Brands Hatch Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision company completed the purchase of Brands Hatch and the other Octagon venues (Cadwell Park, Oulton Park, and Snetterton). Palmer immediately implemented a programme of improvements to the venue, designed to heighten customer experiences both for spectators and competitors. 25 September 2005, the inaugural A1 Grand Prix of Nations was held at Brands Hatch. A1 Grand Prix was a single-seater one-make series where the drivers represented their nation, as opposed themselves or a team. The first race, an 18-lap Sprint saw Nelson Piquet, Jr. lead flag-to-flag to win for A1 Team Brazil, ahead of Alexandre Premat (France)
American open-wheel car racing from use proved difficult. With two series (IndyCar and Champ Car) still competing parallel, the umbrella terms "Open Wheel Cars" and "Open Wheel Racing" saw increased use during the split and post-split era. Many drivers during the era competed in both series at one time or another. The term was used as a way to combine a driver's career accomplishments without being series/machine specific. It also served to link the lineage of events, teams, drivers, etc., even as they switched sanctioning bodies. In 2008, when Champ Car merged into the Indy Racing League, the term "Champ Car" was abandoned, and