Bumper grid for Champ Car finale
| By Steven English |
Wednesday, April 9th 2008, 16:33 GMT |
 The last ever Champ Car race at Long Beach next weekend will have a field of 20 cars - two more than entered last season's championship round.
All nine drivers that have switched to the reunified IndyCar Series will race at Long Beach to score points that will count towards their IndyCar tally. They'll be joined by Champ Car veterans Paul Tracy, Roberto Moreno, Mario Dominguez, Alex Tagliani, and Jimmy Vasser.
Tracy had been unsure of his deal with Forsythe Racing last week but has now been confirmed for the event, while Moreno and Vasser are racing to bid farewell to the series in which they both raced for more than a decade.
Several other drivers have signed up for the one-off event, including those that have been left without full-time drivers for 2008 after the merger between Champ Car and the IRL.
Former grand prix drivers Franck Montagny and Antonio Pizzonia will race for Forsythe and Rocketsports respectively. Mexican David Martinez will join Montagny and Tracy at Forsythe while former British F3 racer Juho Annala will drive for Rocketsports.
Pizzonia's Brazilian Stock Car commitments will prevent him from testing ahead of the event, but he's looking forward to the outing none the less
"I'm excited to return to a team and a track that I know, but the car will be a surprise for me - I drove the 2006 Lola but not last year's Panoz," he said. "I'll be going straight into the race weekend so that is a challenge.
"I am still confident of a good result, though, because I have driven a Champ Car before and I hope I will be able to learn the new car quite quickly."
Pacific Coast Motorsport will run cars for Dominguez and Alex Figge, while Walker Racing will field a single entry for Tagliani. Nelson Philippe will race for HVM Minardi, alongside Moreno and IndyCar convert EJ Viso.
|
