Philadelphia, PA (My Sportsbook) - When the field lines up for the next-to- last Champ Car race of 2006 at Surfers Paradise, there will be many new names on the starting grid. Ryan Briscoe will get behind the wheel of the No.10 RuSport Lola that has been sitting idle since Cristiano da Matta suffered severe injuries in a practice crash at Road America on August 3rd. Briscoe drove in the IndyCar Series for Target Chip Ganassi in 2005 and was a Toyota Formula One test driver before that. This year he competed in the Rolex Grand American event in Daytona and raced four IndyCar events with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, including a third-place finish at Watkins Glen. Another Formula One driver, Antonio Pizzonia, will drive the No.18 Lola for Rocketsports and team up with Mario Dominguez. Pizzonia has made two Champ Car starts this season finishing 10th at Long Beach and 11th at Montreal. Champ Car Atlantic Series driver Andreas Wirth will make his first start in Champ Cars behind the wheel of the No.19 Dale Coyne machine. The 21-year-old is third in the series with two wins (Long Beach and Houston). "I am very excited and grateful for this opportunity," said Wirth. "Australia will be new for me, but I have a good feeling with the car and the team and hope to show well in my rookie debut." |
