Walker Racing
Encyclopedia
Walker Racing is a racing team founded by Derrick Walker
Derrick Walker
Derrick Walker is a British auto racing team owner.-Formula One:He started in auto racing as a chief mechanic for the Brabham Formula One team from 1970 to 1975...

 in 1991 racing originally in the CART
Champ Car
Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...

 Championship Car series. Presently the team competes in the Firestone Indy Lights series.

Early success

The team fielded Scott Goodyear
Scott Goodyear
Scott Goodyear is a former race car driver from Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. Goodyear ran the IRL and Champ Car series during his career from 1987, winning the Michigan 500 in 1992 and 1994...

 on a full time basis who won at Michigan
Michigan International Speedway
Michigan International Speedway is a two-mile moderate-banked D-shaped superspeedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than in Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is sometimes known as a "sister track" to Texas...

 and nearly won the 1992
1992 Indianapolis 500
The 76th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 24, 1992. The race is famous for the fierce battle in the closing laps, as race winner Al Unser, Jr...

 Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...

. He was joined beginning with the 1993 Indianapolis 500
1993 Indianapolis 500
The 77th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 30, 1993. Emerson Fittipaldi took the lead with 16 laps to go, and won his second career Indy 500 victory...

 by Willy T. Ribbs
Willy T. Ribbs
William "Willy" Theodore Ribbs, Jr. is a racecar driver who competed in many forms of auto racing. After retiring, he became a sport shooter in the National Sporting Clays Association....

 who raced with the team until the end of the 1994 season. The team ran a third full-time car in 1993 for Hiro Matsushita
Hiro Matsushita
, is a former driver in the Champ Car series. He is the grandson of Konosuke Matsushita, founder of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.. The family relationship has allowed him to receive financial backing from Panasonic throughout his racing career.-Early career:...

. Goodyear was replaced at the beginning of the 1994 season by Robby Gordon
Robby Gordon
Robert W. "Robby" Gordon is an American racecar driver who currently competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series as an owner-driver, driving the No. 7 Speed Energy Dodge Charger for Robby Gordon Motorsports, and also competes part-time in the Nationwide Series...

 who raced with the team with Valvoline sponsorship until 1996. Gordon raced alongside teammate Mark Smith
Mark Smith (auto racer)
Mark Smith is an American former race car driver born in Portland, Oregon. Smith entered karting competition at the age of 14 and won 6 championships in multiple IKF divisions...

 who was a championship contender in Indy Lights and showed promise in his 1993 CART rookie season but had a difficult 1994 season with the Walker Racing team. Smith was replaced by rookie Christian Fittipaldi
Christian Fittipaldi
Christian Fittipaldi is a Brazilian racing driver who has competed in various forms of motorsport including Formula One, Champ Car and NASCAR...

 in 1995 who finished second in the Indy 500 and finished 15th in points. As a results of the CART-IRL split in 1996, the Walker team elected to participate in both races with Gordon and Fredrik Ekblom
Fredrik Ekblom
Fredrik Ekblom is a Swedish race car driver from Kumla.-Career:He made 13 Indy Lights starts in 1992 and 1993. He then made three starts in CART for three different teams and was entered in the 1994 and 1995 Indianapolis 500 races, but after passing rookie orientation in 1994, he never appeared...

 driving in the U.S. 500
U.S. 500
The U.S. 500 was an automobile race sanctioned by CART on May 26, 1996 at the Michigan International Speedway as an alternative to the 1996 Indianapolis 500....

 and Mike Groff
Mike Groff
Mike Groff is a former race car driver in CART and the Indy Racing League and the 1989 Indy Lights champion. He made 54 starts in CART beginning in 1990 with a best finish of 6th, occurring at Phoenix International Raceway in 1994...

 racing in the 1996 Indianapolis 500
1996 Indianapolis 500
The 80th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 26, 1996. This was the first Indy 500 contested by the Indy Racing League, under the overall sanctioning umbrella of USAC. It was the third and final race of the 1996 IRL season. Buddy Lazier won the race, his...

. In 1997 Gil de Ferran
Gil de Ferran
Gil de Ferran , is a professional racing driver and team owner. De Ferran was the 2000 and 2001 Champ Car champion driving for the Penske Honda Team and the winner of the 2003 Indianapolis 500.Inspired by the success of fellow Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi, de Ferran began his career in kart racing...

 took over the Valvoline car and was the runner up in the championship that year, despite not scoring a victory. De Ferran stayed with the team until 1999, a year where he finally broke through and scored his first victory for the team, the team's first since Gordon's win at Detroit
Detroit Indy Grand Prix
The Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix presented by shopautoweek.com is a weekend of professional auto racing held at the Renaissance Center and later the Belle Isle in Detroit, United States. It has been held from 1989-01, 2007–08, and is scheduled for 2012 and beyond...

 in 1996.

A series of pay drivers

With no driver or sponsorship for the 2000 season, the team was forced to take on pay driver
Pay driver
A pay driver is a driver for a professional auto racing team who, instead of being paid by their car owner, drives for free and brings with him either personal sponsorship or personal or family funding to finance the team's operations...

 Shinji Nakano
Shinji Nakano
Shinji Nakano is a racing driver from Japan.His father, Tsuneharu was also a racing driver who competed in the All-Japan Formula Three Championship etc.-Pre Formula One Career:-Formula One Career:...

 who finished a disappointing 24th in points. Meanwhile, the team entered the Indy Racing League's IndyCar Series
IndyCar Series
The IZOD IndyCar Series is the premier level of American open wheel racing. The current championship, founded by Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George, began in 1996 as a competitor to CART known as the Indy Racing League . Citing CART's increasing reliance on expensive machinery and...

 in 2000
2000 in IRL
The 2000 Indy Racing Northern Light Series season was another season that saw a high level of parity as only one driver, champion Buddy Lazier, won more than a single race. It also saw the beginning of the jump from CART as Al Unser Jr. moved to the series full time and Chip Ganassi Racing came...

 with rookie female driver Sarah Fisher
Sarah Fisher
Sarah Marie Fisher is a retired American professional racecar driver who competed in the IZOD IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500...

 who was inconsistent but fast in her two years with the team, scoring a career-best finish of 2nd place at Homestead-Miami Speedway
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Homestead-Miami Speedway is a race track in Homestead, Florida southwest of Miami.Since 2002 Homestead has hosted the final races of the season in all three of NASCAR's series: the Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series, and the Camping World Truck Series...

 in 2001
2001 in IRL
The 2001 Indy Racing Northern Light Series season saw the addition of five races and loss of one to bring the total to 13. Chip Ganassi Racing returned to the Indy 500 with four cars and were joined on the grid by Penske Racing and Team Kool Green. Many other CART teams made clear their intention...

. Nakano was replaced in the team's CART entry in 2001 by countryman Tora Takagi who brought Pioneer Electronics sponsorship to the team. Takagi managed slightly improved results over Nakano scoring 10 top-10 finishes in his two seasons with the team. The team also attempted to field Oriol Servia
Oriol Servia
Oriol Servià i Imbers is a race car driver in the IndyCar Series, originally from Catalonia, Spain. He holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia.-Early career:...

 in the 2002 Indianapolis 500
2002 Indianapolis 500
The 86th Indianapolis race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 26, 2002. It was the seventh Indianapolis 500 held as part of the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series schedule, and was part of the 2002 Indy Racing League season....

 but he failed to qualify. Takagi left to the IRL in 2003 and the team was left without full-time sponsorship. The sponsorship void was filled by Mexican driver Rodolfo Lavin
Rodolfo Lavin
Rodolfo Lavín is a Mexican racing driver from San Luis Potosí. He most notably raced in the Champ Car World Series.In Mexico, Lavín raced in Formula Azteca and Formula 3. With funding in the form of sponsorship from Corona, with whom his father is on the board, Lavin raced in Indy Lights from...

 who brought Corona
Corona (beer)
Corona Extra, better known as Corona and labeled as Coronita in Spain, is a brand of pale lager owned and produced by Cerveceria Modelo at a number of breweries in Mexico. It is one of the best-selling beers in Mexico and is one of the top-selling beers worldwide...

 sponsorship. Walker ran Darren Manning
Darren Manning
Darren Manning is a motor racing driver, most recently racing in the IRL IndyCar Series for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.-Early career:...

 full-time in a second car with a variety of different sponsors and he finished 9th in points while Lavin only managed 18th. Both drivers were gone for 2004 as the series morphed into the Champ Car World Series. Brazilian Mario Haberfeld
Mario Haberfeld
Mario Haberfeld is a Brazilian auto racing driver.After winning the British Formula Three Championship in 1998, he drove in Formula 3000 from 1999 until 2002. He posted some decent results, but struggled his first season driving for the McLaren junior team failing to score a single point while...

 drove the team's only full time car. Late in that season Australian businessman Craig Gore
Craig Gore
Craig Gore is a property developer, from Queensland, Australia. He is the son of property developer Mike Gore.-Business affairs:He is the former owner of the Australian financial planning chain "WPS", property development company "Consolidated Construction", luxury home builder "Consolidated...

 bought into the team and it became Team Australia
Team Australia
Team Australia was an Auto racing team competing in the V8 Supercars and Champ Car World Series. It was created in early 2005 when two Australian businessmen bought into Derrick Walker's Walker Racing operation...

.

Team Australia

In 2005 the team took an Australian turn due to its new sponsorship, with the addition of Aussie Vineyards sponsorship and Austraian rookie driver Marcus Marshall
Marcus Marshall
Marcus Marshall is a former Champ Car driver from Australia. Before that he raced in British Formula Three, where he was generally a running outside the top ten, but took a hard fought win in a wet race. He contested 12 races in 2005 for Derrick Walker's renamed Team Australia Racing...

 joining Canadian veteran Alex Tagliani
Alex Tagliani
Alexandre Tagliani is a Canadian auto racing driver from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He currently competes in the IZOD IndyCar Series, driving the #77 entry for Sam Schmidt Motorsports.-Champ Car career:...

 as the team returned to two full-time cars. Will Power
Will Power
William Steven Power is an Australian motorsport driver, who currently competes in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series, driving for Team Penske.-Australian Racing:...

 made his debut in a third car at the 2005 Lexmark Indy 300
Lexmark Indy 300
The Nikon Indy 300 was an open-wheel motor race event that took place at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit in south east Queensland, Australia. Known generically as the Gold Coast Indy 300, Japanese camera giant Nikon was announced as new naming rights sponsor in early August 2008...

 in Australia and replaced Marshall for the season finale in Mexico. The pair of Tagliani and Power continued with the team in 2006 and Tagliani was replaced by 2006 Champ Car Atlantic Series champion Simon Pagenaud
Simon Pagenaud
Simon Pagenaud is a French race car driver born in Poitiers. He currently races in the IZOD IndyCar Series with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.-Career:...

 in 2007. Power won two races in 2007 including the season opener in Las Vegas, the team's first victory since Gil De Ferran was with the team.

Walker initially indicated that he believed that the Champ Car World Series had run its last race and he was preparing to race in the IRL IndyCar Series in 2008
2008 IndyCar Series season
The 2008 IndyCar Series season was the 13th season of the IndyCar Series. Its premier event was the 92nd Indianapolis 500 on May 25. The first race was held March 29 at Homestead. It was the 97th recognized season of top-level American open wheel racing....

. However, on on March 9 the team announced that it would not race in the IndyCar Series in 2008 as it was unable to find adequate funding to do so as sponsor Aussie Vineyards jumped ship to KV Racing.. Walker Racing did finally appear in the 2008 season in a joint effort with Vision Racing
Vision Racing
Vision Racing was a racing team in the Indy Racing League founded in 2005 when Tony George purchased the assets of the defunct Kelley Racing and hired his stepson Ed Carpenter to be the driver. The team has previously raced in the Izod IndyCar Series, Firestone Indy Lights and the Grand-Am Sports...

 at Edmonton to run Paul Tracy
Paul Tracy
Paul Tracy is a professional automobile racer who has competed in CART, the ChampCar World Series and the IndyCar Series...

.

Walker will field Stefan Wilson
Stefan Wilson
Stefan James Wilson is a British racing driver. He is the younger brother of former Formula One and current IndyCar Series driver Justin Wilson...

 for a partial 2009 Indy Lights season
2009 Indy Lights season
The 2009 Indy Racing League Firestone Indy Lights season began April 4 in St. Petersburg, Florida, where it ran a double-header weekend in support to the season-opening IndyCar Series event. The schedule will take place over 14 race weekends in support of the IndyCars, with 15 total races. Unlike...

.

American Le Mans Series

In 2011, Derrick Walker joined forces with Team Falken Tire
Falken Tires
Falken Tire Corporation is a Japanese manufacturer of automobile tires. Originally created in 1983 as a brand for Ohtsu Tire and Rubber to sell their lineup of performance tires under, Falken became part of Sumitomo Rubber Industries when they acquired Ohtsu in 2003...

 to run a Porsche 997 GT3-RSR in the upcoming American Le Mans Series season
2011 American Le Mans Series season
The 2011 American Le Mans Series season is a multi-event motor racing series for sports racing cars which conform to the technical regulations laid out by the International Motor Sports Association for the American Le Mans Series...

 in the GT class. Falken's motorsports division made their ALMS début in 2009
2009 American Le Mans Series season
The 2009 American Le Mans Series season was the eleventh season for the International Motor Sports Association's American Le Mans Series. It began on March 21, 2009, and ended on October 10, 2009 after ten events. The series was composed of Le Mans Prototypes and Grand Tourer race cars divided...

 racing certain events before entering a full 2010 season
2010 American Le Mans Series season
The 2010 American Le Mans Series season was the twelfth season for the International Motor Sports Association's American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón. It was also the first season in which the ALMS used a revised structure for its four classes, as well as the first year in a three...

. The team took its maiden victory at the 2011 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge
2011 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge
The 2011 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge was held at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on August 5, 2011. It was the fifth round of the 2011 American Le Mans Series season.-Qualifying Result:Pole position winners in each class are marked in bold.-Race:...

 in which heavy rain towards the end of the race which favoured the team as the rain tires Falken developed were considerably better than those of Michelin
Michelin
Michelin is a tyre manufacturer based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne région of France. It is one of the two largest tyre manufacturers in the world along with Bridgestone. In addition to the Michelin brand, it also owns the BFGoodrich, Kleber, Riken, Kormoran and Uniroyal tyre brands...

 and Dunlop
Dunlop Rubber
Dunlop Rubber was a company based in the United Kingdom which manufactured tyres and other rubber products for most of the 20th century. It was acquired by BTR plc in 1985. Since then, ownership of the Dunlop trade-names has been fragmented.-Early history:...

. Wolf Henzler
Wolf Henzler
Wolf Henzler is a German racing driver known for his success with Porsches. He began racing in 1991 with a win in the German Junior Kart championship...

, one of the drivers in the race was in seventh when the rain started falling and went up to fifth before the safety car came out. In the restart, Henzler overtook the next four cars in a single lap to take the lead before the red flags came out around ten minutes before the end of the race. It was also the first win for a team running on Falken Tires and also the first wins for drivers Wolf Henzler and Bryan Sellers.

Ed Carpenter Racing

In 2012, Derrick Walker will return to the IndyCar Series
IndyCar Series
The IZOD IndyCar Series is the premier level of American open wheel racing. The current championship, founded by Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George, began in 1996 as a competitor to CART known as the Indy Racing League . Citing CART's increasing reliance on expensive machinery and...

 as team manager for Ed Carpenter Racing, co-owned by Tony George
Tony George
Anton Hulman "Tony" George was the former President and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Hulman & Company, serving from 1989 to 2009. He was also formerly on the Board of Directors of both entities. He founded the Indy Racing League and co-owns Vision Racing...

 and driver Ed Carpenter. The team will be based in the Walker Racing facility and will utilize Walker Racing's equipment and personnel.

CART/CCWS

Jon Beekhuis
Jon Beekhuis
Jon Beekhuis is a former race car driver from Zurich, Switzerland. The 1988 Indy Lights champion, he drove in 9 CART races in 1990 and a handful more in 1989, 1991, and 1992. His best finish was an 8th at Michigan International Speedway...

 (1992) David Besnard
David Besnard
David Besnard, , in Sydney, Australia is a professional race car driver. Starting in Karts in 1981, he quickly proceeded into Formula Ford in 1995. After initial success, he had a major accident at Eastern Creek Raceway and broke his leg. In 1996 he made a comeback and won the Australian title...

 (2004) Gil de Ferran
Gil de Ferran
Gil de Ferran , is a professional racing driver and team owner. De Ferran was the 2000 and 2001 Champ Car champion driving for the Penske Honda Team and the winner of the 2003 Indianapolis 500.Inspired by the success of fellow Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi, de Ferran began his career in kart racing...

 (1997-1999) Luis Diaz (2003) Fredrik Ekblom
Fredrik Ekblom
Fredrik Ekblom is a Swedish race car driver from Kumla.-Career:He made 13 Indy Lights starts in 1992 and 1993. He then made three starts in CART for three different teams and was entered in the 1994 and 1995 Indianapolis 500 races, but after passing rookie orientation in 1994, he never appeared...

 (1996) Christian Fittipaldi
Christian Fittipaldi
Christian Fittipaldi is a Brazilian racing driver who has competed in various forms of motorsport including Formula One, Champ Car and NASCAR...

 (1995) A. J. Foyt
A. J. Foyt
Anthony Joseph Foyt, Jr., or as he is universally known as in motorsports circles, A. J. Foyt , is a retired American automobile racing driver. He raced in numerous genres of motorsports. His open wheel racing includes USAC Champ cars and midget cars. He raced stock cars in NASCAR and USAC. He won...

 (1992) Memo Gidley
Memo Gidley
José Guillermo "Memo" Gidley is a Mexican-American racing driver, of German and Canadian ancestry, born in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico in 1973. He holds dual citizenship - American and Mexican....

 (1999) Scott Goodyear
Scott Goodyear
Scott Goodyear is a former race car driver from Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. Goodyear ran the IRL and Champ Car series during his career from 1987, winning the Michigan 500 in 1992 and 1994...

 (1991-1993, 1996) Robby Gordon
Robby Gordon
Robert W. "Robby" Gordon is an American racecar driver who currently competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series as an owner-driver, driving the No. 7 Speed Energy Dodge Charger for Robby Gordon Motorsports, and also competes part-time in the Nationwide Series...

 (1994-1996) Mike Groff
Mike Groff
Mike Groff is a former race car driver in CART and the Indy Racing League and the 1989 Indy Lights champion. He made 54 starts in CART beginning in 1990 with a best finish of 6th, occurring at Phoenix International Raceway in 1994...

 (1992, 1996) Mario Haberfeld
Mario Haberfeld
Mario Haberfeld is a Brazilian auto racing driver.After winning the British Formula Three Championship in 1998, he drove in Formula 3000 from 1999 until 2002. He posted some decent results, but struggled his first season driving for the McLaren junior team failing to score a single point while...

 (2004) Naoki Hattori
Naoki Hattori
is a motoring journalist and racing driver from Japan. After being Japanese Formula 3 champion in 1990, he failed to pre-qualify for two Formula One grands prix with Coloni in 1991 as a late-season replacement for Pedro Chaves...

 (1999) Bryan Herta
Bryan Herta
Bryan John Herta is an American race car driver. He currently runs his own team, Bryan Herta Autosport in the Firestone Indy Lights Series...

 (2000) Rodolfo Lavín
Rodolfo Lavin
Rodolfo Lavín is a Mexican racing driver from San Luis Potosí. He most notably raced in the Champ Car World Series.In Mexico, Lavín raced in Formula Azteca and Formula 3. With funding in the form of sponsorship from Corona, with whom his father is on the board, Lavin raced in Indy Lights from...

 (2003) Buddy Lazier
Buddy Lazier
Robert Buddy Lazier is an American Indycar driver. He won the 1996 Indianapolis 500 and has finished in the Top Ten in that race six times...

 (1991) Darren Manning
Darren Manning
Darren Manning is a motor racing driver, most recently racing in the IRL IndyCar Series for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.-Early career:...

 (2003) Marcus Marshall
Marcus Marshall
Marcus Marshall is a former Champ Car driver from Australia. Before that he raced in British Formula Three, where he was generally a running outside the top ten, but took a hard fought win in a wet race. He contested 12 races in 2005 for Derrick Walker's renamed Team Australia Racing...

 (2005) Hiro Matsushita
Hiro Matsushita
, is a former driver in the Champ Car series. He is the grandson of Konosuke Matsushita, founder of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.. The family relationship has allowed him to receive financial backing from Panasonic throughout his racing career.-Early career:...

 (1993) Shinji Nakano
Shinji Nakano
Shinji Nakano is a racing driver from Japan.His father, Tsuneharu was also a racing driver who competed in the All-Japan Formula Three Championship etc.-Pre Formula One Career:-Formula One Career:...

 (2000) Simon Pagenaud
Simon Pagenaud
Simon Pagenaud is a French race car driver born in Poitiers. He currently races in the IZOD IndyCar Series with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.-Career:...

 (2007) Will Power
Will Power
William Steven Power is an Australian motorsport driver, who currently competes in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series, driving for Team Penske.-Australian Racing:...

 (2005-2007) Willy T. Ribbs
Willy T. Ribbs
William "Willy" Theodore Ribbs, Jr. is a racecar driver who competed in many forms of auto racing. After retiring, he became a sport shooter in the National Sporting Clays Association....

 (1991-1994) Mark Smith
Mark Smith (auto racer)
Mark Smith is an American former race car driver born in Portland, Oregon. Smith entered karting competition at the age of 14 and won 6 championships in multiple IKF divisions...

 (1994) Alex Tagliani
Alex Tagliani
Alexandre Tagliani is a Canadian auto racing driver from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He currently competes in the IZOD IndyCar Series, driving the #77 entry for Sam Schmidt Motorsports.-Champ Car career:...

 (2005-2006, 2008) Tora Takagi (2001-2002) Michael Valiante
Michael Valiante
Michael Valiante is a Canadian racing driver.Michael began racing in karting where his success earned him a full-season scholarship in the Skip Barber 2.0 Series. In his first season, Michael was both series champion and rookie of the year...

 (2004) Charles Zwolsman
Charles Zwolsman
Charles Zwolsman Jr. is a race car driver who formerly competed in the Champ Car World Series. He is the son of former sports car racing driver and career criminal, Charles Zwolsman, Sr., who competed in the late 1980s and early 1990s.Zwolsman started racing go karts before competing in Formula...

(2005)
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK