FINAL TEST DAY IN CALIFORNIA

FONTANA, Calif. (March 30, 2006) - The teams and drivers of the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford have done all the testing they are going to do before the 2006 season opener, wrapping up a busy preseason with a second day of testing at California Speedway on Thursday.

Thanks to John Proctor, Karen and Ian Cook, Rod Dykhouse and Jumpin' Joe Sepanik for marshalling the test!!


"Hey - I drove an Indy Lights car on that banking over there!"

The fastest times over the two days:

1) Justin Wilson
(#9 CDW Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) - 52.090seconds

2) Sebastien Bourdais
(#1 McDonald's Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) - 52.325

3) Oriol Servia
(#6 Gulfstream/Bell Micro Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) - 52.396

4) A.J .Allmendinger
(#10 RuSPORT/Red Bull Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) - 52.417

5) Paul Tracy
(#3 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) - 52.425

6) Bruno Junqueira
(#2Newman/Haas Racing Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) - 52.485

7) Mario Dominguez
(#7 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) - 52.798

8) Cristiano da Matta
(#19 Dale Coyne Racing Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) - 52.818

9) Jan Heylen
(#11 Sonny's BBQ Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) - 53.448 (Thu)

10) Jimmy Vasser
(#12Gulfstream/Bell Micro Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) - 53.469

11) Charles Zwolsman
(#34 Mi-Jack Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) - 53.525

12) Andrew Ranger
(#27 Tide/Mi-Jack Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) - 53.555

13) Katherine Legge
(#20 Gulfstream/Bell Micro Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) - 53.686

14) Nicky Pastorelli
(#11 Sonny's BBQ Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) – 54.128 (Wed)

Check below for Lineup updates! We are just about set for Long Beach. 209 hours til "Gentlemen Start."

JHS

UPDATED CCWS DRIVER LINEUP 3/31/06

(confirmed drivers in bold) looks like we are down to 1 or 2 seats left...

AUSTRALIA – Alex Tagliani & Will Power

COYNE - Cristiano da Matta & Jan Heylen? Nicky Pastorelli?
(Should be an announcement before LB)

FORSYTHE – Paul Tracy & Mario Dominguez

CTE/hvm – Nelson Philippe & Dan Clarke

MI-JACK/CONQUEST – Charles Zwolsman & Andrew Ranger (LGB & CDN races)

NEWMAN/HAAS – Sebastien Bourdais & Bruno Junquiera

PKV – Katherine Legge & Oriol Servia, also Jimmy Vasser will drive selected races

ROCKETSPORTS - Antonio Pizzonia (One car for LB only - should be 2 cars for HOU)

RuSPORT – AJ Allmendinger & Justin Wilson

ATLANTICS ATLANTICS ATLANTICS

'Tis the first week of spring, and the Yokahama Presents the Champ Car Atlantic Series Powered By Mazda cars hit the track en masse on the road course yesterday at beautiful California Speedway. Our thanks go to John Proctor, Dan Cain, Rod Dykhouse and Joe Sepanik for stepping out to help man the 4 marshal posts set up on the 17 turn road course this week.


Simon Pagenaud in a cold pit lane


Some people may even claim that the Atlantic series has a more deeply talented field than even our Champ Car World Series... there certainly are gonna be more of 'em!! There are some really outstanding young drivers here from all over the world. 40 new Swift 016.a chassis were delivered to the teams on time on March 8, and all the assembly in the shops was done since then, yesterday being the first track outing for everyone.

Below are the lineups for each team as they stand now. Expect over 30 cars for Long Beach! I will be working on a visual spotters guide for the Atlantics this year!

TEAM AUSTRALIA:
JAMES DAVISON AUS
SIMON PAGENAUD FR

BITE:
BEN JAMINI NL
CHRIS SOULIOTIS CDN

BROOKS:
LUIS SCHIAVO VNZ
NORBERT SIEDLER AUT

CONDOR:
DANILO DIRANI BZ

FORSYTHE:
ANDREAS WIRTH DE
LEO MAIA USA
RICHARD PHILIPPE FR
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE CDN

GELLES:
ROBBIE PECORARI USA
STEPHEN SIMPSON RSA

JENSEN:
TIM BRIDGMAN GBR
NICK JONES (testing)

MCAFEE:
KYLE KELLY USA

MATHIASEN:
JUSTIN SOFIO USA

MCATEE:
BRIAN MCATEE USA

MI JACK/CONQUEST:
GRAHAM RAHAL USA

NCDL TECH:
RYAN SPENCER-SMITH USA

NEWMAN/WACHS:
JOE D’AGOSTINO USA
DANIEL GAUNT NZ

POLESTAR:
ALAN SCIUTO USA
ALEX BARRON USA

PR1:
JONATHAN BOMARITO USA
MIKE FOREST CDN

ROOM STORE:
DAN SELZNICK USA

SIERRA SIERRA:
RAPHAEL MATOS BZ

TRANSNET:
CHARLES HALL GBR
TONIS KASEMETS EST (testing)

UNICO:
CR CREWS USA

US RACETRONICS:
DAVID MARTINEZ MEX (testing)

Here are the two day combined practice times. Expect the Long beach grid to have this hue:

1 Jonathan Bomarito, PR1 Motorsports - 58.311/92.298 mph
2 Stephen Simpson, Gelles Racing - 58.389/92.175 mph
3 James Hinchcliffe, Forsythe Championship Racing - 58.396 sec/92.164 mph
4 Graham Rahal, Mi-Jack Conquest Racing - 58.508/91.987 mph
5 Raphael Matos, Sierra Sierra Enterprises - 58.551/91.920 mph
6 Norbert Siedler, Brooks Associates Racing - 58.556/91.912 mph
7 Andreas Wirth, Forsythe Championship Racing - 58.630/91.796 mph
8 Leonardo Maia, Forsythe Championship Racing - 58.632/91.793 mph
9 Simon Pagenaud, Team Australia - 58.694/91.696 mph
10 Robbie Pecorari, Gelles Racing - 58.771/91.576 mph
11 Richard Philippe, Forsythe Championship Racing - 58.778/91.565 mph
12 Danilo Dirani, Condor Motorsports - 58.906/91.366 mph
13 David Martinez, US RaceTronics - 58.947/91.302 mph
14 Alan Sciuto, Polestar Racing Group - 58.963/91.278 mph
15 Charles Hall, Transnet Racing - 59.060/91.128 mph
16 Alex Barron, Polestar Racing Group - 59.117 sec/91.040 mph
17 Tim Bridgman, Jensen Motorsport - 59.121/91.034 mph
18 Mike Forest, PR1 Motorsports - 59.137/91.009 mph
19 Luis Schiavo, Brooks Associates Racing - 59.179/90.944 mph
20 Daniel Gaunt, Newman/Wachs Racing - 59.571/90.346 mph
21 Joe D'Agostino, Newman/Wachs Racing - 59.571/90.346 mph
22 James Davison, Team Australia - 59.700/90.151 mph
23 Tonis Kasemets, Transnet Racing - 59.795/90.008 mph
24 Justin Sofio, Mathiasen Motorsports - 1:00.690/88.680 mph
25 Kyle Kelley, McAtee Motorsports - 1:00.934/88.325 mph
26 Nick Jones, Jensen Motorsport - 1:00.951/88.300 mph
27 Dan Selznick, The Room Store - 1:02.105/86.660 mph
28 Ryan Spencer-Smith, NCDL Tech - 1:04.880/82.953 mph
29 Brian McAtee, McAtee Motorsports - 1:05.337/82.373 mph


A much nicer second day. Brought to you by King Taco.


Top 19 within 1 second, 23 cars within two seconds. Have not heard the full report, but one of our marshals got to view the bottom of a race car in the turn one chicane! An exciting second day.

Let's go motor racing!

JHS

MARCH MADNESS?

DRIVER LINEUPS UPDATED 3-20-06

Hey everyone!

Time for some March ramblings. Plenty has been going on, and a half bottle of Columbia Crest Grand Estates Chardonnay has persuaded me to share some of the excitement. Not the least of which is Champ Car's selection of a Race Director for 2006. It's gonna be Tony Cotman again, and hopefully 'til kingdom come. I didn't ask for any details as I don't wanna know any details, but I know it's great news for the paddock, for me and you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

OK... Also of note, we have had the new Swift Atlantic chassis unveiled, a big news Champ Car driver signing, plenty of silly season rumors, and some fresh talk about reunification with the IRL.


NEW ATLANTIC CHASSIS DEBUTS


The new Swift 0.16.a Mazda Cosworth Atlantic

The unveiling took place at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. A well-kept secret was that Mazda North America has signed on to be a marketing partner of the series and will power the car with its Mazda MZR engine, to be serviced by Cosworth Engineering. You can read more about it here:

http://www.champcarworldseries.com/News/Article.asp?ID=9959


Also on hand that evening, Kevin Kalkhoven announced that 2005 three-time Atlantic winner Katherine Legge has been signed to drive a PKV Champ car for 2006:

http://www.champcarworldseries.com/News/Article.asp?ID=9958


Performance-wise, the new Swift 0.16.a will be 10mph faster at the top end, has a 3" longer wheelbase, will have 60 more horsepower and even more cupholders than the previous model Swift 0.14.a. It has already undergone testing at Firebird Raceway with two-time champ Jon Fogarty behind the wheel. Over 30-car field averages are expected, based on the number of cars that have been ordered, and beginning at Cleveland, the series will return to standing starts whenever track conditions allow. Smell a little change in the air?

CHAMP CAR SILLY SEASON RAMPANT

Yeah sure, five weeks before the Long Beach opener and team lineups are far from set. Par for the course in this economy. I'm sure the last shoe will drop on the morning of the first practice as it did last season. Here's the current rumor update about who might drive for whom - and I underline rumor!

(confirmed drivers in bold)

AUSTRALIA – Tagliani, Will Power

COYNE - Ricardo Sperafico, TBD

FORSYTHE – Tracy & Dominguez

CTE/hvm – Philippe, Bremer, Jan Heylen

MiJack-CONQUEST –Ranger, Heylen

Newman/Haas – Bourdais & Junquiera

PKV – Legge, Servia, also Vasser will drive selected races

ROCKETSPORTS - Franck Montagny, Antonio Pizzonia, Enrique Bernoldi

RuSPORT – Allmendinger & Wilson

That is where we stand now, but remember, with 2006 being the last year for the Lola chassis, it’s gonna be another tough year, car-wise and sponsor-wise. But I had an odd dream last month that we had 32 cars for the final at Mexico City...hmmm. Once the new Panoz comes on line for 2007, then we will see how far we have come…


HOLD YOUR BREATH…

Two weeks ago, Autoweek ran a news story that Kevin Kalkhoven and Tony George had met several times in the last months to attempt to work out an agreement to combine both series. Have a look at these:

http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060221/FREE/60221006/1001

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060221/SPORTS01/60221031

http://www.speedtv.com/articles/autoindustry/auto/22207/

The most telling quote of all is Kevin Kalkhoven, who says: "If people truly care about open wheel racing in America, then please go away and leave Tony and I alone."

And I think that’s great advice for all of us, big and small alike. With so much to be worked out, it is liable to take a long time, and I won’t hold my breath, but if anyone can make things happen, it’s certainly KK. Our last two seasons are a sure testament.

Meanwhile, we have plenty of breathing ahead of us as the season opener bears down, 5 weeks away. The very first turn of the season has been widened at the apex this year- the City of Long Beach announced improvements to the intersection of Shoreline and Aquarium that should ease the annual a##es-and-elbows bottleneck into turn one for all the races.

Hope to see all of your a##es at the race track too!!!

JHS