Feature: CART and F1 on Menu for European Fans

Hamburger or filet mignon? CART or Formula One?

European motor racing fans can have a taste of both championships this year without being torn by any divided loyalties.

The announcement that ChampCars are returning to Europe with two races in May offers a great chance to compare the U.S.-based open-wheeled CART series to Formula One in the heartland of Grand Prix racing.

The Brands Hatch CART round on May 5, the first at the circuit for 25 years, follows the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix in Barcelona on May 4. Germany's Lausitz Eurospeedway oval then welcomes the ChampCars at the weekend, followed by the Austrian Grand Prix at Spielberg on May 18.

Yet, as CART president Chris Pook said this week after announcing the Brands Hatch date, there is no longer the rivalry of old between the two series and no attempt by either to lure supporters away from the other.

Quite the opposite in fact.

"We see Formula One as the epitome of all open-wheel racing," Pook said in an interview at the Autosport International show. "We believe it is very important for Formula One to be very successful because where Formula One is successful we are going to pick up the crumbs from the table and be successful as well in our own small way.

"There is no way we will ever reach the standard or level of Formula One and we don't want to. Formula One is kind of like filet mignon and we are kind of like hamburger."

Not Touchable

"We will not do anything in Europe without a discussion with Formula One, because if we do something that would harm in any way Formula One then we are going to harm ourselves," added Pook, who has been a friend of Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone for more than 30 years.

"There is nothing like Formula One in the world. It is the best international, marketing motor racing series in the world and it is not touchable. Some of my predecessors may not have truly understood the business of motor racing, may have wanted to put themselves in the same category and we're not there. That's not us. We're different."

Ecclestone has suggested that CART could function as a 'feeder series' but Pook, who took over the CART helm last year, saw the relationship between the championships as more free-flowing.

"Feeder series is a difficult marketing word to accept. I would like to say: 'Can we help in the development of Formula One drivers once in a while?' Absolutely, we'd love to. Can we help in the retirement process for Formula One drivers coming down the ladder? Absolutely, we'd love to.

"Are we going to be sending a new Formula One driver every year to Formula One? Absolutely not. If we send one every three or four years it would be outstanding. What is very good for us is if we do get a reputation for being a highly competitive series that can produce Formula One drivers then we are going to get a plethora of young hungry talent that's going to come and drive in our series."

Empty Coffin

Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya and now Brazilian Cristiano da Matta have all won CART titles and progressed to the Formula One grid. Pook said he would be delighted also to see Formula One return to the days of two or three races in America because it would be good for CART as well.

"It's like opening up a restaurant. If you are the only restaurant at the end of town, your chances of driving traffic are shaky," he said. "If three or four guys open up with restaurants around you, the area gets a reputation and more people go there.

"I haven't discussed it with Bernard and that's his decision and I wouldn't stick my nose in there at all. But one thing that is important is to have a successful Formula One race in America, that's very important to us indeed."

CART's main battle is an internal one.

Since the Champcars last appeared at Brands Hatch in 1978, the series has split in two with CART and the Indy Racing League (IRL) vying for supremacy. The IRL, who race on ovals and have the Indy 500 as the jewel in their crown, have looked to be on the ascendancy of late but Pook said CART was fighting back.

"The IRL say that every day they go to work with a hammer and nail in their hands to nail down the coffin lid on CART," he declared. "Well they may have got the coffin lid nailed down, but the CEO of CART wasn't in the coffin."