CHAMP CAR STARS SPREAD THE WORD
 While
the Champ Car World Series has arrived at Zolder in Belgium,
its star drivers have been busy spread across Europe promoting
the upcoming Euro double-header.
Three-time champion Sebastien Bourdais spent today in Paris
with the French media while his Dutch rival Robert Doornbos
has been the busiest man of the field looking after the enormous
interest from the Netherlands media.
British stars Justin Wilson and Katherine Legge have also
been busy with print, television and radio commitments in
London including an interview with the BBC's Formula One commentator
David Croft.
Croft quizzed Legge and Wilson on the physical challenges
of driving in the Champ Car World Series.
“I did a test for Paul Stoddart in Formula One after
a year of doing Atlantics and thought ‘this isn’t
too hard’,” Legge said.
“When I first did eight laps in a Champ Car I thought
wow – this is tough. Bumpy tracks, no power steering,
I quickly realized I had to work really hard on my fitness.”
With a Formula One season under his belt for Minardi and
Jaguar, Wilson is also well placed to judge the physical differences.
“Apart from the physical G-forces on your neck in F1,
Champ Cars are definitely tougher to drive. The arm strength
required is a lot more,” Wilson said.
“After a race in Champ Car, your arms, chest, back,
legs, everything aches – especially on a bumpy street
course."
CHAMP CAR STARS GATHER IN BRUSSELS
While the drivers in the Champ Car World Series drive the
latest state-of-the-art Champ Car DP01 Cosworth-powered chassis
in 2007, the entire driving line-up will get the chance to
meet the local press today with a unqiue, significantly older
backdrop.
All 17 drivers will be on hand at Autoworld Brussels, a spectacular
museum with a collection of more than 400 vintage automobiles
dating from 1886 to the 1970s.
The press conference will commence today at 11.00am with
the public getting the chance to get an autograph from their
favorite driver 12.00noon to 12.30pm.
Back at the track, the Champ Car World Series crews will
be completing final preparations and setting up for the weekend
before the drivers return at 3.00pm to do their customary
track walk.
Autoworld Brussels is located at Parc du Cinquantenaire 11,
1000 Brussels.
DP01 SET TO RUN IN EUROPE FOR FIRST TIME
Unlike Formula 1, where teams are expected to build their
own cars, in Champ Car everybody uses the DP01 chassis, built
by American company Elan Motorsports Technologies.
The ‘spec chassis’ DP01 was introduced for 2007,
although in the preceding few seasons Champ Car had effectively
become a ‘spec chassis’ formula anyway, as everyone
used the Lola design.
The difference is that, with the mandated DP01, teams are
not allowed to modify the cars, meaning that costs are cut.
It also means that a high-tech, sophisticated, state-of-the-art
racing car is available at cheaper cost, as the economies
of scale of building a run of chassis makes each one less
expensive (they cost $295,000), and there is no development
war.
With everyone using the same car, the racing is incredibly
close: in qualifying for the recent race in San Jose, the
top 11 drivers were covered by less than a quarter of a second!
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