09 July 2006
Juan Pablo Montoya is to leave Formula One at the end of this
season for a drive in the American NASCAR series with Chip Ganassi
Racing. Ganassi announced that Montoya has signed a multi-year deal
with his team.
Montoya's future in F1 has been the focus of much speculation over
the past few months and when it appeared that McLaren had not taken
up its option on his services, the Colombian looked set to return
to the US.
Announcing the move on Sunday Ganassi said, "We are thrilled to be
getting a driver of this caliber. Juan Pablo is one of the best
race car drivers in the world. He is a former CART Champion, Indy
500 winner and Formula 1 driver that will bring a much needed
veteran presence to our team."
Montoya will become the first regular F1 driver to move directly to
the Nextel Cup when he contests his first race next year. The
Colombian and Chip Ganassi are no strangers. Montoya drove for
Ganassi's open-wheel team during the 1999 and 2000 CART seasons.
Following his two years with Ganassi, Montoya made the jump
to
Formula 1.
Until now Montoya has started 94 F1 Grand Prix, winning seven and
finishing on the podium 30 times.