Panoz Team PTG announces 2009 program

PANOZ TEAM PTG ANNOUNCES 2009 PROGRAM

Panoz Team PTG announced today that it will again field one Panoz Esperante GTLM in the 2009 American Le Mans Series' GT2 class with Dominik Farnbacher driving for the full season and another yet-to-be-named driver. Former Series LMP2 champion Ian James will join Farnbacher for the season opener at the 57th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida on March 18-21.

Sebring will start the third consecutive year of the partnership between PTG and Panoz Auto Development. Panoz Team PTG finished the 2008 season with a strong third place finish at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in the extremely competitive GT2 class. In the offseason, PTG has continued to develop the Esperante GTLM.

"Since the end of the 2008 season," said PTG boss Tom Milner, "PTG has continued to improve the car, and these improvements helped make us very competitive during the annual Sebring Winter Test in January. Based on the results of this test and further improvements since then, we are looking for a good result and hopeful for a podium finish. We know we are at a disadvantage with a five-year-old car fighting against the latest technology from our competition but that is nothing new to PTG."

Twenty-four-year-old Dominik Farnbacher, of Lichtenau, Germany, moves over from Tafel Racing to lead the attack on the GT2 class for Panoz Team PTG. Farnbacher had a great 2008 season with four class wins on his way to sharing second place in the GT2 driver championship. He also was one of the fastest drivers in class at the Winter Test. "Dominik has a lot of sports car racing experience, including multiple class wins in various series, and will be a great asset to the team," said Milner.

Panoz Team PTG returns again with the support of its long-time sponsors. The team welcomes back Yokohama and Performance Friction, which have been instrumental in the success of PTG for many years. In addition, the team receives support from JRZ, Eibach and Bosch.

Visit Panoz Team PTG at ptgracing.com for additional information and updates throughout the season.

The American Le Mans Series will open its 11th season with the 57th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida on Saturday, March 21. SPEED will televise the race live from 10 a.m. to noon and 2-11 p.m. ET. American Le Mans Radio and Live Timing & Scoring will be available at americanlemans.com. Sebring also will mark the debut of the MICHELIN Green X Challenge for 2009.

Tickets are available at sebringraceway.com or by calling (800) 626-RACE. A limited number of hotel rooms and rental condos are still available. Information is available by contacting the Sebring Chamber of Commerce at (863) 385-8448.

-credit: pmg/team ptg