Sigma likely to miss home race

The outfit turned up at Portland two weeks ago, but driver Max Papis never made it out on to the track because overdue bills for engine supplier Cosworth, PI Research and tyre supplier Bridgestone could not be paid.

Papis told the Speed Channel website that he has no idea whether he will be racing this weeekend or not.

"I haven't been told anything at the moment from [team boss] Tom Wieringa," said the Italian. "I heard he made a statement that we are not going to race in Chicago, but he never told me that.

"I'm very disappointed, because Tom never called me, but from what I know there is no way that Sigma can race in Chicago because there is no engine, no electronics - they don't have anything."

Papis will return to Europe after the Chicago event and will pay a visit to his friend Alex Zanardi, who lost his legs in an accident at the German CART race last year.

As for his racing future, Papis is working hard to find a berth in one of the major US series. He attended last weekend's NASCAR Winston Cup race at Sears Point and talked to one of his former bosses Cal Wells. Papis told AUTOSPORT late last year that Wells would give him a run in a Winston Cup car at some point in the future.

"I'm knocking on every door," he said. "I'm working pretty hard but I'm not desperate to jump into a situation that is not going to be clear. I would like to have something with a team that can create in the next two or three years a future for my career - maybe even for this year.

"Because I'm still holding 32 points, I'm 10th in the [CART] championship and maybe someone would like to have some points for their team."