2004 OWRS Champ Car Line-Up ?!?!

[zerO]

After the sale (and before) it is still promised that we shall see an 18 car field at Long Beach come April 16... and according to Paul Gentilozzi and Kevin Kalkhoven (Gery Forsythe has been kind of quiet lately) we will see an 18 car field mainly due to the fact that most OWRS contractual agreements call for it. So, here is the latest version of what we might see at Long Beach and later on =

1. FORSYTHE - Paul Tracy
2. FORSYTHE - Patrick Carpentier
3. NEWMAN/HAAS - Sebastien Bourdais
4. NEWMAN/HAAS - Bruno Junqueira
5. WALKER - Michael Valiante
6. WALKER - Jonathan Macri or Ryan Dalziel ?
7. HERDEZ - Mario Dominguez
8. HERDEZ - Roberto Gonzalez or David Martinez ?
9. FITTIPALDI - Tiago Monteiro
10. FITTIPALDI - Oriol Servia or Rodolfo Lavin ?
11. POLLOCK - Mika Salo
12. POLLOCK - Christian Murchison or Bjorn Wirdheim ?
13. GENTILOZZI - Alex Tagliani
14. GENTILOZZI - Ryan Hunter-Reay
15. RAHAL - Michael Jourdain
16. COYNE - Tomas Enge or Joel Camathias ?
17. FERNANDEZ - Adrian Fernandez
18. RUSSO - A.J. Allmendinger

Possibles:

19. RAHAL - Justin Wilson or Oriol Servia ?
20. COYNE - Alex Yoong or Alex Sperafico ?
21. FERNANDEZ - Luis Diaz or David Martinez ?
22. BACHELART - Mario Haberfeld or Giorgio Pantano ?
23. NUNN - Jimmy Vasser or Felipe Giaffone ?
--------------------------------------------

And that is the latest outlook... see my own picturesque line-up = http://www.planet.nl/~f1/cart2k4.htm (update coming up, btw) ?!

zerO

[x_dt]

Apparently Wirdheim is out of the running having opted to test for Jaguar.

Someone should give Giorgio Pantano a chance. Also Servia deserves a seat.

[macdaddy]

Great page, ZerO! Be sure to keep it updated!
(You beat me to it!)

[f1manoz]

IMO I'd take a car away from Walker and Fittipaldi, and instead put two cars with Rahal and Fernandez. Both of them are far more capable of putting two cars out.. at the present time.

Also, again IMO, Coyne will have two cars again. This guy can operate a full-team on a shoestring. We'll see the same again this year as last.

[Hazza]

Haas to run a Third Car?

And yes, Wirdham is Jaguar # 3.

[f1manoz]

Haas could run a third car and run it jointly with Mario!

[Straightup]

The car count will gain clarity as the opener gets closer. We're still better than 2 1/2 months from Long Beach. I thought most of the contracts require 18 cars without CART/OWRS paying a penalty. Less than 16 cars and promoter option to cancel. I don't see them not getting a minimum number of cars to the grid at any venue, but I think several teams will need to step up an run add'l cars to make this happen.

Forsythe 2 (1) poss. add'l
NH 2
Herdez 2
Fitti/Kal 1 (1) poss. add'l
PK 1 (1) poss. add'l
Gent 1 (1) poss. add'l
Rahal 1
Coyne 1 (1)poss. add'l
Fern 1
Russo 1
Walker (1) poss.
Bach (1) poss.

13 for sure and max of 20 is what it looks like at this time. After this gets finalized by the court in February we should have a better feel what's confirmed and what's only a remote possiblity.

[Liz]

Fernandez has announced (on cart.com) that he's running only his own car. No mention of a second car.

Josh Beaulieu of Langley BC is testing next week for the second PR car.

That's all I know to add to the above.

[Dov]

From Champweb.net:

Rumor False: Tecate Leaving posted on 01-31 13:35

A rumor was beginning to spread on various message boards that Tecate has not re-signed with Adrian Fernandez for the 2004 racing season. That rumor is totally false. Tecate has resigned, and is even looking at an associate sponsorship role for a 2nd car.

[codename_47]

Has anyone heard anything about Justin Wilson's looking for a CC drive?

The F1 Third driver ruling and Heidfeld signing for Jordan has pretty much ruled him out of F1, and he did SAY he was looking to America, more specifically Champ Cars (well, he said some nice things in an interview I read! ) yet now I haven't heard any news on him from either side of the pond, as it were.....

So, anything from over here? :confused:

[Liz]

Luis Garcia will be driving a DP car in Grand Am for Chip Ganassi in 2004. They announced it at the Rolex.

[Ac.]

This Indy Star article indicates that Walker racing is looking to hook up with Honda. Whether it is for a season(too late?)in the IRL, or just for indy is not stated.:confused:

http://www.indystar.com/articles/3/116502-5703-037.html

"Walker Racing would like to be a Honda customer, too."

[zerO]

Originally posted by macdaddy
Great page, ZerO! Be sure to keep it updated!
(You beat me to it!)

Thanks MacD... the trouble with updating is that sometimes my "update man" is away on business (ie: work he's a photog for FIA) and I get "stuck"... anyhow, here's the latest updated version:

1. FORSYTHE - Paul Tracy
2. FORSYTHE - Patrick Carpentier
3. NEWMAN/HAAS - Sebastien Bourdais
4. NEWMAN/HAAS - Bruno Junqueira
5. HERDEZ - Mario Dominguez
6. HERDEZ - Roberto Gonzalez or David Martinez ?
7. FERNANDEZ - Adrian Fernandez
8. FERNANDEZ - Mario Haberfeld or David Martinez ?
9. FITTIPALDI - Tiago Monteiro
10. FITTIPALDI - Oriol Servia or Mario Haberfeld ?
11. POLLOCK - Mika Salo
12. POLLOCK - Christian Murchison or Bjorn Wirdheim ?
13. GENTILOZZI - Alex Tagliani
14. GENTILOZZI - Ryan Hunter-Reay
15. WALKER - Michael Valiante
16. RAHAL - Michael Jourdain
17. COYNE - Tomas Enge or Joel Camathias ?
18. RUSSO - A.J. Allmendinger

Possibles:

19. WALKER - Jonathan Macri or Ryan Dalziel ?
20. RAHAL - Justin Wilson or Oriol Servia ?
21. COYNE - Alex Yoong or Alex Sperafico ?
22. BACHELART - Giorgio Pantano or Mario Haberfeld ?
23. NUNN - Jimmy Vasser or Felipe Giaffone ?
24. NHR third car ???

Now, PG & KK (ie: "Pacific Gas" & "Electric") have promised and swore that we will see an 18 car line-up on the grid come Long Beach - and they will deliver ?!?! even if they have to cough up their pocket change to do it (ie: contractual obligations)... but/and we might (and most likely will) see more than 18 cars at one time or another, or few races later in the season... btw, the last three "possibles" I listed above - I wouldn't hold my breath ?!

zerO

[zerO]

Originally posted by Hazza
Haas to run a Third Car?

And yes, Wirdham is Jaguar # 3.

Only the local press on the North Pole is claiming that Wirdheim is in at Jag - hasn't been officially confirmed yet ?!

zerO

[zerO]

Originally posted by f1manoz
Haas could run a third car and run it jointly with Mario!

That is the concept... and it even might be under a Newman/Andretti or Andretti/Newman banner... and it might be all red in McDonald's livery... but, I have a feeling that it will only be a last resort if an 18th car will be needed ?!

zerO

[zerO]

Originally posted by Ac.
This Indy Star article indicates that Walker racing is looking to hook up with Honda. Whether it is for a season(too late?)in the IRL, or just for indy is not stated.:confused:

http://www.indystar.com/articles/3/116502-5703-037.html

"Walker Racing would like to be a Honda customer, too."

Derrick Walker was spotted at the Homestead crapwagon testing AND at the same time he has put up his collection of OLD Reynards and (other assorted ****) for sale - so, the feakin' rumor started flying that Walker is going to IRL - well, NOT SO !!... I e-mailed Walker (as did many others) and have gotten a slightly vague reply, but the gist of it is that Walker MAY switch to Lolas and is in dire need for more spnsorship in order to field a second car ?!... as for the IRL gig - that's Indy only and currently it's in a dream stage - that's why Derrick was at Homestead ?!

zerO

[zerO]

This is funny: "crapwagon" goes through, but without the "wagon" I get "****" ?!

zerO

[jjspierx]

I noticed that too...I was thinking it was the word **** that got crapped out.

[SurfaceUnits]

will PT and PC use the 1 - 2 car numbers thiss season?

[macdaddy]

Nobody knows nothin' like that, but you can bet the farm that PT will be wearing that covetted Number One. He's always wanted it, and he's earned it.

[zerO]

Originally posted by SurfaceUnits
will PT and PC use the 1 - 2 car numbers thiss season?

The most likely car numbers will be as I have on my page = http://www.planet.nl/~f1/cart2k4.htm - next update in a few days, btw ?!
--------------------------------------------


WALKER Update:

Derrick Walker has ordered 6 LOLA chasses and is planning on fielding a two-car team this year. period - So, let's end the silly IRL rumors ?!?!

zerO

[Dov]

Hey zerO,
(1)What are the chances of Conquest Racing returning to CC for another year?
(2)Will Haberfeld be involved with Conquest again or is there any truth to him joining Fernandez Racing??
(3)Finally, what's happening with Diaz? I thought that he was first in line for that Fernandez seat!?

Cheers,

Dov

[f1manoz]

I'll give this a go

1. Conquest sent a letter of intent to field a car this year. Whether he has sponsorship etc is a case of wait and see.

2. Haberfeld has been linked to Fittipaldi and Fernandez as well as staying with Conquest. Again, it's a case of waiting for announcements.

3. Diaz is off to Grand-Am with Ganassi.

[Andy Roberts]

Glad to see AJ is getting a crack at CART. He's gonna do well!

[Tenoch]

After reading Mario Haberfields article on Cart.com it seems as though he is coming back put not too sure if he is coming back with conquest.