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Grand-Am to Hit the Streets of Trois-Rivières DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 23, 2001) - Grand American Road Racing will travel northward to Trois-Rivieres, Quebec in August to compete in its only street race of the season, Le Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres. The Grand Prix will run on a 1.506-mile, 10-turn temporary street course through the city of Trois-Rivieres, August 3-5. The weekend will feature both the Rolex Sports Car Series and Grand-Am Cup Street Stock Series competing in the eighth and ninth rounds of their seasons, respectively. Rolex Sports Car Series to Run Two Races The Rolex Sport Car Series is made up of five classes that will compete in two separate races at Le Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres. The SportsRacing Prototype (SRP), SportsRacing Prototype II (SRPII) and Grand Touring Super (GTS) classes will compete together on Sunday, Aug. 3 at 3 p.m., in a 92-lap sprint race, while the Grand Touring (GT) and American GT (AGT) classes will race on Saturday, Aug. 2 at 3:15 p.m., in an 82-lap sprint race. The SportsRacing Prototypes are the premier classes in the Rolex Series and showcases purebred race cars. Prototype designs include low silhouettes, mid-engine chassis, high rear wings, and state-of-the-art components like carbon fiber bodywork and onboard electronic telemetry. There are two classes within prototypes, with the SRPII class featuring lighter weight cars with less powerful engines. In prototype racing, the car's chassis is married to one of several available racing engines with chassis builders Ferrari, Kudzu, Lola, Norma and Riley & Scott and engine-makers BMW, Chevrolet, Ford, Judd, Mazda and Nissan used in various combinations. The prototypes will be joined on the street course during Sunday's race by the GTS cars. Turbocharged Porsches, V8-powered Corvettes and V10 Vipers compete in the GTS class against other exotic sports cars like the new Saleen S7R. The other two GT classes of the Rolex Series will race together on Saturday. The GT class is comprised of racing versions of production sports cars including the Porsche 911, BMW M3, Mosler MT900 and Mazda RX7. The AGT class includes tube-framed race cars with American engines - Corvettes, Camaros, Firebirds, Mustangs and Oldsmobiles being among the most popular. Grand-Am Cup Season Nears its End The Grand-Am Cup Street Stock Series season nears it end with Le Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres marking the ninth race of its 10-race season. Grand-Am Cup will compete in a two-and-a-half hour endurance race in Trois-Rivieres on Sunday, Aug. 3, beginning at 8:35 a.m. Grand-Am Cup offers a four-class line-up. Eligible vehicles are limited to those makes and models sold to the general public through established retail sales outlets in North America. Popular makes and models in the series include Corvette, Firebird, Mustang, Porsche, BMW, Honda, Acura, Mazda, Audi and the new Lexus IS 300. The four classes that make up the Cup series include Super Grand Sport (SGS), Grand Sport (GS), Sport Touring (ST) and Compact 2000 (C2K), with class designations based on engine size and performance. SGS features the big hitters from Chevrolet, Porsche and others, down to C2K where Acura Integras mix it up with Honda Civics, Hyundais and Mazda Miatas. Local Drivers Expected to Add to Excitement Several Quebec drivers are expected to hop behind the wheel of a Rolex Series or Grand-Am Cup car during Le Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres. Among the locals is Bruno St. Jacques, of Montreal, who drives the Kolter Property/L2 Metal/Goodyear/Hawk Brake-sponsored #89 Nissan-powered Lola of Porschehaus Racing in the Rolex Series. St. Jacques goes into the eighth race of the season holding onto the second-place position in the SRPII driver standings and hoping to score his second victory of the season in his home province. He earned his first win of the season back in April at Phoenix and has garnered four other podium finishes so far this season. Four other Quebec drivers will join St. Jacques in Sunday's Rolex Series race. Eric Boisvert, of Magog, Hugo Guenette Jr. and Jacques Guenette Sr., both of Laval, and Jacques Guenette Jr., of Terrebonne, will race in the GTS class. The foursome will share driving duties in a pair of Xemis Corporation Porsche 993s. Sunday morning's Grand-Am Cup race will also play host to three Quebec natives. Benoit Theetge, of Quebec City, and Joceyln Hebert, of Becancour, will co-pilot the Hebert/Theetge Motorsports' Acura NSX in the GS class. Pierre Mandeville, of Pierrefonos, will compete in the ST class in the Nissan Maxima of Nissan Competition. More information on Grand-Am is available online at www.grand-am.com. -30- For more information: Grand-Am Public Relations Christie Hyde (386) 795-1189 cellular email: CHyde@grand-am.com