LAS VEGAS -- Champ Car has canceled a race scheduled for
next month in South Korea, leaving only three events to settle a
tight battle for the championship.
``There were environmental issues we could not resolve,'' Champ
Car co-owner Paul Gentilozzi said Thursday. ``We told our fans and
our teams that we weren't going to be able to get there.''
The race, scheduled for Oct. 17, would have been the series'
first race in Seoul, South Korea, and given Champ Car 15 events for
the year.
With just 89 points separating the first six spots in the
standings, the drivers are down to Saturday's race at Las Vegas
Motor Speedway, the Oct. 24 outing in Australia and the Nov. 7
finale in Mexico City.
``With three races, there's plus or minus 100 points,''
Gentilozzi said. ``When we restructured the points system this
year, we did it so when we got to the end of the season, we'd have
a competition.''
Sebastien Bourdais, who leads with 275 points, shrugged off the
cancellation.
``It was an unknown race track and there's always a chance to
screw things up,'' he said.
Bruno Junqueira, who trails his Newman-Haas teammate by just
four points, said, ``A lot of things can happen in two or three
races and there's a good chance for me to catch him.''
Paul Tracy is third at 215 points, followed by teammate Patrick
Carpentier at 214, Alex Tagliani at 201 and Mario Dominguez at 186.