03 January 2003

CART

Brask Management star Giorgio Pantano hopes to showcase his qualities in CART during the coming two seasons.

The Brask Management team has secured the young Itaian's move to the United States by securing a deal to race in the 2003 Champ Car series. Giorgio, who was last season's FIA International Formula 3000 championship runner-up has turned his back on trying to land an F1 test drive and has signed for two years with the all-new BC Motorsports team based in California. The deal was finalised after BMW Williams F1, who Giorgio tested with late last year, opted not to take on a fourth driver in 2003. Giorgio will drive an ex-Rahal Lola-Ford run in the famous blue-and-yellow colours of oil giant Sunoco.

"My aim is to try and make a strong impression in CART and, like Jacques Villeneuve and Juan Pablo Montoya, come back across the Atlantic to race in F1 in a few years. I see this as a step towards F1, not a step away. Maybe F1 has not noticed my qualities in F3000 – so now I must prove myself in CART."

What is CART?

The Championship Auto Racing Teams series - AKA Champ Cars - is the premier single-seater series in the United States, but is gaining a worldwide audience and following with races in Japan, Australia and Europe. The cars are heavier and less technically advanced than those in Grand Prix racing but the racing is extremely competitive and entertaining. Races are contested on oval super speedway circuits and road courses

Links: CART