Gidley takes Minassian’s Ganassi drive
Frenchman Nicolas Minassian has been replaced by Memo Gidley at Chip Ganassi Racing for this weekend's Portland FedEx Champ Car race
Minassian, last year's FIA Formula 3000 Championship runner-up, has struggled to find his feet in the CART series this season and lies a lowly 17th in the points standings. He and F3000 champion Bruno Junqueira replaced F1-bound Juan Pablo Montoya and Jimmy Vasser for the 2001 season, but both have struggled to repeat anything approaching the multiple title-winning form the team has become accustomed to over the past few years.
American Gidley has contested 22 CART events over the past two years, with his career-best sixth placed finish coming at Road America in 2000 while driving for Della Penna Motorsports.
"Every day for the past two years I have prepared for an opportunity to race for a team like Target Chip Ganassi Racing," said Gidley. "I can't thank Chip enough for giving me this chance to show what I can do on the track. I have been looking for a ride since the start of the season, and I have had some interest from some other teams but nothing had materialised until now.
"This is a first-class organization with a tradition of winning. When I got the call this morning, I can't tell you how excited I was. Now I need to focus on the job at hand - to win a race for this team. This is a dream come true for me."
Team owner Chip Ganassi says that the inclusion of the more experienced Gidley will give his team more chance of winning races this season.
"Memo has shown in the past that he can be competitive, given the right equipment," said Ganassi. "Our team is always working to improve itself. We feel that this move is the best way to accomplish that. Our goal remains the same: to win races and championships. Memo has experience in Champ Cars, and we expect him to be competing for a win this weekend in Portland."
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