Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Sponsor NEWS

The world's three largest hobby manufacturers – Tamiya of America, HPI Racing and Kyosho of America – are bringing the first "Radio Control Motorsports Experience (RCME)" to the 35th Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach April 16-19.

Located in the Lifestyle Expo in the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center, the RCME is aimed at increasing awareness for the hobby-grade radio control market.

The RCME, a unique collaboration within the hobby community, will feature a wide variety of new and exciting products and include product displays, demonstrations and competitions with radio control drifting, rock crawling, tanks and mini tabletop race cars. Veteran radio control car announcer Scotty Ernst has signed on to be the master of ceremonies at the RCME display in Long Beach.

The RCME and the Lifestyle Expo, free to race ticketholders, are open from 3-6 p.m. Thursday, April 16; 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 17-18, and 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Sunday, April 19. The Expo also features a Kid's Zone and "Green Power Prix-View," highlighting alternative energy vehicles, renewable energy sources and healthy lifestyle ideas for inside and outside the home.

Tamiya ventured into the modeling business in 1948 with a scale wooden ship model kit. Today, Tamiya offers more than 1,500 different products in the fields of precision static models, educational kits, finishing supplies and high-performance radio control vehicles.

Kyosho, founded in 1963, has a lineup that includes nitro and electric-powered vehicles in multiple scales, planes and helicopters and a full fleet of R/C boats, including sailboats and motorboats.

HPI Racing, established in Southern California in 1986, is located in Foothill Ranch, California with offices also in both Japan and United Kingdom. A global leader in the R/C racing car section of the hobby industry, HPI Racing specializes in a wide verity of both on-road and off-road vehicles.

Tickets for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach can be purchased from the Grand Prix ticket office by calling toll-free at (888) 82-SPEED, Ticketmaster or by visiting www.gplb.com. A handy ticket brochure – which includes circuit map, grandstand and parking locations, ticket prices and order form – can be obtained by calling the ticket hotline.

Ticket prices, which remain unchanged from 2008, range from $25 for Friday general admission up to $125 for a three-day ticket that includes Saturday and Sunday reserved seats in upper levels of the grandstands. Pre-paid parking packages are also available when ordering through the Grand Prix Ticket Office. Handicapped seating, IndyCar Paddock passes, Super Photo tickets and a variety of hospitality club packages are also available.