MELBOURNE’s Jordan Roddy has revealed himself as the proud new owner of a piece of Champ Car racing history.
Roddy, son of Historic racer Mike Roddy who owns and races the 1985 Bathurst 1000-winning Jaguar XJ-S, is in the United States this week collecting his newly acquired 2005 Champ Car World Series-winning ex-Sebastien Bourdais Lola-Cosworth.
The car was part of the recent RM Sotheby’s auction of former Newman-Haas Racing cars and memorabilia and sold for a reported hammer price of US$201,600 (AUD$295,300).
The McDonald’s-backed car also holds a special Australian connection beyond its new owner – it won the 2005 Lexmark Indy 300 on the streets of Surfers Paradise during Bourdais’ title-winning season, his second of four consecutive championship wins for the team.
The car is presented in its 2005 Gold Coast livery given that win clinched the title for Bourdais.
Featuring a period-correct 2.65-litre, turbocharged Ford-Cosworth XFE V8 engine and six-speed Hewland sequential transaxle the car was driven by Bourdais during 2005 and 2006.
He won three races in it during 2005 – San Jose, Denver and Surfers Paradise – and reportedly used it to win the first three races in the 2006 Champ Car World Series at Long Beach, Houston and Monterrey in Mexico.
“I’ve been working towards owning a Lola from this era for a long time, but I never expected to get the opportunity to own such a hugely historic car that I idolised as a boy,” Roddy wrote on social media this week.
“I can remember staying up late during my uni study years, watching this very chassis win race after race around the world in its iconic McDonald’s livery.
“I recently sold my V12 Vantage GT3 and with my fitness journey still going to plan I decided to do something bold and make a play for this car. The car has been under Newman Haas’ ownership from new, making me its second owner.
“Whilst it was a major contributor to both the ‘05 and ‘06 title for @sbourdais, crucially for me it’s the chassis that famously clinched the ‘05 title by winning the Lexmark Indy 300 at Surfers Paradise, giving the car such a special Australian link in its pedigree.
“With up to 980hp coming from the Cosworth XFE V8 and a dry weight of 680kg, they were absolute weapons to drive. For me, they were the last true titan open wheelers, with all that power to go with a clutch pedal, a gearstick and no driver aids of any kind. Really, truly batshit crazy things.”
The car is due to arrive in Australia next year and Roddy intends to get behind the wheel at some stage.
Roddy is no stranger to bringing interesting race cars from overseas to Australia.
In October last year he imported a former Le Mans 24 Hour Cadillac sportscar into the country, understood to be the only LMP1/LMP900 car in Australia.
