Official: Chevy bringing Belle Isle Grand Prix back to Detroit in 2012

Filed under: Motorsports, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GM

Open-wheel racing is returning to the Motor City next summer. The Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix will be held June 1-3, the first of a three-year sponsorship deal between General Motors, Penske Corporation and the IndyCar series. The weekend of racing will feature not only an IndyCar race, but the first Grand-Am event ever held on Detroit's island course.

The new Detroit race will take the place of another IndyCar event on the schedule, though officials did not say which one. IndyCar officials expect starting grids to have 25-28 cars next season. Other support races for the Detroit weekend include a Cadillac V-Series Challenge and an Indy Light race.

Race organizers said they plan to spend $6 million to rehab the racing facility, which last saw action in 2008. Detroit has a long and tumultuous history of hosting open wheel racing events on city streets, dating back to 1982, when Formula 1 ran on a course through downtown. In 1992 the Detroit Grand Prix moved to the current location at Belle Isle, a public park in the Detroit River, where several races under different sanctioning bodies have been held intermittently over the years. Follow the jump for GM's official release.

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Chevy bringing Belle Isle Grand Prix back to Detroit in 2012 originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 12 Oct 2011 11:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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