Bobby Issazadhe:
Absolutely. We have been in the Scholarship class it has been known for a few years now and you can always see a drop off in the last year of the car, because even in the National Class every driver wants to win. When the car is getting to the end of its development life, it is basically six years old and a new car is being developed for three years, for example the aerodynamic development on the new car will make it too quick so therefore a lot of drivers think the last year is not so interesting as the difference between the A class and B class cars is too big. If you look back a few years when [Robert] Dahlgren and [Adam] Carroll were doing the Scholarship class, the cars were almost equal in speed and I think that is also a contributing factor why there has been not so many cars this year.
Crash.net:
You’ve had a few tests now with the new engine and the car as it will run in 2005. What kind of level do you think the new National class cars will be able to run at compared to the front running cars on the grid? Do you think there is a chance that the National class cars will be able to challenge at the front of the field or do you feel there will be an obvious difference on track between the two?
Bobby Issazadhe:
If it wasn’t for the fact that Dallara are feeling competition from the other marques like Lola and Ligier then I would have said that I think this car will be almost as quick as the new Dallara. But this year I know they have to bring something out that is very good from day one, so I would guess that our car, with a good driver in it, will be maybe half a second off so I think it will be very difficult to win overall. But as long as there is good competition within the class it is not very important. One of the reasons for doing the National class is that you are preparing yourself for the following year, so even if the car is half a second off the pace of the new car it is still going to be very interesting.
Crash.net:
You have Tim here today, albeit in conditions that aren’t beneficial to him, you had Joey Foster in the car last week. Is this just a case of you trying to finalise who will be your drivers next season?
Bobby Issazadhe:
Yeah, we want to give the lads an opportunity to work with us, we want to see if they gel and if they like the way we work with the car and work with the data and also we’ll have a chance to look at these drivers. I think with Joey that we have a good chance because he likes the way that we work and if he can find the budget then I am certain that he will be with us. Tim I don’t know yet, this is the first time we have met but so far so good. It would be a fantastic set-up for us to have Tim and Joey in the team for sure.
Crash.net:
This season the Scholarship class was dominated by Ryan Lewis. Next season would you like to see Performance Racing having that kind of dominance in the class?
Bobby Issazadhe:
Yeah, I think once we get two quality drivers we will dominate it because we are one of the few teams who are actually concentrating on the National class. If you run one car in each class, you tend to favour the Championship car and maybe your energy and resources would go towards that, but in our case we are only doing National class and we are focused on that and we are doing a good job, we have been doing it since 2001 and I think once we get the drivers in the car we will be right up there next season.
Crash.net:
Bobby, thank you very much for your time, all the best for 2005.
Bobby Issazadhe:
Thank you very much.
