SEPTEMBER 25, 2006

Champ Car coming back to Europe

The Champ Car World Series is to host two races in Europe next year, one the road circuits of Assen in Holland and Oschersleben in Germany. The news will be confirmed as soon as the necessary contractual work is completed.

The Champ Car World Series is to host two races in Europe next year, one the road circuits of Assen in Holland and Oschersleben in Germany. The news will be confirmed as soon as the necessary contractual work is completed. The Champ Car series wants to take advantage of the fanbase that exists in Europe, thanks in part ot the success in the series of European racers such as Sebastien Bourdais and Justin Wilson. There are also a string of younger Europeans trying to make the grade in the series, including Dan Clarke, Jan Heylen, Charles Zwolsman and Katherine Legge.

According to stories in the US, the Assen race will be on September 23 with Oschersleben a week later.

Champ Car has not visited Europe since 2003 when there were races at Brands Hatch and on the Lausitzring oval.

Assen is best known for its motorcycle races but in the last 12 months major investment has been made in the track in an effort to increase the racing potential for cars. The original Assen circuit was an 18-mile road course on which the Dutch TT took place. After 1955 the track was shortened and in recent years has been 2.8 miles in length. The recent work, which cost around $100m, is a reprofiled version of the 1955 track with all the modern safety norms.