ich sage nur: back to our roots, sie haben endlich zugehört, was die Fans wünschen und besinnen sich auf die Champ Car Tradition:
Laguna Seca kehrt nach 3-jähriger Pause (letztes Rennen war 2004) im nächsten Jahr 2008 auf den Rennkalender zurück! Hurra!! Endlich wieder Corks Crew und Sand
Dafür fällt das Stadtrennen in San Jose weg. Ich meine Rennautos gehören auf richtige Rennstrecken. Ich bete nur, dass auch die Fans wieder nach Laguna Seca pilgern. Wenn ich an die letzten beiden Rennen 2003 und 2004 denke, waren da keine Herrscharen von Fans wie ganz früher. Jeder hat gejammert, dass sie Laguna Seca aus dem Kalender genommen haben, aber die dicken Zuschauermengen sah ich auch nicht.
So ganz grundlos fällt San Jose jedoch nicht weg, sondern in der Stadt selbst sind einige Massnahmen geplant, die ein Rennen nächstes Jahr behindern würden oder eventuell sogar verhindern würden. Also von daher, kam die Entscheidung zurück nach Laguna Seca zu gehen nicht ganz freiwillig - aber das meine persönliche Meinung.
Da ich zu müde bin, packe ich das Release mal unübersetzt hier rein
CHAMP CAR WORLD SERIES TO RACE AT HISTORIC LAGUNA SECA IN 2008
Indianapolis, Indiana (September 11, 2007) – The Champ Car World Series announced today that its 2008 race in northern California will move from the streets of San Jose to the road course at historic Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey.
“We’re pleased that Champ Car will be able to maintain a strong event in northern California,” said Steve Johnson, Champ Car President & CEO. “While it’s always tough to leave one city for another, in this case, it makes sense strategically for us and works for San Jose given the on-going developments of their downtown. We enjoyed three great years in San Jose, and certainly anticipate that the fans there will head south to enjoy Champ Car racing at the beautiful Monterey Peninsula’s Mazda Raceway circuit.”
Considered one of the finest permanent road courses in North America, the 2.238-mile Monterey Peninsula’s Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca will host its 23rd Champ Car World Series event next year at a date to be announced later. The first Champ Car event was held at Laguna in 1983, and though its long run of races ended the past three years, Champ Car returned there this year to conduct its pre-season testing. The testing also served as the official kick-off for the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca’s 50th Golden Anniversary season this year.
“Needless to say, we are thrilled to announce during our 50th Anniversary season that Monterey Peninsula’s Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca will once again host a Champ Car World Series event,” said Gill Campbell, CEO/General Manager of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. “Our fans loved the 2007 pre-season testing, and they will certainly enjoy Champ Car’s return with a race next year. Our mutual affiliation with Mazda made this relationship a natural one for us, and we all share in the excitement. While we look forward to announcing our entire 2008 schedule soon, we wanted to share this exciting news with our fans as soon as possible.”
Organizers of the Grand Prix of San Jose recently informed the Champ Car World Series that on-going residential developments in and around the 1.5 mile downtown track would hamper next year’s race. For 2008, new housing developments on Balbach Street would affect the back straightaway, while upcoming construction in the Boston Properties lot would mean the loss of the race’s main “Gold Grandstands” on Almaden Boulevard.
“The reality of racing on a temporary street circuit is that change happens continuously and this is especially true in a dynamic and growing city center like downtown San Jose,” said Grand Prix President Dale Jantzen.
The Grand Prix provided the city of San Jose with world-wide exposure as part of the Champ Car World Series. Broadcast internationally in each of its three years, the city of San Jose estimated that the economic impact to America’s 10th largest city was approximately $70 million over the three-year period.
Champ Car’s announcement that they would race in Laguna Seca in 2008 is the first of what is expected to be several exciting announcements in the months ahead regarding 2008 race venues. The full 2008 Champ Car World Series calendar will be announced later this fall.
Quelle: Champ Car PR