San José, Calif. — Downtown San José, Calif., is slated to host a Grand Prix open-wheel street race on the international Champ Car World Series in July 2005 under a proposal announced today by the Canary Fund and San José Mayor Ron Gonzales.

The San José Grand Prix, scheduled for July 29-31, 2005, will be contested around the HP Pavilion and the surrounding streets. It will be the eighth stop on the 2005 Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford schedule.

In addition to the auto race itself, plans for the San José Grand Prix call for a week of activities in support of the race including concerts, fairs, charity events and promotional activities. The weeklong festival is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of fans to northern California’s largest city and become a mainstay on the Champ Car World Series calendar.

“The San José Grand Prix will bring world class racing excitement to our streets, and it will bring San José to the attention of millions of people across the nation and around the world,” said Mayor Gonzales, who helped facilitate preliminary negotiations with the Champ Car World Series and the Canary Fund.

“Some of the world’s fastest cars using the best racing technology by superb drivers from throughout the world will converge on Silicon Valley, and revenues generated by the event will bring real economic benefit to our community and local businesses.”

The mayor will bring the proposal to the San José City Council for its consideration on Dec. 7. Under the proposal, the City and the San José Redevelopment Agency would invest $650,000 toward the $3 million infrastructure costs to install and remove barriers, equipment and street improvements needed for the race.

During the next 10 years, revenues from the event would repay the public investment with interest, the balance of the project cost would be paid by event revenues and the Canary Fund.

The specific route for the San José Grand Prix has not yet been determined, but it would follow city streets in the downtown area.

The San José Grand Prix will be produced by Canary Fund Enterprises, which is an affiliate of the Canary Fund. The Canary Fund, founded by Don Listwin, is dedicated to catalyzing the development of biomarker platform for the early detection of cancer.

The Canary Fund collaborates with cancer research centers including the Stanford University Cancer Research Center in nearby Palo Alto, California and the UCSF Cancer Center in San Francisco. The Canary Fund was also recently announced as the official social cause of the Champ Car World Series.

“Our global partnership with the Champ Car World Series gives us an exciting platform to raise awareness and money for this unique new technology in the battle against cancer,” said Listwin.

Bob Singleton, General Manager of the San José Grand Prix said, “Having spent many years organizing Champ Car events in Canada, I am excited about the opportunity to be the General Manager of the new San José Grand Prix. This is a historic race for northern California, but it will be much more than a race. The San José Grand Prix will be a week long festival of activities in downtown San José. I guarantee that people will want to put this week on there calendar as a must attend event,” concluded Singleton.

The agreement for the race is a long-term arrangement between the city of San José, California and Canary Fund Enterprises LLC.

“We are delighted to officially announce the great City of San José as our newest member of the Champ Car family of venues,” said Joe Chrnelich, Executive Vice President - Development, Government Affairs, and Planning for the Champ Car World Series.

“The Bay Area market and San José in particular, offers Champ Car all the elements that make for a long-term, successful event. We look forward to working with the Canary Fund and the city officials in showcasing San José for the world to see.”

Contributed by Canary Fund Enterprises