D-Day for CART ruling

If the IRL's bid is successful, Long Beach is the only race that would be picked up by Indianapolis president Tony George's all-oval series. George is also reportedly trying to acquire the pool of 100 Cosworth engines that CART bought and leased to its teams in order to stage the 2003 Champ Car season. By doing that, George would leave OWRS literally powerless to compete in 2004.

George says the IRL has entered the bidding process in an effort to unify open-wheel racing. He told the Indianapolis Star that the bidding could get "frenzied". OWRS principals Paul Gentilozzi, Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe believe George is trying to kill CART and all three have all publicly stated that they will not lose the battle to keep the Champ Car and Toyota Atlantic series alive.

In an asset auction for an American Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the highest bid is not necessarily the best bid. Judge Frank Otte will first receive a recommendation from a creditors committee as well as the CART Board of Directors. CART has announced that it will cease operation if the OWRS bid is not approved.

In recent legal twists, counsel to the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach filed an objection on January 21 to OWRS' plan, which would feature Long Beach as the opening race of an almost intact 16-event Champ Car calendar. The Long Beach motion called OWRS a 'shell organisation' and posed pointed questions about its business plan.

But on Monday, the GPALB retracted its objection. "As we've said before, our preference would be to continue on with our existing relationship and run the Champ Car race as the headline event," stated event president Jim Michaelian. "We have now received a response to the questions we were asking and, as a result, have withdrawn our objection to OWRS' bid. We await the judge's decision on this matter."

The OWRS bid got another boost on January 23, when the organisers of the Surfers Paradise, Australia event lodged an objection to the IRL's bid. The Surfers counsel pointed out that OWRS is willing to assume contracts and liabilities with almost all existing CART venues, whereas the IRL bid excludes all races except Long Beach.

The brief indicated that the Gold Coast organisers would seek damages of up to $13 million if the IRL offer is accepted and predicted that similar suits would be brought by other dropped venues.

Autosport.com will bring you the latest news from court, although the hearing - and final decision - could drag on for days.