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| AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES |
| 17/10/2003 |
| 2004 American Le Mans Series Schedule |
| New Event At Lime Rock, Returns To Portland & Mid-Ohio |
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New Event At Lime Rock, Returns To Portland, Mid-ohio Set For 2004 American Le Mans Series Schedule
A new event at historic Lime Rock Park and returns to Portland International Raceway and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course are part of a nine-race schedule announced today for the sixth season of the American Le Mans Series in 2004.
The series will also have a new location for its season-ending event as Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey moves its annual American Le Mans Series event into October to become the season finale.
The professional sports car racing series will hold its first-ever event in the Northeastern United States with an Independence Day weekend event at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville. And after a two-year absence, the series will return to the Pacific Northwest with a July event at Portland.
In addition, the series' presence in the Midwest will be strengthened with a return to Mid-Ohio, located in Lexington, Ohio, after a one-year absence.
"When you think of classic road racing venues in North America, Lime Rock Park certainly belongs on that list," said Scott Atherton, President and CEO of the American Le Mans Series. "Many of our fans have asked us when we would race at Lime Rock, and we're very now happy to be working with Skip Barber and his staff to bring the American Le Mans Series there next year.
"Racing in the Northeast is also very important to the manufacturers and sponsors involved in the American Le Mans Series," said Atherton. "The Northeast corridor represents some of the highest sales areas for Audi, Porsche, Corvette, BMW and some of the other types of cars that race in our series. We certainly look forward to enjoying a holiday weekend at Lime Rock.
"We are also delighted to be returning to Portland and Mid-Ohio," said Atherton. "Those events allow us to reach two important market areas of the country that are also home to two of the best road racing facilities in North America and some great fans of sports car racing. Mike Nealy of Portland and Michelle Trueman-Gajoch at Mid-Ohio are two of the most experienced road racing promoters in the business. We are looking forward to working with them to build their ALMS weekends into benchmark events."
The series will open its season with America's oldest sports car race, the 52nd annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring at Florida's Sebring International Raceway on March 20, and the schedule will also include the seventh annual Petit Le Mans, a 1,000-mile endurance race at Road Atlanta on Sept. 25.
Other venues that will host races for the American Le Mans Series in 2004 are Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Mosport International Raceway near Toronto and Road America in Elkhart Lake all of which hosted events in 2003.
All nine races on the series will be televised in the United States either by CBS, NBC Sports or the SPEED Channel. The American Le Mans Series Radio Web will have live coverage of all events.
"We appreciate the event promoters who continue to invest in our series year after year," said Atherton. "The American Le Mans Series continues to grow and provide an ever-increasing return on investment. Much of the credit must go to these world-class event organizers we are fortunate to work with. And we also look forward to bringing our races to the fans with a continuation of our exceptional television package and with the Radio Web. The 2004 season will be an exciting one for the American Le Mans Series."
After Sebring, the series will take its traditional schedule break to allow teams to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France, the event upon which the series is based. Teams are required to participate in a practice day at Le Mans in late April, seven weeks prior to the mid-June running of the event.
The 2004 American Le Mans Series Schedule of Events
Mar. 15-20 - Sebring (Fla.) International Raceway, Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, 12 hours
June 25-27 - Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, OH, 2:45
July 2-5 - Lime Rock Park, Lakeville, CT, 2:45
July 16-18 - Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, CA, 2:45
July 23-25 - Portland (OR) International Raceway, 2:45
Aug. 6-8 - Mosport International Raceway, Bowmanville, ON, Can., 2:45
Aug. 20-22 - Road America, Elkhart Lake, WI, 2:45.
Sept. 22-25 - Road Atlanta, Braselton, GA, Petit Le Mans, 1,000 miles or 10 hours
Oct. 14-16 - Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, CA, 2:45
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