New York to Paris Great Race dates announced

New York to Paris event is rescheduled for April 2009 as part of an exciting menu of automotive events

Great Race Sports has announced that the milestone event from New York to Paris has been rescheduled for April 25, 2009 after being postponed from its original starting date this May. The commemorative re-run of the 1908 New York-to-Paris “Great Race” is widely considered to be one of the most remarkable automotive adventures of the 20th century, an automobile race from New York to Paris before the advent of today’s modern highways and gas stations.

The Great Race 2009: New York to Paris and related events was originally scheduled to begin on May 30, 2008 in New York City but was postponed after the Chinese government revoked travel permits for foreigners traveling throughout the country following demonstrations in Tibet and surrounding the Olympic Torch Run.

The 2009 dates are part of a complete Schedule of Events released by Great Race earlier today. In addition to the new dates for the New York to Paris Great Race, some new events have been added to schedule, including a driving tour through in California this fall, an historic recreation of an off-road race that took place a century ago and a 6-day regional Great Race style rally in the North East, taking place in later summer, 2009. (Read more)

Graf and Holmquist win the 2008 Coker Tire Challenge

Great Race veterans Curtis Graf, from Irving, Texas and Ty Holmquist, from Hollister, California, won the 3rd annual Coker Tire Challenge with a 3-day score of 18.49 seconds off scheduled time. The 3-day rally for classic cars was hosted by Coker Tire at the company’s international headquarters in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Graf and Holmquist drove a 1932 Ford Hiboy to the win.

Second place in the Great Race style regional rally went to  Richard Fredette and Bill Loubiere, who finished with a 24.06 seconds. 37 teams participated in Coker Tire Challenge event, created by Great Race’s world-class course designer, John Classen.

To Download a PDF of the 2008 Coker Tire Challenge Results, please follow these links:

• Day 1 Results
• Day 2 Results
• Day 3 Results

The Coker Tire Challenge is based on the traditional Great Race competition format, a street-legal rally on public highways. Precision driving is required from the driver and navigator who follow a specific set of course instructions that indicate every turn, speed change, stop and start that the race teams make throughout the day. Read the rest of this entry »