JANUARY 31, 2003

Formula 3000 men sign up for CART

Newman/Haas Racing has finally announced the signing of Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais as Bruno Junqueira's team mate in the CART Champ Car series this year. The pair will be chasing a fifth CART title for the team. Bourdais, the reigning International Formula 3000 Champion, hopes to use CART as a springboard back to Formula 1.

"To move to a new series is exciting but to do it with a team that won the championship the previous season is the best opportunity to succeed," Bourdais said.

It has also been announced that Darren Manning will be racing in CART this year, having signed a deal to join Walker Racing. Manning made his Champ Car debut last year at Rockingham in a Dale Coyne-run Team St George entry and led 18 laps although he eventually finished ninth. Walker Racing has confirmed that it intends to run a second Reynard-Ford for a yet-to-be-announced driver. Manning has spent the last few years trying to find a way into F1 but two years as a BAR test driver failed to open any doors and so he has headed off to America.

The CART season kicks off with the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in Florida on February 23.