JANUARY 2, 2003

Pantano joins BC Motorsports

Giorgio Pantano's chances of becoming a Williams test driver have taken a plunge with the news that the Italian is going to join the new BC Motorsports CART team, which will run an ex-Rahal Lola-Ford.

Giorgio Pantano's chances of becoming a Williams test driver have taken a plunge with the news that the Italian is going to join the new BC Motorsports CART team, which will run an ex-Rahal Lola-Ford. The team recently acquired the assets and benefits of Tom Weiringa's Sigma Automotive team. The team has landed backing from the oil company Sunoco, which has been very active in recent years in drag racing in the US.

Sunoco is the modern version of the Sun Oil Company which has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since 1925. In recent years it has rid itself of all domestic oil and gas exploration and production and focussed on refining and marketing. The company became Sunoco in 1998 and the CART programme is believed to be an effort to spread the company's name and blue and yellow logo to a wider audience.

Pantano says that he wants to make an impression in CART and so be able to return to F1 in the future.

The news means that Vitantonio Liuzzi moves into the favourite spot for the Williams test drive although the team has already decided that it will be working its current drivers a little harder in 2003.