Speed World Challenge 2005 Schedule Announced

Source: SCCA Pro Racing

MONTEREY , Calif. (Oct. 18, 2004) – SCCA Pro Racing announced Sunday the 2005 schedule for its SPEED World Challenge GT and Touring Car Championships, North America’s premier production car racing series, featuring 10 weekends and two all-new venues.

SPEED GT cars make their standing start at Road Atlanta (Click for larger, Greg Aleck image)

Highlighting the schedule, which includes return visits to Infineon Raceway, Lime Rock Park , Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Portland International Raceway, Road America , Road Atlanta and Sebring International Raceway, will be first-time visits to temporary race circuits in Denver , Colo. and St. Peter sburg , Fla.

“We worked very hard to reach key markets, venues and race weekends that will be attractive to our fans, sponsors and teams, and we’re pleased with the 2005 SCCA SPEED World Challenge schedule,” Mitch Wright , Vice President and General Manager of SCCA Pro Racing said. “The addition of dates with the Indy Racing League and Champ Car World Series allows us to reach a slightly different segment of race fan and automotive enthusiast than we do when we run along the American Le Mans Series.”

For the fifth-straight year, the SPEED GT and Touring Car Championships begin their seasons at Sebring International Raceway March 16-19 at the 53rd Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. The central Florida event annually draws over 150,000 race fans and spring breakers.

Teams have little time to rest after the rush of Sebring before heading to St. Peter sburg , Fla. to be a part of the Indy Racing League’s IndyCar series road course debut at the April 1-3 Honda Grand Prix of St. Peter sburg. World Challenge has previously visited the St. Peter sburg area three times at different venues, the most recent being in 1997. Many believe the St. Peter sburg circuit to be among the finest temporary facilities in North America .

After a month break, the two series head to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course May 20-22 to join ALMS for the event that was previously held in June. It will be the eighth year that World Challenge has visited the 2.258-mile circuit in Lexington , Ohio .

For the first time in 10 years, SPEED World Challenge will have an off weekend for Memorial Day, with its annual trek to Lime Rock Park moving to the July 1-4 weekend, in conjunction with ALMS.

After kicking off its busiest month of the season on the East coast, the series heads west for its traditional visit with ALMS to Infineon Raceway ( Sonoma , Calif. ), July 15-17, followed two weeks later by its return to Portland International Raceway, July 29-31.

As the series heads back east, they make their return to the Denver market for the first time since 1991, joining Champ Car on the CENTRIX Financial Grand Prix of Denver Aug. 12-14. The temporary circuit utilizes both downtown streets and parking lots for the Pepsi Center arena. World Challenge visited the previous rendition of the downtown race from 1990-1991.

One week later, Aug. 19-21, both Championships return to Elkhart Lake , Wis. for the Road America 500. It will be the series’ 11th appearance at the historic 4.048-mile circuit.

For the second-straight year, the SCCA SPEED GT and Touring Car Championships wrap-up their respective seasons Oct. 14-16 on the beautiful Monterey Peninsula at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

In addition to the nine dates confirmed, the series will also return to Road Atlanta with the American Le Mans Series on one of two weekends, either the April 15-17 spring date or Sept. 29-Oct. 1 for the Petit Le Mans week.

Regarded as the most relevant and top production car road racing series in the world, the SCCA SPEED World Challenge Championships are broken into two distinct sub-series that run separately from one another– SCCA SPEED GT and SCCA SPEED Touring Car. Each Championship is run in a 50-minute “sprint” race format, featuring recognizable cars, world-class drivers and standing starts. For more information about the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Championships, please visit www.world-challenge.com.