De Ferran: IndyCar plan still alive
Gil de Ferran says he still hopes to run a team in the IndyCar Series next year despite rumours that his de Ferran Motorsports squad was on the brink of closure
De Ferran announced in the summer that he would retire from the cockpit and hoped to expand his successful American Le Mans Series team to run in IndyCar as well. But in recent weeks both programmes have appeared to be in jeopardy, and the team's lead ALMS driver Simon Pagenaud was allowed to accept a 2010 offer from the rival Highcroft outfit.
Amid suggestions that Pagenaud had been released because the team was closing down, de Ferran issued a statement today underlining that he was still working to keep his squad intact and was focusing on an IndyCar entry.
"At the time of writing I am working very hard to secure de Ferran Motorsports' immediate future and my plans to enter the 2010 IndyCar championship are still very much alive," said de Ferran.
"I have continued to employ our staff until now while working towards our 2010 goals but as of yet I am not in a position to announce anything further. The staff have been kept fully informed of the situation and the current status was communicated to them yesterday.
"In the meantime I am continuing to work on the 2010 programme and will release further information when our plans are finalised."
De Ferran Motorsports was formed as a sportscar squad last year, joining Acura's LMP2 line-up in the ALMS from mid-season. Along with Highcroft, it was then selected to move up to LMP1 with Acura in 2009. De Ferran and Pagenaud narrowly missed out on this year's ALMS title to Highcroft's David Brabham and Scott Sharp.
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