Women's Global GT Series 2000 Schedule Set

INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 28, 2000 - The Women's Global GT Series today announced a six-race schedule for its second season which will kick off March 17 in Sebring, Fla.

The races will be run in conjunction with North American races on the American Le Mans Series schedule as companion events.

The slate:

Friday, March 17 - Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, Fla. Saturday, April 1 - Lowes Motor Speedway, Charlotte, N.C. S unday, July 23 - Sears Point Raceway, Sonoma, Calif. Sunday, September 3 - Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Texas Saturday, September 30 - Road Atlanta, Braselton, Ga. Sunday, October 29 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, Nev.

Promoter's test days will immediately precede each of the six event weekends, which will include a practice day and a qualifying day.

Television arrangements are pending.

Milka Duno of Caracas, Venezuela, who rode a steady string of finishes to third in the 1999 point standings, is the first driver to commit to a second season.

The drivers compete in equally-prepared Panoz Esperantes maintained by the Panoz Racing School at Road Atlanta.

In the inaugural season last year, Cindi Lux of Aloha, Ore., captured the series' first championship, edging Divina Galica of Sebring, Fla. Galica won two races and Lux, Audrey Zavodsky of New Boston, Mich., Allison Duncan of San Rafael, Calif. and Sara Senske of Kennewick, Wash., each won one.

Tom Kleiber, support series coordinator for the American Le Mans Series, said eligibility for woman drivers to compete in the series would include acceptable racing experience and a minimum of one pre-season lapping day under observation at Road Atlanta.

The Esperantes are also being employed in the three-race Panoz Racing School Winter Series at Road Atlanta with both men and women competing. Belinda Endress of Newbury Park, Calif., the most improved driver in the '99 Women's Global GT Series, won the series' second race earlier this month and leads the point standings, 48-46, over Duno with Zavodsky fourth at 41. The series concludes Feb. 26.