The two-mile road circuit at Hutchinson Island which will debut on next year's Atlantic Championship schedule received a unanimous thumbs-up from series officials following the latest visit to check on progress at the Georgia State venue.
With a celebration to commemorate the centennial of the first American Grand Prix race as the backdrop, Atlantic Championship president Vicki O'Connor and vice-president of operations John Brunner joined new series owner Ben Johnston in Savannah to get a sneak preview of the circuit, which is due to host the 2009 season-opener on 15 March.
It was a first visit to the facility for O'Connor, while Brunner was making his second appearance, but both came away extremely impressed by the responsiveness of the track officials to make the facility race-ready for both the Atlantic and GreenPrix USA curtain-raisers, as well as the enthusiasm of Savannah residents and local businesses to once again host a world class racing event after more than ten years.
“They're making progress, for sure,” Brunner said, “It's a motivating place to go because the people who live there and the business leaders are so supportive of this event. The track is awesome. It's so fast, the drivers are going to love it. I think this is going to turn into one of our marquee events. I think everybody is really going to enjoy it.”
A centrepiece of the celebration - which also featured a fireworks display - were Atlantic cars from the Walker and Forsythe teams, displayed alongside two former Champ Car Panoz DP01s, which will now be used in the GreenPrix USA series, and a few 1930s-era race cars. The City of Savannah hosted the first-ever grand prix-type race in America on 26 November 1908.
![Greg Mansell - Walker Racing [pic credit: Atlantic Championship/Phil Sedgwick]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/478061.jpg)
