Forsythe Championship Racing Withdraws From Day Two of Road America Test

Forsythe Championship Racing Withdraws From Day Two of Road America Test



Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin – Friday, August 4, 2006 – Following an accident involving Brazilian Cristiano Da Matta at the end of the first day of Champ Car’s open test at Road America, the Forsythe Team decided not to participate in the second day of testing and headed back to its Indianapolis headquarters to concentrate on next week’s Denver Grand Prix. Forsythe Championship Racing wishes Cristiano Da Matta a full and speedy recovery.



The Forsythe Duo of A.J. Allmendinger and Paul Tracy were second and fifth quickest during the first day of the open test.



A.J. Allmendinger - #7 INDECK
Ford-Cosworth/Bridgestone/Lola

Second Quickest – Day One

1m44.499s / 139.4454mph / 224.429kph

“I agree with the decision not to continue with the test, I mean it’s a very tough situation when a member of the Champ Car family gets hurt. I’ve never driven a Champ Car here before and our laps yesterday really helped, but my thoughts are with Cristiano and his family and we are all pulling for him. We want to see him back as soon as possible. He’s one of the most likable guys you’ll ever meet and if anybody can come back strong it’s Cristiano.”



Paul Tracy - #3 INDECK

Ford-Cosworth/Bridgestone/Lola

Fifth Quickest – Day One

1m45.129s / 138.618mph / 223.083kph

“Ultimately it was the right decision to end the test early; it’s a decision made out of respect for Cristiano. It was obviously a freak accident but there are definitely some safety issues that should be addressed and we thought it would be in the best interest of the team not to run on the second day. It’s going to be a tough recovery for Cristiano, nobody knows the exact nature of his injuries yet, but what we do know is that we want to see him back in the series as soon as possible. But for now the most important thing is that he gets better and that he has a full recovery.”



Neil Micklewright - Vice President of Team Operations

“We decided shortly after the accident that we weren’t going to run the next day. Considering the situation we just didn’t feel that we would have the right focus and we weren’t going to learn anything of substance, we never want to put our drivers at risk. It’s just a test, you get nothing for winning a test so we are not too worried about not being out there, we’ll be strong as always when we come back in September for the race.”



The Champ Car World Series now heads for the mile-high city of Denver for Round Ten as Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford. The race will be broadcast live on Speed TV at 3:30pm ET, Sunday August 13. You can also tune in to Race Director, available through the Champ Car website, for live coverage of all races and many practice and qualifying sessions with multiple channels of video, audio, timing, telemetry and commentary. Visit http://www.champcar.ws and www.forsythe-racing.com for more information.

There have been a number of deer sightings over the years... I recall being at a test day in the early 90s when Rahal spotted one near the kink. And, sadly, a few years later when a Formula 440 driver hit a deer near the kink and died.

I'm sure the noise drives the deer a little wonky. It's such a big area, it's impossible to keep "deer free."

Here's hoping to Da Matta's speedy recovery.