AUGUST 11, 2007

Wilson to Newman Haas Lanigan?

The word from the United States is that Sebastien Bourdais's drive at Newman Haas Lanigan Racing will go to Britain's Justin Wilson. The 29-year-old Sheffield driver, who won the International Formula 3000 title in 2001 broke into F1 in 2003 with Minardi and was then hired in the midseason by Jaguar Racing.

The word from the United States is that Sebastien Bourdais's drive at Newman Haas Lanigan Racing will go to Britain's Justin Wilson. The 29-year-old Sheffield driver, who won the International Formula 3000 title in 2001 broke into F1 in 2003 with Minardi and was then hired in the midseason by Jaguar Racing. At the end of the year he was dropped by Jaguar and, unable to find another F1 ride, went to the United States and raced Champ Cars for Mi-Jack Conquest Racing. He moved on to RuSport in 2005 and last year did very well, winning several races and finishing as runner up to Bourdais in the championship. RuSport underwent major changes over the winter months and has failed to be as competitive this year as it was in 2006 and so a move to Newman Haas Lanigan makes sense, not least because Lanigan was a partner at Mi-Jack Conquest when Wilson first arrived there. It is anticipated that Justin's team-mate will be Graham Rahal, who has had a promising but not exceptional first year with the team.