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CHAMP CAR WORLD SERIES ANNOUNCES ADDITION OF ROTAX MAX KARTING SERIES AS ENTRY-LEVEL DRIVER DEVELOPMENT SERIES

No matter how diverse a Champ Car driver's racing resume is, there is one theme that remains constant throughout the roster.

From (A.J.) Allmendinger to (Charles) Zwolsman, nearly every driver that has advanced to the Champ Car World Series has done so by starting his career in karts. From local and regional competitions to national speedfests, karting has long served as the initial proving ground for those that aspire to be the next Paul Tracy or Sebastien Bourdais.

With that in mind, the Champ Car World Series has entered into a three-year partnership with the Rotax Max Challenge, designating Rotax Max as the Official Karting Series of Champ Car. Under the new agreement, the Champ Car Rotax Max Challenge will serve as the first step in the Champ Car driver-development system - a system that includes the all-new Champ Car Atlantic Series as the step directly leading to the 750-hp turbocharged Champ Cars.

"Given that so many of our drivers came up through the karting ranks, it seemed only natural that we would add one of the nation's most competitive karting series to our driver development system," said Champ Car President Steve Johnson. "We look forward to seeing the future stars of our series as they make their way towards racing stardom and we will support their growth every way that we can."

Both series will work to have presence at each other's events, with Champ Car taking show cars and having Champ Car drivers appear at selected Rotax Max events. The Rotax Max series will also have the ability to work with Champ Car in finding space to hold official karting events in conjunction with Champ Car race weekends.

Joe Ramos, President of SSC Racing had this to say about the new alliance: "Champ Car's embrace and support of the ROTAX MAX Challenge validates our commitment of excellence in products and service to the karting industry, for the benefit of driver training and development, as well as competitive event management."

In 2000, SSC Racing launched the program in the United States as the RMax Challenge. In 2002, they reached their goal of 25 regional Challenges competing throughout the USA. The top drivers from each class of each region are invited to the RMax Grand Nationals.

The top drivers of each National ROTAX MAX Challenge are invited by the ROTAX Kart Center in Austria and it's sponsors to the annual " ROTAX MAX World Finals" in November.

Organized in 1997 by the ROTAX Kart Center Austria, ROTAX MAX is the fastest growing kart racing class in the world and is now organized as a national competition in over 64 countries through authorized distributors and a network of Max Challenge Centers across America.

The engine used is the FR-125 Max (FR-125 Junior for the Junior Max Challenge) with no modifications allowed. A key factor for the success of the series is strict control over engine specifications. The engines are sealed by an "authorized ROTAX distributor /or authorized service center. The chassis type is sanctioned by the ROTAX distributor and/or ROTAX Kart center. Tires are exclusively MOJO, specifically developed for the ROTAX Max Challenge.

This collaboration with Champ Car will solidify the RMax Challenge as the most prestigious and exciting form of kart racing with a proven program of regional, national and world championship events. For information on the Rotax Max program please contact Chris Egolf Champ Car Account Manager at 760-864-1230 ext. 21 or e-mail cegolf@sscracing.com