Reigning two-time champion Sébastien Bourdais won the series championship for the third consecutive time with Newman/Haas Racing, becoming the first driver to win three American open wheel National Championships in a row since Ted Horn in 1948, and the first non-American driver in history to win three titles.
Background and series news
The Ford–Cosworth XFE engine continued to be the exclusive power plant for the series. Bridgestone also continued as the exclusive series tire supplier. The two companies continued the marketing agreement that branded the series Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford.
All teams ran the Lola B02/00 chassis, the final year these chassis would be run as a de-facto spec chassis in the series. A new bespoke formula for the series was announced on August 3, 2006 with the unveiling of the Panoz DP01, which would feature the same engine package. The car was slated to weigh 100 pounds less, have onboard starters and paddle shifting, as well as refined aerodynamics.[1]
On December 15, 2005, Bruno Junqueira announced he would return to the No. 2 Newman/Haas Racing car in 2006, signing a one-year extension after the conclusion of his three-year deal.[3] Junqueira had missed most of the 2005 season due to an injury sustained at the Indianapolis 500 in May, with Oriol Servià finishing second in the standings as a substitute. Newman/Haas tried to secure funding to run a third car for Servià in 2006, but verbal agreements on the matter failed to materialize.[38]
On February 14, 2006, PKV Racing announced Katherine Legge as the first new driver of the team, making the step up from the Atlantic Championship after finishing third in the 2005 standings with three wins. Legge became the seventh woman to compete at the top level of American open-wheel car racing, the first to race in CART or Champ Car since Lyn St. James, who last drove in the series in 1995, and the first to run a full season of Champ Car racing.[15][39] She effectively replaced driver-owner Jimmy Vasser, who had been pondering the possibility of scaling back or retiring altogether for months.
On February 21, 2006, Forsythe Racing announced Mario Domínguez would remain with the team for the 2006 season as Paul Tracy's teammate.[4] The announcement also ratified Tracy's place in the team, despite still having a year left in his contract, as his plans for the year had been on doubt due to his intended full-time switch to NASCAR in 2007.[40] However, by April, Tracy spoke on the media about talks for an extension of his current contract with Forsythe,[41] and a new five-year deal was announced on May 11, 2006.[42]
On March 9, 2006, PKV Racing announced Oriol Servià as their lead driver, fresh off his runner-up finish in 2005 for Newman/Haas as an injury stand-in.[13] PKV had tested with Ryan Briscoe, Franck Montagny, Giorgio Pantano and Ryan Dalziel, but elected to go with an experienced Champ Car driver to partner rookie Katherine Legge. Servià's announcement officially left Cristiano da Matta without a seat despite having two years left in his contract, as the former CART champion's relationship with the team had fallen off following a difficult 2005 season.[43]
On March 15, 2006, Jimmy Vasser announced he would step back from full-time competition, and confirmed his participation in the Grand Prix of Long Beach in a third car for PKV Racing.[14] While adamant it could be his final Champ Car race, Vasser stopped short of announcing a retirement. The statement indicated Vasser could take part in "selected races" during the season, but he would only make one further start two years later at the Champ Car finale, also in Long Beach.[44]
On March 28, 2006, CTE-HVM Racing completed their line-up by announcing British rookie Dan Clarke for their second seat. Clarke graduated from British Formula 3, where he finished 5th behind future IndyCar drivers Charlie Kimball and Mike Conway.[10] Clarke took the spot intended for Ronnie Bremer, who saw his 2005 deal extended to 2006 back in July when HVM demoted him due to a lack of sponsorship.[46] Bremer lated claimed that HVM failed to provide the promised funding to solve the budget shortfall, which led to the deal being voided a few days before the start of the season.[47]
On March 29, 2006, Dale Coyne Racing announced the signing of Cristiano da Matta, who had lost his seat in PKV Racing after returning from Formula One.[29] The former series champion agreed to forfeit his salary and drive for free in order to secure the ride.[43]
On March 29, 2006, Andrew Ranger was announced by Mi-Jack Conquest Racing for a one-race deal at Long Beach, returning to the team after his rookie campaign.[33] Afterwards, Ranger and Conquest tried to secure additional races, as funding was already in place for the three Canadian events.[48] On May 4, the deal was extended for the rest of the season.[34]
On March 29, 2006, Rocketsports Racing announced it would compete at Long Beach with just one car, driven by rookie Antônio Pizzonia in a one-race deal. Pizzonia had competed partially in Formula One for three seasons, including the last five races of 2005.[16]Franck Montagny had been close to secure the second seat[49] before the team was approached with a Brazilian-backed sponsorship effort, which called for Pizzonia to team up with Enrique Bernoldi for a full season under the Team Brazil banner. Both drivers tested with the team, but a deal was not reached in time for the start of the season.[50] Negotiations continued over the season, but no agreement was made.[20]
On April 4, 2006, Team Australia announced Alex Tagliani would remain with the team in 2006. Previously, the team unsuccessfully tried to lure Ryan Briscoe after he failed to land a seat at PKV Racing, in order to form an all-Australian lineup alongside Will Power.[12]
On April 7, 2006, shortly before the start of practice for the Grand Prix of Long Beach, Dale Coyne Racing announced Jan Heylen would drive the No. 11 car full-time. Heylen was the reigning Eurocup Mégane Trophy champion, after stints in Formula 3000 and Formula Three. He beat fellow rookie Nicky Pastorelli for the seat, after both drivers took part in the pre-season test at Fontana a few days earlier.[28]
On May 25, Rocketsports Racing announced it would field a second car for rookie Tõnis Kasemets in six unspecified races, beginning with the fifth round of the season at Portland. After four races in a row, Kasemets would only race again at Road America in September, competing in five events instead.[19] Kasemets became the first Estonian to drive in Champ Car, after finishing second in the Atlantic Championship with three wins against the also promoted Charles Zwolsman Jr. and Katherine Legge.[20]
On June 9, following the race at the Milwaukee Mile, the RuSPORT team announced that they were replacing A. J. Allmendinger with Cristiano da Matta, who switched after just four races with Dale Coyne Racing.[25] The change came as a total surprise, as Allmendinger had been the cornerstone of the team since its founding in 2002. The move was caused by profound differences between both parties over RuSPORT and Allmendinger's joint potential to overcome Bourdais' early domination.[53]
On June 12 Forsythe Racing announced they were parting company with Mario Domínguez over "changes in the engineering structure of the team (that) no longer suit both parties". Domínguez had clashed twice with his teammate Paul Tracy and Bruno Junqueira in the first four races.[54] On June 14, the open seat was filled, as A. J. Allmendinger was announced as Domínguez's replacement, just five days after being fired himself.[7]
Since July, the line-up at Rocketsports Racing underwent a number of changes:
On July 5, it was announced that the No. 8 car driven by Nicky Pastorelli would not compete at the Toronto event, after one of Pastorelli's sponsors had defaulted.[18] The sponsorship problem was solved in time for the next round in Edmonton, as announced on July 18.[55]
On September 18, Mario Domínguez was signed to complete the season in the No. 8 car for the final three races, switching from Dale Coyne Racing. Nicky Pastorelli was out again due to his continuing financial issues, and while the team hoped to have him in the No. 18 for the final two races, it went with Pizzonia instead.[19]
On August 3, Cristiano da Matta sustained serious head injuries in a testing accident at Road America, after colliding with a deer that crossed the track between turns 5 and 6.[26] Da Matta was transferred out of intensive care unit later that month and left the hospital on September 23, but the crash sidelined him for the rest of the season, and it eventually ended his open-wheel racing career. In response to the crash, RuSPORT withdrew the No. 10 car for the Denver event,[56] and no replacement driver was announced for Montréal[57] or Road America, despite rumours of Dario Franchitti finishing the season in the car.[58]
After Mario Domínguez's departure, Dale Coyne Racing filled the No. 19 on a race-by-race basis. On September 19, it announced rookie Juan Cáceres for the race at Road America. Cáceres, who had already tested with the team earlier that month, was fifth in points in Euroseries 3000 at the time.[31] On October 12, Andreas Wirth was announced for Surfers Paradise on the heels of his third place finish in Champ Car Atlantic, and he remained in the No. 19 for the season finale with no formal announcement.[32]
On October 24, following the race in Surfers Paradise, A. J. Allmendinger announced that he would drive for Team Red Bull in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2007.[59] On October 27, Forsythe Racing team announced that Allmendinger would be replaced inmediately by 2004 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice for the final race of the season in Mexico City. Rice was looking for a permantent switch to Champ Car after losing his IndyCar ride with Rahal Letterman Racing, but he would not compete in any other race in the series.[8]
On October 31, Forsythe Racing announced a deal to run a third car in Mexico City for rookie David Martínez, who finished fifth in Champ Car Atlantic.[5] However, on November 6, it was announced that Paul Tracy would miss the Mexico race after breaking his right scapula in an alcohol-fueled accident that was alternately reported as happening on either an ATV or a golf cart.[6][60] As a result, David Martínez ended up making his Champ Car debut driving Tracy's No. 3 car, instead of the No. 33 he was originally slated to drive.
Schedule
The initial 15-race schedule was released by Champ Car on August 13, 2005.[61]
O Oval/Speedway R Road course S Street/temporary circuit
Schedule changes
On March 24, 2005, Champ Car announced an agreement with the Beijing Auto and Motor Sports Association to race in China in 2006, and a promoter for the event was signed the following month.[63] The race was to be held either in May or September 2006 at Goldenport Park.[64] However, the event was not included in the final Champ Car calendar, and the initiative would morph into the planned Zhuhai race for 2007.
On August 13, 2005, Champ Car released the 2006 schedule. All 14 races scheduled for 2005 were back, including the Ansan Champ Car Grand Prix, whose inaugural running would not be postponed until September. The lone addition to the schedule was the return of the Grand Prix of Houston, to be held on a 1.7 mile street course around the Reliant Park venue that differed from the course used between 1998 and 2001 adjacent to the George R. Brown Convention Center. It was scheduled for Saturday, May 13, the same day as the Indianapolis 500 Pole Day time trials, complicating matters for teams that potentially aimed to race at the Brickyard. In the end, no Champ Car teams entered the Indy 500 in 2006.[61]
The race at Las Vegas, one of just two oval events on the schedule, was included on a provisional basis, as a new contract had not been signed at the time of release, but both parties eventually failed to reach an agreement. On November 29, 2005, it was announced that the race would be replaced by a return to Road America, who last held a Champ Car event in 2004, using the same September weekend allocated for Las Vegas.[62]
On March 22, 2006, it was announced that the Mexico City finale had been moved from November 5 to November 12 at the request of the promoter, in order to avoid conflict with the Dia de Muertos week, the traditional national holiday of remembrance in Mexico.[65]
On July 23, 2006, Champ Car announced the cancellation of the Ansan Champ Car Grand Prix for the second year in a row due to trouble with track construction, access roads and red tape.[66][67] After three consecutive failures to race at South Korea, the venture was finally abandoned.
.svg){kind=logo}
