12/16/2011
All 2011 races return including action from IZOD IndyCar Series,
American Le Mans Series, Rolex Series, AMA Pro Racing and more
DUBLIN, OHIO (December 16, 2011) – Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course announced its six-date 2012 public event schedule today. The season begins in June and runs through early September, peaking with the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge & The Honda Indy® 200 at Mid-Ohio on August 3-5. VIP Race Passes and tickets for all events will go on sale January 9, 2012.
Fresh off celebrating the track’s 50th season in 2011, Mid-Ohio opens the 2012 docket on June 8-10 with the GRAND-AM Road Racing Rolex Sports Car Series in town for the EMCO Gears Classic. On the schedule as a fall championship race last year, the event moves back to its familiar season opening slot. The Rolex Sports Car Series and Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge races will be broadcast on SPEED.
Two weeks following the kickoff event, the grounds are transformed into a museum of sorts as the track welcomes the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association and hosts the Vintage Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio. Nearly 400 cars on track and a few hundred in a pair of car shows make for the automotive purists’ dream on June 22-24. The Union Jack will fly high this year as the Featured Marque is expanded to form a British Invasion.
As is tradition, July is motorcycle month at Mid-Ohio with a return to back-to-back weekends featuring two-wheeled machines both modern and mature. The Buckeye SuperBike Weekend presented by Dunlop Tire on July 13-15 brings the marveling machines of AMA Pro Racing to Lexington, Ohio for the 30th time. The Wiseco SuperBike 100 Doubleheader and other top class races can be seen on SPEED. Just a few days later, the American Motorcyclist Association hosts its largest event of the year at Mid-Ohio when AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days return on July 20-22. Tens of thousands from across the country flock to the grounds for the continent’s largest motorcycle swap meet, dozens of class races, bike shows and more.
The highlight of the summer is once again an American Le Mans Series and IZOD IndyCar Series doubleheader on August 3-5. This season marks the sixth straight co-headlined Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge & The Honda Indy® 200 at Mid-Ohio weekend. This unique event boasts the top sports car and open wheel series in the nation competing on back-to-back days. Mid-Ohio is the only permanent road course to host both series on the same weekend. NBC Sports Network (formerly Versus) televises the Honda Indy® 200 while the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge will be broadcasted live on ABC for the first time ever. The World Challenge Championships, USF2000 National Championship and F1000 Pro Series will be on the schedule in support of the main events. Autograph sessions, tech talks and other fan activities round out the weekend.
Finishing the season is a series featuring the type of amateur racing that’s been an anchor of Mid-Ohio culture throughout its five decade history. The National Auto Sport Association’s (NASA) top racers compete in the NASA Championships presented by Toyo Tires on September 7-9. Over 400 entries typically make this one of the biggest weekends of the year.
“Each season we strive to put together a diverse schedule that has something for all motorsports fans and with everything from 2011 returning next year, we feel we accomplished our goal,” said Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course President Craig Rust. “The IZOD IndyCar Series, both major sports car series in ALMS and GRAND-AM Road Racing and AMA Pro Racing joining the wonderful amateur series like SVRA, NASA and AMA makes the Mid-Ohio schedule one of the country’s best in road racing.”
VIP Race Passes and tickets for all events go on sale Monday, January 9, 2012. Gift certificates are available now by calling 800-MID-OHIO (643-6446) Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m- 5 p.m. Parking is free and children 12 and under are also admitted free at every event. Visit www.midohio.com for more information.
A comprehensive motorsports facility, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course features a permanent road-racing circuit with two primary configurations: a 2.4-mile, 15 turn, and a 2.25- mile, 13-turn circuit. The park-like, 330-acre complex is located in Lexington, Ohio, near Mansfield, 60 miles north of Columbus and 75 miles south of Cleveland. The track has been called the most competitive course in the U.S. and annually hosts a diverse lineup of locally, regionally and nationally sanctioned racing events for amateur, club and professional drivers and riders. Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course opened in 1962 and is owned and operated by Green Savoree Mid-Ohio, LLC.