CART optimistic with five-year plan
Despite the recent news that engine supplier Honda is pulling out of the US-based Champ Car series at the end of 2002, governing body CART believes it has a financial plan in place that will ensure the growth of the championship
CART has had a difficult season so far this year including a race cancellation at Texas, indecision over engine regulations and increasing competition from rival oval-based championship the Indy Racing League.
Honda's pull-out is the latest blow to America's premier single seater championship and comes in the wake of the news that Champ Cars will be scrapping the use of turbo chargers and adopting the same engine regulations as the IRL from 2003.
However, CART CEO Joseph Heitzler believes that the series' latest five-year plan - which cites its key objectives as defining fan segments, increasing attendance opportunities and television viewership and enhanced promotion of CART's stars and its branding - will move things forward.
"We remain confident that the course we are charting for CART will result in growth for our company," said Heitzler. "We believe the direction we have identified will allow us to build our sport through increased attendance at race events and increased television ratings, which ultimately will lead to greater sponsorship and increased revenue opportunities for our sport."
The series spread its swings in 2001 and returned to Europe with races in the UK and Germany and while the number of fans attending races is up from last year, CART also has plans for a new TV package. Representatives are in discussion with American channel Fox cable networks and Speedvision to provide 224 hours of coverage for 2002, an increase of 61 percent from this year.
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