2008 Champ Car testing schedule

With the new year quickly approaching, the Champ Car World Series and the Cooper Tires Presents The Champ Car Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda have finalized their pre-season test schedules with the announcement of additional testing days set in 2008 race cities Houston and Portland.

MSR Houston will play host to Atlantic teams March 25-26 with Champ Car teams set to test March 28-29. The 17-turn, 2.38-mile road course is located 13 miles south of Houston, site of the April 27 Champ Car Grand Prix of Houston at JAGFlo Speedway, the second race on the 2008 calendar.

Portland International Raceway, site of the July 27 Champ Car Portland event, will host Atlantic teams May 21-22 as the Champ Car World Series teams prepare for their first of two trips to Europe for 2008.

“We’re trying to give our teams a variety of venues on which to test in addition to giving them the opportunity to test on some of the tracks where we race," said Tony Cotman, Champ Car’s Race Director and Executive Vice President, Operations. “They’re all excellent facilities for testing purposes and I feel that each circuit has something different to offer in terms of providing conditions that will allow them to prepare for the upcoming races. We’re also happy to showcase our drivers, teams and cars in markets where we’ll race, to give the fans an early taste of the 2008 Champ Car product."

The Houston and Portland dates have been added to the previously announced schedule for testing days at Sebring, Fla., and Monterey, Cal.

On Feb. 2-4, Champ Car teams will test at the historic Sebring International Raceway. The Feb. 4 date will feature a half-day of testing. Atlantic teams will follow at Sebring Feb. 5-6.

Champ Car’s annual “Spring Training" event will be held March 10-14 at the famed Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca near Monterey, site of the May 18 Champ Car Grand Prix, the third race of the 2008 season. Atlantic teams are slated to test March 10-11 with Champ Car teams testing March 13-14.