Despite suggestions that there would be other drivers under consideration to partner Kevin Lacroix in his three-car Champ Car Atlantic line-up next season, Derrick Walker appears to have plumped for at least one, if not both, of
Nigel Mansell's offspring.
Walker ended the report detailing Greg and Leo Mansell's Atlantic test last month by confirming that further test sessions were planned to evaluate possible team-mates for Lacroix but, without much track action since the two-day session at Sebring, the team has called a press conference to announce the completion of the line-up.
Although neither Greg or Leo are detailed among the guests, the presence of 1993 Champ Car champion Nigel tends to give the game away. While Leo struggled to make an impact on the British F3 Championship this season, the fact that both available seats will be filled at the announcement suggests that the two brothers will continue their tandem ascent of the motorsport ladder.
The siblings have always competed on the same teams since starting out, briefly, in karts. They then switched to Formula
BMW in the UK, before stepping up a single year to contest this year's national F3 series, where Greg rounded out the top ten overall after a handful of podium finishes.
“I was really pleased to be able to test Nigel's sons in our Atlantic cars," ex-pat Walker commented after the Sebring test, "We are getting a lot more interest from Europe since the introduction of the new car, and it really has been an enjoyable couple of days of testing. Leo and Greg got a really good appreciation for the Mazda Atlantic car and they both did a very good job indeed. It will be great to see them in Atlantics next year as I think they would do very well in the series.”
