Herta Gets His Ticket to Ride for Next Season

Bryan Herta’s season of frustration ended in optimism Saturday, when it was announced that he would compete next year for the newly formed Team Zakspeed Forsythe Racing.

Herta, 30, of Valencia, was relegated to substituting for injured drivers in the Championship Auto Racing Team series after car-owner Gerald Forsythe--who also owns the two-car Player’s-Forsythe CART team--withdrew his one-car team from the series before the season opener, March 26, at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Forsythe sold one-half interest in Forsythe Championship Racing to Peter Zakowski of Germany, who has owned European racing teams since 1970 and fielded a Formula One team from 1985 to 1990.

Herta, who finished fourth in the Honda Grand Prix of Monterey at Laguna Seca Raceway on Sept. 10 in a car borrowed from the Player’s-Forsythe team, finished 18th in the points standings despite driving in only six of 20 races.

He drove two races for Derrick Walker--including the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 16, where he finished fifth--substituting for injured Shinji Nakano, and filled in for Tony Kanaan in three races with Morris Nunn’s team when Kanaan was injured.

Few details were announced at Saturday’s news conference, held at California Speedway, other than the team will be a two-car effort with Herta and a German driver to be announced.

“I know a few of the names they’re talking about, although I don’t know any of them personally,” Herta said. “You want somebody fast, somebody who’s going to push me and help with the development of the car.”

Herta believes there is a positive effect in not announcing many details about the new team.

“There’s still more questions than answers for people, which is good,” he said. “It helps build curiosity around the program.”

Herta said a decision has been made about a chassis and engine combination and cars have been ordered, although he doesn’t expect an official announcement to be made until his teammate is announced.

He also said that a winter testing program is in place.

“It’s going to be a strong two-car program,” Herta said. “We’re going to have a competitive package. They haven’t announced it yet, but I know it’s a good package.

“I had an opportunity to give some input on what I thought [the team should use].”

Herta, who met Zakowski at the Miller Lite 200 CART series race Aug. 13 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, spent time with Zakowski in Germany when Herta drove exhibition laps in a champ car at the opening of Eurospeedway in Lausitzring the following weekend.

He said driving for the new team had been the plan ever since merger talks began, although he wasn’t 100% sure of a deal until two weeks ago.

“I think it’s a group that’s dedicated to trying to win,” he said. “They’re success driven, and that’s the kind of people I want to be associated with.”

Herta said 90% of his crew will be back.

“We lost a couple of people over the winter,” he said. “I’d say that’s a normal amount of turnover. It’ll be nice to get back out with a proper program.”

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Although the champ car season ended Monday with the conclusion of the rain-delayed Marlboro 500 at California Speedway, Herta and several CART drivers will be at the Las Vegas Karting Center today through Sunday to participate in the Stars of Tomorrow event organized by Herta.

Paul Tracy, Patrick Carpentier, Alex Barron, Memo Gidley, Alexandre Tagliani, Casey Mears, Kanaan and Herta, along with Richie Hearn, former CART driver and Glendale native, have committed to race in the Stars of Today go-kart race Sunday at 1 p.m. on the track owned by Herta and former Northridge resident Hollis Brown.

Tagliani, who crashed Monday between turns one and two with two laps remaining and spent the night at Loma Linda Medical Center with back and abdominal pain, may be questionable for the event. After he is released, Tagliani will travel to Indianapolis, where he will meet with Dr. Terry Trammell, CART Chief Orthopedic Consultant, for further evaluation.

The Stars of Tomorrow event features races for four classes of go-karts, with winners of the 125cc shifter class, the 80cc shifter class and the 80cc superbox class, plus two drivers chosen by the professional racers, scheduled to receive three days at the Skip Barber Racing School and an opportunity to test a champ car owned by Bobby Rahal.

The winner of the Junior 80cc shifter class race will receive a test with Tracy’s go-kart team.

“This will give the guys an opportunity to feel the limits of a champ car, with plenty of runoff so they can make mistakes but stay out of trouble,” Herta said. “These guys that win this are going to be good drivers. We will let them get used to the power and the weight of the car.”

The Speedvision cable television network is producing a one-hour program that will include the feature races and follow the winners through the Barber School and the champ car test, with plans to air in January.

“It’s not that necessarily that one of these guys is ready to run the champ car series,” Herta said. “We’re trying to give them a pedigree, a stamp of approval, that these are guys to keep an eye out for.”

Herta said there are no autograph sessions scheduled for the pro drivers.

“This is just a fun event that they’re taking part in,” Herta said. “I want them to interact naturally with these guys. I want these guys to come up on their own and ask Paul Tracy a question, or Tony Kanaan. Serious young guys are going to do that.”

Herta said nearly 200 entries have been received, and walk-up entries could push the number of drivers over 200.

“The focus of this event has always been on quality, not quantity,” Herta said. “The response has been great, but there really hasn’t been anything like this in karting before.”

Jason Bowles and Darren Elliott are among the favorites in the 125cc race.

Bowles, 17, of Ontario, who competes for TNR Kart Sports of Canoga Park--owned by Tim Holden--finished sixth in the ShifterKarts USA Formula S2 Pro Moto series points standings despite missing the first event.

Elliott of Saugus finished 26th in the SKUSA Formula S1 points standings.

Herta hopes to expand the event next year to a small series or races in conjunction with established SKUSA races.