Pantano seeks court injunction

The three-times champions have chosen French star Sebastien Bourdais and Portuguese rookie Tiago Monteiro for this season, after a winter-long battle between the three drivers for the two available seats.

It appears that Pantano, who won the final race of the 2001 season at Monza, had signed a contract with the team, but it was terminated on March 1.

"We still believe that with the terms of the contract, and as a race team, Super Nova were the top option for Giorgio in 2002," said Lars-Christian Brask, chairman of Pantano's management team. "The way we were ultimately treated leaves us very disappointed from a professional and ethical point of view."

Super Nova boss David Sears admitted that their decision was based on the Italian's inability to attract sufficient sponsorship.

"The idea of the agreement with Pantano was made in consideration of us attracting a team sponsor, but this has not happened," he told AUTOSPORT. "We cannot run someone on thin air. We will fight in court. It's a shame because Pantano's talented and a nice guy."

An in-depth interview with Bourdais appears in this week's AUTOSPORT, on sale tomorrow (Thursday)