TROIS-RIVIERES, Quebec — In the five weeks since open-wheel unification was announced, officials from the Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda have been hard at work on several fronts, including shoring up its schedule for the 35th Anniversary season in 2008.
Those efforts bore fruit today as Atlantic Championship Managing Director Vicki O’Connor unveiled an 11-race schedule, including the return of the series to the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres — one of Canada’s most beloved events and a historic venue for Atlantic racing — after a five-year absence.
The Atlantic Championship will headline activities in Trois-Rivieres Aug. 17 for the first time since the 2003 season, when A.J. Allmendinger claimed the victory en route to his series championship.
“It seems fitting that, in this 35th Anniversary season, Atlantic will return to an event where it has such a rich history,” O’Connor said. “We have vivid memories of the great racing and outstanding fan support we enjoyed over the years at Trois-Rivieres, and we’re looking forward to reacquainting ourselves with those fans this summer. It is certainly a popular destination for our teams and drivers, and is a wonderful centerpiece for our 2008 schedule.”
Long before Trois-Rivieres, however, the season will get under way with the 34th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 20.
The 10th and 11th events on the 2008 Atlantic schedule will feature a pair of new venues to the series. On Sunday Sept. 14, Atlantic will headline a weekend in which the entire MazdaSpeed Motorsports Development Ladder will be on display at the 1.9-mile Lightning Raceway circuit during the inaugural season of racing at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, N.J.
Hosting the penultimate round of the 2008 season will be the 4.5-mile circuit at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah, which will be the second and final 2008 Atlantic event alongside the Grand Am Rolex Series.
The season will draw to a close on the morning of Saturday, Oct. 4 at Road Atlanta alongside the ALMS Petit Le Mans endurance event. It will be the first Atlantic event at the 2.54-mile permanent road course at Road Atlanta since a race in 1993.
The schedule:
April 20, Grand Prix of Long Beach, Long Beach, Calif.; May 18, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif.; June 29, Circuit Mont-Tremblant, Mont-Tremblant, Quebec; July 25, Rexall Speedway, Edmonton, Alberta; July 26, Rexall Speedway; Aug. 9-10, Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis.; Aug. 17, Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Trois-Rivieres, Quebec; Sept. 14, New Jersey Motorsports Park, Millville, N.J.; Sept. 21, Miller Motorsports Park, Tooele, Utah; Oct. 4, Road Atlanta, Braselton, Ga.