CHAMPCAR/CART: PCM completes testing of Champ Car

Pacific Coast Motorsports Completes First Champ Car Test

Oxnard, CA (November 22, 2006) -- Champ Car's newest team, Pacific Coast Motorsports and their drivers, American Alex Figge and Scot Ryan Dalziel completed their first Champ Car test Tuesday at the Motorsports Ranch in Houston.

PCM, the 2004 Atlantic Champions competed in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) in 2005 and the Rolex Grand American Series in 2006 scoring podiums in each discipline with drivers Alex Figge and Ryan Dalziel. In preparation for their return to open wheel racing, PCM contracted Rocketsports, an existing team in the Champ Car World Series to provide the cars and crew for the test.

"Alex and Ryan have been driving much heavier prototype cars the past two years. We will take delivery of the new Panoz early next month, but until then, we wanted to give both drivers the opportunity to get used to the horsepower and the differences of the Champ Car prior to our limited testing with the 2007 Panoz," commented PCM President, Tyler Tadevic. "This will allow us to get right to work developing the new car. Rocketsports did a good job tutoring us on Monday and on Tuesday, our engineers, Burke Harrison (Figge) and Tim Lewis (Dalziel), took over. Both drivers completed well over 350 miles and their fastest laps were within two-tenths of a second of one another. There were a few spins and a couple of offs, but no damage to either car and we all learned a lot. As a new team, it is great for us to go into the Thanksgiving holiday already having completed our first Champ Car test, with both drivers confident and encouraged by their performance"

While it was only his second Champ Car test, American Rookie Alex Figge has a diverse racing resume. He is a Toyota Atlantic race winner with experience in Pro Mazda and US Formula Ford 2000, in addition to his most recent sports car efforts. "It was a great couple of days, I had a blast. These tests are so important for us because we need to be able to get straight to work when we get the new car. This gives both Ryan and I the opportunity to familiarize ourselves and get comfortable with the Champ Car as they are quite different to what we have been competing in most recently," said Alex Figge. "The horsepower will be the biggest thing to get used to, it is like sensory overload the first few laps, there is so much to get used to and it all comes at you so fast. The track at MSR is extremely fast, perhaps faster than anywhere else we go as there is just no braking, you're always doing something and it is always high-speed."

Scotsman Ryan Dalziel is entering his third season with Pacific Coast Motorsports. Prior to coming to America in 2002, Dalziel competed in the British Formula Vauxhall Championship and British Formula Renault. Since his arrival, he has earned six victories, 15 podiums and back-to-back runner-up finishes in the 2003-4 Atlantic Championships. Dalziel competed in the 2005 Champ Car race at Toronto, finishing 10th for Dale Coyne race and has completed numerous Champ Car tests, but holds on to his Rookie status for his 2007 Champ Car campaign. Dalziel commented, "Pacific Coast Motorsports is a fantastic team, Alex and I have achieved a lot as teammates in sports cars the last few years, but I am incredibly excited to get back to open wheel racing and I am so thankful PCM has given me the chance to go Champ Car racing full-time. This team always takes the wise approach, and I think the test we just completed is an example of that. It was a good couple of days and great to get back in the Champ Car. I had to shake a bit of rust off the first day, but by the second day, my engineer and I were hard at it. We made some great changes to the car and it all felt like home. Houston is a very physical track so it was a bit daunting but at the same time that is a great way to break it all in. I couldn't be more excited!"

-credit: pcm