Marino Franchitti with Highcroft for 2010 Le Mans

Patron Highcroft Racing Announces Le Mans 24 Hours Driver Line-Up

On the back of Marino's LMP2 pole position last week at the 12 Hours of Sebring which culminated in a second placed category podium at the end of the race, more good news has followed after further successful testing in Sebring; Marino's ALMS team, Patron Highcroft Racing, have announced their driver line-up for their entry in the most classic of all endurance races, the 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours. Marino Franchitti, who has been denied a finish when so close to the end of the race on the two occasions he has previously competed at Le Mans, both times in the GT2 category. The first time was in 2005 after 20 hours of racing when driving the Panoz Esperante, and again just last year after 22 hours when driving the GT2 Aston Martin Vantage of Drayson Racing. On the premise of adding two more hours next time round and third time lucky, Marino should be right there at the end in 2010!

Marino will be joined by his Patron Highcroft Racing team-mate, David Brabham, a veteran at Le Mans who already has three category wins under his belt, in 2007 and 2008 with Aston Martin in their GT1 car, and last year as overall winner in LMP1 with Peugeot.

The third driver joining the line-up for Patron Highcroft Racing will be former Audi works' driver, Marco Werner, who already has three overall Le Mans victories to his credit having been the winner over three consecutive years, 2005, 2006 and 2007.

The Connecticut based team will be making their debut at Le Mans with the Honda Performance Development factory-backed ARX-01c chassis and will be the sole US representatives in the LMP2 category, but as last year's American Le Mans Series Championship winners they have the experience needed to compete against top teams and manufacturers alike, and no doubt Duncan Dayton, team owner at Highcroft Racing, will be drawing on his own experience having previously driven in this classic event.

Marino Franchitti is under no illusion about the task ahead of him in June "Le Mans is the greatest challenge for a sportscar team and I'm delighted to be part of Highcroft's first visit to this legendary event. Just to finish this race is a huge achievement and the whole Highcroft team is leaving no stone unturned in making sure we go there as well prepared as possible to do battle in the LMP2 class. My dream has always been to drive a prototype at Le Mans, I can't wait for June to take my first laps in the ARX- 01c and I couldn't be happier to be driving with David and Marco, they have four overall Le Mans wins between them so I can learn a lot from their collective experience."

Duncan Dayton is very happy with his driver package, "I'm very excited about our entire line-up of David, Marino and Marco and I believe we have a very strong package for our debut at Le Mans."

-source: marino franchitti