Another Atlantic Defector…
Under that agreement, Markus was entitled to the $2,000,000 toward a CHAMPCAR ride to be awarded to the Championship winning driver by CHAMPCAR. As we all know, before the season began, CHAMPCAR ceased to exist. Markus and his sponsor knew this award was no longer available and no contract revisions reflecting this reality were requested or made.
It is unfortunate that Markus has chosen to make claims that are not consistent with agreement into which he freely entered, and that he continues to lash out to a team that guided him to the 2008 Formula Atlantic Championship. Despite the inadequate budget brought by Markus and his sponsor, and the financial difficulty this brought to the team, throughout the 2008 season Brooks Associates did what was necessary to put together a team that brought Markus the Championship.
Our team did everything we said we would in our agreement. I strongly believe that those who have known me, both as driver and a team owner will attest to my honesty and commitment to my driver's needs, and Brooks Racing Associates will continue to give up-and-coming drivers the opportunity to move their professional careers forward. John Brooks
[Editor's Note: We apologize to John Brooks for not following up with him before publishing the first update.]
11/10/09 We are being told that the reason why Brooks sold his equipment and didn’t return to the Atlantic Series was that he ran away with Markus Niemela’s $250k from winning the 2008 championship. Markus is a kid, and that money was due to be paid to his investors, so that he couldn’t pay them the $250k almost killed his career. Brooks was broke, so his only solution was keeping Markus’ prize money and selling his Atlantic equipment………at least that is one side of the story
11/10/09 Brooks Associates Racing, a long-standing competitor in developmental series racing, announced plans to compete in Firestone Indy Lights in 2010.
The Tucson, Ariz.-based team, which won the 2008 Champ Car Atlantic title with Finnish driver Markus Niemela, recently acquired a Firestone Indy Lights Dallara chassis from Guthrie Meyer Racing and plans to begin testing potential drivers shortly.
“After winning the 2008 Atlantic Championship, we have taken the last year to review all of our opportunities in North American racing series," said team owner John C. Brooks. “We wanted to examine the various series to see where we could best continue our history of preparing young drivers for successful futures in professional motorsports. The Firestone Indy Lights series is such a clear steppingstone to America’s premier open wheel series (The IZOD IndyCar Series), that it meets our objectives and our drivers’ objectives as well".
Brooks, a former driver who was named the series’ Team Owner of the Year in 2005, founded his team in 1995 and has fielded cars for drivers such as Neimela, Al Unser III, Andreas Wirth, Ronnie Bremer and Kevin Lacroix. The team scored victories in 2005 (Denver with Wirth), 2007 (Portland with Lacroix) and 2008 (Utah and Atlanta with Niemela).
"We are delighted to welcome another quality team to our grid for the 2010 championship, " said Roger Bailey, Executive Director of Firestone Indy Lights. "Brooks Associates Racing has shown the ability to be a championship contending operation in other forms of motorsport and we fully expect them to continue that success in the Firestone Indy Lights."