Korean Event Postponed until 2006

The inaugural event, that was scheduled for October 16, will now be deferred to 2006.

The series has blamed local promoter The Racing Korea for the cancellation. A Champ Car statement said: "The local promoter caused this by a lack of operational preparation and failure to comply with contract requirements.

"Champ Car has a strong relationship with the Mayor of Ansan and is quite confident in the city's ability to move forward with the race in 2006."

The decision has major title implications. With only two races remaining in the series in Australia and Mexico, Sebastien Bourdais is now effectively champion. All the Frenchman has to do is start both of the remaining races, whatever result teammate Oriol Servia achieves.

Champ Car executive vice-president of development Joe Chrnelich said the series was now focused on making sure the 2006 event happened.

He said: "We made every effort to avoid this deferment and have been working very closely with the promoter as well as Mayor Song Jin Seop and the City of Ansan in finding a solution that would allow us to run this event as scheduled.

"We have a lot of equity in this market and there are many positive indicators, including interest from major title sponsors, a supportive Mayor and a great circuit that is near completion.

"This demonstrates to us that we can have successful events in Ansan provided we show patience and continued confidence in the Korean marketplace, and we will."

Champ Car World Series co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven echoed Chrnelich's sentiments: "It is regrettable that we have to remove a race from what has been a very successful season.

"We believe that this decision will help build a stronger event in the long-term future. We remain focused on bringing our series to Asia and the Pacific Rim, and will continue to build toward our goal of conducting world-class events in these regions."

The 2006 race is schedule to take place on October 15.