TEAM Australia co-owner Derrick Walker has dropped a bombshell on Indy eve, announcing the team was considering Dale Coyne Racing's Katherine Legge as a driver for a possible third car in 2008.

"I would love to go there (enter a third car) and I am on record as saying that," said the respected motor racing identity yesterday.

"She (Legge) would definitely be one of the drivers we would look at. I think it is very important that she be in the championship.

"First and foremost she is a driver and so if you look at it in commercial terms for a series, having a female driver do well in this series is obviously what a lot of the series would like to see happen, and happen as naturally as possible.

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"I think she deserves to be here and I don't think we have seen by any means what she can do.

"Like all drivers they stand in line and hope to get a break and when you get a good combination of the team and the car and being at the right level in your career then you do some good things.

"Give her another year and I think we will see some good things."

Team Australia, which is also co-owned by Gold Coast businessman Craig Gore, runs two cars in the Champ Car series.

Toowoomba-born Will Power (in fourth place) drives one and Frenchman Simon Pagenaud (eighth) drives the other.

Walker said a three-car approach made sense, if the dollars could be found to finance it.

"I think this series now lends itself to multi-car efforts," said Walker. "If you look at other formulas, F1 have their junior teams and Nascar can't wait to go multiple cars. There are a lot of benefits to multiple-driver programs.

"You have got to be able to manage that expansion and I think we are at the point where going to a third car, if it can be financially viable and we can find the right talent, it makes all the sense in the world."

Walker said he would like to see it happen as early as 2008.

"I do not know where Craig (Gore) stands on it because we have not really talked about it that much.

"But Craig is a businessman and he looks at things pretty realistically and if I think we have the right package, then running a third car is not something I am scared of at all.

"You can't take away from the two you have got, so you have to manage that expansion.

"It is about people and money and time. We have the time, we have got to find the money and there is plenty of talent out there.

"There are a lot of drivers who either want to get in the series or want to stay in the series. Katherine is one of them."

Although she finished 16th in her rookie year last year and is still in that position with two rounds to go in 2007, Legge says she has the ability to make a mark in the series.

"I have not yet achieved the goals that I want to achieve as a driver in this series," she said.

"I still have a hell of a lot more to prove. I am yet to get on the podium and I want to finish in the top five in the championship.

"I really think I am driving a lot better this year and I have learned so much and I really want to be given an opportunity.

"I really want to be part of Champ Cars next year because I still have a lot to prove. I feel like if I get a good opportunity then I could do something with that."

Legge, who finished third in the prestigious Atlantic series in 2005, says 2008 remains 'up in the air'.

"I am talking to a number of people and it will be interesting to see what happens," she said.

"It will depend on what direction Champ Cars go in and the money we can put together. It is that silly season where nobody seems to know what they are doing."

In a possible indication of where she may be headed, Legge and Walker were seated together at yesterday's Champ Car drivers' breakfast at Conrad Jupiters.

"I am trying to persuade Derrick to give me a drive for next year," she said, with a smile aimed at Walker.

Legge said the best way to prove her credentials was to nail her first podium at Surfers Paradise on Sunday, or in the last round in Mexico.

"A podium here or in Mexico is really what we are hoping for," she said. "We have worked a lot on the car since the European races.

"Maybe we have learnt enough to put us in the middle of the grid for qualifying and then we will see where we come to from there.

"We have had our fair share of problems. Last year the majority of the problems were me and learning and coming to grips with the car. This year the majority of the problems have been with the car.

"The Europe races were positives for us and showed we are heading in the right direction.

"So I hope these last two races will really put us on the map."