Panoz Head for the Double-Header

PANOZ HEAD FOR THE DOUBLE-HEADER

Braselton, Ga. - 9th August 2001.  Riding high after its hard-fought and well-deserved win at Portland in Oregon last weekend, the Panoz Motor Sports team has had little opportunity to rest on its laurels.

Within the next two weeks are the fifth and sixth rounds of the American Le Mans Series in Mosport, Canada and Mid-Ohio respectively.  Before then, the team is participating in promotional activity for the Series at this weekend's Mid-Ohio Champ Car event and at another event in Washington DC.

The team will be hoping to re-create some of the magic that Mosport has held for them in previous years.  The Panoz LMP-1 Roadsters finished 1st and 2nd there in 1999 and were challenging Audi for the lead last year before heavy rain caused havoc on the track and the demise of the leading Magnussen/Brabham car. The Panoz win two years ago was the first time a front-engined sports car had ever won at Mosport's 2.459 mile International Raceway.

Dane Jan Magnussen, who took the checkered flag in the victorious Panoz at Portland, is optimistic about the team's chances in Canada. "The track seems to suit us well, despite the bumps, and there are plenty of interesting turns.  I like it a lot and we are coming to a track which we know pretty well and which has been good to us in the past.

"Our result last week shows that it was the right decision to bring back the 2000-spec 'old' cars, and we've now got to keep taking the fight to Audi to spice up the races and the Championships.  We just hope it doesn't rain in Canada this year!"

The GT3 Grand Prix at Mosport begins at 1pm (EDT) on Sunday, 19th August and will be shown live on NBC Sports.

Klaus Graf of Germany will be the Panoz driver carrying out the demonstration laps at Mid-Ohio this weekend and his feedback about the layout of the track will be invaluable to his team-mates.  A  newcomer on the ALMS schedule, the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is set in scenic hills some 60 miles north of Columbus, Ohio.  Known as the "Most Competitive in the US", the 2.25-mile/13-turn permanent road course has been venue to many classic sports car races in the past and, in the eyes of the drivers, is a very welcome addition to the calendar.

The short amount of track time available to the team before qualifying for the 2.45 hour race will mean that every bit of data available will be crucial in helping to optimise the set-up of the cars.  The race will start at 1pm on Saturday, 25th August.

Qualifying and race coverage can be heard live on the American Le Mans Radio Web on www.americanlemans.com.

For further information contact Fiona Miller at Panoz Motor Sports on +44 7770 371 332 or email to fiona@panozmotorsports.com