Chevrolet announced a multi-year agreement with the Penske Corporation and INDYCAR to bring professional motorsports to the Motor City for the first time in four years. The first Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix will be held June 1-3, 2012 at the picturesque 2.1-mile Raceway at Belle Isle Park road course.
“Chevrolet has a long, storied history in Indy car racing,” said Mark Reuss, president, GM North America. “This year we celebrated the shared centennial of Chevrolet and the Indianapolis 500. We’re excited to see that history continue with the help of Penske Corporation and INDYCAR bringing back open-wheel racing to Detroit in 2012. This city is a natural for racing – it put the world on wheels and the roar of engines is something that simply belongs here.”
Indy car racing has developed a global audience. The 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series, which concludes Oct. 16, includes 17 events in the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Japan, reaching an estimated television audience of 191 million people in 200 countries. The Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix was last held in 2007 and 2008. Based on estimates from the Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau, those two events combined attracted more than 200,000 visitors, and brought more than $100 million to the Detroit Metro economy.
