2007 Champ Car season | |
---|---|
Champ Car World Series | |
Season | |
Races | |
Start date | April 8 |
End date | November 11 |
Awards | |
Drivers' champion | Sébastien Bourdais |
Rookie of the Year | Robert Doornbos |
The 2007 Champ Car World Series season was the fourth and final season of the Champ Car World Series. It began on April 8, 2007 and ended on November 11 after 14 races. Unbeknownst at the time, this would end up being the final contested season of Champ Car, as the following February, the series unified with the Indy Racing League (IRL), marking the end of the Champ Car World Series for good.
For 2007 Champ Car underwent some major changes. The opening race of the season was switched from the Grand Prix of Long Beach to Las Vegas for the first running of the Vegas Grand Prix. The Long Beach Grand Prix was the second race of the season, followed by the Grand Prix of Houston. Also, the entire schedule was held on road and street courses, and the events were timed races instead of races for a set number of laps. The full 2007 schedule was announced on Wednesday, September 27, 2006.
Champ Car officials confirmed that Panoz would be the sole chassis supplier for Champ Car for the three years beginning in 2007. The Panoz DP01 was built by sister company Élan Motorsport Technologies and was powered by a turbo-charged Cosworth engine. The new formula was reported to significantly lower the costs of competing in the series, which was in turn expected to increase car counts for the 2007 Champ Car season. However, 2007 entries did not exceeded those of 2006. Ford announced it would no longer badge the Cosworth engines as Ford sold Cosworth to Kevin Kalkhoven. Mazda was then confirmed as the new pace car and courtesy vehicle supplier.
ESPN announced a new, multiyear agreement that marked the return of the Champ Car World Series to the network in 2007. [1]
On January 16, 2007, Champ Car announced their return to Europe, for the first time since 2003, with races scheduled for August 26, 2007 at the historic Zolder circuit in Belgium, and September 2, 2007 at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands. [2]
On January 23, 2007, Champ Car unveiled its new logo for the Champ Car World Series and the Atlantic Series. According to its website, it is a sleeker design with the new Panoz DP01 chassis on the right with an emphasis on a chicane-style layout, representing the street track racing that dominates Champ Car. There were no oval tracks on the calendar, with Milwaukee removed after the 2006 race.
The 2007 Champ Car World Series season also marked that last time an IndyCar Series Championship was secured before the final race of the season until Álex Palou's win in the 2023 IndyCar Series Season. [3]
The new rules of the 2007 season included the implementation of standing starts at venues where they could be safely implemented. Additionally, all events were timed events instead of running a set number of laps. As the time limit approaches, the drivers were notified that they were beginning the last lap. The leader would NOT be shown the white flag, which was instead employed in a similar manner to its use by the FIA. Teams were also allowed unlimited access to their tires during all qualifying sessions. The requirement for each team to use at least one set of the alternate Bridgestone Potenzas during the race would remain in place.
Starting this season drivers no longer received a bonus point for leading a lap of the race.
The following teams and drivers competed in the 2007 Champ Car World Series season. All teams used a Cosworth 2.65-litre turbocharged V8 engine, a Panoz DP01 chassis, and Bridgestone tires.
Team | No. | Driver(s) | Rounds |
---|---|---|---|
Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing | 1 | Sébastien Bourdais | All |
2 | Graham Rahal R | All | |
Forsythe Racing | 3 | Paul Tracy | 1, 4–14 |
Oriol Servià | 2–3 | ||
7 | Mario Domínguez | 1–3 | |
Oriol Servià | 4–12 | ||
David Martinez R | 13–14 | ||
Minardi Team USA | 4 | Dan Clarke | 1–10, 12–14 |
Mario Domínguez | 11 | ||
14 | Robert Doornbos R | All | |
Team Australia | 5 | Will Power | All |
15 | Simon Pagenaud R | All | |
RSPORTS | 8 | Alex Tagliani | All |
9 | Justin Wilson | All | |
Dale Coyne Racing | 11 | Katherine Legge | All |
19 | Bruno Junqueira | All | |
PKV Racing | 21 | Neel Jani R | All |
22 | Tristan Gommendy R | 1–7, 9–12 | |
Mario Domínguez | 8 | ||
Oriol Servià | 13–14 | ||
Pacific Coast Motorsports | 28 | Ryan Dalziel R | 1–8, 10–12 |
Mario Domínguez | 9, 13–14 | ||
29 | Alex Figge R | 1–2, 4–14 | |
Roberto Moreno | 3 | ||
Conquest Racing | 34 | Matt Halliday R | 1–3 |
Jan Heylen | 4–12 | ||
Nelson Philippe | 13–14 | ||
The 2007 Champ Car season ended up having 14 races, down from the proposed 17 races.
|
|
Pos | Driver | Team | Races | Wins | Top 3 | Top 5 | Top 10 | Poles | Laps Led |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bourdais | N/H/L Racing | 14 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 6 | 463 |
2 | Wilson | RSPORTS | 14 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 12 | 2 | 113 |
3 | Doornbos R | Minardi Team USA | 14 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 9 | – | 61 |
4 | Power | Team Australia | 14 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 153 |
5 | Rahal R | N/H/L Racing | 14 | – | 4 | 5 | 11 | – | 18 |
6 | Servià | Forsythe Racing PKV Racing | 13 | – | 3 | 5 | 10 | – | 85 |
7 | Junqueira | DC Racing | 14 | – | 3 | 4 | 11 | – | 33 |
8 | Pagenaud R | Team Australia | 14 | – | – | 6 | 10 | – | 19 |
9 | Jani R | PKV Racing | 14 | – | 3 | 4 | 12 | – | 30 |
10 | Tagliani | RSPORTS | 14 | – | – | 4 | 10 | – | 14 |
11 | Tracy | Forsythe Racing | 12 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | – | 49 |
12 | Gommendy R | PKV Racing | 11 | – | – | 2 | 5 | 1 | 31 |
13 | Clarke | Minardi Team USA | 13 | – | 1 | 1 | 3 | – | 2 |
14 | Dalziel R | PC Motorsports | 11 | – | – | – | 6 | – | 16 |
15 | Legge | DC Racing | 14 | – | – | – | 2 | – | – |
16 | Heylen | Conquest Racing | 9 | – | 1 | 1 | 4 | – | – |
17 | Figge R | PC Motorsports | 13 | – | – | – | 1 | – | – |
18 | Domínguez | Forsythe Racing PKV Racing PC Motorsports Minardi Team USA | 8 | – | – | – | 3 | – | – |
19 | Philippe | Conquest Racing | 2 | – | – | – | 1 | – | – |
20 | Martínez R | Forsythe Racing | 2 | – | – | – | 1 | – | – |
21 | Halliday R | Conquest Racing | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
22 | Moreno | PC Motorsports | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), which sanctioned open-wheel racing from 1979 until dissolving after the 2003 season.
Mario Domínguez is a Mexican racing driver. He has competed in the CART and CCWS Champ Car series and later the IndyCar Series.
Oriol Servià Imbers is a Spanish racing driver who competes part-time in the IndyCar Series. He raced for Dragon Racing in the 2014–15 Formula E season, and left the series prior to the 2015 Miami ePrix to become managing director for the technical and commercial partnerships of Dragon Racing. Servià holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. Since 2018 he also serves as pace car driver at IndyCar races outside the Indianapolis 500.
KV Racing Technology was an auto racing team that last competed in the IndyCar Series. The team was originally formed as PK Racing before the 2003 season by Australian businessman Kevin Kalkhoven and former Formula One team manager Craig Pollock from the remnants of the PacWest team.
The 2006 Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford season was the 28th overall and the third and penultimate season of the Champ Car World Series era of American open wheel racing. It began on April 9, 2006 in Long Beach, California and ended on November 12 in Mexico City, Mexico after 14 races. The Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford Drivers' Champion was Sébastien Bourdais, his third consecutive championship. He was the first driver to win three American open wheel National Championships in a row since Ted Horn in 1948. The Rookie of the Year was Will Power.
Conquest Racing is an auto racing team that competed in the IndyCar Series and the Atlantic Championship. Formerly it competed in the Champ Car World Series.
Dale Coyne Racing (DCR) is an American professional open-wheel racing team that currently competes in the IndyCar Series and Indy NXT. The team was founded in 1984 and is owned by former driver Dale Coyne. From 1995 to 2000, the team was known as Payton-Coyne Racing, reflecting a partnership with Chicago Bears great Walter Payton. After the 1988 season, Coyne stepped out of the cockpit and turned his talents to the tutelage of several up-and-coming drivers. Once known for competing on budgets far smaller than most of their competitors, the team earned its maiden victory after 25 years at Watkins Glen International in July 2009 with Justin Wilson.
Forsythe Championship Racing was an American racing team that competed in the Champ Car World Series owned by Gerald Forsythe. The Champ Car effort ceased operations after the 2008 unification of North American open wheel racing. The team won the 2003 championship with driver Paul Tracy.
The 2005 Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford season was the 27th overall and the second season of the Champ Car World Series era of American open-wheel racing. It began on April 10, 2005 in Long Beach, California and ended on November 6 in Mexico City, Mexico after 13 races. The Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford Drivers' Champion was Sébastien Bourdais, his second consecutive championship. The Rookie of the Year was Timo Glock.
The Panoz DP01 is an open-wheel car that was produced by Élan Motorsport Technologies at Braselton, Georgia, United States. It was developed for use in the 2007 Champ Car World Series season, replacing the aging de facto-spec Lola chassis. The DP01 was introduced to the world at the 2006 Grand Prix of San Jose on July 28, 2006. Due to the February 2008 sale of Champ Car to the Indy Racing League, which uses its own spec equipment, the car is not currently used in a professional racing series in the United States. The final race for the car was the 2008 Grand Prix of Long Beach.
The 2004 Champ Car World Series season was the 26th overall season in the CART/Champ Car genealogy, and the first under the ownership of Open-Wheel Racing Series (OWRS) as the Champ Car World Series. It began on April 18, 2004, and ended on November 7 after 14 races. For sponsorship purposes, it was branded as Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford. The Drivers' Champion was Sébastien Bourdais. The Rookie of the Year was A. J. Allmendinger.
The 2003 Champ Car World Series, the twenty-fifth and final in the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) era of American open-wheel car racing, consisted of 18 races, beginning in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States on February 23 and concluding in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia on October 26. For sponsorship purposes, it was branded as Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford.
The 2002 FedEx Championship Series season, the twenty-fourth in the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) era of American open-wheel car racing, consisted of 19 races, beginning in Monterrey, Mexico on March 10 and concluding in Mexico City on November 17. The FedEx Championship Series Drivers' Champion was Cristiano da Matta. Rookie of the Year was Mario Domínguez.
Élan Motorsport Technologies is an American enterprise that serves as an umbrella company containing the race car engineering, development and manufacturing companies owned by American racing and automotive company conglomerate Panoz Motor Sports Group. Élan engineers, designs and builds Panoz-branded race cars and components. Since its founding it has also acquired several manufacturers, including famous Formula Ford builders Van Diemen and IndyCar Series constructor G-Force. Élan-built cars have successfully competed in the American Le Mans Series, Le Mans Series, IMSA Prototype Lites and various other championships, racing series and types of professional racing throughout the world. It designs, develops and manufactures full line race cars, i.e. chassis, bodies, components and engines for professional racing competition for a variety of segments and classes.
The 2007 Grand Prix of Houston was the third round of the 2007 Champ Car World Series Season, held on April 22 at JAGFlo Speedway at Reliant Park.
The 2008 Champ Car World Series season would have been the 5th season of the Champ Car World Series and 30th season of the series dating back to the 1979 formation of Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART). It was scheduled to begin on April 20, 2008, and end on November 9. The season was canceled on February 21, 2008, because of the buyout of Champ Car by the rival IndyCar Series, resulting in the reunification of American open-wheel racing.
Newman/Haas Racing was an auto racing team that competed in CART, Champ Car, and the IndyCar Series from 1983 to 2011. The team operations were based in Lincolnshire, Illinois. Newman/Haas Racing was formed as a partnership between actor, automotive enthusiast and semi-professional racer Paul Newman and long-time auto racing owner/driver Carl Haas. The duo were competitors in sports car racing during the 1970s and early 1980s. In 1983, they joined forces to enter the ranks of Indy car racing. Newman/Haas was one of the most successful teams in Indy car racing during the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. The team won 105 CART/Champ Car races and eight season championships, followed by two race wins in the IRL/IndyCar Series.
The 2008 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach was the third round of the 2008 IndyCar Series season, for teams who competed in the Champ Car World Series in 2007. This was because the 2008 Indy Japan 300 occurred on the same weekend and there was no way of changing dates to avoid the clash. It was held on April 20, 2008, at the 1.968-mile (3.167 km) street circuit in Long Beach, California, United States. The race was historic in that Will Power became the last winner of a Champ Car-style race, and also because it was the last professional race for Roberto Moreno and Jimmy Vasser in open-wheel motorsports. The contingent of former Champ Car teams produced a 20-car field, all utilizing the turbocharged Panoz DP01-Cosworth for the final time. All participants entering other IndyCar races earned points towards the 2008 IndyCar Series championship. All the teams raced together again a week later at Kansas Speedway, and for the remainder of the schedule together. The race was run under Champ Car rules, which included the standing start, option tires, two-day qualifying format, and was run based on time rather than a set number of laps. The option tire rule was adopted by the IRL for 2009, as well as standing starts for selected road and street course races in 2013 and 2014 only to be abandoned in 2015 due to safety concerns.
Sigma Autosport was a CART Champ Car racing team that competed in 2001 and 2002. It was owned by former Toyota Atlantic driver Tom Wieringa.
The Ford-Cosworth Indy V8 engine is a series of mechanically similar, turbocharged, 2.65-liter V-8 engines, designed and developed by Ford in partnership with Cosworth for use in American open-wheel racing. It was produced for over 30 years and was used in the United States Auto Club (USAC) Championship Car series, CART, and Champ Car World Series between 1976 and 2007. The DFX engine was the Indy car version of the highly successful 3-liter Ford-Cosworth DFV Formula One engine developed by former Lotus engineer Keith Duckworth and Colin Chapman backing from Ford for the Lotus 49 to campaign the 1967 season. This engine had 155 wins between 1967 and 1985 in F1. The DFX variant was initially developed for Indy car use by Parnelli Jones in 1976, with Cosworth soon taking over. This engine won the Indianapolis 500 ten consecutive years from 1978 to 1987, as well as winning all USAC and CART championships between 1977 and 1987. It powered 81 consecutive Indy car victories from 1981 to 1986, with 153 Indy car victories total.