Big OOPS: FedEx Out As Title Sponsor, CART Management Denies F1 Takeover,

SURFERS PARADISE, Australia, October 25, 2002; The AP reported that CART president Chris Pook said Friday that the series has lost its title sponsor for next year and has no plans to merge with Formula One.

Pook, who became president and chief executive officer of the U.S.-based open-wheel series last December, said he was speaking with several companies about replacing FedEx, the series' title sponsor since 1997.

"The relationship was wonderful, they shipped a lot of stuff out of our paddock," Pook said of FedEx.

"As a series sponsor, we loved them. But the fact of the matter is in these sort of series, you have to have a series sponsor who activates to the retail market. That was not FedEx's game plan, that was never their game plan.

"I hope they will continue to work with us, but I must say that other freight companies are talking to us pretty rapidly. We need to activate a series sponsor who can reach our retail audience."

Responding to rumors that CART would merge with Formula One next year, Pook said that he had only sought advice from F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone.

"I'm not going to deny to anybody that I've talked with Bernie Ecclestone," Pook said. "He's a friend. He's also the most intelligent man in motor racing in the world. And there is no doubt that I am rebuilding this series.

"So it's logical that I would go to someone like that and say, 'Hey, am I going in the right direction?' That's what's going on."

Pook said he sees CART as a proven training ground for drivers who want to get to Formula One. Jacques Villeneuve and Juan Montoya, previous CART champions, moved on to Formula One, and Cristiano da Matta, who won the 2002 series title three weeks ago, is rumored to be going to F1 next year.

"It no secret that I have said on the record that I would like to take young drivers out of this series and present them to Formula One to see if they can make their way up the ladder," Pook said. "That's got to be the epitome of their career."

He said there was too much speculation.

"All these things are out there, and somehow or another, someone has tried to connect all the dots, and said, 'Ecclestone is going to take over CART,'" Pook said.

"Maybe he is, I don't know," added Pook, laughing. "But he hasn't told me that. And he hasn't told anybody else that."

Pook said he and Ecclestone were talking about a lot of things, "but there are no formal discussions going on about our relationship with Formula One. Absolutely not."