Forsythe/Pettit Racing might expand

UPDATE #5 A reader writes, Dear AutoRacing1.com, Your site certainly has a reputation of being spot on and getting the scoop over the other journalists when it comes to Champ Car but are you sure about your source that says Forsythe/Pettit Racing firing Phil LePan? It is one thing to let a popular driver like PT go as he is getting a little long in the tooth and it’s a young man's game but Phil LePan was not just an ‘employee’ he is, or was, Forsythe/Pettit Racing’s TEAM MANAGER. No one could understand how Forsythe let Mike Cannon get away but releasing someone of LePan's competency who is universally respected in the industry is madness. What the heck is going on? John Preston, Bangor Maine

Dear John, Yes we are sure, Phil has been laid off by the team. Mark C.

12/06/07 We now hear that longtime Forsythe employee Phil LePan was let go. LePan came to Forsythe many years ago from the Lotus F1 team along with Neil Micklewright. The Help Want ads continue in AutoWeek.

11/30/07 We hear that Forsythe/Pettit Racing fired several people this afternoon, just before the holidays. No word on who exactly was let go. By doing these “mass assassinations" twice in two years they should have a tough time getting anyone good to go to work there.

11/07/07 "As of right now, [Forsythe] is committed to a two-car team, and there is some talk of possibly a third if somebody comes along with some funding," veteran Forsythe driver Paul Tracy said in an ESPN.com interview.

09/28/07 The Forsythe Championship Racing team is running a classified ad in the latest edition of AutoWeek looking for mechanics, transport drivers, machinists, fabricators, engineers, and more as it appears the team is looking to strengthen its base significantly after letting go some of those who the team felt were not performing.

09/21/07 Paul Tracy says changes are coming to his Forsythe Championship Racing Champ Car team following yet another disappointing season.

"If you're a Champ Car fan you'll be well aware that at Forsythe Championship Racing, we spent the summer pissing in the dark on setup," he writes in his autosport.com racing column. "What we didn't realize until just before Zolder – our 11th round – is that we've been pissing both in the dark and into the wind.

"Not a pretty picture."

Tracy says the addition of Tom Brown as the team's Technical Director following Elkhart Lake has given him hope that the situation can be reversed.

"We lost our way big time in the middle of the season just through not having the basic setup right," says Tracy. "We had it running like an old Lola – nose-up, tail-down – and it needs to be the other way round on the DP01. Once Tom arrived, that was the first thing he corrected. He has a better understanding of the car, and now we're going in the right direction."

"I see good things happening, and about freakin' time!"

Tracy says while he's encouraged by the upcoming changes within the team, the same can't be said for the most recent decision to drop teammate Oriol Servia for the last two races of the season in favor of David Martinez.

"He is probably the closest teammate I've had in my career in terms of what we want and need from a car," explained Tracy.

"Right from the get-go of his deal, I think it was made pretty clear that this might happen. It was a race-by-race gig, and we need a Mexican driver for the Mexico City race."

"It's sad. Oriol's done a really good job for us, he's been a really good teammate and he's also been useful." TSN.ca