CART to undergo management shake-up

The move comes after a nine-hour board of directors meeting in Phoenix on Tuesday. Just a year and a day into his tenure, Heitzler will relinquish day-to-day running of the race sanctioning organisation as soon as a successor can be found.

Long Beach Grand Prix promoter Chris Pook is the leading candidate, but whoever takes over, Heitzler will remain as the CART's chairman of the board.

"Today, the board unanimously recognised my passion, dedication and leadership," said Heitzler. "I will continue as chairman and CEO of CART while we conduct a search for a President and CEO to add to the senior management team."

It has been a difficult year for America's leading single-seater series as CART lurched from crisis to crisis, most of which were inherited or self-inflicted. A key issue was CART's failure to reach a consensus about what technical package to pursue in the future, a blunder that caused all current engine manufacturers to announce their withdrawal from the series.

Heitzler's year at the helm also saw the loss of the Brazilian championship round and the cancellation of the Texas Motor Speedway race just two hours prior to the scheduled start due to concerns for the safety of the drivers under heavy G-loads.

Recent boardroom unrest has led to calls for a major management overhaul and the search for a successor to Heitzler is expected to focus around Pook, who has reportedly been politicking on CART's behalf over the last few weeks with key sponsors that were considering leaving the series.

Team Green announced its commitment to the CART Champ Car series for 2002 earlier this week, and Pook also met with Philip Morris representatives in an effort to keep Marlboro Team Penske from making a wholesale switch to the rival Indy Racing League.