Despite the decision to increase the boost on tap via the power to pass system at the final round of the Champ Car World Series in Mexico, race director Tony Cotman admits that nothing has been decided for next season.
Generally praising of the new Panoz-Cosworth package that was introduced for the 2007 campaign, Cotman claimed that there was a lot of hard thinking to be done before anything would be confirmed.
"Champ Car spent a lot of time designing the new car this season, to prove more passing and enhance racing for the fans," he reasoned, "The Cosworth engine has been the same for several years, but we've experimented with P2P. It will be the same Cosworth engine next year, but we're not sure about P2P. We spent a lot of time this weekend trying to understand how it affects racing, but the high altitude makes a big difference.
"The chassis was successful this year, [and] there was more parity among the teams. Bourdais was in a class of his own, but there were a lot more teams in the mix this year. I'm sure the drivers liked P2P, but it takes time and energy over the winter to explore where we go."
Cotman also discussed the first yellow flag thrown at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, after three cars stalled at the start. Asked if onboard starters will be considered over the winter, Cotman accepted that they may have prevented the stalled car problem on Sunday, but would not be drawn on their introduction for 2008.
“First we have to understand why they stalled," he explained, "I'm guessing they were trying to modulate the throttle instead of just flooring it. We tried onboard starters earlier this year and it didn't work one hundred per cent. We have to find the right product.”
