Tomas Scheckter visited his home town of Cape Town this week and CARtoday.com spoke to the South African IRL star about oval racing, recalcitrant team-bosses, life in America and F1 politics.

Tomas Scheckter visited his home town of Cape Town this week and CARtoday.com spoke to the South African Indy Racing League (IRL) star about oval racing, recalcitrant team-bosses, life in America and F1 politics.

CARtoday.com has been providing extensive coverage of the 22-year-old racer’s exploits in the IRL this year. Driving for the Infiniti-powered Red Bull Eddie Cheever Racing team, Scheckter came close to winning the Indianapolis 500 with his first attempt and was denied a first win on several occasions before finally breaking through at Michigan. His first pole position gave him the distinction of being the youngest ever pole winner in the history of the IRL, he led five of his 12 races and recorded fastest race lap on six occasions.

But Scheckter’s first season was tumultuous … The South African was involved in more than one high-speed collision, served a brief suspension for what the IRL termed “unsportsmanlike conduct” and then walked out of the Cheever team late in the season. What had happened behind the scenes? Read on…

CARtoday.com: After completing a dramatic rookie season in the Indy Racing League, how do you feel, looking back on your exploits this year?

Scheckter: I feel pretty happy with what I have achieved this year. I had a win and three pole positions in my debut IRL season - which was also the first year that I competed on oval circuits.

Your rookie year in the IRL began with controversy when you and your team boss Eddie Cheever collided at Miami in March and then at Nashville in August, causing a public spat between the two of you. When and why did the relationship sour?

It has to be said that Eddie had a tough job to do… He was my boss, team-mate and also my competitor. We were involved in an incident early in the season and things were said. As the season progressed it, it finally got to a point that I could not continue to drive for the team because I got no support from Eddie.

Your father was on hand to see you come within 27 laps of winning the historic Indianapolis 500 with your first attempt. What was it like to race as strongly as you did, and repeat the feat in Texas weeks later, just to drop out of the race on both occasions?

Winning the Indianapolis 500 would have been an amazing experience… not only for the prestige that goes with winning the historic event, but the prize money is also in excess of a million dollars! But I crashed at Indy and also failed to finish at Texas (where a broken clutch ended his race) - and it was tough. On both occasions there was nothing I could have done to avoid retiring from the races.

You received much criticism following your collision with Jacques Lazier at Nazareth. You were also handed a brief ban by the IRL’s ruling body… did you think that was fair?

Yes, to be honest. I was too aggressive at the beginning of the year and that led to accidents… Jacques’s neck was broken at Nazareth. So the officials sat me down and told me: “You have massive potential but need guidance on what you should and should not do out on the track”. The IRL had my best interests at heart, and I think the situation was handled correctly.

Some say that your victory at Michigan was one of the most exciting races ever televised in South Africa. But in what was supposed to be a victorious press conference after the race, it became clear that the relationship between you and Cheever was as tense as ever...

I’ve been told that it was one of the best conferences I’ve been in (laughs). The atmosphere at the conference was unbelievably tense… Eddie had given me second-rate equipment and a different pit crew. Then during the race he made a mistake, crashed out, the resulting yellow flag relegated me to the back of the field and I had to battle to win the race. Was there anything more Eddie could have done to ruin my chances of winning? I don’t think so.

What really happened at the Indy 300 at the Kentucky Speedway in August? On lap 89 you spun, collided with Airton Dare, and crashed. After the race you were quoted as saying that you felt the team had put you in danger by forcing you to race on a delaminating tyre.

It was a complicated situation, but Eddie brought it on himself. At that point, I had led far more laps and gained more pole positions than Eddie, who is a former Indy 500 winner and a seasoned campaigner. I was the most competitive driver, but I never felt that the team was behind me.

You refused to race for Cheever at the Gateway Indy 250 and left the team. Then we heard that you were taking legal action against Cheever, who was in turn suing you for breach of contract.

It’s a funny situation, isn’t it? All I can say is that Eddie is upset now because I won’t be driving for his team next year. He insulted me in the press and personally and I could not take it anymore.

It was only after he’d lost me that he realised I was worth having in the team. He thought that I would be out in the cold once I walked out of his team, but I received many offers to drive for other teams, some of them in the CART series.

Next year you will be driving for Chip Ganassi’s team. Ganassi’s team won four consecutive CART championships from 1996 to 99 but 2003 will be its first in the Indy Racing League. Realistically speaking, what are your chances of winning next year?

It is great that Chip wants me to drive for his team. It’s a team that has a great track record and should have a good chance of winning. I believe that if I rely on the experience that I have built up this year, I can win races next season.

Alex Zanardi and Juan-Pablo Montoya both landed F1 contracts with Williams following successful stints with Ganassi… Do you think that a career in IRL is the best possible stepping-stone to F1?

I think my focus at the moment is the first race of next season. I want to start winning races and then try to win the IRL championship. After that, I will reconsider my options.

I am only 22 and I think that it would be best for me to spend two or three seasons in the IRL. The IRL is becoming the biggest form of motorsport in the US and will probably be expanded to include circuit racing in the future. You can’t put a time frame on a career in motor racing so I will take it a step at a time.

You spent half a year as a Jaguar test driver and then got dismissed from the team. What did you learn about the world of Formula One?

Formula One is very politicised. It is all about who you know, who your sponsors are and how much money the sponsors from your country can contribute.

This is one of the reasons that I am much happier in America and in the IRL than I ever was in England. The IRL is all about racing and not politics. In addition, I live in Indianapolis now and the American lifestyle is very convenient.

You’ve always said that your biggest dream is to drive in F1. Do you follow Formula One at all?

It is difficult, because of the time difference (between the US and Europe) and the fact that F1 coverage is only limited to a cable channel in the US. Formula One is not of great interest to me at the moment because it lacks excitement and action. I watch the start and the first 10 minutes and then go to sleep. Fortunately, the FIA has now taken steps to add excitement to F1 and that should mean a better spectacle next year.

What’s the next step for you?

I return to America on Thursday to begin my physical and mental preparation for next season. But there will be a test session for the Ganassi team as early as next month. It has been good to return to my roots in Cape Town this week and catch some sunshine…. I truly appreciate all the support I have been receiving from fans in my home country.

Original article from Car