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Tag hopes to gain from level playing field

Alex Tagliani is hoping that the Brands Hatch circuit will provide a level playing field that will allow his new Rocketsports team to compete against its more experienced Champ Car opposition.

The championship has not visited Brands Hatch since 1978, meaning that none of the drivers or teams will have any relevant experience of setting up a Champ Car for the legendary track, negating the disadvantage new teams usually encounter.

"Brands Hatch is new to the majority of drivers and this will level the playing field for new and old teams because no one has the advantage of a long history racing there," said Tagliani. "I am curious to see how this race will turn out since passing will be tight and the weather is always unpredictable, although I am confident the Bridgestone tyres will grip the road in any condition as they always do."

Another challenge for the teams comes from a CART ruling that teams must use the same basic car set-up at both Brands and the high-speed Lausitzring oval race the following weekend.

"A lot of creative thinking will be required to run the same set-up packages for the races in England and Germany, said Rocketsports engineer Will Phipps. "Champ Car has also mandated all teams to use two green flag pit stops. This will be tough as it is quite a tight pit lane, as they tend to be in the UK, but it will be better than people expect. At least it will make for an interesting race."

Phipps has also come up with a solution to Tagliani's lack of experience around Brands - playing the TOCA Race Driver computer game. "It has great graphics and will help Alex visualise the track and elevations," said Phipps. "It's also a fun way to study the track."

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