JANUARY 16, 2002

F1 men struggle in America

FORMER Williams test driver Bruno Junqueira did not have a great debut season in CART in 2001 but it now looks like he will be staying with the team for a second year, alongside new signing Kenny Brack. Junqueira and Nicolas Minassian started last year as the Ganassi line-up but Minassian was later dropped in favor of American Memo Gidley.

Gidley is still looking for work at the moment while another rising US star Townsend Bell has been signed up by Patrick Racing. The team is running only one car this season and at the moment former F1 driver Roberto Moreno has yet to find work. Also still looking for work in the United States is Johnny Herbert. The former GP winner tested IRL cars impressively in the autumn but at the moment he has not yet found a drive. There are suggestions that Johnny may end up driving for Audi in the American Le Mans Series. Max Papis, dropped by Team Rahal at the end of last year, is also still looking for a drive but there are suggestions that he may get the second Red Bull Cheever seat in IRL.

Times are hard in US racing at the moment with a number of teams in both CART and IRL being forced to cut back. In IRL Treadway Racing has merged with the Schmidt team and the Galles team is not yet confirmed as having the budget needed to compete.

Print News Story