As speculated the past two weeks on SPEED, Tony Cotman will be named
vice president of competition for the Indy Racing League on Friday.
“I’m just going where I think the future of open-wheel racing is going
to be,” said Cotman, who quit as Champ Car’s executive vice president
earlier this month. ”It’s a good job. I’m going to oversee anything that
has to do with competition, technical issues, tracks and assist Brian
(Barnhart) in race control.”
The 40-year-old native of New Zealand went to work for Champ Car three
years ago after serving as team manager for Barry Green’s CART team and
the Andretti Green operation in IndyCars.
Cotman earned the overall respect of the Champ Car paddock with his fair
officiating and common sense approach. He played no favorites, be they
drivers or owners, and he’ll run the Indy Pro Series events in addition
to assisting Barnhart at Indianapolis and other IRL venues.
“Officating is like calling a race and I had a lot of experience doing
that, so it seemed like an easy transition and I enjoy it,” said Cotman,
who is also the youngest member of the FIA’s Circuit Commission. “It’s
about communicating with people and you can’t just fly in, officiate a
race and fly out.
“It should be a little easier in the IRL, because in Champ Car a third
of the field was the series owner’s cars.”
He chuckled at that last statement because it was well known that series
co-owners Gerry Forsythe and Paul Gentilozzi wanted Cotman removed as
chief steward after his first season because they were mad at some of
his calls.
Despite his frustration with Champ Car’s hierarchy, Cotman had nothing
negative to say about his last three years.
“I think I’ve been pretty fortunate, I’ve seen it from all sides,” he
said. “I got to work on good teams in CART and IRL and then I got to
work on the other side of the pit wall at Champ Car and now I get to do
that with Indy cars.
“I think this new job will suit me and I’m looking forward to
contributing to the future of open-wheel racing.”
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