source:
crash.net
Dale Coyne Racing will return to the CART Championship on a full time basis in 2003 as many had predicted but will not be running Briton Darren Manning as has instead hired Swiss Formula 3000 pilot Joel Camathias.
The 21 year old Camathias, who scored a single fifth place finish in a full season of International Formula 3000 two years ago tested Coyne's 2001-spec Lola-Ford driven by Manning and Andre Lotterer this year at Sebring last month.
After leaving the Belgian KTR outfit at the end of 2001, Camathias spent the majority of 2002 pursuing sponsorship opportunities for an assault on the CART Championship. Although no sponsor has yet been signed, Coyne seems to have the budget in place for at least a single car operation already. It is expected Camathias will use Coyne's traditional #19 plate next year, a fitting number that will also represent Coyne's 19th consecutive year running a car in the CART Championship.
However 2003 will be the first time in three years that Coyne will run a full-time CART effort and his team has entered just four races in the past two years (Monterrey and Long Beach in 2001 - Rockingham and Mexico City in 2002).
"Joel ran very consistent and competitive times at Sebring", reported Coyne. "Having never driven a car with this much horsepower, Joel took to it quite naturally and continued to improve his times over the two days at Sebring."
Camathias, who is managed by the experienced PoleVision Racing in Switzerland, comes to CART with a wealth of experience at his young age of 21. The native of Lugano, Switzerland, started in go karts in 1995, and after amassing a winning record in international competition moved to formula cars in late 1997 at the age 16.
In 1998, driving in the Italian Formula 3 Federale Championship, Camathias recorded three top-six positions and finished 10th in the series for his rookie year. The seasons of 1999 and 2000 saw Camathias compete in the Nissan Telefonica Championship, where over the two years he recorded 15 top-10 finishes. He finished 15th and ninth in the championship, respectively.