2008 Champ Car World Series

Last updated

2008 Champ Car season
Champ Car World Series
Champ Car simplified logo (2003-2008).svg
Season
Races14
Start dateApril 20
End dateNovember 9
Awards
←  2007
2009 (ICS) →

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.

Contents

The season was canceled on February 22, 2008, because of the buyout of Champ Car by the rival IndyCar Series, resulting in the unification of American open-wheel racing. [1] As per the conditions of the agreement between series, Champ Car was dissolved as an entity, with IndyCar acquiring the historical records of the series as part of the "non-tangible and tangible assets of Champ Car". [2] Some of the teams, drivers and events went on to compete in the unified series, and the remnants of the former Champ Car series filed for bankruptcy. [3]

Background and series news

The Champ Car off-season entered 2008 with a lot of unknowns and very few announcements in regards to driver lineups. In the wake of four-time series champion Sébastien Bourdais leaving the series to drive in Formula 1, the future was uncertain for most of the field's drivers and teams. Justin Wilson, out of a seat after RuSPORT closed its doors, was eventually signed by Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing to replace Bourdais, and was considered as the early favourite for the title. [4]

In late January, the yearly topic on a potential re-unification between Champ Car and the IndyCar Series was reignited, as it emerged that the Indy Racing League's CEO Tony George had offered free cars and free engines to the Champ Car teams, as well as the addition of five Champ Car races to the IndyCar schedule, during talks held in the fall. [5] Shortly after, George claimed that the window of opportunity for 2008 had passed, while Champ Car owners said that a formal offer was never made. [6]

On January 17, the television schedule for the 2008 season was announced, with ESPN as the sole partner. The deal called for four races to be broadcast on ABC on same-day tape delay with a one-hour packaged format, and four other live broadcasts on ESPN. The remaining six races were scheduled to be aired on ESPN2 on a same-day tape basis, except for the live broadcast of the Mexico season finale. [7]

Only six drivers had been formally assigned at the time of the first Open Test at Sebring on February 2-4, with just 14 drivers taking part after Team Australia decided not to participate in it. Just a few days before being confirmed by Conquest Racing, rookie Franck Perera set the best time of the week, while Franck Montagny impressed in his testing outing with Forsythe/Pettit Racing by leading the short field in the first two days of testing. The next Open Test was due to be held in Laguna Seca on March 13-14. [8]

The wheels of unification were set in motion again on February 7, as Robin Miller reported that a deal had finally been reached between series on similar terms to George's previous offer. [9] Shortly after, Tony George travelled to Japan, in an attempt to convince Honda execs to move the date of the 2008 Indy Japan 300, which had been a key point of contention in merger talks as it fell of the same April 20 date as the 2008 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. [10] This approach, however, was unsuccessful due to the different availability of dates for the different parties involved, including Kansas Speedway. Champ Car owners indicated that media leaks had led to a standstill in the negotiations, but rumblings over the series' impending bankruptcy made the rounds. [11] [12]

Unification agreement between IndyCar and Champ Car

After a few days of negotiations amid new reports on a done deal, [13] the IndyCar Series and the Champ Car World Series announced a deal to unify the two series on February 22, 2008. [14] The new unified series was centered around IndyCar Series' existing schedule, car and engine/tires suppliers, signifying the end of the Champ Car World Series as a stand-alone series. It was also the end for the Panoz DP01 after just one year of service, and for Cosworth as an engine supplier in Indy car racing.

Under the offer of free cars and engines, six of the nine teams scheduled to compete in Champ Car were able to continue operations in the IndyCar Series, with KV Racing's Oriol Servià as the highest finisher in the standings in ninth place. While Forsythe/Pettit Racing [15] and Rocketsports Racing [16] declined to join the new unified series, Walker Racing announced it had been unable to gather enough sponsorship to make the switch. [17] The decision was eventually revealed to be the result of an acrimonious end of the partnership with Team Australia, who then paired up with KV Racing. [18] [19] By 2017, all teams had folded with the exception of Dale Coyne Racing.

The date conflict between the Indy Japan 300 and the Grand Prix of Long Beach was dealt with a salomonic resolution, as both races would be run as scheduled. The Long Beach race was contested as a 'Champ Car finale' with teams that had been part of Champ Car in 2007, running under the Champ Car branding and using the same rules and vehicles as the previous season, but still receiving points towards IndyCar's standings. [20] The race was won by Will Power, and the event fully became part of the IndyCar schedule in 2009.

The Grand Prix of Edmonton was added to the IndyCar Series schedule as a regular round, while the Gold Coast Indy 300 was held as a non-championship race after the season finale before being discontinued. [1] The Toronto event was reinstated for 2009, but all other ten events on the aborted Champ Car schedule were not retained by the unified series. The races at Houston (2013), Road America (2016), Portland (2018), and Laguna Seca (2019), which was set to return to the schedule after a four year absence, were eventually revived by IndyCar, but the events at Cleveland, Mont-Tremblant, and the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez have not been held anymore as of 2025, as well as the European events at Zolder, Assen and the aborted debut at Jerez.

Confirmed entries

The following teams were expected to compete for the 2008 Champ Car season. All teams would have used a Cosworth 2.65-litre turbocharged V8 engine, a Panoz DP01 chassis, and Bridgestone tires. The driver line-up represents the drivers that had been confirmed as of February 22, 2008, plus additional drivers that had taken part in the Sebring Test earlier in the month.

TeamNo.Announced driver(s)Test driver(s)Ref(s)
Flag of the United States.svg Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing 1 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Justin Wilson [21]
2 Flag of the United States.svg Graham Rahal [21]
Flag of the United States.svg Forsythe/Pettit Racing 3 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Paul Tracy [22]
7Flag placeholder.svg TBA Flag of France.svg Franck Montagny [23]
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Minardi Team USA 4Flag placeholder.svg TBA Flag of Venezuela.svg E. J. Viso [24]
14Flag placeholder.svg TBA [25]
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Team Australia 5Flag placeholder.svg TBA [26]
15Flag placeholder.svg TBA [26]
Flag of the United States.svg Rocketsports Racing 8 Flag of Brazil.svg Enrique Bernoldi [27]
Flag of the United States.svg Dale Coyne Racing 11Flag placeholder.svg TBA Flag of Brazil.svg Bruno Junqueira [23]
19Flag placeholder.svg TBA Flag of Brazil.svg Mario Moraes [23]
Flag of the United States.svg PKV Racing 21Flag placeholder.svg TBA Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Alex Tagliani [28]
22 Flag of Spain.svg Oriol Servià [29]
Flag of the United States.svg Pacific Coast Motorsports 29 Flag of the United States.svg Alex Figge [30]
96Flag placeholder.svg TBA Flag of Mexico.svg David Martínez [30]
Flag of the United States.svg Conquest Racing 24 Flag of France.svg Franck Perera [31]
34Flag placeholder.svg TBA Flag of France.svg Simon Pagenaud [32]

Driver changes

Team changes

Schedule

The 2008 Champ Car schedule was announced in November 5, 2007. For the second year, all Champ Car races were going to be run on road courses and street circuits.

RndRace NameTrackLocationDate
1 Flag of the United States.svg Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach  S  Streets of Long Beach Long Beach, California April 20
2 Flag of the United States.svg Grand Prix of Houston  S  JAGFlo Speedway at Reliant Park Houston, Texas April 27
3 Flag of the United States.svg Champ Car Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca  R  Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California May 18
4 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Champ Car Grand Prix of Belgium at Circuit Zolder  R  Circuit Zolder Heusden-Zolder, Belgium June 1
5 Flag of Spain.svg Champ Car Grand Prix of Spain at Circuito Permanente de Jerez  R  Circuito de Jerez Jerez de la Frontera, Spain June 8
6 Flag of the United States.svg Champ Car Grand Prix of Cleveland  S  Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland, Ohio June 22
7 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Champ Car Mont-Tremblant  R  Circuit Mont-Tremblant Mont-Tremblant, Quebec June 29
8 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Steelback Grand Prix of Toronto  S  Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario July 6
9 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton  S  Edmonton City Centre Airport Edmonton, Alberta July 20
10 Flag of the United States.svg Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland  R  Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon July 27
11 Flag of the United States.svg Road America Grand Prix  R  Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin August 10
12 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Champ Car Grand Prix of Holland at TT Circuit Assen  R  TT Circuit Assen Assen, Netherlands September 14
13 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Gold Coast Indy 300  S  Surfers Paradise Street Circuit Surfers Paradise, Australia October 26
14 Flag of Mexico.svg Gran Premio Tecate Presentado por Banamex  R  Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez Mexico City, Mexico November 9

 R  Road course
 S  Street/temporary circuit

Schedule changes

See also

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References

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  4. ↑ "Wilson expecting a tough time". March 13, 2008. Archived from the original on January 6, 2024. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Tony George Makes an Offer for Unity". Speed Channel . January 27, 2008. Archived from the original on January 27, 2008. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
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  10. ↑ "Champ Car, Indy Racing League working on truce". Autoweek. February 7, 2008. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  11. ↑ "Merger Talks Awaiting Developments". speedtv.com. February 9, 2008. Archived from the original on February 14, 2008. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  12. ↑ "Oreovicz: Champ Car bankruptcy could be part of merger". ESPN.com. February 12, 2008. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  13. ↑ "Champ Car/IndyCar Deal Done". speedtv.com. February 19, 2008. Archived from the original on February 25, 2008. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  14. ↑ "IRL, Champ Car sign merger, ending 12-year split". ESPN.com. February 22, 2008. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  15. ↑ Oreovicz, John (February 29, 2008). "Forsythe surprise dropout as IndyCar Series starts up". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  16. ↑ "Rocketsports won't join IRL for financial reasons - February 24, 2008". Tampa Bay Times. February 24, 2008. p. 21. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
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  20. ↑ "IRL officially confirms unification". Autosport . February 27, 2008. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  21. 1 2 3 "Justin Wilson, Graham Rahal To Make Up Newman/Haas/Lanigan Lineup". champcarworldseries.com. January 29, 2008. Archived from the original on February 6, 2008. Retrieved January 29, 2008.
  22. 1 2 "Report: Tracy decides to stay in Champ Car series". ESPN.com. January 7, 2008. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  23. 1 2 3 "It's 'Open Season' On Testing". champcarworldseries.com. February 1, 2008. Archived from the original on March 4, 2008. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  24. ↑ "Viso To Pilot Minardi Team USA Entry At Sebring Test". Motorsport.com . February 1, 2008. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  25. ↑ "Doornbos gives Minardi an ultimatum". OpenWheelWorld (in Dutch). February 6, 2008. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  26. 1 2 3 "Champ Car team owner believes series is over". ESPN.com. February 13, 2008. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  27. 1 2 "Rocketsports Signs Former F1 Driver". champcarworldseries.com. January 28, 2008. Archived from the original on March 4, 2008. Retrieved January 28, 2008.
  28. ↑ "PKV Racing to test Tagliani". Motorsport.com . January 22, 2008. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  29. 1 2 "Oriol Servià Signs With PKV". champcarworldseries.com. January 5, 2008. Archived from the original on March 4, 2008. Retrieved January 10, 2008.
  30. 1 2 3 "PCM Prepares for Sebring with Alex Figge and David Martinez". Motorsport.com . January 27, 2008. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  31. 1 2 "Conquest Racing Confirms Atlantic's 'Fearless' Franck Perera For 2008 Champ Car World Series Season". champcarworldseries.com. February 6, 2008. Archived from the original on March 4, 2008. Retrieved February 6, 2008.
  32. ↑ "Simon Pagenaud, Franck Perera to Test for Conquest at Sebring". Motorsport.com . February 1, 2008. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
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  34. ↑ "Gordon Kirby - The Way It Is:". www.gordonkirby.com. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  35. ↑ Miller, Robin (December 9, 2007). "Tracy Told to Renegotiate Contract". web.archive.org. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  36. ↑ "RuSport team closing". Autoweek. November 5, 2007. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  37. ↑ "CDW `not interested in IRL, NASCAR". www.crash.net. November 11, 2007. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  38. ↑ "Forsythe, RuSport teams merge for 2008". Autoweek. November 26, 2007. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
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