Dan McMullen 2003 season plans

Dan McMullen to contest 2003 Fran Am Pro Championship.

May 1, 2003 (Toronto, ON) - For 20 year-old Toronto native Dan McMullen, there is still some unfinished business he has in the Fran Am 2000 North American Pro Championship, winning the championship. In the inaugural 2002 series Dan finished the season in second place earning along the way six consecutive second place results. This year though his goal is to take a step further up on the podium and end the season with the championship crown, and along with it the fully funded ride in the European Formula Renault V6 Championship.

With this in mind, Dan has signed up with GTI Formula Motorsports out of Sugar Land, Texas and will be reunited with his race mechanic from last year, Raffi Tashdjian. At present though, the deal is only for the first few races, as the necessary funds to complete the season have not yet been finalized. Several potential sponsorship deals have not come to fruition as had been hoped for but there are several more companies that Dan is in negotiations with at present. An announcement detailing a marketing partnership is hoped to be made in the very near future. Under the circumstances, Dan is very appreciative of the offer from Mr. David Hosie, owner of GTI Formula Motorsports to drive for his team, even though there is a possibility that Dan may not be able to finish out the season unless the necessary funds can be found.

The Fran AM 2000 North American Pro Championship is now in it's second year and is gaining recognition in North America as the top training ground for up and coming young drivers. Like it's sister series, Formula Renault, where championships are held around the world in ten different countries, as well as two international championships, it is a racing series where driving skills are put to the utmost test. Many famous top international drivers began their career racing in Formula Renault worldwide, drivers such as Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya, McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, Toyota's Olivier Panis, Jaguar's rookie driver Antonio Pizzonia, Ferrari test driver Felipe Massa and ChampCar World Series drivers Sebastien Bourdais and Oriol Servia. The goal of Fran Am is to help young North American drivers make it to the top level of motorsports, Formula One and CART and to succeed at this level.

The first race of the 2003 Fran Am Championship takes place on May 3rd at Phoenix International Raceway on the combined road/oval track as part of the GranAm Rolex event. The series also will be making stops at most of the biggest racing events on the continent, including the CART races at Toronto, Vancouver, Montréal, Denver and Mexico City, as well as at the Air Canada Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. There will also be races at Watkins Glen and Mont. Tremblant in support of the Grand AM Rolex series. In total there are thirteen races in the championship taking the teams from coast to coast and from Canada to Mexico. It is a very demanding schedule that will provide the top drivers a chance to show their skills and determination to millions of spectators and as well to television audiences around the world.

-dmr-