Corner5
03-12-08, 01:20 PM
Wiggins, whose principle partner in the Champ Car team, Paul Stoddart, has left, will carry on with the team that doesn't even have a name yet. Stoddart took the Minardi Team USA name with him and Wiggins said he will likely go back to the team's previous name - HVM Racing.
But, whatever the team is called, he's determined to keep it going and to eventually be competitive.
"We all know it's a tough deal, a lot of scrambling because of timing and the situation,'' he said. "But the bigger picture is where the significance of what happened is pretty dramatic.
"When you solve any war or situation like that, there's always fallout and some inconvenience. It's difficult in the timing, but it's for a common goal and for the common good after all the things that have happened. I'm sure, come the end of this year, it will almost be forgotten.''
One big reason the unification finally took place, after numerous failures over the years, was George's offer to Champ Car teams of free Dallara chassis, a free one-year Honda engine lease program and the same $1.2 million contingency payout offered the ongoing IRL teams.
But, with almost no sponsorship money for most of the Champ Car teams to bring along, that's not enough to get the incoming teams through a 19-race season.
One longtime open-wheel team, Walker Racing, already has announced it does not have enough backing to continue this season.
"The car we're getting is Derrick Walker's, which is slightly sad,'' Wiggins said. "And, of course, I'm looking for other partners and investments. ...
"I think now there's a future. In the past, let's be blunt about it, we had to find wealthy backers to fund (the team). ...''
Wiggins said the unification and the fact that all the teams will be running in the Indianapolis 500 - open-wheel's showcase event - should produce the kind of sponsorship needed to carry on.
"I would like to think in a year or two we can get it back into the environment in which we all grew up and spent 20 years in the business running it on sponsorship,'' Wiggins said. "Now it's an opportunity that could happen, and I decided we should be part of that.''
Lots more good stuff in the article
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/racing/wires/03/12/3010.ap.car.irl.blending.begins.1077/
Hope Springs Eternal. They want ot go back to the past, but they forget, TG is in charge and they still have crappy cars and events. Indy didn't get sponsors for the Irl either.
But, whatever the team is called, he's determined to keep it going and to eventually be competitive.
"We all know it's a tough deal, a lot of scrambling because of timing and the situation,'' he said. "But the bigger picture is where the significance of what happened is pretty dramatic.
"When you solve any war or situation like that, there's always fallout and some inconvenience. It's difficult in the timing, but it's for a common goal and for the common good after all the things that have happened. I'm sure, come the end of this year, it will almost be forgotten.''
One big reason the unification finally took place, after numerous failures over the years, was George's offer to Champ Car teams of free Dallara chassis, a free one-year Honda engine lease program and the same $1.2 million contingency payout offered the ongoing IRL teams.
But, with almost no sponsorship money for most of the Champ Car teams to bring along, that's not enough to get the incoming teams through a 19-race season.
One longtime open-wheel team, Walker Racing, already has announced it does not have enough backing to continue this season.
"The car we're getting is Derrick Walker's, which is slightly sad,'' Wiggins said. "And, of course, I'm looking for other partners and investments. ...
"I think now there's a future. In the past, let's be blunt about it, we had to find wealthy backers to fund (the team). ...''
Wiggins said the unification and the fact that all the teams will be running in the Indianapolis 500 - open-wheel's showcase event - should produce the kind of sponsorship needed to carry on.
"I would like to think in a year or two we can get it back into the environment in which we all grew up and spent 20 years in the business running it on sponsorship,'' Wiggins said. "Now it's an opportunity that could happen, and I decided we should be part of that.''
Lots more good stuff in the article
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/racing/wires/03/12/3010.ap.car.irl.blending.begins.1077/
Hope Springs Eternal. They want ot go back to the past, but they forget, TG is in charge and they still have crappy cars and events. Indy didn't get sponsors for the Irl either.