One in - one out

Published on 20 January 2006 by Thorsten Hendriks

A1 Team Canada has added experienced Indy Racing League racer Patrick Carpentier to its line-up. This will be announced at a press conference in Montreal today. The conference will be attended by team figurehead John Surtees and regular driver Sean McIntosh and it's expected that Carpentier will be drafted into the white car bearing the red maple leaf logos for the A1GP rounds at Mexico's Fundidora Park circuit in Monterrey and for the following round at Laguna Seca as these are circuits that he knows well from his days racing in the ChampCar series.



Despite testing "Black Beauty" at the A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Dubai in December, Indy Racing League frontrunner Scott Dixon's hopes of racing for A1 Team New Zealand in the rounds at Monterrey in Mexico and Laguna Seca in the USA have been scuppered as the IRL team for which he races, Chip Ganassi Racing, wants him to focus on pre-season testing and the sorting of a new Dallara chassis and a new Honda engine after campaigning a Toyota-engined Panoz in 2005.

A1 Team New Zealand chief executive Bob McMurray said: "Scott drives with a great deal of national pride, so to deny our request was very difficult for them. Their thinking is that if Scott is able to accomplish his personal goal to win races, the Indy 500 and the championship, New Zealand will benefit that it has with Michael Campbell winning the 2005 US Open."

Dixon is due to start his IRL testing commitments at Phoenix next week, working towards the opening round at Miami on 26 March, and the A1 Team New Zealand seat will continue to be shared between Matt Halliday and Jonny Reid.
Thorsten Hendriks