Team Lexus driver line-up announced

TEAM LEXUS ADDS BORCHELLER, BELL AND DUMOULIN TO ALMS DRIVER LINE-UP

TORRANCE, Calif. (Feb. 21, 2006) -- A pair of sports car champions and an open-wheel ace will join team owner Chuck Goldsborough behind the wheel for Team Lexus as Terry Borcheller, Jean-Francois Dumoulin and Townsend Bell have joined the operation for the team's first season of ALMS competition, it was announced today.

Team Lexus has served as Lexus' factory team since 1999. After a successful run in the Grand Am Cup series with two championships and numerous wins, pole positions and podium finishes, the team makes the move into the ALMS GT2 class in 2006 with a two-car IS 350 team prepared under the new "S2" standard."We're extremely pleased to be able to add drivers the caliber of Terry Borcheller, Townsend Bell and Jean-Francois Dumoulin to our new ALMS program," said Philip Gaviola, Lexus motorsports manager. "They bring a tremendous combination of speed and experience. Most importantly, they're all proven champions."

Borcheller and Dumoulin have each won multiple sports car championships. Borcheller is the veteran of the group having registered six sports car titles since 1998 including the 2001 ALMS GTS title. He also earned the overall victory in the 2004 Rolex 24 at Daytona.Dumoulin holds the distinction of having won Lexus' first championship in 2002 in Grand Am Cup ST1 competition, while driving a Lexus IS 300 for Team Lexus. He went on to win the 2003 Grand Am Cup GS1 title as well.

Bell will be making the transition from open-wheel racing to sports cars in 2006, but there's no doubting his speed. The 2001 Indy Lights champion has raced in both CART and IRL, and tested with both the BAR and Jaguar Formula One teams."We have a huge challenge in front of us with a first-year program," said Gaviola. "But we're confident that we have a group of drivers that are more than up to the task."

As it enters ALMS competition, Team Lexus will be debuting the new Lexus IS 350 racer that is based upon the all-new 2006 IS 350 luxury sport sedan introduced last fall. The second-generation IS marks the third different Lexus model prepared for road racing competition in the U.S. following the GS 400 and the IS 300. The ALMS will hold 10 North American events in 2006 with five being televised on CBS and five on Speed Channel. The majority of the races are "sprint" races of two hours and 45 minutes in length. The longest event is the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours at Sebring (Fla.) International Raceway, the oldest sports car race in America.

-teamlexus.com