Praga Cars Will Open Its First U.S. Dealership At Sonoma Raceway In California

The Czech Republic’s favorite racecar manufacturer is setting up a trio of international dealerships around the world, and its first American dealership will be in Sears Point, California at the famed Sonoma Raceway.

The dealership will be run by Paul Blickman, Tim Barber, and Steve Farrario, three racers. In fact, the trio raced their own Praga R1 “mini LMP racer,” as the company calls it, to third place in the 2019 25 Hours of Thunderhill.

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“We are really pleased to have agreed terms with the guys at Praga Racing West and look forward to supporting their efforts to race in California and help grow our network in the perfect environment for the R1,” said Mark Harrison, head of commercial operations at Praga Cars. “For future customers, Praga Racing West is perfect as they have proven the R1’s capabilities over 25 hours of racing and I look forward to visiting them later this year.”

The dealership will be an important one for Praga, as it is located in the R1’s biggest market. The majority of the all-carbon racecar’s sales are in the Florida region, per the brand, so getting a foothold in the U.S. was a priority.

“I am really pleased that we have secured the first official US Praga Racing dealer. Pragas have been racing in the US for a number of years with support of Fellner Motorsport based in Florida,” said Tomas Kasparek, owner of Praga Cars. “We are sure that with a new US dealer we will see even more podium results in the near future.”

Praga also announced two other dealerships around the world recently, with a location in Australia and another serving Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The tiny race car has seen its star rise recently thanks to tie-ups with Frank Stephenson and other popular YouTubers.

If you’re interested in finding out what going from a limited amount of racing experience (mostly in sim racing) to getting behind the wheel of a Praga R1 is like, you should check out Jimmy Broadbent’s recent series on doing just that.