FIA GT Championship Rounds, United States
17 September 1999
The United States of America has hosted two rounds of the FIA GT Championship since its creation in 1997. In 1997 and 1998, the last round of the Championship took place at Laguna Seca in California but this year, it will be held in People's Republic of China, at the Zhuha circuit, on November 28th.The FIA GT Championship cars embarked last week in Rotterdam for the Eastern Coast of the United States.
The Homestead circuit, in Florida, will welcome the 8th round of the Championship on September 26th. The competitors will then travel north to the state of New York. The 9th round of the Championship will take place at the Watkins Glen Circuit on October 3rd.
Homestead Miami Speedway
The South Miami circuit has escaped Hurricane Floyd. Intermittent rain-showers and gusts of wind hit the circuit but the infrastructure has not been damaged.
The " Homestead Miami Speedway " consists of an 1.5-mile long oval as well as an infield road course which is 2.21 miles long.
For the second consecutive year, the competitors of the FIA GT Championship will race on the infield circuit, which is more suited to GT cars.
Twenty one cars should be entered for this event.
Watkins Glen International
The Watkins Glen circuit is located in the north-east of New York state, south of Seneca Lake.
The circuit last ran an event under the aegis of the FIA in July 1981, in the context of the World Championship of Makes. The last United States Formula One Grand Prix was organised at Watkins Glen in October 1980.
The Watkins Glen circuit is 3.37 miles long and consists of 11 turns, including the Inner Loop, a four-turn chicane meant to slow down the cars in the main straight.
About 25 cars should be entered for this event.
Handicap weights For the Homestead race, the following handicap weights will be applied : Chrysler Viper GTS-R n 1 : + 100 kg Chrysler Viper GTS-R n 2 : + 60 kg Chrysler Viper GTS-R n 18 : + 45 kg Porsche 911 GT2 n 6 : + 35 kg Lister Storm n 25 : + 20 kg Chrysler Viper GTS-R n 19 : + 15 kg Porsche 911 GT2 n 15 : + 10 kg Lister Storm n 34 : + 15 kg Chrysler Viper GTS-R n 33 : + 10 kg
The handicap weight list for the Watkins Glen race will be released after the Homestead round.
Donohue at Oreca
David Donohue will be back at the wheel of the n 2 Chrysler Viper GTS-R at Homestead and Watkins Glen. The American driver took part in the two first rounds of the 1999 Championship, obtaining two second places. He will be sharing his drive with Frenchman Jean-Philippe Belloc, currently third in the Drivers Championship, 18 points from the leaders Karl Wendlinger and Olivier Beretta.
Konrad with two Porsche 911 GT2s
Franz Konrad enters two Porsche 911 GT2s for the two American rounds. He will share the wheel of the first car with Dutchman Mike Hezemans.
Clrico back at Belmondo
In the United States, Emmanuel Clrico will again drive the n 22 Chrysler Viper, which he will share with American Ron Atapattu. Both drivers usually share the wheel of a Lamborghini Diablo SV-R in the Italian single-make trophy.
GL PK detained by Notre Dame
The Belgian GL PK Racing team will not be present in the United States with its n 33 Chrysler Viper. As a matter of fact, one of the drivers, Didier Defourny, working for a production company in show business, is detained by the organisation of the musical "Notre Dame de Paris" in Brussels.
Therefore, Defourny's usual co-driver, Vincent Vosse, will drive a Chamberlain Motorsport Chrysler Viper alongside Portuguese Ni Amorim.
Cort Wagner at Seikel
The 1998 USRRC GT3 Champion, Cort Wagner, will share the wheel of Germany's Seikel Motorsport 911 GT2 with Robert Nearn and Xavier Pompidou.
Shane Lewis, his main challenger last year, will be driving a BMW M3 for the team Aspen Knolls Racing.
N-GT Class
The grid will be strengthened in the United States by the entry of cars which usually compete in the USRRC (United States Road Racing Championship) GT Championship.
In the FIA GT Championship, the cars will be entered in a class named N-GT Class. The teams and drivers will not be able to score points in the Championship. However, the domestic competitors will have a separate podium.
All N-GT cars will have to correspond to the USRRC technical regulations.
The race will be run following the FIA GT Championship Sporting Regulations.
Loc Depailler in a Mosler Intruder
At Homestead, the South Florida based Mosler Automotive team will enter a GT2 of its own conception, the Intruder. This car will be driven by Portuguese Joao Barbosa and Frenchmen James Ruffier and Loc Depailler, son of ex-Formula One driver, Patrick Depailler.
In two outings in the USRRC GT Championship, the car has set four lap records in both qualifying and the races.
USRRC Champion in a Porsche 911 GT2
American Larry Schumacher, current USRRC Champion, will enter a Porsche 911 GT2 at Homestead and Watkins Glen. He will share the car with his usual co-driver, John O'Steen. Larry Schumacher has won many races at Watkins Glen but has never raced at Homestead.
Race distance
Both races will consist of 500 km, which represents approximately 310 miles, with a maximum duration of three hours.
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