Atlantic Race at Savannah cancelled

[MDS]

Just FYI for anyone who was interested in going. Looks like I won't be making the trip.



While the 2009 Atlantic Championship schedule was announced last fall, both the Hutchinson Island road circuit in Savannah, Ga. and Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, Ill. were subject to circuit homologation. While the Atlantic Championship has approved Autobahn Country Club for use, the homologation process revealed that the safety systems currently in place in Savannah are not adequate for Atlantic competition. As a result, the race in Savannah has been postponed until 2010.

http://www.whowon.com/sResults.asp?SanctionID=1289&StoryID=264626


I am shocked, shocked I tell you that the first race of the US Green Prix would be cancelled.

[EagleEye]

Just FYI for anyone who was interested in going. Looks like I won't be making the trip.




http://www.whowon.com/sResults.asp?SanctionID=1289&StoryID=264626


I am shocked, shocked I tell you that the first race of the US Green Prix would be cancelled.

Not only the first race, but the "Walter Mitty" type series is dead for '09 and probably beyond. Non one lined up to pay to drive the cars...maybe becuase there are no engines in the back and the economy.

It would take quite a bit of money to hire people to push the cars around the track, though I would find that quite entertaining.

[SarahFan]

I think I owe somebody a six pack

[Mad_Hatter]

Not only the first race, but the "Walter Mitty" type series is dead for '09 and probably beyond. Non one lined up to pay to drive the cars...maybe becuase there are no engines in the back and the economy.

It would take quite a bit of money to hire people to push the cars around the track, though I would find that quite entertaining.

Nigel Mansell pushed a car down the track once, he even made money doing it.

[Easy Drifter]

Sir Jack Brabham won a World Championship pushing a car at Sebring in the first US GP.

[MDS]

When I was a kid dealing with cancer I had this Bible we used to take with me whenever I had an overnight stay, which was pretty often there for about four years. I tucked a couple of pictures between pages of that Bible, one of my family and one of Alan Kulwicki pushing his car to the finish line at Sears Point. I think it was 1991 or 92 and he had run out of gas in the esses and if he just finished on the lead lap he would get credit with a top 10 finish. So he pushed his car from the esses down to the entrance of pit road and was arguing with NASCAR officials to let him finish the race when they finally stopped him.

I've never seen a more inspirational moment. Every time in my life when I thought my burden was just too much to carry I think of Alan Kulwicki pushing that car to the finish line and remember that you don't ever quit.

So yeah, its a humourous idea, but honestly, seeing a man pushing a car around a road course is probably one of the more important moments in my life.

[Mark in Oshawa]

MDS, it is an important one to you because you have a personal understanding that most of us don't have with never giving up and the benefit of it.

Kulwicki's spirit of competition is what drove him that day to push that race car just like it was Mansell's pushing his f1 car in the Dallas heat when the USGP raced in Dallas in the middle of summer ( you know what they say about mad dogs and Englishmen!).

[Dr. Krogshöj]

I would not pronounce the series dead yet. 12 Atlantic cars were testing yesterday at Palm Beach and their new website is online. The driver lineup seems promising too. Alexander Rossi is one of the most talented American youngsters out there. GP2 refugee Borja Garcia was also testing, along with returning drivers Jonathan Bomarito, Markus Niemela, John Edwards and Simona de Silvestro.

[gofastandwynn]

I would not pronounce the series dead yet. 12 Atlantic cars were testing yesterday at Palm Beach and their new website is online. The driver lineup seems promising too. Alexander Rossi is one of the most talented American youngsters out there. GP2 refugee Borja Garcia was also testing, along with returning drivers Jonathan Bomarito, Markus Niemela, John Edwards and Simona de Silvestro.

Yea, 12 cars is good for the the first test of the year, but not when the season starts next Friday...

[vintage]

Last year there were 25 drivers at the Sebring pre-season test. Shows the effect of the loss of alignment with a top open wheel series.

[beachbum]

I would not pronounce the series dead yet. 12 Atlantic cars were testing yesterday at Palm Beach and their new website is online. The driver lineup seems promising too. Alexander Rossi is one of the most talented American youngsters out there. GP2 refugee Borja Garcia was also testing, along with returning drivers Jonathan Bomarito, Markus Niemela, John Edwards and Simona de Silvestro.
I wonder where you found a website. All of the links I can find, including from the IMSA site, come up as dead links. The one very interesting link is from Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Atlantic_Championship_season

And it has a lot of TBA's. It is really a shame to see the once great Atlantic series reduced to an almost overlooked support series.

[garyshell]

I would not pronounce the series dead yet. 12 Atlantic cars were testing yesterday at Palm Beach and their new website is online. The driver lineup seems promising too. Alexander Rossi is one of the most talented American youngsters out there. GP2 refugee Borja Garcia was also testing, along with returning drivers Jonathan Bomarito, Markus Niemela, John Edwards and Simona de Silvestro.


Go to Google. Look for "Formula Atlantic". The first link is http://www.champcaratlantic.com/ and it is still dead. If they have a new URL someone needs to smack their IT folks up side the head with the words "REDIRECT". Once again, the idiots running their PR are hiding their light under the bushel basket.

Got a link for the "new site"?

Gary

[Dr. Krogshöj]

http://www.atlantic-championship.com/

Sorry, I should have posted it. It is provisional, but it is up.

I agree, 12 cars won't be good for the first race. It would be like the "old" Indy Lights in its last years. I'm not saying that the series will flourish but I also think declaring it dead is a bit premature.

[Mark in Oshawa]

12 cars is pitiful and it is the sign of a series swirling around the toilet tank.....

[beachbum]

http://www.atlantic-championship.com/

Sorry, I should have posted it. It is provisional, but it is up.

That link was dead a few days ago. "Coming soon", TBA, and "Subject to Circuit Homologation" are not good statements to see with the first race 1 week away. Formula Atlantic has a long and proud history, but this current incarnation seems to exist in name only. It is beginning to look a lot like the waning years of Trans-Am. Very sad, but it would surprising if it lasts beyond this year. The Star Mazda series seems a lot stronger and how many support series do you need?