HVM Racing was an auto racing team owned by Keith Wiggins that competed in the IndyCar Series . It competed in the Champ Car World Series in 2007 as Minardi Team USA when it was co-owned by Paul Stoddart . It has a long history of changes of ownership, including a previous incarnation as CTE-HVM Racing , co-owned by actor/comedian Cedric the Entertainer .
31-454: Its 2007 driver lineup was Dan Clarke and former Formula One driver Robert Doornbos , who previously raced for Minardi F1 . In the first race of the season, the 2007 Las Vegas Grand Prix , Robert Doornbos made the most successful debut since Nigel Mansell in 1993, finishing second on the podium. They also made the distinction of being the only team willing to run a car numbered 13 full-time, with driver E. J. Viso , when they did so for
62-469: A set number of laps. As the time limit approaches, the drivers were notified that they were beginning the last lap. The leader would NOT be shown the white flag, which was instead employed in a similar manner to its use by the FIA . Teams were also allowed unlimited access to their tires during all qualifying sessions. The requirement for each team to use at least one set of the alternate Bridgestone Potenzas during
93-471: The 2009 IndyCar Series season, despite negative superstitions from the past about running it in any form of motorsport. The team has had a long history of names, first as Bettenhausen Motorsports under the leadership of Tony Bettenhausen Jr. The cars were primarily dark blue, white and red with Alumax Aluminum sponsorship and ran several drivers of note, Stefan Johansson , Hélio Castroneves , and Patrick Carpentier among them. The 1992 car appeared in
124-561: The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters returned to Circuit Zolder. But the circuit lost its place in the DTM calendar to Spa-Francorchamps in 2022 . In general Circuit Zolder has a noise limit of 96 dbA, which is measured at 2 points along the track. One is just after turn 4 (Bianchi) and the second one is between turn 7 and 8. These can be recognised by blue poles. During international test days and most racing weekends,
155-538: The Indy Lights team Michael Crawford Motorsports , renaming it HVM Indy Lights. The Indy Lights team ran its first race at Infineon Raceway in August 2009 with driver Juan Pablo Garcia . Ryan Hunter-Reay tested the team's IndyCar at Sebring two weeks before the 2009 season opener at St. Petersburg and appeared to become the second driver for the team, but signed with Vision Racing instead. Nelson Philippe joined
186-697: The TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands . On January 23, 2007, Champ Car unveiled its new logo for the Champ Car World Series and the Atlantic Series. According to its website , it is a sleeker design with the new Panoz DP01 chassis on the right with an emphasis on a chicane-style layout, representing the street track racing that dominates Champ Car. There were no oval tracks on the calendar, with Milwaukee removed after
217-687: The UCI BMX World Championships returned to Circuit Zolder. In the beginning of 2006, the track underwent safety adaptations. In 2007, the track hosted a Champ Car World Series Grand Prix , and a round of the FIA GT Championship . The track was venue of a round of the World Series by Renault championship from 2003 to 2006, and replaced Zandvoort as site for the Masters of Formula 3 in 2007 and 2008. Zolder
248-608: The UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in 1970, 2002 and 2016 . The latter saw the first confirmed use of mechanical doping when Femke Van den Driessche was found to have a secret motor inside her bike. Since 2009, Circuit Zolder has hosted a cyclo-cross race in December for the World Cup . The circuit hosted the UCI BMX World Championships in 2015. In 2019 and for the first time ever
279-418: The #78 entry. On October 30, 2012, de Silvestro signed on to KV Racing Technology for 2013, leaving HVM without a driver or a sponsor. However, former KV driver E. J. Viso had intended to run his own team for 2013, but had little luck. HVM and Viso joined forces with Andretti Autosport to run Viso as a satellite team for Andretti. On 11 November 2015 the team was listed as up for auction officially listing
310-418: The 2006 race. The 2007 Champ Car World Series season also marked that last time an IndyCar Series Championship was secured before the final race of the season until Álex Palou's win in the 2023 IndyCar Series Season . The new rules of the 2007 season included the implementation of standing starts at venues where they could be safely implemented. Additionally, all events were timed events instead of running
341-553: The Belgian Grand Prix was held at Spa-Francorchamps in 1983 , before returning to Zolder one final time in 1984 . Fittingly, Ferrari driver Michele Alboreto won the race carrying Villeneuve's #27 on his car. Since 1985 , the Belgian Grand Prix has permanently moved to Spa. Zolder has also been used for cycling events including the UCI Road World Championships twice in 1969 and 2002 and
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#1732797580666372-600: The Minardi Team USA banner at the 2007 Champ Car Grand Prix de Mont Tremblant. Doornbos went on to capture another win at San Jose, and his tally for 2007 was 2 wins and 6 podiums. Doornbos went on to finish 3rd in Championship standings, earn Rookie of the Year, and was the highest finishing Rookie in the Champ Car World Series since Juan Pablo Montoya in 1999. Doornbos also won the award for Hard Charger, improving
403-592: The circus returned to Spa. At this time, mainly the Blancpain Sprint Series and the BRCC national championship hosted a race in Zolder. The 24 Hours of Zolder endurance event is also held as a stand-alone event around the end of August or the beginning of September. NASCAR Whelen Euro Series have hosted their final race of the season in Zolder since 2015 . In 2019, for the first time in 17 years,
434-674: The cover of the 1993 video game IndyCar Racing . They had a difficult 1999 season as Shigeaki Hattori had his competitor's license revoked by chief steward Wally Dallenbach Sr. before the race at Laguna Seca . Before the 2000 season started, Bettenhausen, his wife and two business associates were killed in a plane crash on their way home from vacation in Florida. The team was renamed Herdez Competition as Michel Jourdain Jr. came aboard with Wiggins taking over as co-owner and managing director. Two uncompetitive seasons followed and Mario Dominguez
465-485: The exception of a race at Nivelles-Baulers in 1974, Zolder was the location of the Belgian Grand Prix until 1982. That year, Canadian driver Gilles Villeneuve was killed during qualifying at the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix . Villeneuve's Ferrari 126C2 collided at speed with the March 821 of Jochen Mass . The Ferrari was torn up in the accident and when rolling, Villeneuve was thrown from the car. After Villeneuve's death,
496-592: The final contested season of Champ Car, as the following February, the series unified with the Indy Racing League (IRL) , marking the end of the Champ Car World Series for good. For 2007 Champ Car underwent some major changes. The opening race of the season was switched from the Grand Prix of Long Beach to Las Vegas for the first running of the Vegas Grand Prix . The Long Beach Grand Prix
527-498: The most positions during the race. Dan Clarke had a season plagued with bad luck, but had a bright spot when he finished 2nd at Road America, though he was involved in a high-speed incident with Doornbos, which hurt the Dutchman's championship hopes. Clarke later triggered a multi-car pile-up during free practice at Zolder , and was suspended from competition for the race weekend. In 2008 , following American open wheel unification,
558-411: The overall points standings. She was the second highest-placed female in the points standings, behind Danica Patrick , who finished tenth. de Silvestro's best finish in 2010 came at Mid–Ohio Sports Car Course , where she finished in eighth place. On October 6, 2010, just four days after the 2010 season concluded, HVM Racing announced that they would be bringing de Silvestro back to the team in 2011 in
589-566: The proposed 17 races. Circuit Zolder The Circuit Zolder , also known as Circuit Terlamen , is an undulating 4.011 km (2.492 mi) motorsport race track in Heusden-Zolder , Belgium . Built in 1963, Zolder hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix on 10 separate occasions in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as the 1980 Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix . F1 moved to Zolder in 1973 and with
620-400: The race would remain in place. Starting this season drivers no longer received a bonus point for leading a lap of the race. The following teams and drivers competed in the 2007 Champ Car World Series season. All teams used a Cosworth 2.65-litre turbocharged V8 engine , a Panoz DP01 chassis, and Bridgestone tires. The 2007 Champ Car season ended up having 14 races, down from
651-536: The season. Both of their funds dried up, however, before the end of the season and several other drivers had chances in the team's two cars. Cedric the Entertainer became a co-owner late in the season and added a celebrity presence to the field. The cars that year ran a distinctive gunmetal gray livery with Cedric's A Bird and A Bear entertainment company on the sidepods. Nelson Philippe won in Australia and
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#1732797580666682-473: The team as defunct. ( key ) (results in bold indicate pole position) (results in italics indicate fastest lap) ( key ) 2007 Champ Car World Series season The 2007 Champ Car World Series season was the fourth and final season of the Champ Car World Series . It began on April 8, 2007 and ended on November 11 after 14 races. Unbeknownst at the time, this would end up being
713-597: The team as its second driver for the Indianapolis 500. Robert Doornbos returned to HVM in August 2009, piloting the #33 for the remainder of the 2009 season. For the 2010 season , HVM Racing signed Switzerland 's Simona de Silvestro full-time to drive the #78 Team Stargate Worlds entry. de Silvestro was one of five women to compete in the IndyCar Series in 2010, along with Ana Beatriz , Milka Duno , Sarah Fisher , and Danica Patrick , and finished 19th in
744-466: The team in 2004 and led all 250 laps at The Milwaukee Mile from the pole position. Herdez sponsorship faded at the end of the year and for 2005, with the team now called HVM, Wiggins was forced to take on pay-drivers Björn Wirdheim and Ronnie Bremer . Despite Wirdheim's impressive performances in the 2003 International Formula 3000 season, his subsequent championship title, and Jaguar F1 testing experience, he failed to regularly beat Bremer during
775-549: The team moved to the IRL IndyCar Series with E. J. Viso as its driver. The team also participated in the Long Beach Grand Prix with two more cars under the Minardi Team USA name for Nelson Philippe and Roberto Moreno . Viso finished the 2008 season with seven top-10 finishes and a season-best fourth-place finish at St. Petersburg. Viso stayed in the team in 2009 and the team aligned itself with
806-541: The team recorded their best season with a fourth place in the championship by Philippe. In 2006, Paul Stoddart , former owner of the Minardi Formula One team, bought an interest in the team and renamed it Minardi Team USA. For the 2007 season, Stoddart and Wiggins lined up the services of Dan Clarke and Red Bull F1 Racing test driver Robert Doornbos. With Doornbos the team began competing for podium positions regularly. The team scored its first win under
837-439: Was brought into the team in 2002. A fortunate victory came at Surfers Paradise in a water-logged event, as Dominguez started last and failed to pass a single car on track but benefited from pit strategy. The win boosted his confidence and the team recorded a 1-2 result at Miami , Dominguez leading Roberto Moreno , was the highlight of a much-improved 2003 season, finishing fifth in the championship. Ryan Hunter-Reay came into
868-566: Was built by sister company Élan Motorsport Technologies and was powered by a turbo-charged Cosworth engine. The new formula was reported to significantly lower the costs of competing in the series, which was in turn expected to increase car counts for the 2007 Champ Car season. However, 2007 entries did not exceeded those of 2006. Ford announced it would no longer badge the Cosworth engines as Ford sold Cosworth to Kevin Kalkhoven . Mazda
899-518: Was featured on the car programme Top Gear in 2008. In the episode, the show's British hosts competed against their German counterparts from D MOTOR . Zolder hosted also the FIA WTCC Race of Belgium in 2010, 2011, and 2020. The last race they drove in 2011 was won by Rob Huff in a Chevrolet and Gabriele Tarquini in a SEAT. The WTCC then disappeared from the Belgian circuits until in 2014
930-433: Was the second race of the season, followed by the Grand Prix of Houston . Also, the entire schedule was held on road and street courses, and the events were timed races instead of races for a set number of laps. The full 2007 schedule was announced on Wednesday, September 27, 2006. Champ Car officials confirmed that Panoz would be the sole chassis supplier for Champ Car for the three years beginning in 2007. The Panoz DP01
961-457: Was then confirmed as the new pace car and courtesy vehicle supplier. ESPN announced a new, multiyear agreement that marked the return of the Champ Car World Series to the network in 2007. On January 16, 2007, Champ Car announced their return to Europe, for the first time since 2003, with races scheduled for August 26, 2007 at the historic Zolder circuit in Belgium, and September 2, 2007 at