Race Cars take to the streets of San Jose
Drivers and cars from the American Le Mans Series and the SPEED World Challenge, North America's premier sports car racing series, will put on a demonstration race during the noon hour at Downtown San Jose's Plaza de Cesar Chavez.
The cars and drivers will begin arriving at 10 a.m. in preparation for the noon green flag to start the demonstration race around Plaza de Cesar Chavez, a downtown park popular with office workers at lunchtime.
The cars will be running in a counter-clockwise direction on the inside lane of Market St., as it circles the park. The outer lanes will remain open to traffic, but will be separated from the race cars by traffic stanchions.
Following the demonstration laps, fans will be able to talk to the drivers, get autographs and check out the race cars up close.
Cars and drivers scheduled to appear include:
American Le Mans Series
– Team Cytosport Lola and drivers Greg Pickett and Klaus Graf
– Creation Autosportif and drivers Jamie Campbell-Walter and Harold Primat
– Petersen/White Lightning Ferrari 430 GT & driver Peter Dumbreck
– Team PTG Panoz Esperante GT & driver Joey Hand
SPEED World Challenge
– Naykid Racing Dodge Viper and drivers Cindy Lux and Scott B. White
– Tri-Point Mazda MX6 and driver Randy Pobst
The Mini Le Mans of San Jose precedes the Monterey Sports Car Championships Oct. 19-21 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The event features the high-speed, high-tech Le Mans Prototypes and GT cars of the American Le Mans Series competing in a Saturday afternoon-into-the-evening four-hour race into the darkness.
The SPEED World Challenge Touring Car and GT class season finales will highlight Sunday’s racing action. The Touring Cars take the green flag at 12 noon, while the GT race starts at 2: 55 p.m.
Ticket and race information is available at 800-327-SECA (7322), www.laguna-seca.com, www.ticketmaster.com, or at the gate.