News On F1 Forums - Talk Formula 1

With the increased television exposure that the Champ Car World Series has had since 2002, the series announced its' TV lineup for 2006. Three networks(NBC Sports, CBS Sports and Speed Channel) will share the broadcast duties for the year, with the races broken between them as follows....

NBC Sports:Long Beach, San Jose and Montreal
CBS Sports:Portland, Cleveland, Toronto and Edmonton
Speed Channel:Houston, Monterrey, Milwaukee, Denver, Las Vegas, Ansan(S. Korea), Surfers Paradise and Mexico City

Here are some assembled quotes from the principles involved...

Steve Johnson, President of the Champ Car World Series:

There is no question that Champ Car has made great strides in the last twelve months and we believe that the continued growth is evident in our 2006 television package. Our network broadcastsshowed steady increases in 2005 and we expect that trend to continue next season as we build our relationship with our broadcast partners.

Rob Correa, Senior VP-Programming, CBS Sports:

CBS Sports is excited to continue our relationship with Champ Car. We look forward to bringing fans the best of the Champ Car World Series.

Hunter Nickell, Executive VP of Speed Channel:

We are pleased to extend and expand our relationship with the Champ Car World Series. We've worked together with the series to develop a comprehensive programming package that will deliver every minute of on-track action, along with multiple on-and-off-track support programs.

Here's what Nickell was referring to. In addition to the eight races set to air on Speed in 2006, each race will be preceded by a 30-minute qualifying show to air the night before the race itself. In addition, there will be a 1-hr. preseason show as well as a "lifestyle" show to air during the season, similar to Spike TV's "Dangerous Curves" which aired during the 2004 season.

Also, Speed Channel will re-air all 15 CCWS races during the year, allowing fans to see the races after they've been run. Finally, the Champ Car Atlantic Championship will have all twelve of its' races aired on Speed Channel as well, giving people the chance to see the series' future stars during the year(especially now that there's a $2,000,000 USD prize for the 2006 series winner!).

With the dust now settling on the season, here are the final results in all their glory.....


1}Sebastien Bourdais(Newman-Haas Racing) 348 pts.
2}Oriol Servia(Newman-Haas Racing) 288 pts.
3}Justin Wilson(RuSport Racing) 265 pts.
4}Paul Tracy(Forsythe Championship Racing) 244 pts.
5}A.J. Allmendinger(RuSport Racing) 227 pts.
6}Jimmy Vasser(PKV Racing) 217 pts.
7}Alex Tagliani(Team Australia) 207 pts.
8}(R)Timo Glock(Rocketsports Racing) 202 pts.
9}Mario Dominguez(Forsythe Ch. Racing) 198 pts.
10}(R)Andrew Ranger(MiJack-Conquest Racing) 140 pts.
11}(tie)Cristiano Da Matta(PKV Racing) 139 pts.
(R)Ronnie Bremer(Dale Coyne Racing) 139 pts.(1)
13}Nelson Phillipe(MiJack-Conquest Racing) 117 pts.
14}(R)Bjorn Wirdheim(CTE-HVM Racing) 115 pts.
15}Ryan Hunter-Reay(Rocketsports Racing) 110 pts.
16}(R)Marcus Marshall(Team Australia) 104 pts.
17}(R)Ricardo Sperafico(Dale Coyne Racing) 92 pts.
18}Rodalfo Lavin(CTE-HVM Racing) 72 pts.
19}Bruno Junquiera(Newman-Haas Racing) 59 pts.(2)
20}Alex Sperafico(CTE-HVM Racing) 24 pts.(3)
21}Michael McDowell(Rocketsports Racing) 19 pts.(4)
22}Will Power(Team Australia) 17 pts.(5)
23}Ryan Dalziel(Dale Coyne Racing) 13 pts.(6)
24}(tie)Tarso Marques(Dale Coyne Racing) 10 pts.(7)
Michael Valiante(Dale Coyne Racing) 10 pts.[8]
Fabrizio Del Monte 10 pts.(9)
27}Charles Zwolsman(Team Australia) 8 pts.(10)
28}Homero Richards(CTE-HVM Racing) 5 pts.(11)
29}Jorge Goeters(PKV Racing) 3 pts.(12)

#1-Drove for HVM Racing until Toronto, then drove for Dale Coyne Racing beginning at Edmonton
#2-Drove for Newman-Haas until being injured during the 89th Indianapolis 500
#3-Drove at Toronto and Edmonton for CTE-HVM Racing
#4-Drove at Surfers Paradise and Mexico City for Rocketsports
#5-Drove at Surfers Paradise and Mexico City for Team Australia
#6-Drove at Toronto for Dale Coyne Racing
#7-Drove at Cleveland for Dale Coyne Racing
#8-Drove at Portland for Dale Coyne Racing
#9-Drove for Jensen Mtrspts. at Long Beach and at Surfers Paradise for CTE-HVM Racing
#10-2005 Toyota Atlantic Champion; drove for Team Australia at Mexico City
#11-Drove for CTE-HVM Racing in Mexico City
#12-Drove for PKV Racing at Monterrey

At a press conference Wednesday at the San Jose Hilton, San Jose Grand Prix officials, along with event promoter Bob Singleton and Champ Car drivers Jimmy Vasser and A.J. Allmendinger, announced plans to change certain sections of the circuit prior to the 2006 race, especially in the area around the 1-2 switchback chicane, which ran over light rail tracks(prompting Paul Tracy at the time to liken them to WRC jumps). Here's the list of improvements to be made:

1}With assistance from the San Jose Public Works Dept. the streets adjacent to the rail-tracks will be repaved and smoothed out flush with the rail-lines in order to avoid the "rally jumps" that drivers complained about last year.

2}Turn 4 will be widened to around 50+ feet in order to prevent all the side-impact crashes that took out several drivers last year(including Allmendinger).

3}More pedestrian bridges will be added, along with additional grandstands to accomodate more fans. In addition, more hospitality suites will be built along the pit-straight.

4}Finally, the paddock area will be moved to the outside of the last turn, closer to the pitlane than in 2005. Also, additional parts of the track circuit will be repaved(see #1) to smooth out the racing surface throughtout the track itself.

Here are some quotes from the principles today....

Bob Singleton, SJGP Vice President and General Manager:

With each event you try and improve year after year. The challenge with a first year event is to make the improvements, the changes, that increase the on-track and off-track experience. We have listened to both drivers and fans in making our changes and improvements.

Tony Cotman, Champ Car VP of Race Control & Operations:

I think it is very good to see that the San Jose Grand Prix make a very good effort to help Champ Car improve the show. In looking at the improved track this morning and the proposed changes, they have taken a lot of input from the teams, drivers and Champ Car and helped us to enhance our product, so we are very excited about next year's event.

A.J. Allmendinger, Driver, RuSport Racing:

I think the San Jose Grand Prix put on a great event last year. It overwhelmed everyone to see how popular Champ Car was here in San Jose. I believe the San Jose Grand Prix is taking the right steps to make the racing better. They definitely know how to put on a good show and now they are fixing the track to improve the racing, which is a positive for the fans, the drivers, the teams and the city. I am happy to see the San Jose Grand Prix, the Canary Fund, the City of San Jose and Champ Car making the changes necessary to make the race stronger and I am really looking forward to coming back next year and competing in my hometown.

At a Wednesday press conference, Houston Grand Prix officials, Champ Car series officials and members of the MiJack-Conquest Racing team unveiled the course layout that ChampCar will use in 2006. The course, designed by Martyn Thake, is a 1.7+ mile, 10-turn circuit that travels around the Reliant Park area, with several overtaking areas, especially around turn 3(hairpin) and the turn 8-9-10 complex. The Lone Star Grand Prix of Houston is scheduled for May 13, 2006, and will be the first night street race in Champ Car's history. It will be a twin-bill, as the American LeMans Series will have a race of its' own on the track May 12, also a night street race. In addition, the Atlantic Championship will visit, as will(as expected) the Trans-Am and Formula Drift series'.

Now that I've time to digest the entire season and look at it in detail, here are the year-end awards for the year.....

Driver of the Year: Normally, I'd give this award to whoever wins the Vanderbilt Cup(for 2005, that would've been Sebastien Bourdais), but this year, the award goes to his teammate, Oriol Servia, who had, in my humble opinion, a career year. Regarded by everyone in the Champ Car paddock as a "driver's driver", he had all but resigned himself to being a backmarker with Dale Coyne's team when Bruno Junquiera was injured at the Brickyard during the 89th Indy 500(an injury requiring him to have two 14" titantium rods placed alongside his spine for the remainder of his life ), and the Catalonian got the call. Expecting just a one-off ride at the Milwaukee Mile, he gave Newman-Haas their first podium(3rd) their in several years, and the team decided to keep him for the year, and their gamble paid off. In F1 terms, he was NHR's Barrichello to Bourdais's M. Schumacher(prior to 2005), and after one win(Montreal), along with several podiums later, he deservedly wins this award. Congrats, Oriol!!

Team of the Year:Again, this was a tough choice, but the award goes, not to Newman-Haas Racing, but those Colorado upstarts, RuSport Racing. Yeah, they had a few disappointments, but for a team that's only been in CC since 2004, they have risen to the top-tiers of AOWR, thanks to the combined efforts of team owner Carl Russo, and drivers A.J. Allmendinger and Justin Wilson. The team won the pole a couple of times, while former F1-driver Wilson notched RuSport's first two wins(Toronto and Mexico City); given a few bits of good-luck and SeaBass'd had a tougher road to the title.

Race of the Year: Like the name of the band, there is no doubt the race of the year was the inaugural race at Edmonton's Finning Intl. Raceway(Centre City Airport), a race described by many as the best race Champ Car's had in years. There was plenty of passing, the lead changed hands more often than usual on a temp. circuit and there were great races amongst the field throughout. Oh, and the Atlantics race that day was great, too!

Surprise of the Year: Seeing Derrick Walker return with his team at the 11th hour, and with a new sponsor/concept to go with it. It will be interesting to see how Team Australia continues to improve in 2006, especially with an Atlantic team to serve as a "feeder" for their CC team.

Feel-Good Award of the Year: Seeing Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerry Forsythe keep both Long Beach and Toronto firmly within the Champ Car orbit and away from the grip of Tony George, doing so for both races with smart decision-making and skillful negoitiation.

Pass of the Year, #1: This one goes to Justin Wilson when he passed Paul Tracy at the double-apex 11-12 turn in Edmonton. A very, very ballsy move, one that's going to be talked about for years.

Pass of the Year, #2: Same track, same corner. Using a slower backmarker as a "battering ram", Atlantics racer Katherine Legge must've been channeling Nigel Mansell's skill, for she bulled through the corner, getting the nose of her Swift just inside that of 2005 Atlantic champion Charles Zwolsman's and getting on the gas as they exited. It was very close, though; another few inches to the left and her, the Flying Dutchman and that backmarker are going on a three-way trip into the tirewalls.

Most Improved Driver of the Year: This one goes to MiJack-Conquest's Nelson Phillipe. Last year, he showed some promise, but was still wet behind the ears at times. This year, the kid grew up a lot, and showed why he will likely be a future challenger for the Vanderbilt Cup. Granted, he wasn't at the front a whole lot, but he never put a wheel wrong and showed a lot of poise, helping bring his teammate, rookie Andrew Ranger, a wealth of info on the tracks in the series, info that Ranger can put to use next year.

As one of the Champ Car World Series' top drivers, Team Australia's Alex Tagliani calls both Canada and the United States home, and he showcased some of the best of the two countries when he helped highlight the recent Edmonton Motor Show, held 25-28 Jan. near the Centre City Airport which hosted the city's inaugural ChampCar race this past July. Tag signed hundreds of autographs and posed for photos w/fans in front of several Ford vehicles, including his Aussie Vineyards FC/L and a 2006-model Ford GT. Said Tagliani,

It was good, there were a lot of people there and they were all excited about Champ Car. Edmonton has always been great to me and I can't wait to get back and race here next year.

Those sentiments were echoed by the Motor Show's managing director, Bob Vilas.

The Motor Show is please to have this kind of participation from such an outstanding individual who connects with fans of all ages. His genuine interest at being able to connect with young kids, teens, and parents says a lot about his skills as one of Champ Car's best ambassadors.

In a five-year deal, MiJack Promotions, run by MiJack-Conquest Racing co-owner Mike Lanigan, have agreed to take on the reins of the ChampCar race at Cleveland, the annual "Roar by the Shore" which has been a staple of the CCWS since the early 1980's. In making the agreement, MiJack Promotions now has two races under its' umbrella on the schedule, Cleveland and the inaugural race at Houston. ChampCar officials are set to confirm sometime next week the specifics of the deal.

While there were two major events which occurred tonight at Champ Car's gala in Los Angeles, there were some interesting things going on..Here's a short list.

1}That's the new Atlantic car!!?! If first impressions mean anything, then the new 2006-spec Swift 016.a Atlantic car was definitely a crowd-pleaser. Sporting F1-style sidepods, upgraded suspension and wing packages, and sporting Mazda-Cosworth badgings, it was a winner all around. I, for one, cannot wait until they take to the streets of Long Beach April 9th in the 2006 season debut.

2}It's official.....In making the confirmation that Katherine Legge will be racing for PKV Racing in 2006, 1996 CCWS champion Jimmy Vasser also made a very bittersweet announcement of his own. He is officially retiring form the series, ending a 15+ yr. career which has seen the split, the bankruptcy of CART and the phoenix-like rise of Champ Car. He deserves a tip of the hat; Vasser's a class act, a true racing champion. It will be sad not seeing him on the grid at Long Beach, but....considering who's replacing him in the car(assuming it is the #12 and not the #21), the car will be in good hands next year. Congratulations, Jimmy, on a long career!

3}Who showed up? Here's a brief list of racing dignitaries(and other notables) who made it to the gala tonight.....2006 Atlantic competitor Al Unser, III; 3-time series champion and 1986 Indy 500 champion Bobby Rahal; former CART competitor Townsend Bell; 2005 Atlantic champion Charles Zwolsman(who said to several people that he is close to securing a CC ride for 2006); CC Vice President(Race Control) Tony Cotman, who says the series hasn't selected a new Chief Steward for 2006, and those were the most notable. Speaking of notable.....can't you just imagine the look on George and Co.'s faces when they find out Rahal attended a Champ Car gala event. What's that saying, A photo's worth a thousand words......

4}You don't think...?? In one of a myriad of press interviews, CCWS President Steve Johnson said that the series expects TV ratings to increase "around 20%" and attendance to increase by "around 5%". Ummm, how can I say this....Earth to Mr. Johnson.....considering the ratings/attendance spikes the IRL had in 2005, I might want to increase those percentages by a factor of, around 2-3x?

In a morning press conference, Champ Car officials announced that, due to certain events surrounding the promotion of the 2005 CC race in Montreal, the series has dropped Normand Legault as promoter and brought in Alain Labrosse and his promotions team to promote the 2006 race at the legendary Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. It's not the first time the series has gone to Labrosse for promotional assistance; his team helped promote the series' inaugural race back in 2002 and continued through 2004(why they switched to Legault is anyone's guess.....?)

Hopefully, this now means that the Champ Car series might just return after 2006.

Champ Car officials today announced that two of the three Canadian rounds of the 2006 Champ Car season, the Molson Grand Prix of Toronto and the West Edmonton Mall Grand Prix of Edmonton will be broadcast live throughout Canada on the new ChampCar Radio Network, in conjunction with CBC Sports' radio service and internationally through Radio Canada International(RCI). The broadcast crew for both races will consist of broadcast announcer Lee Bentham(1998 CC Atlantic series winner) and Erik Tomas(who hosts a weekly auto-racing show on CBC Sports Radio, along with expert analysis from Todd Lewis and Bart Murphy.

This afternoon, Champ Car series officials and city leaders in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, announced that the 2006 race (and beyond) will have two presenting sponsors, the West Edmonton Mall and the Brick Warehouse; thus, the race will be known this year as....the West Edmonton Mall Grand Prix of Edmonton presented by the Brick. This year's race at the City Centre Airport in Edmonton is scheduled for the weekend of 21-23 July, 2006.

According to both speedtv.com and autoracing1.com, veteran ChampCar Atlantic driver Tonis Kasemets is expected to land a second seat with Paul Gentilozzi's Rocketsports team for several races this year, barring sponsorship issues. It's expected that Kasemets will drive a second car for the team in order to ensure that there are 18-car grids for several events. Sponsorship woes have already hurt Rocketsports this year; lack of a full-year's TV sponsor in Brazil prevented the Lansing, Mich.-based team from morphing into "Team Brazil" similar to Walker Racing's metamorphasis into "Team Australia", and lack of full-year sponsorships prompted the team to switch drivers, which is the reason Pizzonia's out and Pastorelli's now in the first seat.