Long Beach and Ford engines are targeted by rival series
source:
autosport.com
Indy Racing League founder Tony George has filed a bid to purchase certain
assets of Championship Auto Racing Teams in a US Bankruptcy Court. The bid will
be up against the Open Wheel Racing Series group, which aims to keep the series
alive in 2004.
IRL executive vice president of communications Fred Nation confirmed the news
that the series had beaten a Friday deadline to submit a bid in US Bankruptcy
Court. "The bid was delivered early this evening to attorneys for CART and for
the creditors committee," said Nation on Thursday. "The bid is substantial."
According to a report on SPEEDTV.com, the IRL wants to buy the rights to
America's most popular street race, the Long Beach Grand Prix, and also purchase
CART's engine programme.
CART owned the turbocharged Cosworth engines campaigned by all its team in 2003
and they were leased to those teams by CART. If George is successful in his
buyout, the OWRS that is trying to keep CART's legacy alive would literally be
powerless in 2004. The IRL runs normally-aspirated engines manufactured by
Toyota, Honda and Chevrolet.
Since taking over for Formula 1 in 1984, CART's cornerstone event has been the
spring street show at Long Beach. It's the second biggest open-wheel race in the
country behind the Indianapolis 500 - usually drawing more than 150,000
spectators in three days. Sponsored by Toyota, one of the IRL's engine
suppliers, Long Beach is scheduled to celebrate its 30th anniversary on April 18
when OWRS opens its planned season.