IRL pitched DHL too

UPDATE We have learned a bit more about the history of the DHL sponsorship in the USA. The IRL pitched DHL a year before Champ Car got involved. It was with the Global Mail group. They had an agreement that was set aside when Timo got involved. They tried to get him to go to the IRL and his manager would not budge.

The Penske deal in the ALMS is between Global Mail in Germany and Porsche, they are switching from UPS to DHL for the support of $1.5m. just as we suspected – a typical Penske business-to-business deal.

DHL was told by Porsche that the IRL was twice as popular in the US as Champ Car and had twice the TV audience……largely due to the bump the IRL gets from the Indy 500. Both Porsche and DHL went to the Laguna Seca ALMS race and were less than dazzled by the attendance. There is no decision about Champ Car for next year, it will depend on F1 and other business issues.

The recent IRL pitch to DHL is to the Express division in the US. Our sources tell us it is never going to happen. 10/21/05 We are hearing that the IRL or the Indy Speedway is or was making a $5 million pitch to DHL for a possible title sponsorship but we assume that was the deal that went to Penske's ALMS team, unless DHL has money to burn.