another one to the field. With Hunt on the grid, there will be seven nationalities represented on the Gold Coast in the Champ Cars come October – Australia, USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Britain and France.
The current Champ Car driver roster also includes two former Champ Car title winners, three FIA International F3000 champions, two Toyota Atlantic champions, eight drivers that have won Champ Car races and eight of last year’s top 10 in the Champ Car standings. To date, the 2004 driver lineup has amassed 53 Champ Car victories, 49 poles and 150 podium finishes.
The new owners of the Champ Car World Series, Paul Gentilozzi, Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe, have fulfilled the promise that the series would field 18 or more cars for the full season in 2004.
“Our fans will be rewarded for their unwavering support with a driver lineup that will be far stronger than anyone has anticipated,” Kalkhoven said.
“Not only do we have proven stars like Paul Tracy, Jimmy Vasser and Bruno Junqueira, but the younger drivers have proven themselves in Formula 1, F3000 and Toyota Atlantics. Justin Wilson, A.J. Allmendinger and Sebastien Bourdais are the next crop of Champ Car superstars and fans will enjoy watching them establish their own legacies in our series.”
“We have always maintained that we would have a full field for 2004 and men like Derrick Walker, Carl Haas, Eric Bachelart, Dale Coyne, Carl Russo and the entire Herdez ownership group have demonstrated their commitment to building the best open-wheel racing series possible,” said Gentilozzi.
“The entire Champ Car community has done an incredible amount of work in getting to this point and we’re confident that the 2004 season will be a tremendous success.”
The current list of Champ Car drivers and teams for 2004 includes:
HERDEZ COMPETITION
#55 Mario Dominguez – Mexico
#4 Ryan Hunter-Reay – USA
ROCKETSPORTS RACING
#8 Alex Tagliani – Canada
#17 Nelson Philippe – France (Rookie)
FORSYTHE RACING
#1 Paul Tracy – Canada
#7 Patrick Carpentier – Canada
#3 Rodolfo Lavin – Mexico
PKV RACING
#12 Jimmy Vasser – USA
#21 Roberto Gonzalez – Mexico (Rookie)
NEWMAN/HAAS RACING
#6 Bruno Junqueira – Brazil
#2 Sebastian Bourdais – France
RUSPORT
#10 A.J Allmendinger – USA (Rookie)
#9 Michel Jourdain Jr – Mexico
DALE COYNE RACING
#11 – TBA on Friday April 16
#19 – TBA on Friday April 16
MI-JACK CONQUEST RACING
#34 Justin Wilson – England (Rookie)
#24 Alex Sperafico – ! Brazil (Rookie)
WALKER RACING
#5 Mario Haberfeld – Brazil
The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach will be held this Sunday April 18, while the Lexmark Indy 300 on the Gold Coast will be held from October 21-24. Lexmark is a global technology leader dedicated solely to printing solutions.
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. Book a four day grandstand seat before June 30 and go into the draw to win ‘The Ultimate Motorsport Day Out’ including watching race one of the Gillette V8 Supercar Challenge with Stone Brothers Racing, meeting Marcos Ambrose and Russell Ingall and receiving a year’s supply of Gillette shave product and other great merchandise.
Release Date: 13/04/2004
GCMEC
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