Grand-Am has announced the 2013 schedules for the Rolex Series and Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, and at first glance has made major improvements year-on-year.
Grand-Am adds three new weekends at Austin's Circuit of the Americas in March, Road Atlanta in April and Kansas Speedway, a new “roval” which teams tested on a couple weeks ago for a compatibility test, in August.
Tracks off the schedule are Homestead-Miami Speedway and New Jersey Motorsports Park, and two of its NASCAR doubleheader weekends held in August this year – the second weekend at Watkins Glen, which was run in conjunction with NASCAR Sprint Cup, and the weekend at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal with the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
But the biggest surprise and initial glance at what the unified sports car championship could look like in 2014 comes in August, when on that weekend previously occupied by Watkins Glen, Grand-Am and the ALMS will have a doubleheader weekend at Elkhart Lake's Road America. Grand-Am's race is set for August 10, the Saturday. Road America track president George Bruggenthies hinted in a recent RACER.com interview that Grand-Am would not race on the same weekend as NASCAR's Nationwide Series, as it has the past two years.
“Last year we raced for the first time at Indianapolis and Detroit, and Grand-Am will continue to break new ground in 2013,” said Ed Bennett, Grand-Am president and CEO. “We're excited about going to historic Road Atlanta – plus the new road courses at Austin and Kansas City – for the first time. And with the combined event at Road America, sports car fans will get a glimpse of the future.”
ALMS – which was also projected for a race at COTA in the spring, having announced it back in June – will now race at the circuit on a combined weekend with the FIA World Endurance Championship in September instead. That opened the door for a sports car race in the spring slot for Grand-Am, and was taken.
As this year, Grand-Am will have two joint weekends with IndyCar, as races at Barber Motorsports Park (April 6) and Detroit Belle Isle (June 1) are scheduled. IndyCar will release its 2013 schedule in full on Sunday on SPEED's “Wind Tunnel” program.
Grand-Am's flagship race – the 51st running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona – opens the 2013 schedule Jan. 26-27 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. The Rolex 24 also opens the second annual North American Endurance Championship presented by VISITFLORIDA.com, a special three-race Rolex Series competition that includes the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen International on June 30 and the Brickyard Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 26. Grand-Am will again lead off IMS' “Kroger Super Weekend at the Brickyard” that also will include the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Other returning events include Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio on June 15; Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif. on Sept. 8; and Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn. on Sept. 27-28.
The Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge will expand to 11 events in 2012. On nine of those weekends, the CTSCC will run on the same day as the Rolex Series, with the exceptions being Daytona (CTSCC on Jan. 25) and Watkins Glen (June 29). Also, the CTSCC will have two days of competition at Lime Rock, with the Street Tuner class on Sept. 27 and the Grand Sport class race joining the Rolex Series race on Sept. 28.
2013 Grand-Am Rolex Series Schedule
Jan. 26-27 Daytona International Speedway
March 2 Circuit of the Americas
April 6 Barber Motorsports Park
April 20 Road Atlanta
June 1 Detroit Belle Isle
June 15 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
June 30 Watkins Glen International
July 26 Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Aug. 10 * Road America
Aug. 17 Kansas Speedway
Sept. 8 Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
Sept. 28 Lime Rock Park
*Combination event with American Le Mans Series
2013 Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Schedule
Jan. 25 Daytona International Speedway
March 2 Circuit of the Americas
April 6 Barber Motorsports Park
April 20 Road Atlanta
June 15 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
June 29 Watkins Glen International
July 26 Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Aug. 10 * Road America
Aug. 17 Kansas Speedway
Sept. 8 Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
Sept. 27-28 Lime Rock Park
*Combination event with American Le Mans Series