Herdez nearing second car for Moreno?

After several previously unsuccessful attempts to expand from one to two cars, reports from Mexico and several CART 'insider' forums indicate that Keith Wiggins' Team Herdez outfit are finally set to add a second driver to their lineup.

For a series supposedly on its knees the good news has been coming thick and fast for the Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford with several team/driver confirmations and plenty of good old fashioned rumour-mongering doing more than enough to keep most CART fans happy over the festive season.

With Stefan Johansson confirming two cars, Mi-Jack/Conquest Racing a single car and Derrick Walker adding a second car to his team, CART's 18-car minimum target for its 2003 season opener on February 23rd in St Petersburg suddenly looks more than attainable.

One team hoping to make the mood at start of 2003 as buoyant as the end of 2002 is Team Herdez who, despite the apparent loss of associate sponsors Corona, looks set to add a second Lola-Ford to their line-up alongside Mario Dominguez.

The immensely popular Brazilian veteran Roberto Moreno is known to have been pursuing a second seat at Herdez for some time and, during one of his several well-received stints in the commentary booth this year he let slip that he was very close to returning to CART full-time in 2003 with an un-named team.

Although Patrick Racing, Moreno's most recent CART team, are also trying to secure funding for a second car, 'Pupo' has been regarded as the first choice if/when the second Herdez seat appears for some time on leading CART fan forum www.seventhgear.com.

Despite his 43 years, Moreno is still regarded as one of the fittest drivers in the pitlane and would be a perfect teammate/coach to the relatively inexperienced Mario Dominguez. His return would also bolster the list of recognised names in the series for 2003.