Revved up for down under source: Minardi Team USA Minardi Team USA and the Champ Car World Series will hit the streets of Surfers Paradise on October 19-21, 2007, and the team's Australian co-owner, Paul Stoddart, hopes for nothing less than another podium visit for drivers Robert Doornbos and 'Speedy' Dan Clarke. Australia is also a favorite of team-owner Keith Wiggins who has led the team to two previous victories at Surfers - last year with Nelson Philippe and in 2002 with Mario Dominguez. The team name and driver line-up may have changed for 2007 but Wiggins has similar high expectations for this year's event and is looking to achieve a third win at the always exciting Surfers Paradise venue. Keith is confident that the preparation and testing for this race has gone well and the team is well-placed for another top level performance. Dutchman, Robert Doornbos, currently lies third in the Championship points standings, with two race wins and six podium finishes scored to date in an impressive Rookie season. Englishman, Dan Clarke, earned his best result thus far in a relatively short Champ Car career with a fine second place at Road America, in Wisconsin, early in August. Both drivers have spent the six-week break between Champ Car's two European races, in Belgium and the Netherlands, and the upcoming Australian event, testing and training in order to keep themselves in top form for the final "push" that will determine the outcome of the 2007 title hunt. Team Manager Vince Kremer gets a view from the cockpit- don't worry- he's not in charge here! Born and raised in the Melbourne suburb of North Coburg, Paul Stoddart brings an Aussie connection to the predominantly European team, and the logo of his OzJet airline features prominently on the side pods of the No 14 Minardi Team USA entry, driven by Doornbos. The charter airline, which was founded in 2004, has provided air travel for the entire Minardi Team USA crew to and from North American races this season, and there's no doubt that flying on a Boeing 737, set up in 60-seat, Business-Class-only configuration and decked out in Minardi Team USA and OzJet livery, is a luxury that team personnel have really come to appreciate. Apart from the comfort of the flight home after the rigors of a race weekend, it helps to maintain a sense of "family" within the close-knit organization. For Paul Stoddart, it is clear his passion is motor racing while his business interests center on aviation - he has both a successful aircraft spares company and another airline, European Aviation Air Charter, based in the UK. That theme looks set to continue now his motor racing focus has switched to North America, as the entrepreneurial Aussie recently launched a new aviation spares business, Skybus LLC, headquartered near Indianapolis International Airport. It's fair to say this latest development also demonstrates his belief in, as well as solid commitment to, his new North American racing and aviation interests.
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