Press Releases

17/07/02

"ALL SYSTEMS GO" ON 14 SEPTEMBER
ROCKINGHAM 500 RACE WILL GO AHEAD, PLEDGES TRACK BOSS

Following today's announcement that the Eurospeedway Lausitz track will not be hosting a German round of the FedEx CART Championship racing series this year, David Grace the Chief Executive of Rockingham Motor Speedway pledged that the British race will go ahead on September 14. The race on the banked 1.5-mile oval track near Corby in Northamptonshire last year attracted over 42,000 spectators to see the fastest motor race in Europe.

Following the test, drivers, team owners and ASCAR organisers agreed that it was "all systems go" to race the cars on the road course which is also used for the supporting events during ASCAR race weekends.

"I feel very sorry for all the team at EuroSpeedway Lausitz" said Grace. "I know from our own experience just how hard they will have worked to try to make the race a success. It is a tragedy that the German government officials were unable to offer financial support to this a world-class event. On the brighter side, as the sole venue in Europe this year, for the fastest racing in the world, we are already making plans with CART and EuroSpeedway to be able to welcome many of the German race fans to Rockingham instead."

Rockingham's plans are forging ahead, with over half the seats in one of the track's biggest grandstands allocated in the past fortnight alone and less than a dozen of the track's 58 corporate hospitality suites remaining. The 52,000 place, all-seater motor sports stadium is confident that the race in September is going to match last year's spectacle, with the race won by a breathtaking overtaking move on the last corner of the last lap.

back