OCTOBER 22, 2002

Yoong to CART in 2003

Alex Yoong may be moving to America in 2003, rather than staying on with the Minardi team in a testing role. The young Malaysian recently revealed that he is close to signing a deal in CART, which would be a boost to both Yoong and the struggling series.

"A year's testing would do me good for sure, but I do not believe Minardi will be testing much in 2003," said Yoong. "I feel a year's racing would be better and am looking forward to CART. Also the fact that there is a chance to win races instead of racing at the back is very attractive to me. The competition in CART is very intense but it's possible for me to do well there. The series have quite a number of races outside America and I'm sure it will expand further."

Despite Yoong's less than spectacular performances in 2002, he will bring recognition to CART, which is struggling to keep teams and drivers from jumping to the rival Indy Racing League. It is not expected that Yoong's deal will be part of Chris Pook's plan to help fund the jump of big name drivers to the series (like perhaps Jacques Villeneuve). CART is probably Yoong's only option for a race seat in 2003.