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RELIANT PARK Texas (May 11, 2006) — Nelson Philippe is with CTE-HVM Racing this year and he couldn’t be happier with either his new team or the opportunity to race on the new track at Reliant Park in Houston. “This is my kind of track,” he said with a big smile. “It’s bumpy! The car really jumps around. Actually it reminds me in many ways of San José, where I did very well. This is another track where the driver can make a big difference, and these are the kind of tracks that I enjoy the most.” There were two alterations to the track last night, after their ‘walkaround’, and it was Nelson’s opinion that these alterations, made chiefly to slow the field down, were made because of a tendency of some people to whine. (Nelson was more forthright in his characterization, but that was the gist of it.) But like it or not, he has no intention of slowing down.

CTE-HVM is Nelson’s third team in his three-year career, and he likes it best of the teams for whom he has raced. “The team is new,” he said, “but we get along so well that it seems like we’ve been together for a long time. My engineer, Will Phillips, and I communicate well and the team is doing everything it can to give us good cars and boost us up the field.”

And that approval includes his teammate, “Speedy Dan” Clarke. “Dan is a fun guy,” he said, “and very quick; and when your teammate is quick, it pushes you to do better because your best competition is your teammate in equal equipment.”

Nelson has ambitions for the season, but his ambitions are prudent and well within reach. “My number one goal for this season,” he said, “is to achieve a podium. I think that is well within my grasp – and I mean a real podium, one I had to fight for. Of course I will take any podium, any time! But the one I want to achieve is that one I have fought to win. I was voted the most improved driver last year by my fellow drivers and I intend to win that honour again this year. My goal is always to improve.”

Nelson’s confidence is growing with every year of racing, but he’s not shy about pointing out that he’s not one of the “prissy missy” types who thinks more highly of himself than he should. “I am an outgoing guy,” he said frankly, “but I’m going to wait until I have solid results behind me before I start giving my opinions about what’s going on. I feel that you have to earn the right to speak out, and I don’t feel I have done that yet. Still,” he reflected, “I think it’s good for Champ Cars and good for the team to have outgoing drivers. Dan and I are a big change for this team after last year when they had two Scandinavians!”

The subject of “reunification” is always in the air these days, and Nelson raised it during our interview. “It would make the series stronger, better, more competitive,” he argued, “and by mixing more ovals – not too many – into the competition it will make us better drivers. Of course the down side of that is that there will likely be fewer jobs. I am going to work harder so that if this happens, I will be one of those who get one of those jobs!” Asked about racing at Indianapolis, he was diplomatic. “I’d like to race there because it had a big name once – I’d have liked to race there in the 1970s, really – but I didn’t grow up saying Oh I want to race at Indianapolis!” To the suggestion that oval racing was dangerous he had a simple suggestion.

“If you think racing is too dangerous,” he said, “you should give up racing and play ping pong.”

Nelson Philippe has grown as a driver and as a man in the three years he has been in the Champ Car World Series, and we hope he will be around the series for a long time to come – just to see what changes are yet to come, both on and off the track. Whatever happens in the future, there’s one guarantee: it won’t be dull!