Champ Car Assen race in danger?
07/08/07 Head of Public Relations for Champ Car, David Higdon, told AutoRacing1.com that he does not expect this lawsuit, if it materializes, to stop the race, which as you can imagine, is selling a lot of race tickets and suites due to the recent success of Robert Doornbos, Sebastien Bourdais and other drivers from Europe in Champ Car. Until now Bart Rietbergen and Champ Car have not been notified of the lawsuit.
07/08/07 A former consultant to Champ Car Europe race organizer Bart Rietbergen (pictured right talking to Champ Car driver Robert Doornbos) wants, by means of a court order (injunction), to stop the Champ Car race in Assen because the commercial rights holder refuses pay him for breach of contract and refusal by Rietbergen to cure and live up to his commitments.
Jacques Kremer says his lawyer has filed a $2.6 million lawsuit in court. The Frenchman is a former top man at Eurosport and ESPN International and manager of the Dutch driver Nicky Pastorelli.
The lawsuit charges there were several breaches of the contract and that Rietbergen tried to exclude Kremer when it was he who brought the whole deal to Champ Car and Rietbergen.
"I have no problem with Champ Car or any particular person at Champ Car," Kremer told AutoRacing1.com when we phoned him. "I want the races in Holland and Belgium to happen and to be successful, but I want Rietbergen to live up to the contract. I am simply defending my own interests.
"As a side note you should know that Nicky Pastorelli could not live up to his commitments to Rocketsports last year and this year because Rietbergen did not live up to his commitments to support him."
We contacted Rietbergen who would only say, "I am not aware of any lawsuit against me from Jacques Kremer. I have, however, sent a letter to Kremer asking him to fulfill his obligations to promote the event and find sponsors and he is not doing that." Mark C.