Indianapolis 500 winners
Mario Andretti and Jacques Villeneuve have both spoken out in favour of the Champ Car and Indycar series joining forces for the 2008 season, claiming that unity was long overdue.
Speaking as guests on SPEED TV's
Wind Tunnel show that featured interviews with both Tony George and Kevin Kalkhoven, the pair insisted that the divide in US open-wheel racing had gone on long enough, and claimed that it was in the interest of all concerned that the rift was healed as soon as possible.
"I am just happy it finally happened because I was so tired of having to explain or talk about the negatives of open-wheel racing in any interview I was doing, no matter what the subject," Andretti, who has long campaigned for unification, admitted, "Now, finally, we can talk about the positives, the future and so many things.
"Look at what the drivers have to look forward to. The young drivers are looking at their careers and, finally, there is a new dimension before them. So many good things are going to come from this."
Former CART stalwart Andretti echoed previous claims that the sport would not be cured of its problems overnight, but welcomed the fact that George, Kalkhoven and their accomplices had found common ground.
"I was listening to speculation about how quickly we will reach the level open-wheel needs to be [and], obviously, that's an open question, but the one thing we can do now is work toward achieving that tirelessly," he said, "It will be fun doing so.
"The particularly positive thing is that each was complimenting the other, that was music to my ears. They both seem comfortable with the agreement they reached. The one thing I've always remained optimistic about was that, at least when I had dialogue with each one of them separately, they each agreed that [unification] needed to be done, but didn't know how. They finally found the ‘how' and that's what we've been waiting for.
