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thechase77
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Alex Yoong, Malaysia's first Formula 1 driver, says he is close to a deal to switch to Champ Cars for 2003. Yoong is officially still tied to the Minardi F1 team, which has an option on his services for next season, but it looks likely that he'll be given “permission” to find a drive elsewhere.
"We are very close to signing with a winning CART team," Yoong says. "The moment this is done, we'll have to get the release from Minardi and we'll move on from there."
Yoong had a difficult season in F1 even by Minardi standards. After a promising start, with a seventh-place finish in Australia, he failed to qualify on three occasions and was “rested” by his team at midseason. He did show improvement after returning late in the year, however,
Minardi would like to retain Yoong as its test driver, but such an option holds little appeal for him.
“A year’s testing would do me good, for sure, but I do not believe Minardi will be testing much in 2003," Yoong said. "I feel a year's racing would be better, and am looking forward to CART. Also the fact that there is a chance to win races instead of racing at the back is very attractive to me. The competition in CART is very intense, but it's possible for me to do well there.”
Yoong suggested that CART’s increasing penchant for international races played a key role in sparking his interest. “The series has quite a number of races outside America and I'm sure it will expand further."
Andrew Crask speedtv.com
I'd like to see what he can do in a series with more equal cars. He was usually slower than Mark Webber in the other Minardi, but we'll see. I would rather see someone like Jon Fogerty or Alex Gurney get this ride, but they're probably not bringing a lot of sponsor money with them. Also, I wouldn't care to see CART expand to many more races outside the U.S.
"We are very close to signing with a winning CART team," Yoong says. "The moment this is done, we'll have to get the release from Minardi and we'll move on from there."
Yoong had a difficult season in F1 even by Minardi standards. After a promising start, with a seventh-place finish in Australia, he failed to qualify on three occasions and was “rested” by his team at midseason. He did show improvement after returning late in the year, however,
Minardi would like to retain Yoong as its test driver, but such an option holds little appeal for him.
“A year’s testing would do me good, for sure, but I do not believe Minardi will be testing much in 2003," Yoong said. "I feel a year's racing would be better, and am looking forward to CART. Also the fact that there is a chance to win races instead of racing at the back is very attractive to me. The competition in CART is very intense, but it's possible for me to do well there.”
Yoong suggested that CART’s increasing penchant for international races played a key role in sparking his interest. “The series has quite a number of races outside America and I'm sure it will expand further."
Andrew Crask speedtv.com
I'd like to see what he can do in a series with more equal cars. He was usually slower than Mark Webber in the other Minardi, but we'll see. I would rather see someone like Jon Fogerty or Alex Gurney get this ride, but they're probably not bringing a lot of sponsor money with them. Also, I wouldn't care to see CART expand to many more races outside the U.S.
