Toyota Green Grand Prix Returning to Legendary Watkins Glen International in 2012
(for release March 4, 2012)
WATKINS GLEN, NY – The Green Grand Prix, a showcase of motoring technology that aims for a cleaner environment, returns to the famed Watkins Glen International race course in April with Toyota as a first-time major sponsor.
The 2012 Toyota Green Grand Prix will present a two-stage road rally on Friday and Saturday, April 20 and 21, and a NYElectrathon race on April 21. Both days offer educational seminars and displays by appropriate manufacturers and vendors.
The Toyota Green Grand Prix is part of the season-opening weekend festivities at Watkins Glen International. No admission is charged for the Green Grand Prix, open to the public on both days.
Those interested in taking part in WGI’s Opening Day festivities on April 21 will need to pay $25 to take their vehicle on the track. WGI festivities continue on April 22.
The Toyota Green Grand Prix’s two-stage rally will have a stand-alone segment on each day, offering up challenges and excitement for pre-registered drivers of alternate-fueled vehicles, hybrids and traditional gasoline-powered and diesel-powered vehicles.
Individuals, colleges and universities, car clubs and manufacturers are all invited to participate.
The Electrathon race, primarily for high school teams, will be on Saturday. Part of the event will be educational technical talks by students from the teams.
The diversity of the activities over the two days emphasizes the breadth of the goals of the Toyota Green Grand Prix.
“The mission of the Toyota Green Grand Prix is educational, to promote innovation in sustainable transportation technologies,” said Bob Gillespie, chairman of the Green Grand Prix Corp., a non-profit organization. “We are proud that our event, in its eighth year, attracts students from universities, colleges and high schools. We want the Green Grand Prix to be a means of encouraging technology students to stay in the Northeast to help move our region to become a center for clean energy.”
The Toyota Green Grand Prix is again part of the season-opening weekend festivities at Watkins Glen International.
“It is a pleasure to host this outstanding event at The Glen for the second consecutive year,” WGI President Michael Printup said. “Hosting the Green Grand Prix is the best way to kick off our Opening Weekend and continue our strong commitment to environmentally green initiatives with our season-long recycling program.”
Friday’s segment of the Doris Bovee Memorial Road Rallies will be a 130-mile, fuel economy event completely on the 2.45-mile short course at WGI,which has hosted competitive racing events since 1957. The rally is open to all classes of road vehicles.
On Saturday, the rally moves to public roads for 140 miles and another fuel economy run.
Both segments will be conducted at highway speeds.
“This year’s rallies will offer competitors the opportunity to establish fuel economy records in various categories on a world famous racing venue and on the picturesque roads of the Finger Lakes ,” Gillespie said.
After they return to the track at the end of Saturday’s rally the vehicles will be on display in the WGI Tech Garage from 1-5 p.m.
Spectators will be able to view a wide variety of fuel-efficient vehicles powered by several different fuels including gasoline, biodiesel, hydrogen, propane and compressed natural gas. Many hybrids, plug-in hybrids and full electric vehicles are also expected.
The Doris Bovee Foundation is one of the Green Grand Prix’s key supporters, and the rallies are dubbed the Doris Bovee Memorial Road Rallies. The rallies are sponsored by the Glen Region Sports Car Club of America and are the only official SCCA road rallies of their kind in the nation.
Other important supporters of the event are Corning Enterprises of Corning, NY; the Auto Career Development Center of Worcester, MA; and the Central New York Clean Cities Coalition based in Baldwinsville , NY .
The rallies honor the memory of well-known area environmentalist Doris Bovee, who taught for many years in the Corning-Painted Post (NY) school district and was known for her love of plants and birds. She also was involved with SCCA road rallies and was part of the Glen Region SCCA at its inception.
The Electrathon race will be at 2 p.m. on Saturday on a course set up in an infield area of the track. The race is sanctioned and organized by NYElectrathon.
Single-seat electric vehicles built, maintained and driven by high school teams are powered by the battery equivalent of 1 hp. They race at speeds of about 30 mph. Last year’s Green Grand Prix Electrathon drew teams from 10 schools in New York and Canada .
Entries in the rallies are now being accepted through the Toyota Green Grand Prix website at www.greengrandprix.com. More information about the NYElectrathon event is available at the website www.nyelectrathon.com.
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For digital photos from the 2011 Green Grand Prix and for more information, contact Robert Gillespie by e-mail at rgillesp@roadrunner.com or by telephone at (315) 694-2812.
