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Every year about this time the IndyCars show up at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin to race on one of the great road courses in the world and a track that every driver loves, as we do…
The Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America
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Road America is one of the oldest and most famous road courses in North America and for good reason: It consistently delivers a great product for the local fan and racing community alike, regardless of what series is racing.
Though built initially for club and sports car racing and actually too narrow by modern track standards, no one has any trouble finding a way and a place to pass at the venue, due to its 3 long straights, connected through big elevation changes by a wide variety of 14 historic turns, well known to racing fans. Turn 5 is the heartbreaker while Turns 9 and 10 are the Carousel. Turn 11 is the Kink and Turn 12 is Canada Corner. The long front straight is an uphill climb that is nearly 1 of the 4 complete miles of the track, (the longest in the continent), dumping out into challenging Turn 1 where many races have been won or lost.
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This weekend, those racing fans lucky enough to wander the track for the days with their beef brats and beers in hand will be treated to no less than 9 races. They include:
- Blue Marble Radical Cup - 3 races on Friday, Saturday and Sunday
- USF2000 - 2 races on Saturday
- Indy Pro 2000 - 2 races on Saturday and Sunday
- Indy Lights, racing on Sunday
…and, of course, the IndyCars will race on Sunday.
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Let’s take a look at that support racing:
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The Blue Marble Radical Cup - utilizes the purpose-built Radical SR3 series of prototypes - small but powerful SportsCars with high-end motorcycle powerplants that propel them very quickly on the cheap. The series was designed to make racing possible for amateur participants who cannot afford to go IMSA or SRO GT racing. Radical classes are not limited to the SR3 anymore as more and more classes keep getting added to the series. As there are no IndyCar guys in this series, we will wish them safe and happy racing and concentrate on the open-wheel stuff, this weekend.
SR3 Radicals
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continued…
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