|
|||||
|
Caterham's Golden Jubilee
|
||||
The Caterham 7 celebrates its 50th birthday in 2007 and to commemorate its
landmark year Caterham Cars is to host a Golden Jubilee weekend of Caterham
racing action at Donington Park (UK) next (northern) summer. Scheduled for Saturday 2nd June and Sunday 3th June, the Golden Jubilee
event is the star feature of Caterham’s wide-ranging motor sport plans for the
coming season and will bring together all of the manufacturer’s UK and European
race series for a celebration of the world’s most-raced car. “The three October Caterham Festivals held since 2000 proved fantastically
successful and enormously popular with competitors and race-goers alike,” said
Caterham Cars director of motor sport Magnus Laird, “and we felt that for the
50th birthday of the 7 a summer event would be an excellent idea and Donington
Park is a wonderful venue for it with its central England location and excellent
transport links.” The Caterham Festivals each attracted around 300 racing Caterhams and it’s
hoped that the Golden Jubilee will break all previous records, with races for
the Eurocup & Masters, the Superlight Challenge, Roadsport and Roadsport B
Challenges, the Academy and the three Caterham Graduates Club series, as well
as open races and events for some of the 20 Caterham championships organised
in 11 different export markets. The Golden Jubilee is just one facet of Caterham’s exciting motor sport
plans for 2007, revealed last week. Other highlights include: The Circuit Driver Caterham Academy Circuit Driver Magazine, the only UK publication dedicated solely to the
needs and interests of track users and amateur racers, is the new headline
sponsor for the Academy. Introducing upwards of 50 new competitors to motor
sport every season, the Academy’s value-for-money blend of race training and
the sampling of diverse motor sport disciplines, including sprinting and
hill climbing, will continue in 2007 with the addition of a Caterham Motor
sport Club-run ‘handling day’ to the schedule. The Motor sport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge Having
attracted in excess of 60 drivers in 2006, the Roadsport and Roadsport B grids
provided yet again a superb second rung on the motor sport ladder for drivers
wishing to progress their careers after sampling the Academy. The format will
remain largely unchanged for 2007, with seven double-header meetings planned
including one at the Northern French circuit of Croix-en-Ternois. The Roadsports
will enjoy twin 30-minute races at each meeting and the Roadsport Bs twin
20-minute events. The Avon Tyres Caterham Superlight Challenge Caterham’s long established tyre partner, Avon, is to lend its name in 2007 to the
Superlight Challenge, Caterham’s premier UK-based championship. It’s a more than
appropriate association as the Superlight Challenge will once again be a chief
supporting event to the Avon-serviced British Formula 3 Championship and the
Avon Tyres British GT Championship. The championship will be open to both the
Cosworth-powered ‘C400’ Superlight model, successfully introduced in 2006, and
the older R400 with its K-Series powerplant. All meetings will feature twin
30-minute races. The evo Caterham Eurocup Following its long and successful association with the Academy, evo magazine is
to link up with Caterham once again, this time to support the Eurocup, which for
2007 will sport a radical new look featuring an exciting sprint and feature race
format. The Eurocup will be open to Superlights and to the lusty CSR 260, as well as
to other racing Caterhams and will feature a total of 21 races at seven meetings
held at Europe’s top International circuits. Venues already secured for the calendar
include Hockenheim and Nürburgring in Germany, Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and
Donington Park and Brands Hatch in the UK. Events at the Portuguese Grand Prix
circuit of Estoril and a top French track are planned also. Each meeting
will feature three races: two non-stop 30-minute sprints and a 60-minute
endurance race featuring a mandatory pit stop. The Eurocup
will boast three distinctly separate championships for one- and two-driver teams
– the CSR Masters, which will be open to CSR 260s contesting all 21 races; the
Eurocup Sprint title, for Superlights and other Caterhams opting only to contest
the two shorter races at each meeting; and the 21-race Eurocup Endurance title
for Superlights and other cars equipped with long-range fuel tanks. “It’s a very
exciting new format for the Eurocup,” said Laird, “and one which we believe
incorporates the best features of sprint racing and the best of endurance racing
on to a single, highly cost-effective grid. Combining things this way means we
are able to secure track time at the very best circuits in Europe and to
condense a 21-race programme into as short a period as possible. And drivers
wishing to share the cost burden with a team-mate can do so and still get more
than an hour’s track time each, at each event.” Backers for
Caterham Motor sport’s UK and European race series include Bilstein, Brian James
Trailers, Cheesman Products, Circuit Driver, Comma, Cooper-Avon Tyres,
Demon Tweeks, evo, HSBC Insurance Brokers, Mitchell Cotts, Motorsport
News, Stack and Steel Fabrications Ltd. |
ABN 47106248033 |
All rights reserved. |