Indy
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NEW-LOOK
RED BULL F1 DRIVER SEARCH TO CONTINUE IN 2003
Winners of this season's competition to be unveiled in September at Indianapolis
INDIANAPOLIS
MOTOR SPEEDWAY, Monday, March 17, 2003 - The Red Bull F1 Driver Search
will be expanded in 2003 to provide more drivers with a chance to earn
a spot in the program, designed to help a young American driver reach
Formula One.
1985
Indianapolis 500 winner Danny Sullivan and officials from The Red Bull
Energy Drink Company outlined plans for the program, which debuted in
2002, during a recent press conference in New York. F1 veteran Sullivan
oversees the program.
"We've
got a great country with a lot of terrific young drivers," Sullivan
said. "But it takes a lot of sacrifices to rise up to and race in
Formula One. Red Bull now offers a comprehensive way for American talent
to go race in Europe. It's second to none."
The
program provides top young American talent with a fully funded drive in
a European series that is part of the ladder system to F1. Four winners
were selected from 15 finalists in the first year of the program in 2002:
Paul Edwards, Grant Maiman, Joel Nelson and Scott Speed.
Edwards
is driving for KTR in the Nissan World Series, Maiman has been set up
with Jenzer Motorsport's Formula Renault operation, Speed is with Alan
Docking Racing for British Formula 3, and Nelson will race in the Formula
Euro 3000 championship with John Village Automotive.
During
the first year of the program, finalists were selected after careful scouting
of American junior racing series. This year, the program will expand to
include evaluation of top competitors at 25 karting centers around America.
Two
to four new promising American candidates will join the four 2002 winners
in the program this year.
The
long-term goal is to have a steady group of four to six American drivers
racing in Europe, groomed to break into Formula One and compete for the
World Championship. The Red Bull F1 Driver Search mission is not only
to scout and spot promising young racers with great potential and limited
funding but also to discover and support a driver lacking knowledge and
contacts needed for a racing career.
Two
approaches are being used in the revised program this year.
As
in 2002, scouts with vast racing experience will select 12 promising drivers
during the spring and summer. Their search for candidates will take place
within the traditional U.S. junior racing series. The age range for eligibility
is 16 to 19, for both males and females.
The
second approach is new for 2003. A separate set of 12 drivers will be
selected through a process of competitive elimination within the American
karting scene, through organized indoor and outdoor events.
This
opportunity is open to every prospective American racer with the appropriate
record or talent. The age range for eligibility is also 16 to 19, for
both males and females.
The
selection process will take place nationally in two phases. From April
to May, kart racers can enter events organized by Red Bull and run by
IKA-sanctioned indoor karting centers in 25 different locations across
the country. From each of these 25 centers, four top qualifiers (100 racers
total) will be chosen and invited to compete in Red Bull's Phase 2 outdoor
kart events.
In
Phase 2, from June to August, the 100 racers selected from Phase 1 will
compete in one of four regional outdoor karting events organized and run
by Red Bull. These elimination events, with 25 drivers each, will take
place at professional, outdoor kart tracks in the Northeast, South, Midwest
and West.
These
events will use equal equipment to assure fairness. A total of 12 racers,
three from each of the four regions, will be selected for semifinal competition.
The
semifinal qualifying event will take place Sept. 2-4 at Sebring, Fla.,
site of the famous 12 Hours of Sebring sports car race. Twenty-four semifinalists
- the 12 candidates selected by scouts and the 12 selected through the
karting events - will be brought together at the famed Sebring race track
in central Florida, site of the first United States Formula One Grand
Prix in 1959.
In
a three-day competition at Sebring, these drivers will be instructed and
tested by the famed Skip Barber organization in Formula Dodge 2-liter
race cars. During a final day of intense competition, they will race to
win one of the 10 finalist spots. Once the 10 finalists are selected,
their names will be kept in confidence until the United States Grand Prix
three weeks later in Indianapolis.
The
10 finalists will be revealed and introduced during a press conference
Sept. 25 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the United States Grand
Prix.
Two
to four of the finalists will be selected as program participants during
the finals, which start Oct. 12 at the Paul Ricard circuit in France.
The 10 Red Bull finalists, testing in F3 cars, will drive in a two-day
competition under the eyes of Sullivan and his team of judges.
The
judges will select two to four winners to compete in the 2004 European
season and join the 2002 winners. The number of new drivers selected at
Paul Ricard this October will be determined by the performance of the
2002 winners and the potential they showed for attracting the interest
of Formula One teams this year.
USGP
tickets: Tickets for the 2003 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis
are on sale, and the IMS ticket office encourages customers to place orders
early to ensure the best possible opportunity to acquire good seats.
Tickets
can be purchased online at www.imstix.com, or by calling the IMS ticket
office at (317) 492-6700 or (800) 822-INDY outside the Indianapolis area.
Parking and camping information also can be obtained through the ticket
office.
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