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It's not official yet, but it looks like Championship Auto Racing Teams is going to spend next spring in England and Europe running on some hallowed Formula One ground.
While CEO Chris Pook refused to comment on the subject, ESPN.com has learned that CART is in final negotiations to run Brands Hatch (England), Spa (Belgium) and Estoril (Portugal) on consecutive weekends in 2003.
"That would be awesome because all three of those tracks have a lot of history and CART would put on a good show for them," said Mario Andretti, the 1978 world champion and Indy-car legend.
Added CART owner Derrick Walker: "If it happens I think they will be huge successes for CART and it would be a cheap date to get CART over there. We'll probably put on a better show than F1 and it will be a win/win situation for the promoters and us.
"I'm sure the board of directors is going to hear Chris' plan in detail in the near future but this sounds good to me."
None of these famous tracks are on the 2003 Formula One schedule and CART's current schedule lists April 27 as a tentative European race with Corby, England on May 4. It's believed the third event would be held May 11-12 -- the first weekend of qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 -- and the Chicago race, currently slated for May 18, would be scrapped.
Pook has vowed that CART would not spend next May sitting idle and watching some of its teams compete at Indy like it did this year.
"We can't sit still in May and, besides, if a team wants to run Indianapolis it needs to have two separate operations," said Walker, who has competed in the Indy Racing League and CART since the open-wheel split began in 1996. "Indy is too competitive now to run over and give it a few days and expect to get in the show, let alone win the race."
CART has run at Rockingham Speedway in England the past two years but the oval is reportedly in financial trouble. Brands Hatch already has some history with American racers as the United States Auto Club raced there (and Silverstone) in 1978.
"USAC ran the short course (1.2 miles) and it was like a glorified oval. Plus, it took away the best part of Brands Hatch which is all the challenging corners," said Andretti, who raced there in the '70s during his F1 days. "I would hope CART runs the big course (2.6 miles) because it's really a great road course."
Despite losing F1 to Silverstone following the 1986 British Grand Prix, Brands Hatch has remained active in British motorsports with World Superbikes, sports cars, touring cars and Formula 3 races.
The Spa circuit, a favorite among drivers because of its daunting Eau Rouge corner, was recently dropped from the '03 F1 slate because of its stance on tobacco advertising. Some respected F1 observers claim this is merely a one-year punishment from F1 czar Bernie Ecclestone and that Spa will be reinstated by 2004.
Regardless, it leaves an opening that CART figures to fill.
Estoril, a twisty, scenic 2.6-mile layout that last hosted F1 in 1996, now stages MotoGP, FIA GTs and the European Touring Car Championship.
"I understood that the government simply couldn't afford F-1 anymore and that's why there's no longer a race," said Andretti, whose son (Michael) raced there for McLaren in '93.
Dale Coyne has been courting Portuguese F3000 driver Tiago Monteiro for the '03 drive and, obviously, this would be a crowd pleaser for Estoril.
Of course, with all the speculation of Ecclestone and Pook forming some kind of partnership down the road, this might explain why CART would now be welcomed to F1 venues.
"I think Bernie sees us more of an ally than a threat nowdays," Walker said.
If, indeed, CART adds this trio of road courses then its 20-date schedule would be down to a pair of ovals (Milwaukee and Fontana, Calif.) and nearly half of the races (nine) would be staged outside the continental United States.
