World Series by Nissan team KTR is all geared up for the 2004 season which kicks off in Jarama on March 27th and 28th. After a rather difficult winter period, team principal, Kurt Mollekens, is looking forward to go racing again. For this season the Belgian outfit has signed drivers Bruce Jouanny and Didier André.
"It has not been easy to get everything sorted this winter," Mollekens commented. "There's a bit of a crisis going on in the world 3-litre single-seaters, as with four different series there just isn't enough money nor enough decent drivers around to serve them all. Nevertheless I am very happy with our line-up for this year as both Bruce and Didier are talented guys with lots of promise."
One of the plusses for the KTR drivers is that they both have experience in the World Series by Nissan. "Their experience will certainly be helpful considering the restricted testing possibilities in the championship," Mollekens said. "Didier made quite some progress during the season last year, and I still remember his talent from the days we were both racing in karts. In 1991, he became French Champion and European vice-champion and that's not something you achieve without talent."
"Bruce already showed last year that he is a very fast guy by signing two pole positions. If he can consistently confirm his qualifying speed in the races, then I'm sure we have a possible champion racing with KTR. Having said that, the competition will once again be very tough this year, with the likes of Kovalainen, Bernoldi, Karthikeyan, Gommendy and others all having the same ambition of winning the championship," Mollekens said.
The economical climate being what it is, Jouanny is only confirmed for the first half of the season. "Unfortunately that's the situation," Mollekens confirmed, "but with the pace he showed in testing in Jarama and Barcelona I'm sure he will get the results that will find him the extra sponsorship needed."
In the official test session in Jarama and Barcelona, Jouanny stopped the clocks in 9th and 4th respectively, while André finished 7th and 13th quickest. "Despite the fact that they had the engines for three months to rebuild, engine supplier AER gave us a faulty one which they only managed to cure after a whole day of testing, which is the explanation of Bruce's lesser result in Jarama." Mollekens said. "But I'd rather have my problems before the season than during."
18 cars participated in the Jarama and Barcelona test sessions and a full 20-car grid is expected for the first race, which is more than in any other 3-litre category. The season starts on March 27th/28th in Jarama, Spain and finishes in Zhuhai, China on October 30th/31st, with stops in Zolder, Belgium (April 24th/25th), Magny-Cours, France (May 22nd/23rd), Valencia, Spain (June 26th/27th), Lausitzring, Germany (August 7th/8th), Estoril, Portugal (September 25th/26th), Barcelona, Spain (October 2nd/3rd) and Valencia, Spain (October 16th/17th).
