ASCAR
Returns to Rockingham
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The ASCAR racing series, founded in 2001, is a new form of motor sport in Europe featuring high-performance saloon cars with body styles similar in appearance to the NASCAR Winston Cup, America’s most popular racing Championship. All the cars are powered by similar General Motors 5.7-litre V8 engines, tuned to develop around 450bhp. This gives the cars a top speed in excess of 170mph.
The 18-race series features races on Britain’s
first banked oval racing circuit in a generation at Rockingham, near Corby
in Northamptonshire. The banked circuit encourages overtaking and continuous
high speeds - average laps speeds, corners and all are over 140mph. In
addition to six meetings at Rockingham in the UK, the series goes international
in 2002 with three further events at Eurospeedway, near Dresden in Germany.
Chequered flag action |
Another spin |
In September, races in both England and Germany will be the main support to the European rounds of America’s premier motor racing Championship the CART FedEx ChampCar series, adding still further to ASCAR’s prestige. The starting flag for ASCAR 2002 will wave on 4th May at Rockingham, with the first races being broadcast on TV the following week.
Exciting close-up action will be guaranteed both
by the stadium-style oval tracks
which give unimpeded views of the action for
spectators and TV crews alike. Overlapping camera angles give multiple
views of the track and are matched by
Composite picture of the panoramic view from the grandstand
a full range of on-board cameras ensuring the full exposure of the thrills and spills of American-style high-speed oval racing, as immortalised by Tom Cruise in ‘Days of Thunder’.
In addition to exposure in the UK, ASCAR is proving a hot property in the global TV market. Broadcasters in Germany, the USA, Australia, Middle East and South Africa have all taken up options to receive a one-hour highlights package from each round, while most European countries are planning to show the action. In all, 350 million people worldwide will see the ASCAR action in 2002.
As well as Europe’s fastest racing series, ASCAR
fans will enjoy the fury and fun of Pickup Racing Trucks and Legends in
a three-pronged programme for
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Pickup Racing Trucks in the pit area
the 2002 season. The two categories will race on the Rockingham infield courses at rounds of the ASCAR series, as the V8 racing saloons take to the 1.5 mile banked oval to bring American-style racing entertainment to Britain’s newest motor racing facility at Corby in Northamptonshire.
In addition to offering plenty of additional excitement,
merging the three series into a single racing package will encourage a
natural route for talent. The initiative creates a natural staircase of
racing opportunities for drivers who want to develop their careers in oval
racing. Legends drivers will be encouraged to move up to the Pickup Racing
Truck series, while Pickup racers will have a chance to step into an ASCAR.
ASCAR racing car |
State of the art Main Grandstand |
“This initiative, starting with affordable cars, will encourage more people to take up motor racing” said ASCAR boss, Bob Berridge. “There is no reason, for example, why a fan who wants to be a racing driver can’t buy a Legends car and then, after a successful season, move into Pickup Truck racing. With the added bonus of both Channel 4 and satellite TV coverage to encourage sponsors into the series, that same driver has a good chance of raising a decent budget to race an ASCAR inside three years.”
Berridge also believes the ASCAR series can also
be benchmark for the best UK oval racing drivers to graduate to the ovals
in the United States. Michael Vergers, runner-up in the ASCAR series last
year, recently completed a successful test in an ARCA car, just two steps
below the NASCAR Winston Cup series. Last Friday, at the super-fast Talladega
Superspeedway, Vergers was lapping quicker than last season’s race winner
Bobby Gerhart.
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Cutaway Legends racing car
“To prevent a ‘glass ceiling’ in the long term, we’d like to try and use our contacts across the Atlantic to arrange a Busch Cup or ASA test for our best drivers” said Berridge. “There are drivers in ASCAR at the moment who could get to the very top.”
The starting point for that journey could well
be the Legends series. Originally raced in the USA, the tiny Legends cars
pack a 125bhp, 100mph punch from their 1250cc Yamaha motorcycle engines.
They offer low-cost racing, yet former Legends World Champion John Mickel
is also the reigning ASCAR champion, clear proof of the potential for long-term
success.
"A winner" |
Gives some idea of their size |
Phil Cooper, whose 600 Racing Europe organisation runs Legends in Britain, firmly believes the new package will bring new faces into motorsport. “Legends racing is real entry level motorsport” he said. “We have plenty of hire cars for people to come and try Legends racing – it’s a cost effective introduction to the sport. Within weeks a fan could have taken their ARDS test, received their National ‘B’ racing licence and be racing at Rockingham at a race meeting on the same bill as ASCAR.”
Pickup Racing Trucks are regarded as the bridge between Legends and ASCAR. With a combination of more than 200bhp from their 2-litre Vauxhall engines, rear-wheel drive, a tubular chassis and glassfibre bodies, Pickup Trucks offer spectacular bumper-to-bumper racing during their 12 round season.
“This exciting plan is good for the sport. It is motorsport with a definite theme” said Sonny Howard, the Pickup series owner. “Pickup Racing Trucks were conceived to race on the American style ovals and in the past they have had to go to Europe to show their ability to do this.
“The opportunity now being offered by Rockingham
Speedway for the Pickups to support ASCAR in a true entertainment event,
not only will see the Pickups find their natural home it will also
implement a major influx of drivers inspired by oval racing. This will
become the path forward for the creation of ASCAR super stars.”
ASCAR Dates 2002
April 15/16, 22/23
Testing and ‘Rookie Training’ Rockingham, Corby, Northants, England
May 5 Rounds
1 & 2 Rockingham.
May 24/25/26 Rounds
3, 4, 5 Eurospeedway, Lausitzring, Germany
June 9 Rounds
6 & 7 Rockingham
July 20/21
Rounds 8, 9, 10 Eurospeedway
August 4 Rounds
11, 12 Rockingham
August 25 Rounds
13, 14 Rockingham
September 13/14
Round 15 Rockingham (CART FedEx support)
September 20/21 Round
16 Eurospeedway (CART FedEx support)
October 6 Rounds
17, 18 Rockingham season finale.
For information regarding the series please e-mail ASCAR at:
or visit the main ASCAR web site at http://www.ascar.co.uk to get all the latest news and information
Other useful contacts:
If you're interested in competing in ASCAR in 2002, Simon Aldridge is your first point of contact.
Simon Aldridge
Oval Race Management
Rockingham Circuit
PO Box 500
Corby
Northamptonshire
NN17 5RR
Direct tel no: 01480 460914 or mobile 07778 870873
Direct fax: 01480 493526
e-mail: simon.aldridge@ascar.co.uk
ASCAR Press Team - ascar@kingpinmedia.co.uk
Colin Bennett (Technical) - colin.bennett@ascar.co.uk
Bob Berridge - bob.berridge@ascar.co.uk