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PR1 Motorsports and Mathiasen Motorsports are proud to announce that they have joined forces and will be campaigning a brand-new Oreca-Courage FLM09 in the 2010 American Le Mans Series LMPC class.
Formed from two former Formula Atlantic Championship top-tier competitors, the team will be known as PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports and will take possession of the car in early March. The team will promptly begin preparing the car in anticipation for the 2010 season.
PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports season-long driver lineup for their new LMPC program is being finalized. However, Jonathan Bomarito has been named as the team’s third driver for the longer endurance races on the schedule. Bomarito has extensive ties to the team having competed with the organization since his days in karting over a decade ago.
The new LMPC class features the Oreca-Courage FLM09 chassis mated to a V8 engine with an Xtrac six-speed-sequential gearbox. All LMPC cars will have Michelin tires and will race alongside the established LMP, GT2, and GTC classes in the nine race ALMS series.
Bobby Oergel, co-owner of PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, is excited to be expanding his team’s sports car program and to be working with Bomarito again. Oergel will be partnering with Mathiasen Motorsports for the first time with this endeavor.
“Being from California, our team sponsors are very interested in the West Coast events,” Oergel said. “We always enjoyed Long Beach and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, so it’ll be great to race there in the prototype. We’re still working on the final touches but I can tell you this much, we’re all thrilled to be working with Jonathan and Ray Mathiasen. Ray knows how to run a top-tier team, and Jonathan is a real professional in and out of the car. He always runs up front, and we know he’ll be a great addition to our endurance racing efforts.”
The new Oreca-Courage FLM09 will be fresh from the factory when the team takes ownership early next month.
“When we looked at our options, we decided to buy new rather than used,” Oergel explained. “The cars that ran seven races in Europe are perfectly fine, we just wanted to build our program up 100% from the start. Everyone here is really looking forward to getting the car in the shop. It’s fast, great for racing, and can easily be incorporated into our driver development programs.”
Ray Mathiasen, Oergel’s business partner and co-owner of PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, is eager to get back into racing after a one year hiatus.
“I decided to suspend our racing activities in 2009 after a very successful 2008 season,” Mathiasen said. “In the 2008 Formula Atlantic Championship, with Jonathan Bomarito, we came so close to winning the championship. I’ve spent the last 10 months considering several possible directions for my team. I decided that the right course was to affiliate with another well established racing team that had a strong driver development program, and that the new LMPC car would be the ideal choice for our future racing activities.”
“I am very pleased to have the opportunity to join forces with PR1 Motorsports,” Mathiasen continued. “We’ve enjoyed competing against Bobby Oergel and are now looking forward to competing with him in this new sports car racing venture. I am closing down our race shop in Brownsburg, Indiana and will be consolidating our equipment at PR1’s shop in Fresno. Although my role in the racing operations will be more passive than it has been in prior years, I remain just as committed to winning a championship in this new series as we have been in our past activities. The car will run at some my favorite venues and this should be fun for everyone involved.”
The 2010 American Le Mans Series begins at the 58th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida on March 17-20, 2010.
In paddocks packed with excellent teams and quality drivers, PR1 Motorsports has established itself as one of the sports top driver development programs. Based in Fresno, CA, PR1 Motorsports occupies an expansive facility housing a stable of F2000 Zetec and professional sportscars. Team drivers enjoy the benefits of a completely professional program including engineering support, state-of-the art data acquisition, and a race winning experienced crew. PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports drivers, and partners, enjoy first-class trackside hospitality and comprehensive marketing support.
Source ALMS
© RIF
