Mansell Again the Favorite to Win the Indy-Car Series

The first act of what is expected to be a real drama in the 1994 Indy-car PPG Cup series will be played out March 20 in Australia--half a world away from most of its fans.

Englishman Nigel Mansell, who brought his 1992 Formula one championship with him last season as he took the American-based Indy-car series by storm, winning five races and the title as a rookie, will again be the favorite.

He has a new Lola chassis and a new generation Ford-Cosworth V8 engine, as well as considerably more experience racing on this side of the ocean than going into 1993.

“I’m definitely more comfortable,” Mansell said. “This year we know the tracks, we know the cities, we know the hotels. Most importantly, we know the people. It makes a big difference.”

But the 16-race championship isn’t expected to be a cakewalk for the man who opened his Indy-car career by winning the opener on the streets of Surfers Paradise, Australia.

Back after a year of trying to fit in among the glitterati of Formula One is 1991 series champion Michael Andretti, driving for Chip Ganassi’s team, expected to be the leading contender among the teams racing the new Reynard chassis.

The son of Mario Andretti, Mansell’s Newman-Haas Racing teammate, had a disappointing and sometimes embarrassing season in Formula One, although he scored points in three races and made the post-race podium with a third-place finish at Italy late in the year. And, at age 31, Andretti already has 27 Indy-car victories and a reputation for being as aggressive and single-minded as Mansell.

The younger Andretti, who did more than 2,500 miles of testing over the winter, said, “I’m really encouraged. Everywhere we’ve tested, we’ve been right there with the best times. I feel very good.

“I’m right where I was in terms of driving before I left Indy cars at the end of 1992.”

The Penske Racing team will be even stronger than last season, when Emerson Fittipaldi won his second Indianapolis 500 and was runner-up in the season points, and 25-year-old Paul Tracy blossomed into a star with five wins and a third-place finish in the standings.

Al Unser Jr., just 31 and already with 19 career victories, including the 1992 Indianapolis 500 and the 1990 series championship, is the newest Penske driver.

That all-star trio will have new Penske race cars with equally new Ilmor Engines.

“I could see right from the first test what makes the Penske team so great,” Unser said. “They have the best of the everything, and their preparation is tremendous. I can’t wait for the season to get going.”

Then there’s Bobby Rahal, a three-time series champion whose Rahal-Hogan team is expected to get a big boost from engine produced by American Honda, a newcomer to the open-wheel series.

Another tier of drivers capable of winning in any given race, if not challenging for the title, includes Mario Andretti, ending his all-star career with one last season before retirement; former Indy 500 winner Arie Luyendyk, Raul Boesel; Scott Goodyear; Teo Fabi; and 25-year-old Robby Gordon.

This year’s top rookie is expected to be 26-year-old Scott Sharp, a two-time SCCA Trans-Am champion who finished 22nd in October at Monterey, Calif., in only his Indy-car start.

“The fantastic thing about the Indy-car series is that so many teams are capable of winning on any weekend,” Mansell said. “Anyone can buy the same basic chassis and run the same engine, and then it’s the responsibility of the teams and drivers to do the best job they can.”

The North American portion has races at Phoenix on April 10 and in Long Beach, Calif., on April 17 setting the stage for the Indianapolis 500 in May.