Champ Car, Grand Am Will Share Laguna Seca Weekend In May

BELLE UNION, Ind. — With no Mexican drivers on the grid and the 2007 Champ Car World Series finale set to take place in Mexico City Nov. 11, a pair of Champ Car teams did exactly what you would expect in these troubled times for the series:
They fired their regular drivers and replaced them with drivers of Mexican descent.
The ax fell on Forsythe Championship Racing’s Oriol Servia and, more surprisingly, on Ryan Dalziel of Pacific Coast Motorsports.
David Martinez will drive the No. 7 Forsythe car in the final two Champ Car races of the season, while veteran Mario Dominguez will take over the No. 28 PCM machine.
Servia stepped into FCR when the team’s number one driver, Paul Tracy, suffered injuries practicing for the second race of the year at Long Beach. The Catalonian managed a fourth place finish at Long Beach, but his status was race-to-race after that. Even when Tracy returned, Servia was generally the quicker of FCR’s drivers.
“Oriol did a tremendous job for us,” stated team owner Gerald Forsythe. “He came into a the team quickly and really shined and I wish him the best of luck in the future.
“We are very excited to have David as a part of our team for these next two events,” Forsythe added. “He ran well for us in his only start last season and I’m delighted to be able to give a young up-and-coming Mexican star an opportunity to race.”
Dalziel, a 25-year old Scotsman, hung around the fringes of the Champ Car series since 2005 hoping to land a ride. He served as PKV Racing’s test driver before landing a Grand Am sports car drive with PCM. When PCM owner Bob Figge transferred his operation from Grand Am to Champ Car, he brought Dalziel along as a mentor for his son Alex. 
Dalziel notched six top-10 finishes this year and led the race in the rain at Toronto.
“Obviously the announcement came as a big shock to me,” related Dalziel. “I’m disappointed with the team’s decision, not the least given some of my performances this season including leading laps in Toronto and coming close to scoring their maiden podium. I’m pleased to say that I’ve already received several offers for next season and I’ll be looking to firm up my plans as soon as possible.”
Dominguez subbed for Dalziel at PCM earlier this season when Dalziel suffered a broken collarbone in a bicycle accident while training.

• Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca revealed that the Champ Car World Series has been added to the Grand Am sports car series bill for the weekend of May 16-18.

• Several Champ Car teams are planning to test at Sebring Int’l Raceway Sept. 24-25. Conquest Racing will run James Winslow, an Englishman who has competed in Australian Formula 3 and Formula V-6 Asia in 2007.