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IRL bullish despite Forsythe closure

IRL IndyCar Series officials remain confident that a significant number of Champ Car teams will join the merged championship despite the Forsythe team's closure

Forsythe announced today that they could not secure sufficient funding to move into IndyCar and would only contest the Long Beach race, which will use Champ Car equipment.

Although team owner Gerry Forsythe did not attend the IRL's orientation meeting for new teams on Monday in person, his squad were represented, along with the other eight former Champ Car outfits.

An IRL spokesman said that while Forsythe's decision was a shame for the championship, there was still plenty of interest from other teams.

"There were no guarantees," he said. "We're disappointed in Gerry's decision, but there were no guarantees if he was going to come race with us or if anybody was going to race with us.

"On Monday, all nine teams were at our meetings in Indianapolis. We batted 1.000 at our orientation, and our car count is going to be a dramatic increase over last year, with or without Gerry."

Long-time Forsythe driver Paul Tracy has already declared that he will look for an alternative seat in the IndyCar Series, while the team's vice-president of operations Neil Micklewright has suggested that Forsythe could be reformed for 2009 if sponsorship was forthcoming. The team's Atlantic series programme will continue.

Of the former Champ Car teams, Newman/Haas/Lanigan, KV Racing (formerly PKV), Conquest Racing and Walker Racing/Team Australia have all declared that they intend to race in the IRL.

Dale Coyne Racing, Rocketsports, Minardi Team USA and Forsythe's former partner Dan Pettit have yet to announce their plans.

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