NOVEMBER 6, 2001

CART announces 2002 calendar

THE CART series has announced a new 19-race calendar for next year. This is one race fewer than this season but the CART organizations says that more races may be added later. The 19 events will take place in eight different countries with Mexico gaining a second race in Mexico City to add to the race which began this year in Monterey. The two European races will be retained, as will the event at Twin-Ring Motegi in Japan and the popular street race in Surfers Paradise, Australia. The remaining events will be held in the United States and Canada.

These races have changed considerably, however, with Nazareth, Detroit, Houston and Michigan all dropping for the schedule. There are new races in Montreal and Denver.

The series will have the entire month of May off because most of the teams will be busy preparing for the Indianapolis 500, run by the rival Indy Racing League series. The schedule after that is intense as CART tries to make the most of a two-month deal with the CBS network. In order to take advantage of the TV coverage the traditional end of season event at Laguna Seca has moved to June 9 (which will clash with the Canadian GP). There are only a limited number of clashes with other Grands Prix, including July 7 (when the British GP will clash with Toronto), August 18 (Hungary/Road America), September 1 (Belgium/Denver) and October 13 (Japan/Mexico City). The Rockingham race in Britain will take place on Saturday, September 14, the day before the Italian GP at Monza.