INDIANA UNIVERSITY PURDUE UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS

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GET UP TO SPEED ON FORMULA ONE AT IUPUI

INDIANAPOLIS - Formula One racing comes to IUPUI and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

IUPUI's Continuing Learning Network (CLN) and long-time Formula One racing enthusiast Rich Shaffer are teaming up to help Indianapolis racing fans get up to speed on Grand Prix Racing in time for the inaugural running at the Indianapolis Speedway September 22-24.

Shaffer, former public relations officer for the Tony Bettenhausen Motorsports racing team, will teach the four-hour, non-credit Formula I class that Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis is offering as part of its continuing studies program.

The two-session course, held Wednesday (August 30) and Wednesday, Sept. 6, is designed to increase awareness of the world of Grand Prix Championship racing in a fashion similar to that used in the Indy 500 courses CLN has offered for a number of years.

"With the Formula One coming to town, which is totally different from anything the Indianapolis community has hosted, we thought it would be good to offer Formula One workshops," said Terri Talbert-Hatch, Manager of Training and Development for CLN.

"For the first time drivers will be going clockwise around the Indy 500 track and making both left- and right-hand turns," Talbert-Hatch said. "Hopefully we can educate racing enthusiasts and first-timers to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on things to look for and how to enjoy the race."

The U.S. Grand Prix at Indianapolis brings together two powerhouses in the world of motor sports, Schaffer said.

"You have the marriage of the most prestigious form of racing in the world with the most famous racing facility in the world," he said.

As a child Shaffer fell in love with Formula One racing while watching the televised running of the 1962 French Grand Prix at Monaco, he said. The former Indianapolis Star sportswriter owns a library of about 500 volumes on racing, most of which are about Formula One. Shaffer's "CART: The First 20 Years," a history of Championship Auto Racing Teams, was published last year by Hazleton Publishing Limited of Great Britain.

The Formula I Class will be held from 7 to 9 p.m., Wednesday (August 30) and from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 6 at Pike High School, 6701 Zionsville Road. The cost is $49.

The first two-hour session will include an overview of the typical Grand Prix weekend with an introduction to the cars and drivers. The Sept. 6 session will focus on the folklore of the racing series.

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