This should be the most exciting Christmas
in a long time for the race teams planning on contesting the
Champ Car World Series come 2007. While most of us are
anticipating chestnuts roasting by the open fire, meals with
friends and family, and gifts under the tree during the
holiday season, Champ Car teams are anticipating getting
their first gifts of a new Panoz race car today -
before Christmas.
The new DP-01 chassis are due to be
delivered very soon, just in time to give engineers and
mechanics a few precious hours to start the hands-on
assessment process before taking what will likely be a brief
holiday break. With the tight time frame before testing can
officially begin, teams must familiarize themselves with the
new race car quickly and start planning what changes and
adjustments they'll be able to make once they actually get
their next-generation Champ Cars on the race track.
Champ Car's philosophy with the new Panoz is
pretty simple: contain costs, preserve tight racing, enhance
safety, and keep intact the spirit of what's made Champ Car
racing so terrific over the past several years. While the
outgoing Lolas were gorgeous race cars, reliable and fast,
the difference between winners and also-rans in recent
seasons has usually boiled down to aerodynamic development
and damper programs...in other words, wind-tunnel time and
shock-and-spring development.
Now, while engineers will no doubt find grey
areas in the rules governing the new cars within which to
work some magic, Champ Car teams will likely have a much
smaller window in which to work their magic.
What should be much more important will be driver/engineer
combinations, and the ability of drivers to provide good
feedback during testing. And that should put a premium on
teams retaining experienced drivers, drivers who will be
able to call on a strong base of Champ Car knowledge and
help their teams get a handle on the new cars quickly. Much
as NASCAR will see with the advent of first Toyota and then
the Car of Tomorrow this season, Champ Car will, I think,
see the possibility of new teams getting competitive more
quickly.
It's normal in racing to see established, top-tier teams
stay on top through major technological shifts. After all,
those who run up front usually have more of the best
stuff...the best drivers, equipment, and personnel. But a
move to a brand-new race car, especially a spec-car package,
should provide a major reshuffling of the deck. And that
invariably means at least a couple of Champ Car's
traditional mid-pack squads have a shot at becoming winning
teams.
Based on the last couple of 2006 events I'm
guessing that the new Stoddart Minardi Team USA, Rocketsports,
and Team Australia will have a great shot at success when
the new season starts in April. All three teams put together
strong runs at Australia and Mexico City, and all have
experienced engineering staffs.
Now that the playing field should be a bit
more level with the new car, I think those teams have a good
opportunity to join Newman/Haas, RuSPORT, and Forsythe
Championship Racing at the front of the grid. And the
revamped PKV team will also be a team to watch closely as
the new season gets ready to start.
Of course the final say in much of this goes to the drivers
involved. And at this point, beyond knowing Paul Tracy will
continue to lead the Forsythe team, there are more questions
than answers in terms of Champ Car driver lineups. Hopefully
the rest of the teams will get the drivers they want wrapped
up soon, if not in time for Christmas.
Those of us who are fans of Champ Car are waiting
patiently....and looking ahead to the excitement of a new
season that will create plenty of new drama.
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