JANUARY 24, 2002

Rising Spanish star to get second PacWest seat?

Oriol Servia may have long-term dreams of a career in Formula 1 alongside his fellow countrymen Pedro de la Rosa and Marc Gene but for the moment at least he is planning to stay in the United States of America.

ORIOL SERVIA may have long-term dreams of a career in Formula 1 alongside his fellow countrymen Pedro de la Rosa and Marc Gene but for the moment at least he is planning to stay in the United States of America. It is expected that Servia will shortly be named as the replacement for Mauricio Gugelmin in the PacWest CART team. The team tested Servia this week at Sebring and a final decision is expected within a week or two.

Also due for a decision is Eddie Cheever who will decide the identity of the second driver in his Indy Racing League team. Cheever is going to race one car but the second is up for grabs and former Jaguar Racing test driver Tomas Scheckter was testing the car this week at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Cheever however says that he is more inclined to go for an experienced racer and we hear that Johnny Herbert is the man most likely to get the drive, although other names being bandied about include Buddy Rice, Dan Wheldon and Jeff Ward.