COST OF OPERATING A CHAMP CAR TEAM

Competing in the Champ Car World Series is an expensive venture for a team owner. Following is a breakdown of costs involved:

• Chassis: The "rolling chassis" in 2007 costs approximately $295,000. A "rolling chassis" is a race car with a suspension and steering system, but without an engine, dashboard, electronics, turbocharger, tires or extras.

The manufacturer is U.S.-based Elan Motorsports Technologies.

To be competitive, teams should plan to own two or three race cars in case problems arise, allowing for two cars at the track for each event and a third in the shop.

• Engine: The engines are not available for sale individually, but rather through a lease program. Teams pay a fee at the beginning of the season to lease engines, which are good for six rebuilds throughout the season at no additional cost to teams.

Each engine must be rebuilt after 1,400 miles of activity, and all maintenance and engine rebuilds must be performed by the engine manufacturer. Engine management systems are also made available through the lease program and must be returned at season's end. The exclusive engine in 2007 Champ Car competition will be the Cosworth XFE.

• Wheels: The "rolling chassis" comes with four wheels. For the season, teams should plan to buy at least 10 more sets of wheels (40 total wheels), at about $1,100 each for rear wheels and $1,000 each for front wheels.

• Tires: With a tire limit of 36 per event, according to Champ Car rules, and at a cost of $1,200 per set, one car could use more than $170,000 worth of rubber in a single season.

• During the season, teams should allow for $125,000 worth of disposable spare parts, in addition to $300,000 in gearbox parts.

• Team costs: In planning a budget, teams must be sure to allow for salaries for drivers, engineers, fabricators, crew, office employees, truck drivers, costs of travel, lodging, rental cars and per diem (food allowance), not only for racing events, but also for a year-round testing and development program. Many multi-car teams rely on a full-time staff of more than 50 people.

• Transporter: Transporting the race car(s) and related equipment to all events, as well as testing sessions, must be factored into team financial planning. Race car transporters are rolling machine shops complete with a wide inventory of spare parts, as outlined above. Teams budget $500,000 for a correctly equipped transporter. Unlike competition equipment, transporters are used for more than one season.

• Total: The above fixtures represent what it takes to go racing for a season -- with no guarantees. But to be competitive, it is necessary to allow plenty of testing and development, which will have an impact on budget areas such as cars, engines, wheels and tires, and team costs. Putting that in perspective, it takes about $2 million to get into the Champ Car World Series. However, many top-flight teams spend from $5 million to more than $8 million annually.

SOURCE: CHAMP CAR WORLD SERIES