Two years after its inaugural event, the Formula Smiles Foundation, led by Connie Freydell and Juan Pablo Montoya, will host the second edition of the Race Of Stars (Carrera de Estrellas) which is due to take place this weekend in Cartagena.
This time the race will be a confrontation between drivers from Formula One and Indycars. Ten drivers from nine different countries will take on the challenge of racing on the street circuit in 125c.c. Easykarts, to raise funds for the projects of the Formula Smiles foundation, aimed at helping underpivileged children in Colombia.
The layout has been designed to provide plenty of overtaking and is located seaside, moving a few miles from the place where the race took place for the first time two years ago.
Juan Pablo Montoya leads the F1 group of racers along with McLaren-Mercedes test and reserve driver Pedro De la Rosa, who arrived yesterday in Cartagena, the city hosting the event for the second time. Both driver enter the event second time, after doing so in 2003.
Red Bull Racing has sent to Colombia both Christian Klien and Vitantonio Liuzzi, with the young Italian being the favorite to take honours on Sunday, as he has the best karting CV of all the guest drivers, having won the World Championship in 2001 after spending nearly 10 years in the sport.
Christijan Albers, who just announced is racing for Midland next season, will also take on the challenge this weekend, hoping to show what he can do against his fellow F1 drivers, given equal machinery and a brand new circuit.
Antonio Pizzonia is the other racer of the F1 contingent. He finished third in the first race of stars and while seeking a drive for next year, he wants to keep his form by racing in the extreme heat of Cartagena against some of the worlds best drivers.
Great Britain and the IndyCar series will be well represented in the Race of Stars as well. Champion and Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon leads the American-based group of drivers coming to Cartagena. He will be joined by two-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves and American-Japanese racer Roger Yasukawa.
On Saturday the ten drivers will be on track for Free Practice and single lap Qualifying, and on Sunday afternoon they will race in two heats. Nearly 10.000 fans are expected to turn up for the event which will be televised live in Colombia and Latin America. All the information about the Race Of Stars can be found on the Internet as well at www.carreradeestrellas.com
Press release
Carreradeestrellas.com
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