TWO-TIME CART Champion and 2003 Indianapolis 500 winner Gil de Ferran was a star of American open-wheeler racing and his death of a heart attack at the very end of last year shocked the motorsport world.
The Brazilian was a popular racer among Aussie fans too, taking the trip to race on the Gold Coast from his debut year in CART in 1996 through to Penske’s last year in the series in 2001 prior to its full-time move to the Indy Racing League.
He made a return to the streets of Surfers Paradise in 2011 co-driving Jonathon Webb’s Mother Falcon in the Gold Coast 600 during the era of international drivers handling co-driver duties.
He raced a range of different cars during his time in CART and one of them has popped up for sale in a significant auction, run by Mecum Auctions, of cars that will be held in Monterrey, California on August 15-17.
Walker drove for Derrick Walker’s Valvoline-backed team from 1997 to 1999 with Honda engines and Goodyear tyres, which struggled to keep pace with the rival Firestone brand during that period.
In 1998 de Ferran finished a lowly 12th in the championship and scored just two podiums for the season – the car that is going under the hammer achieved one of them when he finished third in Detroit, one of eight starts it made during that year’s FedEx Championship Series in de Ferran’s hands.
Typically that era of Champ Car racing saw teams only use chassis for one season and then replace them with the next year’s latest cars, however Walker Racing continued to use this 1998-built Reynard – chassis 98i-031 – into 1999.
According to Indy Sleuth records, Japanese driver Naoki Hattori and ‘supersub’ Memo Gidley drove it in various races in 1999, including the Gold Coast race on the streets of Surfers Paradise.
Hattori drove it in Australia, however was eliminated from the race after an accident with PacWest Racing’s Mark Blundell.
The chassis made its last start in the season’s final round at California Speedway in Fontana, the superspeedway that has in recent times been demolished.
De Ferran left the team at the end of 1999 bound for Penske, Goodyear withdrew from Champ Car racing and Indy Racing League tyre supply and Walker pressed on with a single car team for Japanese racer Shinji Nakano in 2000.
The ’98 Reynard is being auctioned without an engine, a common situation for the sale of Champ Cars of this era given the manufacturers leased engines to the teams and retained ownership, and thus, maintained protection of its intellectual property.
Have a look here at more images and information on this cool piece of Champ Car history.
