Champ Car World Series
Open-wheel | |
Country | International (mostly in United States) |
---|---|
Inaugural season | 2004 |
Folded | 2008 |
Chassis suppliers | Lola (2004-2006) later Panoz (2007) |
Engine suppliers | Ford (2004-2006) later Cosworth (2007) |
Last Drivers' champion | Sébastien Bourdais (2007) |
Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), which sanctioned open-wheel racing from 1979 until dissolving after the 2003 season.
Vehicles
Champ Cars were single-seat,
With funds low, development was effectively frozen with a focus on developing a universal chassis, and the series generally ran on CART-spec 2002 Lola chassis from 2003 to 2006. The new chassis was developed by Panoz and debuted in 2007 as the Panoz DP01. The chassis was well received by drivers and fans.
The series leased 750hp 2.65 L V-8 turbocharged Cosworth XFE engines to teams, which had been purchased by CART for the 2003 season.
History
CART, following the departure of a number of top teams and engine manufacturers to the rival
Once CART's assets were secured, the series began a major push to be able to field enough cars and drivers for the April Long Beach Grand Prix, with the final drivers announced just before practice began. The series featured three longtime CART teams,
Champ Car eventually moved into a 'de facto' all road-course format. The series would experiment with dramatic rule changes, including special compound tires that were to be used for a fixed portion of the race, standing starts, and timed races.
Both Champ Car and the IRL continued to suffer from reduced fields, sponsorship, and television ratings. Merger talks in 2006 were halted after disagreements regarding Champ Car's upcoming Panoz chassis and leaked details of a shared new series upset IMS.[1] The 2007 season saw the withdrawal of Bridgestone and Ford as presenting sponsors[1] and some race cancellations.
By January 2008, both the IRL and Champ Car feared they did not have enough participating cars to maintain their TV and sanctioning contract minimums.
While the first "merged" event of the rechristened "
Television
Spike TV aired all races in 2004, with select races aired on high definition channel HDNet.
In 2005 and 2006, coverage was split among NBC, CBS, and Speed Channel. In 2007, coverage was split among NBC, CBS, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN Classic.
Champions
Season | Driver | Team | Chassis/Engine Cup | Jim Trueman Rookie of the Year |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford | ||||
2004 | Sébastien Bourdais | Newman/Haas Racing | Lola/Cosworth–Ford | A. J. Allmendinger |
2005 | Sébastien Bourdais | Newman/Haas Racing | Lola/Cosworth–Ford | Timo Glock |
2006 | Sébastien Bourdais | Newman/Haas Racing | Lola/Cosworth–Ford | Will Power |
Champ Car World Series | ||||
2007 | Sébastien Bourdais | Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing | Panoz/Ford | Robert Doornbos |
References
- Whitaker, Sigur E. (2015). The Indy Car Wars: The 30 Year Fight for Control of American Open-Wheel Racing. North Carolina: McFarland and Company. ISBN 978-1-4766-1980-4.
- ^ a b Whitaker, p. 123.
- ^ Whitaker, p. 126.
- ^ "Done deal :: IndyCar® Series". March 13, 2008. Archived from the original on March 13, 2008. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
- ^ Whitaker, p. 132.