Gelles joins big boys.
The Champ Car World Series had been hoping that an all-new chassis would result in a similar influx of new teams into the series such as the boom seen in the supporting Atlantic Championship this year.
Things started well for the series as they announced their first all new team for several years on the same day that they unveiled the 2007 Panoz DP01 with news that current Atlantic runners Gelles Racing would be graduating to the main championship next season.
The Champ Car World Series had been hoping that an all-new chassis would result in a similar influx of new teams into the series such as the boom seen in the supporting Atlantic Championship this year.
Things started well for the series as they announced their first all new team for several years on the same day that they unveiled the 2007 Panoz DP01 with news that current Atlantic runners Gelles Racing would be graduating to the main championship next season.
The team, which scored its first Champ Car Atlantic victory earlier this year with Robbie Pecorari at the wheel, becomes the first Atlantic team to move up to Champ Car competition since RuSPORT made the climb after winning the 2003 Atlantic title.
"I'm very ecstatic to be a part of the CCWS for 2007, it's something I've truly dreamed about and been working on for five years and it's nice to see it come true," said team boss Bob Gelles. "Everyone has had rave reviews over what Kevin Kalkhoven, Gerry Forsythe and Paul Gentilozzi have created and it's the best open wheel racing series in the world."
The Virginia-based team has been involved in the open-wheel developmental system since 2002 when former SCCA National Driver of the Year Bob Gelles formed Gelles Racing. Starting in Fran-Am, the Gelles team competed in Formula Renault, Formula BMW and Champ Car Atlantic series in recent seasons running six cars in the FBMW series in 2006.
"We are excited about welcoming Gelles Racing to Champ Car in 2007," said Champ Car President Steve Johnson. "The team has long demonstrated its passion for open-wheel racing, and we look forward to seeing them on the grid for many years to come."
"We set off on a strategy to rebuild the Champ Car World Series from the ground up," said series co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven. "The first step of that strategy was the rebuilding of the Atlantic Championship Series. The second step was the introduction of the 2007 chassis, which will allow Atlantic teams to move up to Champ Car. We welcome Gelles Racing as proof of the success of this strategy."
