Twin Ring Motegi Announces CART Race Date and Sponsor

NOW AVAILABLE! — The Official Directory for CART Racing
Twin Ring Motegi Announces CART Race Date and Sponsor
©1997 SpeedCenter Internet Publishing, Inc.
Japan event on schedule for 1998
LOS ANGELES, CA (July 15, 1997) — Twin Ring Motegi, the newmultipurpose motorsports complex in Japan, announced today that thefirst Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) race at the track isscheduled for Saturday, March 28, 1998. The date has been filed withthe Japan Automobile Federation (JAF), the Japanese motorsportsauthority.
Budweiser will sponsor the regular-season, points-paying event thatwill be held on Twin Ring Motegi's 1.5-mile superspeedway. The CARTdebut in Japan is scheduled for 500 kilometers (approximately 300miles) and has been named the "Budweiser 500."
"We are looking forward to introducing to the race fan in Japan themost exciting open-wheel racing in the United States," said Twin RingMotegi President Koji Tozuka. "We are very pleased to have Budweisersupport the first CART race at Twin Ring Motegi."
"This is an important day for CART," said CART President and CEOAndrew Craig. "Bringing the CART series to Japan is a major step forour series and we are delighted to be doing this in partnership withBudweiser, one of our oldest and most respected sponsors. Budweiser's sponsorship of the Twin Ring Motegi event underscores theglobal nature of our series. We greatly look forward to racing atMotegi on March 28, 1998."
The schedule for the Budweiser 500 at Twin Ring Motegi will featurepractice Thursday, March 26, and practice and qualifying Friday,March 27. The seating capacity for the inaugural Budweiser 500 atTwin Ring Motegi, the first-ever race at the circuit's superspeedway,will be limited to 50,000.
"We're extremely excited about taking Budweiser's longtime support ofCART racing to Japan with our sponsorship of the 'Budweiser 500',"said Tony Ponturo, vice president, corporate media and sportsmarketing, Anheuser-Busch. "CART's effort to expand their fan-baseinternationally is a benefit to everyone involved in the series andour sponsorship of the Budweiser 500 further represents ourinternational marketing efforts and commitment to grow Budweiser intoa global brand."
Located in the town of Motegi, 60 miles northeast of Tokyo, the TwinRing Motegi facility features a 1.5-mile superspeedway, 3-mile roadcourse, two smaller road racing circuits, quarter-mile dirt track,one-eighth mile dirt track and a driving school. On-site projectsscheduled to be completed for next year's race include a hotel,restaurants and a museum.
An imperfect oval, the 1.5-mile superspeedway features twostraightaways connected to corners of varying radius. The widecircuit (approximately 82 feet), which will allow three to four carsto race side-by-side, will have a flat front straight and a slightlybanked back straight.
Twin Ring Motegi and Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) initiallyannounced an agreement November 4, 1996, for the series to hold threeraces at the facility, beginning next year.
Later this month, the Twin Ring Motegi motorsports facility will beunveiled to the public with a grand opening Thursday, July 31. Threedays of driving demonstrations (August 1-3) by GT, Touring andAmerican stock cars will take place during the grand openingfestivities.
Highlighting the Twin Ring Motegi grand opening will be an appearanceby Jimmy Vasser, the 1996 CART PPG Cup champion. Vasser will makeseveral demonstration runs around the 1.5-mile superspeedway in hischampionship-winning 1996 Target/Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard-Honda.
Following the 1997 race season, at a date to be determined, the CARTteams will travel to Twin Ring Motegi for the first test at the newfacility in preparation for next year's Budweiser 500.
Source: Marc Spiegel, Twin Ring Motegi PR


		NOW AVAILABLE! — The Official Directory for CART Racing

		Twin Ring Motegi Announces CART Race Date and Sponsor ©1997 SpeedCenter Internet Publishing, Inc. Japan event on schedule for 1998 LOS ANGELES, CA (July 15, 1997) — Twin Ring Motegi, the newmultipurpose motorsports complex in Japan, announced today that thefirst Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) race at the track isscheduled for Saturday, March 28, 1998. The date has been filed withthe Japan Automobile Federation (JAF), the Japanese motorsportsauthority. Budweiser will sponsor the regular-season, points-paying event thatwill be held on Twin Ring Motegi's 1.5-mile superspeedway. The CARTdebut in Japan is scheduled for 500 kilometers (approximately 300miles) and has been named the "Budweiser 500." "We are looking forward to introducing to the race fan in Japan themost exciting open-wheel racing in the United States," said Twin RingMotegi President Koji Tozuka. "We are very pleased to have Budweisersupport the first CART race at Twin Ring Motegi." "This is an important day for CART," said CART President and CEOAndrew Craig. "Bringing the CART series to Japan is a major step forour series and we are delighted to be doing this in partnership withBudweiser, one of our oldest and most respected sponsors. Budweiser's sponsorship of the Twin Ring Motegi event underscores theglobal nature of our series. We greatly look forward to racing atMotegi on March 28, 1998." The schedule for the Budweiser 500 at Twin Ring Motegi will featurepractice Thursday, March 26, and practice and qualifying Friday,March 27. The seating capacity for the inaugural Budweiser 500 atTwin Ring Motegi, the first-ever race at the circuit's superspeedway,will be limited to 50,000. "We're extremely excited about taking Budweiser's longtime support ofCART racing to Japan with our sponsorship of the 'Budweiser 500',"said Tony Ponturo, vice president, corporate media and sportsmarketing, Anheuser-Busch. "CART's effort to expand their fan-baseinternationally is a benefit to everyone involved in the series andour sponsorship of the Budweiser 500 further represents ourinternational marketing efforts and commitment to grow Budweiser intoa global brand." Located in the town of Motegi, 60 miles northeast of Tokyo, the TwinRing Motegi facility features a 1.5-mile superspeedway, 3-mile roadcourse, two smaller road racing circuits, quarter-mile dirt track,one-eighth mile dirt track and a driving school. On-site projectsscheduled to be completed for next year's race include a hotel,restaurants and a museum. An imperfect oval, the 1.5-mile superspeedway features twostraightaways connected to corners of varying radius. The widecircuit (approximately 82 feet), which will allow three to four carsto race side-by-side, will have a flat front straight and a slightlybanked back straight. Twin Ring Motegi and Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) initiallyannounced an agreement November 4, 1996, for the series to hold threeraces at the facility, beginning next year. Later this month, the Twin Ring Motegi motorsports facility will beunveiled to the public with a grand opening Thursday, July 31. Threedays of driving demonstrations (August 1-3) by GT, Touring andAmerican stock cars will take place during the grand openingfestivities. Highlighting the Twin Ring Motegi grand opening will be an appearanceby Jimmy Vasser, the 1996 CART PPG Cup champion. Vasser will makeseveral demonstration runs around the 1.5-mile superspeedway in hischampionship-winning 1996 Target/Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard-Honda. Following the 1997 race season, at a date to be determined, the CARTteams will travel to Twin Ring Motegi for the first test at the newfacility in preparation for next year's Budweiser 500. Source: Marc Spiegel, Twin Ring Motegi PR