Justin Wilson Q&A
Justin Wilson has thrown in the dice and gambled his future on the OWRS and its resuscitated Champ Car World Series. Having competed in the Sebring 12 Hours sportscar race last weekend, he rounded off his week in the US by signing with Eric Bachelart's Mi-Jack Conquest Racing team, managed by his former F3000 engineer Chris Mower. Wilson, who couldn't secure a budget to continue with Jaguar in F1 this year, is now looking forward to a season where he hopes equal machinery and close racing will give him the chance to re-establish himself as one of Britain's top single-seater stars. Simon Strang spoke to him
"I went straight to Indianapolis after the Sebring race and stayed for a couple of days to negotiate the deal. It's pretty cool. I'm really looking forward to it. Mi-Jack Conquest Racing is a pretty good team. They were new to Champ Cars last year and under the circumstances they did a good job. They know what they are doing."
"If nothing else it's somebody else you know. Because I know him hopefully we will be able to start developing the car quicker than usual. He knows how I work and I know how he works. I'll have a different race engineer, but the fact that I have that relationship with Chris is good news for us."
"I have to find my feet initially. I think it would be nice to win a couple of races. But there are already some good drivers confirmed for this year so it's not like I'm expecting to walk straight into it and win immediately."
"My gameplan is just to see what happens. See how the season unfolds. It would be nice to go back to F1 if the opportunity arose but a career in Champ Cars wouldn't be too bad at all I reckon."
"I think it is a good plan to be in at the beginning of a new start for the series. Champ Cars is always a series that I have admired and enjoyed watching. I really enjoyed my test with Newman/Haas a couple of years ago and I loved driving the cars. I also like the fact that the cars are equal so it's down to you and your team to get the best out of the package."
"I see the move as my next step. I don't see it as a step up or down. I didn't have an opportunity to stay in Formula 1 anymore so I had to look for something else to do. And the drive with Mi-Jack Conquest Racing is a good thing to do!"
"It continues just the same as it would in Formula 1. The shareholder scheme is not linked to F1, it's linked to my career, so if I'm successful in Champ Cars so are those people who bought shares in me. Hopefully in time I will have the opportunity to pay them all back."
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