Ruling saves Champ Car

After a drawn out day of courtroom drama, Judge Frank Otte, the presiding judge for the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filed by Championship Auto Racing Teams, ruled that OWRS won on all counts "with no stipulations attached". This was despite a $13.5million bid by the IRL for five of CART's street or road circuit dates, including one in Mexico, one in Canada and three others - thought to include the prestigious Long Beach event.

Midway through the day, the IRL withdrew its bid to purchase CART's supply of engines, as Cosworth had the right to buy them back at $10 each.

After the ruling at the Federal Building and Courthouse in Indianapolis, OWRS partner Kevin Kalkhoven told autosport.com: "Let's get out of court, get cars on the track and go racing. I was never confident about it [the ruling], because that would be arrogant. I knew it would be decided by a court of law. We're ready to put the fans in the seats and the cars on the track."

Fellow partner Paul Gentilozzi said: "I'm happy. You never know what's going to happen, but we believed all along in our plan for the future, and it's great that the court agreed with our vision. For us, there was never a conflict."

Asked about the chances of reunifying the US single-seater racing scene, Gentilozzi replied: "We're going to do our own business and do what's best for open-wheel racing."

Also present at the hearing was CART's CEO Chris Pook and Indianapolis owner Tony George. The third OWRS partner, Gerald Forsythe, did not attend.

The only outstanding issue to be resolved, following seven and a half hours of court time on Wednesday, is whether Laguna Seca and Road America will join the OWRS calendar. This will be heard at 9.30am EST on Thursday. The issue of 88 Corp's claim over the cancellation of the 2003 CART finale at Fontana appears to have been appeased with a $500,000 settlement.