Sunday, March 22, 2009
Bell Teams with PTG Racing at 57th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring
Dominick Farnbacher and Ian James finish 3rd in GT2; another podium finish for Bell Micro Racing
Bell Micro Racing kicked off another season of American Le Mans racing this past weekend at the 57th annual Mobile 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. One hundred and forty one guests would view the race from the Bell Micro hospitality chalet located on turn 17 of the 3.7 mile road course. Dean Young, a guest of Rob Patnude, from Miltope wrote “The opportunity to be in the ‘hot’ pits was a great experience; the entire weekend was exciting, thank you for allowing me to participate.” Patrick Murphy, a guest of Jerry Johnson, from Freedom Scientific wrote “Congratulations to the Bell Micro Racing team for the exciting podium finish in the GT2 class; it was a fitting finish to an all-round terrific day.” The opportunity to team up with PTG Racing came about track side just an hour before the Esperante GTLM car would qualify. A solid relationship with Tom Milner, a long time friend of Don’s, and Dominik Farnbacher, who drove for Tafel/Bell Micro Racing last year, insured a winning partnership.
The company founder and CEO Dan Panoz and the entire team at Panoz Auto Development are justifiably excited about the performance of the Panoz Esperante sports car at Sebring this past Saturday. The Esperante GTLM was driven to a solid third place podium finish by Panoz team PTG drivers Ian James and Dominick Farnbacher. This dominant 12 hour drive that never saw the car or team falter from a top five position bodes well for the coming season. To make the podium finish in this annual endurance classic even more remarkable is the fact that this was the longest distance run in the history of the 12 hour race and the 10th place finish is a true testament to this underdog team and this small American car company.
As the factory teams from BMW, Porsche, Chevrolet and several privateer teams from Ford and Chrysler faltered behind the Panoz, the PTG crew methodically went about the business of winning against all odds and did ‘win’ in the eyes of the die hard fans that greeted the team at the podium ceremony. Dan Panoz, founder and president of Panoz Auto Development Company said “I am very proud of the job that Tom Milner and all of the PTG crew did at the 12 hours this year, it shows that a small company like ours can compete on the world stage with its products and technologies. We will never get the press or the accolades that the big automotive companies do, but we are The American Dream and we live it and prove it every day.”
About Panoz Auto Development
Panoz Auto Development is America’s premier independent manufacturer of hand built, high performance automobiles. The Georgia-based company manufacturers Esperante sports and racecars for domestic and international markets. The competition division, Panoz Motor Sports, has a rich heritage in the American Le Mans Racing Series, FIA GT, SCCA’s Trans-Am racing series and the 24 hours of Le Mans. Winner: 2005 GT2 class winner Atlanta Grand Prix, 2006 GT2 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 2006 GT2 class winner at the Mobile 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
Bell Micro Racing will host guests at the Long Beach Grand Prix on Saturday, April 18th.