While Indy may have just scooped up the services of the Gecko and found a new lizard king in Massimiliano Papis. (But do Gecko’s like the wet stuff, you know… RAIN!) Don’t underestimate just how far CCWS is pulling out the stops for its series swan song this weekend in Long Beach…
I mean Hell! We’ve got such luminary characters as the over-loved “Jungle Boy” who’ll be partnering’ with his Rookie sidekick Juho “I Wanna be a Flying Finn” Annala.
Yep, that’s right, Antonio Pizzonia got his nickname Jungle Boy due to the Amazon region he comes from, while Annala is an aspiring Finnish driver who’s looking for a single seater opportunity outside of Formula 1 since two seats are already occupied by fellow countrymen…
Other Really Big names include Bobby Moreno, whose first name at least starts with the same letter as the car’s former driver Robert Doornbos, a.k.a. Bad Bobby D. At 49yrs of age Roberto Moreno will be the oldest driver in the field and hopes to use this “One-Off” as a springboard to another drive at Indy this May. Moreno will hope to outshine his younger teammates Nelson Philippe and EJ “DON’T uze call me Ernesto” Viso…
And I’ve already chronicled the plights of fellow Nevada residents Paul “Sand Dune” Tracy and “Top Jimmy” Vasser, who are both ex-CCWS champions and it seems fitting they’ll strap on their crash buckets for the series finale…
And don’t forget Bruno “Whiney-bags” Junqueira, Alex Tagliani and Mario “Boom Boom” Dominguez… While sadly Katherine Legge is MIA! As its even sadder that it takes a series farewell celebration to entice 20 cars onto the grid, which is a higher car count then Champ Car has been able to assemble the past few seasons…
To read the full line-up, see; Field of 20 expected for 34th Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
