---

THE TACH REPORT; Boesel Jumps Ship...CART to IRL, Indy Lights Has Full Season Ahead, VW Bug Big Hit In Motown. .

7 January 1998

Usually it's the other way around in professional open wheel auto racing 
re changing teams. The aspiring 
chauffeur gets some training in the Indy Racing League and then, if 
he/she is lucky you catch on with a 
big bucks CART team and receive big time TV exposure. Brazilian driver 
Raul Boesel, a driver who has 
had flashes of brilliance decided he would leave the Brahma /CART/FED EX 
team and switch over to the 
McCormick racing group in the rival Indy Racing League...fewer races but 
maybe more money. Boesel 
has been in Indy car racing since 1989 and that makes him a real pioneer 
along with Little Al Unser, Jr. 
His real name is Raul de Mesquita Boesel and he speaks English, French, 
Italian, Spanish and Portugese. 
He started his career racing Karts in 1980, then  F--2 in Brazil and then 
went to Formula One with Ligier 
and March.
In CART he has five runnerup finishes, two poles and helped Jaguar win 
the Worlds Sports Car Crown in 
1987. His career earnings with CART total $6,509,137.
The Dayton (Tire) Indy Lights series for 1998 expands to 14 races  which 
includes a pair of 
superspeedway events and a return to the Cleveland Lakefront airport 
course.
According to series Prexy Roger Bailey 13 of the 14 races will partner 
with the Fed Ex/PPG series at road 
courses, street circuits, short and long ovals. The superspeedway races 
will take place at Michigan 
International speedway, July 26 and California Speedway, October 31.
        The full schedule
March 5      Metro Dade Homestead, Florida
April 5         Long Beach
April 26        Nazareth, Pa
May 23        Gateway, St. Louis
May 31        Milwaukee
June 7          Detroit
June 21        Portland
July 12,      Cleveland
July 19,     Toronto
July 25,      Michigan Speedway
August 2      Quebec
Sept 6          Vancouver BC
Sept.  13       Laguna Seca
Oct 31          Fontana, Ca

According to our TACH live coverage plus the amount of newspaper space 
devoted to the unveiling the 
new Volkswagen Bug is the hit of the Detroit Auto Show. Whilst the 
original Beetle cost two grand thirty 
years ago the new model with air, power goodies and a front mounted 
engine has a suggested list of 
$15,200. But it IS cute and the German auto maker is going to build  
50,000 units this year. All in all over 
21.3 million Beetles have been made and sold since its inception.
Other auto show news...Detroit and L.A. centers around emissions again as 
Ford and Chrysler announce 
their upcoming minivans and sport utes will have 40% less smog polluting 
than the 1998 models.
While a race aficionado would never compare Indy Lights, CART's training 
ground for the "big show" 
with IRLs FF2000 series...their training ground for IRL racing both 
operations have announced their 1998 
schedule simultaneously.
       1998 U.S. FF2000 Schedule
January 22        Walt Disney World, Florida
March 20          Phoenix
May 1               Homestead, Fla
May 29              Watkins Glen, NY
June 12              Mid Ohio
June 27              Minneapolis
July 23               Charlotte. NC
Aug 7                Mid Ohio
August 27          Atlanta

Bill Maloney   The Auto Channel