According to SPEED Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe, Champ Car co-owners, have reached an agreement with IRL's Tony George to race together this season.
George offered the Champ Car ownership free Dallara chassis and Honda engines to any Champ Car team that signs up for the full season in addition to receiving $1.2 million per car as part of the IRL's new TEAM program.
Additionally, the Champ Car races at Long Beach, Edmonton and Surfer's Paradise, Australia would be added to the '08 IndyCar Series schedule. But unfortunately there are some problems with the rescheduling of those events.
The IRL race at Motegi, Japan is scheduled to run April 18-20, which is the same weekend as the Long Beach Grand Prix. But Long Beach event general manager says the most successful street race in North America is locked into its date and cannot be moved due to prior contract commitment with the Long Beach Convention Center.
The circuit of Motegi, owned by Honda of Japan, also faces some challenges in re-scheduling so Honda's Robert Clarke, Champ Car's Dick Eidswick, Kalkhoven and George are desperately trying to find a solution.
The Motegi organisers were agreeable to moving back one week, which is currently the date for the IRL race at Kansas City. The ISC-owned facility reportedly declined the request because it's already a sell-out for the NASCAR/IRL package.
Clarke, the former leader of Honda Performance Development who tried to put the two sides together in 2006 along with Mario Andretti, might have to travel with George to Japan this weekend to try and find a solution while Eidswick works on Champ Car's options.
Drivers, mechanics and owners in Champ Car learned of this amalgamation after returning from a test last week at Sebring in Florida. As expected, most were happy to hear about unification even though it means their current Panoz chassis would be rendered show cars.
George offered the Champ Car ownership free Dallara chassis and Honda engines to any Champ Car team that signs up for the full season in addition to receiving $1.2 million per car as part of the IRL's new TEAM program.
Additionally, the Champ Car races at Long Beach, Edmonton and Surfer's Paradise, Australia would be added to the '08 IndyCar Series schedule. But unfortunately there are some problems with the rescheduling of those events.
The IRL race at Motegi, Japan is scheduled to run April 18-20, which is the same weekend as the Long Beach Grand Prix. But Long Beach event general manager says the most successful street race in North America is locked into its date and cannot be moved due to prior contract commitment with the Long Beach Convention Center.
The circuit of Motegi, owned by Honda of Japan, also faces some challenges in re-scheduling so Honda's Robert Clarke, Champ Car's Dick Eidswick, Kalkhoven and George are desperately trying to find a solution.
The Motegi organisers were agreeable to moving back one week, which is currently the date for the IRL race at Kansas City. The ISC-owned facility reportedly declined the request because it's already a sell-out for the NASCAR/IRL package.
Clarke, the former leader of Honda Performance Development who tried to put the two sides together in 2006 along with Mario Andretti, might have to travel with George to Japan this weekend to try and find a solution while Eidswick works on Champ Car's options.
Drivers, mechanics and owners in Champ Car learned of this amalgamation after returning from a test last week at Sebring in Florida. As expected, most were happy to hear about unification even though it means their current Panoz chassis would be rendered show cars.