Forsythe Championship Racing is announcing today the cessation of its racing operations. After 13 years of competition in CART and the Champ Car World Series, the team has been unable to secure the necessary sponsorship to be able to compete in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series in 2008. Forsythe Racing Inc., the parent company of FCR, will participate in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the Champ Car finale, with drivers to be announced.Forsythe Racing’s development program will continue, with popular Canadian racer James Hinchcliffe and Mexican rising star David Garza competing in the 2008 Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda.
The two-car team will participate in the upcoming open test at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on March 10 and 11, as well as the full 12-race Atlantic season, which begins on April 18-20 at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Full Release at ForsytheRacing
Forsythe announced today that they could not secure sufficient funding to move into IndyCar and would only contest the Long Beach race, which will use Champ Car equipment.
Although team owner Gerry Forsythe did not attend the IRL’s orientation meeting for new teams on Monday in person, his squad were represented, along with the other eight former Champ Car outfits.
An IRL spokesman said that while Forsythe’s decision was a shame for the championship, there was still plenty of interest from other teams.
“There were no guarantees,” he said. “We’re disappointed in Gerry’s decision, but there were no guarantees if he was going to come race with us or if anybody was going to race with us.
“On Monday, all nine teams were at our meetings in Indianapolis. We batted 1.000 at our orientation, and our car count is going to be a dramatic increase over last year, with or without Gerry.”
Long-time Forsythe driver Paul Tracy has already declared that he will look for an alternative seat in the IndyCar Series, while the team’s vice-president of operations Neil Micklewright has suggested that Forsythe could be reformed for 2009 if sponsorship was forthcoming. The team’s Atlantic series programme will continue. Full Story
I wondered why Gerry Forsythe and Paul Gentilozzi were notably missing during yesterday’s press conference with George & Kalkhoven … I also wonder if Rocketsports announcement is next. Should be interesting to see what Gentilozzi is going to do now, especially considering his recent deal with Sangari, who’s tied up with Petrobas … hmmmm.
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