CART releases 2003 schedule.

The first edition of the 2003 CART FedEx schedule has been released which sees several events shifting dates and the European tour brought forward to a very risky April/May date.

Twenty races are tentatively scheduled to make up the revamped 2003 CART FedEx schedule as Series officials unveiled next year's somewhat different calendar of events from the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course on Sunday.

The new schedule, which will commence at the new St Petersburg street circuit in Florida on February 23rd, will then wait a month before round two at Fundidora Park in Mexico, previously the season opener.

Long Beach retains its traditional April date and will form the third round of the series although many will be disappointed to see a period of almost two months between the opening three rounds. Past criticisms have been made on the fact that the opening rounds of the Championship are too far apart making it difficult for the series to build early momentum with the fans.

The biggest shock of the new calendar is the moving of the 'European Tour' from its current September date to late April/early May. Two races are slated with the first labelled as a 'Tentative yet to be confirmed' event on April 27th.

The series will visit the Rockingham Motor Speedway on May Bank Holiday weekend, May 4th and the series are praying that the rain gods are smiling on them as Spring British weather can be notoriously fickle. Many of the early ASCAR rounds held at the 1.5-mile quad oval had to be postponed due to rain and the series may even plan on running the infield road course if the event risks turning into a washout.

With the trip to Europe and a 'tentative' race set for the Chicago Motor Speedway on May 18th, it may be difficult for FedEx teams to compete in the blue riband Indy 500 IRL event on Memorial Day weekend.

The season is set to end on the first weekend in November at the two-mile Fontana Superspeedway in California.

2003 CART FedEx Championship Series Schedule

DATE VENUE

Feb. 23 St. Petersburg, Florida - Street Course
Mar. 23 Monterrey, Mexico - Fundidora Park
Apr. 13 Long Beach, California - Street Course
Apr. 27 Europe - Tentative, TBA
May 4 Corby, England - Rockingham Motor Speedway
May 18 Chicago - Tentative, TBA
June 1 Milwaukee, Wisconsin - The Milwaukee Mile
June 15 Monterey, California - Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
June 22 Portland, Oregon - Portland International Raceway
July 6 Cleveland, Ohio - Burke Lakefront Airport
July 13 Toronto, Ontario - Street Course
July 27 Vancouver, British Columbia - Street Course
Aug. 10 Lexington, Ohio - Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Aug. 17 Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin - Road America
Aug. 31 Denver, Colorado - Street Course
Sept. 7 Montreal, Quebec - Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve
Sept. 28 Miami, Florida - Street Course
Oct. 12 Mexico City, Mexico - Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
Oct. 26 Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia - Street Course
Nov. 2 Fontana, California - California Speedway