Heylen out, Phillipe in...

Fogelhund · 1 Oct 2007, 22:25 (Ref:2028375)

http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/champcar/40673/

Quote:

Conquest Racing has confirmed that it’ll have a new driver steering its No.34 car for the final two race of the Champ Car World Series season.

An official announcement will be made on Wednesday regarding the replacement for Belgian Jan Heylen, who took over the car on round four at Portland – New Zealander Matt Halliday drove in the first three ’07 races – and is fresh off his career-best result, a runner-up finish at the Assen race in Holland last month.

Heylen’s likely replacement is Frenchman Nelson Philippe, the defending winner of the next race, the Surfers Paradise round in Australia on October 21. Philippe has yet to make a Champ Car start this year.

http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/champcar/40677/

Quote:

HEYLEN OUT, PHILIPPE IN The continuing late-season game of Musical Chairs in Champ Car continues as Nelson Philippe will replace Jan Heylen at Conquest Racing for the last two events of 2007.

It’s going to be a bitter pill for Heylen, coming off a career-best finish of second for Eric Bachelart’s team in The Netherlands. The 27-year-old native of Belgium didn’t join the team this season until fourth stop at Portland and he consistently got quicker and better. He also finished sixth at Elkhart Lake.

Philippe, who at 20 became the youngest to ever win a Champ Car race last year at Surfer’s Paradise, has not competed in CCWS this season. The Frenchman refused to let his father continue to fund his ride with HVM (now Minardi) in 2007 and took the stance he wasn’t driving unless he was paid.

It’s assumed Champ Car is paying Philippe’s freight so it can have its defending champion in Australia.

Olive · 1 Oct 2007, 22:30 (Ref:2028380)

With all the financially induced driver changes for the final two races, I really fear we may be approaching the end game for ChampCar. Which is sad when I think back to what it used to be.

Fogelhund · 1 Oct 2007, 22:33 (Ref:2028383)

Maybe a title change is needed already. LOL

No sooner do I read the above, and I find this news...

(Beware the crash dot net popup)

http://www.crash.net/news_view~cid~3~id~155218.htm

Quote:

Winslow will join the Conquest team at the two remaining Champ Car races this season – at Surfers Paradise and the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez – and is hoping that the two parties can move towards working together in the future.

So perhaps it is the Aussie James Winslow who gets the ride? Personally I'd rather see Phillipe get a permanent ride, and this Aussie driver to race at Australia seems a bit preconceived to me, and short term, until a driver closer to the origin of the next race is needed....

Olive · 1 Oct 2007, 22:40 (Ref:2028387)

Winslow is British, not Australian.

Fogelhund · 1 Oct 2007, 22:47 (Ref:2028393)

Thanks for the correction, no idea where I got that from..

marcus · 2 Oct 2007, 00:21 (Ref:2028440)

a Huge shame for heylen , he is/was starting to make some great headway in the series.

MCWB · 2 Oct 2007, 06:26 (Ref:2028560)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fogelhund

Thanks for the correction, no idea where I got that from..

Well he has done some racing in Aussie F3 this year.

**GTRMagic** · 2 Oct 2007, 09:14 (Ref:2028686)

Quote:

Originally Posted by MCWB

Well he has done some racing in Aussie F3 this year.

There was noise from the AF3 paddock to suggest that the return of Barton Mawer along side Mr Hollings was done at the request of the sponsor because the results were not meeting expectations....

It would be a HUGE step up...

Do Conquest have any spare tubs?

JohnSSC · 2 Oct 2007, 09:50 (Ref:2028723)

Well! Another "Win" for Champ Car! Conquest gets the local driver they need for Mexico...um, err, the local driver they need for Surfer's...um, err give a new young talent a chance...um, err...

Nice to see that there is indeed a place for former race winners as long as they bring cash and Heylen now has proven the Racer's Axiom that "there is First Place and No Place."

So much for keeping the Most Talented Drivers in the World in the stable. Are there enough Speraficos out there to fill a grid or will we need to call Geoff Boss? I can see it now: "April 2008: Dale Coyne Racing announces their 17 drivers today at 12:45 p.m. at the Long Beach GP, which starts at 1:00 p.m. local time."

JohnSSC waves the checkered flag to indicate that it is time for the spin-meisters to spin this into a "positive" for the rejuvenated CC series!

In re: Winslow. What are his qualifications? Does he bring inherited cash, sponsorship or a Visa card with a very high limit (sorry, I am sure he is a talented chap, but this revolving door thing is getting ridiculous...)?

fazzaz · 2 Oct 2007, 17:01 (Ref:2029115)

John,

I was trying to think of a reply about Nelson being back, and then this.... I'm not sure I even understand the teams or have any who the drivers are now (and is Dale Coyne in that same boat?). I've always admired Dale Coyne -- anybody wanna buy an old Dean Hall press kit? -- but this game of "credit card, credit card, who's got the credit card?" is getting silly.

On the other hand, I know of three Sperificos so far, and I'm sure there are others; I think there are at least two more Bosses with racing aspirations/experiences. There also are possibilities here for a TV reality series -- "So You Want to be a Race Driver!" -- where just before the start of Long Beach Dale Coyne pulls the covers off his cars, and he and the viewing audience discover who's driving today.

I grew up following the old AAA Championship Trail; my idols as a boy were Rex Mays and Bill Vukovich. I guess those days really are gone forever.

With the losses of Portland, Denver, Phoenix, China, and perhaps Las Vegas, a shrinking grid and revolving drivers, at least one series owner who finds in hard to even get to the races, I think Champ Car really is on its last legs.

I hope I'm wrong; I hope things really do look up. I just don't see how.

Fz

Knowlesy · 2 Oct 2007, 18:21 (Ref:2029191)

Oh dear.

Well, it's looking inevitable. Prepare for the funeral.

I'm just off to re-write the lyrics to "Candle In The Wind".

Hazard · 2 Oct 2007, 21:06 (Ref:2029364)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

Oh dear.

Well, it's looking inevitable. Prepare for the funeral.

I'm just off to re-write the lyrics to "Candle In The Wind".

You can't do anything but improve on them - an easy kill in my opinion. Wuss!

Isn't there a rule in F1 as to how many driver changes (deliberate) you can have in a season? Saw it in the rulebook somewhere I think came in after '95/'96 when the pay brigade was in full force - I reckon Champcar needs it.

**GTRMagic** · 2 Oct 2007, 22:08 (Ref:2029411)

All comes back to how many commercial backers there are in the series.... Very few appear to be fully funded without support from a wealthy patron....

There was some noise that Team Australia would run a 3rd car at Surfers as well... any news on that?

climb · 3 Oct 2007, 06:31 (Ref:2029567)

Not a big surprise at all...; just the empteenth episode of a general trend; I just wonder how long will NHR consider it amusing to be the only solid team fighting a bunch of hopeless amateurs.
Shouldn't they long for a better competition blimey?

JohnSSC · 3 Oct 2007, 10:12 (Ref:2029718)

fazzaz,

I came along a bit later than you it seems! My memories are of the USAC trail with the Vuckovich's, Jim Hurtubise, Lone Star JR, AJ, Mario, the Unser Brothers, Dick Simon, Parnelli Jones, etc. Of course there were guys who did not run the full schedule, and you had new drivers coming up but never a revolving door. You had to EARN the ride.

As far as Dale Coyne I agree he is a good guy and had a model that worked for him. That model allowed some decent drivers get their respective feet in the door. My problem is that now this is the model franchise for CC...

And it would be nice to have Gerry drop by every now and again to see how "his" series and "his" team is doing, wouldn't it?

**GTRMagic** · 3 Oct 2007, 10:26 (Ref:2029731)

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnSSC

As far as Dale Coyne I agree he is a good guy and had a model that worked for him. That model allowed some decent drivers get their respective feet in the door. My problem is that now this is the model franchise for CC...

OUCH!

Harsh... but fair

JohnSSC · 3 Oct 2007, 11:40 (Ref:2029783)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hazard

You can't do anything but improve on them - an easy kill in my opinion. Wuss!

Isn't there a rule in F1 as to how many driver changes (deliberate) you can have in a season? Saw it in the rulebook somewhere I think came in after '95/'96 when the pay brigade was in full force - I reckon Champcar needs it.

There is such a rule (or at least) was in F1. If they did this in CC their entire economic model would collapse.

PK Kart · 3 Oct 2007, 15:30 (Ref:2029948)

Hi All, Just registered.

I have raced against James Winslow and can confirm he has no money!
Hence why he's been competing in asian and Aussie F3.
Was asian champ in 2006, beat Bruno Senna to a win at the Melbourne F3 gp support race and has been winning in Aus F3 and FRenault V6 this year.
No doubt he is quick and talented if a little wild.. I hope he's not the new Dan Clarke.

Paul

Leighton Irwin · 3 Oct 2007, 17:55 (Ref:2030065)

Maybe Milka Duno will cross over, bring money and replace Kat for Mexico to add another Spanish speaking seat filler. (I can't bring myself to call her a driver!)
I am not, repeat not, being serious.

D.R.T. · 4 Oct 2007, 01:39 (Ref:2030410)

It has been confirmed that Phillipe will run the final two races with sponsorship from Juniper. Also Opes Prime has joined the Conquest team as a sponsor.

So not very good in terms driver changes, but 2 sponsors added to Conquest is a plus.

Peter Ford · 4 Oct 2007, 03:12 (Ref:2030450)

it good to have nelson back in the series if only for 2 races,lets hope he does a great job in those races to get himself back into the series fulltime in 08.

D.R.T. · 5 Oct 2007, 02:12 (Ref:2031522)

A strong showing would hopefully convince his new sponsor jump in full time in 2008.

JohnSSC · 5 Oct 2007, 10:27 (Ref:2031804)

CC is his sponsor for these two races according to Miller...

His dad no longer wishes to write checks, so there is no "sponsor" for him which makes the move even more mystifying.

D.R.T. · 6 Oct 2007, 02:55 (Ref:2032522)

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnSSC

His dad no longer wishes to write checks, so there is no "sponsor" for him which makes the move even more mystifying.

John you might want to do a bit more reading before making such uninformed statements

http://www.champcarworldseries.com/N...e.asp?ID=12249

http://www.champcarworldseries.com/c...1003P_0001.jpg

Quote:

"We are also proud to announce our partnership with Juniper Group. Juniper represents exceptional commitment to world class development, linking prestige properties and prestigious racing. We are thrilled to be joining forces with this great company" finished Bachelart.

I hope you enjoy watching Phillippe back in ChampCar, John

JohnSSC · 6 Oct 2007, 11:44 (Ref:2032809)

I did do some reading D.R.T., except I don't typically do the reading on Pablum Central's website. Speed was reporting that info regarding dad writing checks (or not writing them, in this case). Of course, we all understand how vital it is to have the person who is/was dating the winner of the "Face of ChampCar" on the grid at Surfer's.

I see this as essentially a hook-up for a short-term deal since Heylen's checkbook appears to be inoperative.

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