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theunions
03-26-04, 05:16 PM
ALEX SPERAFICO SET TO TEAM WITH JUSTIN WILSON AT MI-JACK CONQUEST RACING FOR 2004 CHAMP CAR CAMPAIGN

INDIANAPOLIS (March 26, 2004) - On the heels of Thursday's announcement that Justin Wilson has been signed by Mi-Jack Conquest Racing to drive in the 2004 Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series, the team announced today Brazilian rookie Alex Sperafico will pilot the team's second entry for the season.

Sperafico made two Champ Car starts in 2003 with Dale Coyne Racing, earning a best result of 14th at Miami. He will drive a Ford-Cosworth-powered Reynard machine in his first full season of Champ Car World Series competition in 2004.

"Alex is a talented driver and has a good personality, and we will work with him throughout the year to develop his skills in Champ Car," said team co-owner Eric Bachelart. "He will be driving a Reynard chassis, which was very good at some tracks last year, including Laguna Seca--where we finished fifth with Mario Haberfeld--and at Mexico City--where Tiago Monteiro qualified on the front row. Of course, the Reynard also won at Surfers Paradise last year. We've learned a lot about the car and continued developing it throughout the off-season. I think he will work very well with Justin, and I expect both drivers to be in contention for Rookie of the Year.

Prior to entering Champ Cars, Sperafico earned five top-five finishes in the 2000 Barber Dodge Pro Series, and earned his first Barber Dodge victory in the 2001 series opener at Sebring. He participated in nine FIA International Formula 3000 Championship events for European Minardi, competing against current Champ Car competitor Sebastien Bourdais. He began his racing career in 1998 with three wins and three pole positions en route to third place in the B Class of the South American F3 Championship final standings.

"When I moved to the U.S. to run Barber Dodge in 1999, I was already looking to race in Champ Car. That was my dream," Sperafico said. "I tested with Eric Bachelart in an Indy Lights car in 2000 and we have always wanted to work together and now we are doing it. They had great success with the Reynard last year and I think I will have some good opportunities with Mi-Jack Conquest Racing."

The Mi-Jack Conquest Racing team ran Reynards last season for Mario Haberfeld and Tiago Monteiro - Monteiro's effort coming as part of a partnership with Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing - and combined for 16 top-10 finishes and three top-fives. The team will campaign two different chassis to start the year, running a Lola for Wilson and the Reynard for Sperafico.

The team will begin testing soon in advance of the April 16-18 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, which opens the Champ Car World Series season.
Jay
03-26-04, 05:29 PM
Good side of me:
Well, congrats to Alex Sperafico for making the 2004 Champcar grid! All are welcome and best of luck to him! :thumbup:

Bad side of me:
Well...there's another backmarker. I wonder how many people will confuse him with his arguably more talented brothers... Hopefully his funding is good for the entire season.
Rob
03-26-04, 05:32 PM
Things are really coming together now. :thumbup:

I was skeptical last year when Haberfeld was announced as their driver, and he proved me wrong by putting in some good drives. I'm skeptical about Sperafico, and hopefully I'll be proven wrong again.

Just curious, does anyone know the last time a team fielded two different makes of chassis in the same race? I'd imagine it was Penske or maybe AAR. What about a team fielding two different purchased chassis makes, rather than constructing one and purchasing the other?
Forza Lancia
03-26-04, 05:44 PM
I would agree that some of these drivers signing for ChampCar drives this year aren't the best, but I'm still delighted just to see the grid filling up. If OWRS can fill the grids with 18 or even a car or two more this year, that will go a long way toward re-establishing the series' credibility, which is the most important thing right now. Once that happens, I think will see the calibre of drivers we want moving into the series in the following years.
ShickStift
03-26-04, 05:46 PM
Well, it is another car on the grid, but it's not a quality ride. It screams backmarker.

I think we're seeing the effects of the Lola-shortage. There aren't any more second hand Lola's going around, and the smaller teams simply can't afford to buy new primary/backup cars ($450,000 each).

As we've seen in the past of open wheel racing, you really need to have a two car team to be a consistent challenger. You effectively double your setup development capability.

While Conquest might indeed have a two car team, will a Lola and Reynard team help them? Probably not. The two cars have completely different characteristics. I fear that Conquest's operation is small enough that if they split their attention between the Lola and Reynards, they'll just detract from each others development.

I suspect however that we'll see 90% of the attention in the team go towards Wilson and only 10% to Sperafico. Someone's got to pay the team bills.
Railbird
03-26-04, 05:49 PM
Patrick ran a Swift and I think a Reynard a few years back.

This deal looks like another loaner Reynard but it fills another slot so it's all good.

I'll agree with Rob on Conquest suprising me last year with Haberfeld and maybe being able to do the same this year with Alex.

One step at a time
ShickStift
03-26-04, 05:50 PM
Just curious, does anyone know the last time a team fielded two different makes of chassis in the same race? I'd imagine it was Penske or maybe AAR. What about a team fielding two different purchased chassis makes, rather than constructing one and purchasing the other?

Well, it's not Champ Car, but Penske ran Helio Castroneves in a Dallara and Gil De Ferran in a G-Force from Indy on (iirc) last year.
Racing Truth
03-26-04, 06:45 PM
Well, it's not Champ Car, but Penske ran Helio Castroneves in a Dallara and Gil De Ferran in a G-Force from Indy on (iirc) last year.

IIRC, I think Gil went back to Dallara shortly after Indy. But I could be wrong.

Sperafico's not great, but he'll do for now.
Nosuchsoul
03-26-04, 07:46 PM
Cool, I live right by Long Beach and I am going to go get me some reserve tickets right............................................. ..now!

P.S. Are all the seats benches at Long Beach or do some have armrests?
Jerry23
03-26-04, 07:57 PM
Things are really coming together now. :thumbup:

Just curious, does anyone know the last time a team fielded two different makes of chassis in the same race? I'd imagine it was Penske or maybe AAR. What about a team fielding two different purchased chassis makes, rather than constructing one and purchasing the other?

I think in '94, Adrian Fernandez ran a lola and Andre Ribeiro ran a Reynard while they were teammates at Tasman. I remember the Lola being outperformed by the Reynard at the time.
pkvracing12
03-26-04, 08:05 PM
so who will be the two drivers for dale coyne? and is hemelgarn going to bring a team in? i guess time will only tell
Jay
03-26-04, 08:08 PM
I'd still guess (and hope) Michael Keohane is one of them - he comes with sponsors and will be competitive if Coyne can give him a decent car. The other is...whoever else can come up with the cheque in time...likely on a race by race basis.
Ziggy
03-26-04, 08:25 PM
13th in the BRDC British F3 series is not the stuff of legend....

Alen van der Merwe, ZA 308; Jamie Green, GB 237; Nelson Angelo Piquet, BR 231

skip

skip

Michael Keohane, IRL 42
Winston Wolfe
03-26-04, 09:12 PM
Cool, I live right by Long Beach and I am going to go get me some reserve tickets right............................................. ..now!

P.S. Are all the seats benches at Long Beach or do some have armrests?


Benches ALL AROUND, mah brutha.... bring a cushion, or a sweatshirt to sit on, and enjoy the turbos.....
Nosuchsoul
03-27-04, 12:38 PM
Looks like we are starting to get some good press again.

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/sports/8283097.htm
Dr. Corkski
03-27-04, 11:52 PM
13th in the BRDC British F3 series is not the stuff of legend....

Alen van der Merwe, ZA 308; Jamie Green, GB 237; Nelson Angelo Piquet, BR 231

skip

skip

Michael Keohane, IRL 42To be fair Keohane only ran a few races in British F3 last year. He also did some F3000 but wasn't all that impressive either.
DaveL
03-28-04, 01:00 AM
I think in '94, Adrian Fernandez ran a lola and Andre Ribeiro ran a Reynard while they were teammates at Tasman. I remember the Lola being outperformed by the Reynard at the time.

That was '97. A calibration mistake in the wind tunnel meant Lola produced the most pitch sensative car ever built and it was a deathmobile. That car almost sunk the company.
JLMannin
03-29-04, 12:55 PM
That was '97. A calibration mistake in the wind tunnel meant Lola produced the most pitch sensative car ever built and it was a deathmobile. That car almost sunk the company.

Even more pitch sensitive than a '94 to '95 era Penske? That '97 Lola was a real dog of a car. I remember drivers dropping out of races due to a significant number of the engine mounting bolts failing.

I think that when Coyne had Vitolo and Jourdain, they were in different chassis, IIRC.
Insomniac
03-29-04, 01:02 PM
Even more pitch sensitive than a '94 to '95 era Penske? That '97 Lola was a real dog of a car. I remember drivers dropping out of races due to a significant number of the engine mounting bolts failing.

I think that when Coyne had Vitolo and Jourdain, they were in different chassis, IIRC.

Didn't the 94 Penske dominate Indy the entire month?
FRANKY
03-29-04, 01:08 PM
Didn't the 94 Penske dominate Indy the entire month?

That was because of the engine, not the chassis.
JLMannin
03-29-04, 01:15 PM
Didn't the 94 Penske dominate Indy the entire month?

Yes, but only because it had a 1000+ HP engine. Look up the 1994 Michigan 500 practice and qualifying speeds for Penske and you will find them at the other end of the grid. While you are at it, look up the trap speeds at Indy in 1994. The Penskes were scrubbing huge amounts of speed in the corners - everyone suspected sand-bagging, but that was not the case. Their straight-line speeds were high enough to more than cancel out the handling problems in the corners, giving the impression of a fine handling car. I remember other drivers commenting that they could get tantalizing close to the Penske gearboxes in the turns, then BAM, the Penske was gone after they came out of the corner.

The purpose built Merc 309 was a "band-aid" for a very poor performing superspeedway car. The '95 version was an evolutionary design based on the '94, and without a 1000+ hp engine, it was a dog sled.