European races guaranteed to 2011

 Speaking on the second day of Champ Car's media tour, today in Amsterdam, Rietbergen stated that Champ Car Europe has an agreement with Champ Car USA through to 2011. He said: "That means we can race anywhere. So for example, next year we could race in say, France and Germany. I don't see that happening, but that is the deal.
 
"I look around and I see the enthusiasm from the Dutch media, and I am confident that our Assen race will be a success."
 
Rietbergen also explained that Assen got the nod over Zandvoort for practical reasons. He said: "One is that there are a set number of days when Zandvoort can have a lot of noise, and I believe they are already over that.
 
"Plus the other reason is that Assen's infrastructure is superb. The car parks are big, and close to the circuit. You drive right up to the circuit and within two minutes you are looking at the track."
 
Although Champ Car has become famous for its street races (seven of its 16 rounds are on temporary circuits in cities), Rietbergen believes that the European rounds should stay on road courses.
 
"I think it would be wrong to not take advantage of the fact that Europe has so many great road courses. Why spend all those additional millions on designing and developing streetcourses in cities when there are so many facilities where the infrastructure is in place?"
 
Justin Wilson concurred. "It's good to use the facilities available, and I'm always happy to race on a good road course. I enjoy road circuits - they're what I grew up racing on, and what I've seen of Assen looks good.
 
"It looks like it's going to be fun, it will give a Champ Car a chance to stretch its legs. Tony Cotman [Champ Car VPO] reckons we should be doing 180-185mph on the backstraight, and the rest of it looks very challenging."