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©1999 SpeedCenter Publishing
By Peter Burke In Germany they call them "go karts," in the U.S. we call them "karts," but the organizers of this event had something else in mind when they named this celebrity kart race the "CART Explosion." The location: the Cologne Arena, a facility that usually hosts local ice hockey games, as well as other community events such as rock concerts, etc. The Explosion: a (RTL tape-delayed) televised super race between Formula 1 stars and CART stars. The Question: why haven't we heard about this earlier in the U.S.? Maybe because we won't get to see any of it? The super race scheduled for Saturday night reminds of last year's indoor kart race in Paris. Top drivers from different racing circuits compete in identically prepared karts on a tight indoor track. Organizers have made sure that the show focuses on the showdown between F1 and CART stars, and no karting specialists will race against the well known stars. The race in Cologne will offer a small scale "super prix" not even a Dick Rutherford could have imagined. And all that without a huge purse or pay-per-view. Actually, all proceeds from this event will benefit UNESCO. Present from the ranks of Formula 1: Michael Schumacher, Ralf Schumacher, Luca Badoer, Rubens Barichello, Giancarlo Fisichella, Alexander Wurz, Jean Alesi, Mika Salo, and Ricardo Zonta. Present from CART's 1999 driver entry list: Christian Fittipaldi, Paul Tracy, Jimmy Vasser, Jan Magnussen, Tony Kanaan, Christiano da Matta, and Helio Castro-Neves. Further confirmed for the event are former F1 and CART driver Christian Danner, as well as German Touring Car champion Klaus Ludwig. Also in the mix are rising stars Tom Kristensen and Jörg Müller, and a few others. Greg Moore had originally agreed to participate. The event organizers decided to honor him by naming the winner's trophy after him. All drivers will be racing in identical Honda-powered 390cc, 28hp karts. Top speed is about 90mph, but the 650 meter (0.4 mile) road course layout that leads the drivers outside of the arena building and then back inside won't allow more than 55 mph in its faster sections. In separate support events stars from TV, music, sports and film will race against each other to provide for ample action and entertainment leading up to the big showdown between CART and F1 stars. German fans are eagerly awaiting how these two camps measure up on the karting track. The promoter expects 15,000 visitors on Saturday. For additional information, visit this (German) web site: Birgit Pfaff contributed to this article.
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