At the start of the last lap Kenny Brack leapt ahead of reigning champion Gil de Ferran and the race looked to be won, but Gil was not one to relax and charged past Kenny on the very last corner, in a daring manoeuvre, to win the first Rockingham 500. This type of spectacle is certain to gain a major following and Rockingham have signed a long term agreement to run this event for several years.

The organising body for Champ Car racing is Championship Automobile Racing Teams Inc. (CART) and is a public company quoted on the New York Stock Exchange. The series is currently sponsored by FedEx and the individual teams have their own sponsorship deals in what is a very costly formula. A team can expect to lay out more than $10 million in a full season.

The supporting race was a round of the ASCAR Championship, for the Mintex Cup, which due to the late running of the main race was also reduced in length to 40 laps. These V-8 engined monsters are also a novelty for British and European fans and as they charge round at about 140mph they create their own spectacle and sound. Although the chassis beneath the imitation touring car bodies are made in America the teams are all European based and have been racing for several years on road circuits.

Mark Claussner, whom we met at the inaugural meeting in May, was driving for Briggs UK and finished 6th. He is an experienced oval race driver and has based himself in the UK to drive and instruct. Our local triple Hot Rod Champion Colin White of CWS Racing was unfortunate to be retired after only 18 laps.

Another entrant was Amanda Stretton, the Motorsport on 4 presenter who averaged 131mph to finish 6th driving for WestTec in car number 2.
The winner was Michael Vergers also driving for WestTec. He averaged 133.1mph and set the fastest lap at 148.24mph. These cars are quick!

It remains to be seen whether Champ Car Racing will be as popular in Europe as it is in America and whether it will come to rival Formula 1. This was the first meeting in the UK and the first major event for Rockingham. The facilities at Rockingham are very good but there will have to be a rethink on the traffic management to the circuit as it took over two hours to get in and a further two hours to leave. All the roads were completely blocked for miles around.