Six Weeks for a Fix?!
April 24, 2007

We have a six-week "Spring Break" that will be utilized by almost all teams as time to "fix this damn thing"... nothing to panic about but the new Panoz has brought some wrinkles with it beside costs...

First off, Elan factory is going to be busy making replacement parts for those little hiccups that many teams experienced... the only major problem to solve by Elan is the issue of tubs cracking - and the way I see a solution is to start working on DP02 ?!...

But, like I've said earlier, no reason to panic... ...now let's take a look at what individual teams are "looking" to do during this little vacation:

NHLR = other than improving the car they have not much to worry...

Forsythe = PT claims he will be ready for Portland but word in Houston was that it is too optimistic and Servia will sub once again... now car #7: Dominguez' three race deal is over and he showed everybody (including sponsors) that he isn't worth the little money Telmex brought... now GF is going back to square one and will try to extend the Telmex/Cabicorp sponsorship to bring in David Martinez or whatever other idea he might have... and surprisingly, now comes the Jan Heylen story: apparently besides CC needing an 18th car GF has "jumped" on an opportunity (ie: $$$) of having full backing from Rhino's and this will be FCR's third entry at Portland... ...unless the Telmex deal goes sour - then it will be back to a two-car team...

Walker = no worries here, team is doing better than expected...

Minardi = expect Speedy Dan to get some spanking or he will be replaced before the season is over...

DCR = there might be no official subsidizing but knowing Dale Coyne and what a penny-pincher he is the only answer to why without sponsorship he has Junky and Kathy (with a two-year contract, btw) despite her driving style not being approved by the team - is Mr.KK - no doubt here what-so-ever...

Conquest = Eric Bachelart "miraculously" escaped doom and wound up with a lovely car #42 with Matt Halliday but that was only a three-race deal and while the rookie still needs a lot of polishing the financial question here is looming large... nevermind a second car this season...

PKVR = team has their hands full with two rookies...

RSports = team has their hands full with two stable drivers and PG's big mouth...

PCM = rookie team learning their ropes - things can only get better for them...

So, to sum it up, there might be a long lull in racing action but each team will be quite busy during the next six weeks... let's hope that all the bugs will be resolved by Portland...

zerO

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