2007 Champ Car season

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2007 Champ Car World Series

The 2007 Champ Car World Series season is the twenty-ninth Champ Car World Series, however only its fourth season under the Champ Car title. It will begin on April 8, 2007 and it will end on December 2 after 16 races.

In 2007 Champ Car will undergo some major changes. The opening race of the season will be changed from the Long Beach Grand Prix to Las Vegas for the first running of the Vegas Grand Prix. The Long Beach Grand Prix will be the second race of the season, followed by the Grand Prix of Houston. Also, the entire schedule will be held on road and street courses, and the events will be timed races instead of races for a set number of laps. The full 2007 schedule was announced Wednesday September, 27.

Champ Car officials confirmed that Panoz will be the sole chassis supplier for Champ Car for three years beginning in 2007. The Panoz DP01 will be built by sister company Elan Motorsports Technologies and will be powered by a turbo-charged Cosworth engine. The new formula is expected to significantly lower the costs of competing in the series, which in turn is expected to increase car counts for the 2007 Champ Car season.

ESPN has announced a new, multiyear agreement that will mark the return of the Champ Car World Series to the network in 2007.[1]

On January 16, 2007, Champ Car announced their return to Europe, for the first time since 2003, with races scheduled for September 2, 2007 at the TT Circuit Assen in Holland, and September 9, 2007 at the historic Zolder circuit in Belgium. [2]

On January 23, 2007, Champ Car unveiled its new logo for the Champ Car World Series and the Atlantic Series. According to its website, it is a sleeker design with the new Panoz DP01 chassis on the right with an emphasis on a chicane-style layout, representing the street track racing that dominates Champ Car.

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Roberto Moreno pilots the DP01 in the first running test of the chassis

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers are confirmed to be competing for the 2007 Champ Car season. All teams will use a Cosworth 2.65-litre turbocharged V8 engine, a Panoz DP01 chassis, and Bridgestone tires.

For a complete run-down of who tested in the pre-season, click here.

Team	No #	Driver(s)	Sponsor(s)	Test Drivers
Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing	1	Sébastien Bourdais	McDonald's	N/A
	2	Graham Rahal	MEDIZONE
Forsythe Racing	3	Paul Tracy	Indeck/ Monster Energy Drink	N/A
	3/7	Oriol Servia	Indeck
	7	Mario Dominguez	Telmex/Cabi Developers
Minardi Team USA	4	Dan Clarke	Ticketmaster/OzJet	Zsolt Baumgartner
	14	Robert Doornbos	Muermans/Jumbo Supermarkets/OzJet
Team Australia	5	Will Power	Aussie Vineyards	N/A
	15	Simon Pagenaud	Aussie Vineyards
RSPORTS	8	Alex Tagliani	LXN2 / Lexington Energy Services Procter and Gamble/ Wal-Mart Canada	N/A
	9	Justin Wilson	CDW
Dale Coyne Racing	11	Katherine Legge		N/A
	19	Bruno Junqueira	Sonny's Real Pit Bar-B-Q
PKV Racing	21	Neel Jani	Red Bull/Gulfstream	N/A
	22	Tristan Gommendy	Pay By Touch/Megaspiera
Pacific Coast Motorsports	28	Ryan Dalziel	Ironclad	N/A
	29	Alex Figge Roberto Moreno	Imperial Capital Bank
Conquest Racing	34	Jan Heylen		N/A
	42	Matt Halliday	42 Below

Mid-season changes

• Oriol Servia replaced Paul Tracy at Forsythe Racing for Long Beach & Houston, after Tracy injured his back in a practice accident on Saturday morning of the race weekend at Long Beach. Servia was then signed as a permanent replacement for Mario Dominguez prior to the fourth round of the series.

• Alex Figge was unable to take part in Houston, citing back pain suffered in a crash at Long Beach. He was replaced by Champ Car veteran Roberto Moreno.

• Jan Heylen was signed initially to drove for Conquest Racing at the European rounds of the series, however on 1 June, the team confirmed that the Belgian was signed for the remainder of the season replacing Matt Halliday.

Grands Prix

Rd	Race Name	Circuit	City/Location	TV	Date
1	Vegas Grand Prix	Streets of Las Vegas	Las Vegas, Nevada	NBC	April 8
2	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	Streets of Long Beach	Long Beach, California	NBC	April 15
3	Grand Prix of Houston	JAGFlo Speedway at Reliant Park	Houston, Texas	ESPN	April 22
4	Mazda Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland	Portland International Raceway	Portland, Oregon	ABC	June 10
5	Grand Prix of Cleveland	Burke Lakefront Airport	Cleveland, Ohio	CBS	June 24
6	Mont-Tremblant Grand Prix	Mont-Tremblant	Saint-Jovite, Quebec	ESPN	July 1
7	Steelback Grand Prix	Exhibition Place	Toronto, Ontario	ESPN	July 8
8	West Edmonton Mall Grand Prix	Blatchford Field Airport	Edmonton, Alberta	ESPN	July 22
9	San Jose Grand Prix	Streets of San Jose	San Jose, California	ESPN 2	July 29
10	Generac Grand Prix	Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin	ABC	August 12
11	Belgian Champ Car Grand Prix	Zolder	Heusden-Zolder, Belgium	ESPN 2	August 26
12	Dutch Champ Car Grand Prix	TT Circuit Assen	Assen, Netherlands	ESPN Classic	September 2
13	Lexmark Indy 300	Streets of Surfers Paradise	Gold Coast, Queensland	ESPN 2	October 21
14	Gran Premio de México	Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez	Mexico City, Mexico	ESPN 2	November 11
15	Grand Prix Arizona	Streets of Phoenix	Phoenix, Arizona	ABC	December 2

• The Denver Grand Prix has been cancelled by Champ Car as of February 1st.

• The Chinese Champ Car Grand Prix, after having it's original May 20 date postponed, has been cancelled after the FIA rejected Champ Car's replacement date as of April 2.

Full Series Results

Races

Rd	Race	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning driver	Winning team	Report
1	Vegas Grand Prix	Will Power	Will Power	Will Power	Team Australia	Report
2	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	Sebastien Bourdais	Simon Pagenaud	Sebastien Bourdais	N/H/L Racing	Report
3	Grand Prix of Houston	Will Power	Sebastien Bourdais	Sebastien Bourdais	N/H/L Racing	Report
4	Mazda Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland	Justin Wilson	Sebastien Bourdais	Sebastien Bourdais	N/H/L Racing	Report
5	Grand Prix of Cleveland					Report
6	Mont-Tremblant Grand Prix					Report
7	Steelback Grand Prix					Report
8	West Edmonton Mall Grand Prix					Report
9	San Jose Grand Prix					Report
10	Generac Grand Prix					Report
11	Belgian Champ Car Grand Prix					Report
12	Dutch Champ Car Grand Prix					Report
13	Lexmark Indy 300					Report
14	Gran Premio de México					Report
15	Grand Prix Arizona					Report

Drivers

Point Scoring System:

• 1st - 20th = 31-27-25-23-21-19-17-15-13-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

Bonus Points:

• 1 For Fastest Race Lap
• 1 For Fastest Friday Qualifying Lap
• 1 For Fastest Saturday Qualifying Lap
• 1 For Most Positions Gained From Starting Position (in the event of tie, the better-placed driver gets the point. In Toronto 2006 Will Power moved from 12th to 7th and Charles Zwolsman from 14th to 9th, so point was given to Power.)

The most points a single driver can earn in a single race is 35.

Pos Driver LVG LGB HOU POR CLE MTT TOR EDM SAN ROA ASS ZOL SUR MEX PHO Pts 1 Bourdais Ret 1 1 1 105 2 Power 1 3 11 4 94 3 Doornbos (R) 2 13 3 3 87 4 Tagliani 4 5 9 5 78 5 Wilson Ret 4 10 2 69 6 Servia 2 4 11 61 6 Junqueira 7 6 7 13 61 8 Rahal (R) Ret 8 2 9 59 9 Gommendy (R) 5 11 Ret 7 56 10 Pagenaud (R) Ret 14 5 8 53 11 Dalziel (R) 11 9 8 14 45 12 Jani (R) Ret 7 Ret 12 43 13 Legge 6 10 Ret Ret 39 14 Clarke Ret 12 Ret 6 38 15 Tracy 3 INJ INJ 10 37 16 Dominguez 9 Ret 6 36 17 Figge (R) 8 Ret INJ 16 26 18 Halliday (R) Ret Ret 14 18 19 Moreno 12 9 20 Heylen Ret 6 Pos Driver LVG LGB HOU POR CLE MTT TOR EDM SAN ROA ASS ZOL SUR MEX PHO Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX)

Nation's Cup

• Top result per race counts towards the nations cup

Pos	Country	LVG	LGB	HOU	POR	CLE	MTT	TOR	EDM	SAN	ROA	ASS	ZOL	SUR	MEX	PHO	Points
1	France	5	1	1	1												118
2	Australia	1	3	11	4												94
3	Netherlands	2	13	3	3												89
4	Canada	3	5	9	5												80
5	United States	8	8	2	9												70
6	United Kingdom	Ret	4	10	2												69
7	Spain		2	4	11												61
7	Brazil	7	6	7	13												61
9	England	6	10	Ret	6												54
10	Scotland	11	9	8	14												45
11	Switzerland	Ret	7	Ret	12												43
12	Mexico	9	Ret	6													36
13	New Zealand	Ret	Ret	14													18
14	Belgium				Ret												6
Pos	Country	LVG	LGB	HOU	POR	CLE	MTT	TOR	EDM	SAN	ROA	ASS	ZOL	SUR	MEX	PHO	Points

Driver Breakdown

Pos	Driver	Team	Races	Wins	Top 3	Top 5	Top 10	Poles	Laps Led	Pts
1	Bourdais	N/H/L Racing	4	3	3	3	3	1	171	105
2	Power	Team Australia	4	1	2	3	3	2	42	94
3	Doornbos (R)	Minardi Team USA	4	0	3	3	3	0	1	87
4	Tagliani	RSPORTS	4	0	0	3	4	0	11	78
5	Wilson	RSPORTS	4	0	1	2	3	1	60	69
6	Servia	Forsythe Racing	3	0	1	2	2	0	7	61
6	Junqueira	Dale Coyne Racing	4	0	0	0	3	0	3	61
8	Rahal (R)	N/H/L Racing	4	0	1	1	3	0	0	59
9	Gommendy (R)	PKV Racing	4	0	0	1	2	0	31	56
10	Pagenaud (R)	Team Australia	4	0	0	1	2	0	0	53
11	Dalziel (R)	PC Motorsports	4	0	0	0	2	0	0	45
12	Jani (R)	PKV Racing	4	0	0	0	2	0	0	43
13	Legge	Dale Coyne Racing	4	0	0	0	2	0	0	39
14	Clarke	Minardi Team USA	4	0	0	0	1	0	0	38
15	Tracy	Forsythe Racing	2	0	1	1	2	0	16	37
16	Dominguez	Forsythe Racing	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	36
17	Figge (R)	PC Motorsports	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	26
18	Halliday (R)	Conquest Racing	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	18
19	Moreno	PC Motorsports	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	9
20	Heylen	Conquest Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	6

Roshfrans Rookie of the Year Standings

Car#	Team	Driver	Points Behind
14	Minardi Team USA	Robert Doornbos	87
2	N/H/L Racing	Graham Rahal	-28
22	PKV Racing	Tristan Gommendy	-31
15	Team Australia	Simon Pagenaud	-34
28	Pacific Coast Motorsports	Ryan Dalziel	-42
21	PKV Racing	Neel Jani	-44
29	Pacific Coast Motorsports	Alex Figge	-61
42	Conquest Racing	Matt Halliday	-69

Rule changes

On December 12, Champ Car released details on new rules for the 2007 season including the implementation of standing starts at venues where they can be safely implemented. Additionally, all events will be timed events instead of running a set number of laps. As the time limit approaches, the drivers will be notified that they are beginning the last lap. The leader will NOT be shown the white flag, which will now be employed in a similar manner to its use by the FIA. Teams will also be allowed unlimited access to their tires during all qualifying sessions. The requirement for each team to use at least one set of the alternate Bridgestone Potenzas during the race will remain in place.

From this season onwards drivers no longer receive a bonus point for leading a lap of the race.

Rumours and speculation

Teams

• It appears more than likely that Paul Stoddart, former owner of Formula One team Minardi, will start a team at least partly backed by Formula One promoter, Dutchman Harry Muermans in 2007. On December 18 it was announced that Paul Stoddart had bought the CTE Racing-HVM Team, and that it would be renamed Minardi Team USA.

• Carl Russo's team, RuSport Racing, has been purchased by Dan Pettit of PKV Racing. Russo felt that the demands of his expanding telecom business Calix prevented him from running both a large company and a race team. The team will remain based in Denver and all key personnel will remain the same.

• Gerald Forsythe has announced he will likely field only 1 car, to be driven by Paul Tracy, for the 2007 season. But he has been announced that he will have a second car.

• It appears Gelles Racing will not answer the bell for the 2007 season as the team has cancelled its orders for the new DP01 chassis.

• Although the team considered folding due to lack of sponsorship, Conquest Racing has procured an unnamed sponsor and will be able to run 1 car in 2007.

• Despite rumors of a 3-car operation, PKV Racing has confirmed that it will only run 2 cars for the 2007 season.

• Teams RuSport and Rocketsports have confirmed that they will scale back their operations in 2007, running 1 car apiece. Further, there are rumors that these teams may unite operations in Lansing, MI with the potential of running as a single, two-car team for the 2007 season. Nothing has been confirmed in regards to this.

Drivers

• Nelson Philippe is rumored to leave Champ Car and become a test driver for Toro Rosso and to also drive in GP2 or to race in NASCAR.
• Tracy signed a 5 year contract with Forsythe Racing earlier in 2006, while Power signed a 3 year deal with Team Australia back in 2005.

• Neel Jani & Dario Franchitti have been linked to a drive for PKV Racing for 2007, while Christian Klien has turned down the offer.. Franchitti is however likely to re-sign with Andretti Green Racing in the Indy Racing League with a limited American Le Mans Series program. It was announced on 22 January 2007 that Neel Jani had been signed to drive for PKV for the 2007 season.

• Robert Doornbos has revealed he has tested with Forsythe Racing in December, leaving the option to race in America and test for Red Bull at the same time. He beat the time of Paul Tracy who had driven on the track a lot more.

• Alexandre Prémat has been linked to a drive for Mi-Jack Conquest Racing for 2007.

• Antonio Pizzonia & Raphael Matos were linked to a drive for Rocketsports Racing for 2007. Pizzonia was confirmed as lead driver Giancarlo Fisichella's GP2 team in 2007 on December 6, ending speculation about his Champ Car future.

• Jay Howard & Enrico Toccacelo have been linked to a drive for Dale Coyne Racing for 2007.

• Tomas Enge & Ho-Pin Tung have been linked to a drive for multiple teams for 2007.

• Depending on a test with Newman-Haas Racing on September 12-13, it is almost certain that Graham Rahal will be offered a full-time ride with either Newman-Haas Racing or PKV Racing for 2007. Whether he takes the offer or moves to Europe to follow a Formula One career remains to be seen.

• Robert Doornbos, Jos Verstappen, Dan Clarke, Nelson Philippe, Katherine Legge & Zsolt Baumgartner have been linked to a drive for Paul Stoddart's Minardi Team USA for 2007.

• A. J. Allmendinger agreed a deal to see him racing in NASCAR in 2007, ending his short lived association with Forsythe.

• Alex Tagliani has been in contact with Rocketsports Racing, Dale Coyne Racing & RuSPORT about a possible ride for next season, citing the unlikelyhood of returning to Team Australia due to their desire to run another Australian driver alongside Will Power in 2007. Ryan Briscoe was seen as the favourite option for the team , however on 22 January 2007 it was announced that Briscoe would be joining Penske's attack on the American Le Mans Series driving their Porsche LMP2 car.. In early March Tagliani announced that he would be returning to Rocketsports, where he had driven in 2003 and 2004.

Races

• On January 15, the Denver Post reported that the Grand Prix of Denver, scheduled for August 19, would likely be cancelled. On February 1st it was cancelled by Champ Car.

• According to their respective websites, VISA and First Data have revoked sponsorship of the Las Vegas and Phoenix events

• Kevin Kalkhoven reported that the Chinese Grand Prix, originally scheduled for May 20, would be moved to October to save transportation costs by being paired with the Australian race and to allow for more time for a potential major sponsor for the event. However, the FIA did not approve the date change and the race was canceled.

Series

• At the 2006 Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, hastily organized talks were held between Kevin Kalkhoven, Tony George & Mario Andretti about the possibility of hosting "double-header" (two separate races for each league on the same weekend) race weekends between IRL & Champ Car in 2007. The events under discussion were the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and another undisclosed road race later in the year. Currently any such arrangement is unlikely.

• On November 16, Champ Car confirmed the signing of a new multi-year television deal to show 11 races on ESPN2, ESPN, and ESPN on ABC in 2007, with the networks becoming the exclusive broadcaster in 2008. This deal includes broadcasts of the Champ Car Atlantic Championship and Spanish-language broadcasting rights.

Supporting Events

• Speed World Challenge GT and Touring will be at the Toronto Indy
• V8 Supercars and V8 Utes will be at the Lexmark Indy 300

Notes

• Ford announced it will no longer badge the Cosworth engines. Mazda has been confirmed as the new pace car and courtesy vehicle supplier.

References

See also

• 2007 in Champ Car Atlantic
• 2007 in Formula 1
• 2007 in GP2
• 2007 in IRL
• 2007 in IPS
• 2007 in NASCAR
• 2007 in sports