CART.com's Own Rumour Mill

[Liz]

Pretty soon we're going to have a field larger than the Speed World Challenge Touring Cars, if you believe all these rumours. But isn't it fun to think about?

[BootsOntheSide]

I know that they've self-imposed a 24-car maximum for the Americas races, the 2 European extras would presumably come form Brand Motorsports. I never exected to see the maximum approached, but it could ahppen, and teams know that if they skip St. Pete's, they are only missing one race out of 20, and will have an extra month for preperation. Furthermore, teams who are under-prepared by then can work on their pitstops and stuff over the intervening month.

[Minardi4eva]

meh,looks like 18-20.

Johhanson-2 cars
Coyne-2 cars
Rahal-1 car
Herdez(mmm..peppers....)-2 cars
Rocketsports-1 car
Players-2 or 3 cars
NewmanHaas-2 cars
Conquest-1 car
Fernandez-1 or 2 cars
Walker-2 cars
Pollock/PWR-1 car

Total cars (maybe)-19

[The Snout]

I know they say that we only want 22 because of not need an extra plane and of space in the pits at venues. To me, it seems like chopping of the toes of the foot to fit the shoe rather than getting a bigger shoe. ie.

Maybe some venues need to be upgraded to handle 25+ cars if we get them. Cart, and F1 for that matter, just don't seem quite
right, to me anyway, with less than 22 or so cars.

Ok, I'm we will have the minimum 18 cars, but long term I think Cart needs to look at the 22 max thing and focus more on venues being able to handle more cars.

[Crash Test]

Hrmmm, venues in the past never seemed to have a drama fitting in 26-28-30, and I don't think the cars take up any more space these days. I believe 22 has to do with the contract with Ford, and with respect to the number of planes needed for fly away races.

[Jay]

I thought it had to do with the cost of transporting the jets overseas. I thought 22 was the maximum number that could be stored on 2 jumbo jets.... ?????

[The Snout]

Your right Jay. They were saying it's to do with Jumbo space, venue space etc. It seemed to be a few reasons. Ford able to only supply 22 cars is one I wasn't aware of but it wouldn't surprise me either.

Just hope by 2005 they revisit the whole numbers thing. For now we'll live with 18-22 but I think most people would like a fat 26 or so. Plus it's more rides for drivers.

[macdaddy]

I don't think that the issue of "11 cars per jumbo" would be an issue if the carcount was 28. It obviously becomes somewhat of an issue when there are 23. It would be foolish to think that CART would limit entries to 22. If they can afford to subsidize an entire team, then surely they can afford to lease a plane for a weekend! The issue lies moreso in the pitlanes of some of the newer venues, IMO. The old baseball adage "Build it, and they will come" applies here. As CART and Pook build the series to new heights, the promoters will have to do whatever they deem necessary in changing the street tracks to accomodate the growing grids. To make a short story long, Pook would give his right arm to have more than 22 cars!

[indycool]

When Pook first talked about "max of 22 cars," the two reasons given were the airplane factor and "paddock (not pit) space" at street courses. The airplane factor is a significant cost factor. The paddock space thing is a lot of baloney. There are enough intelligent people in CART to figure out how to park cars.

[¡As-de-mim!]

Brands Hatch and EuroSpeedway announcements possible.

[¡As-de-mim!]

John Lopes Comments on Brands (post #1)

After receiving numerous emails from readers questioning why CART would use the Brands Hatch short Indy Circuit, we contacted CART's VP of Race Operations, John Lopes, for an explanation. He responded by saying: "Brands Hatch will present a very large circuit development project for us (CART) later in 2003. The long course is an option for the future but for this year, with the very tight timeline we are working under, we felt it was prudent to concentrate on the short course, which should provide the fans with exciting racing and a view of almost the entire race. As we develop the venue as a long-term U.K. home, we can tackle the bigger project from a circuit standpoint." And now you know the rest of the story. Mark C.

[macdaddy]

A new article by David Phillips outlining the history of CART suggests a few more "rumours"...

many of the sport's top drivers like Jimmy Vasser... will be back... and a host of talented new faces like Ryan Hunter-Reay, Mario Haberfeld, Sebastien Bourdais and Joel Camathias will inject a breath of fresh air into Champ Car competition.

[macdaddy]

...That would indicate to me that Stefan's team is "all but locked up" with Vasser and Hunter-Reay. And we're already reasonably sure that Bourdais will be at N/Haas. So I guess that they aren't really "rumours"... And with Tags going to Rocketsports(?) some of the seats are starting to fill up.

Something I'm wondering about is the former Sigma team. I've heard that it was Dana Brewer and BC Motorsport who purchased the assets. But if this team truly is nothing more than talk, then whatever really happened to those chassis?

[Liz]

And what about that European team that Pook mentioned in his last interview? Is that Pollock or somebody else?

[Minardi4eva]

|\|\|/|/|

O O
______
\ /
\__/




You know who wants a ride....you know who needs a ride.....

[Minardi4eva]

Oh ****!!!!!!!!


It was supposed to look like Marques....but the damn thing screwed up!