Carbir wins UK S2000 championship

History is Made - U.S. Carbir Wins Brit SRCC Championship

Milwaukee, WI, USA (October 31, 2003) - For the first time in sports racing history, an American manufacturer has won a S2000 Championship in the UK, after decades of dominance by British marques. Taking the battle to the heart and origin of Sports 2000 sports car manufacturing, the American-made Carbir has earned its first international title, matching its US record by winning a national championship in its first full year of competition in a professional series. The highly successful Carbir S2000 has won many championships in the US, but this marks it's first international award.

It was an amazing year for Matt Manderson, John Danby Racing, and the brand new Carbir Ford Duratec Sports 2000. At the beginning of 2003, this trio joined forces to contest their first full season of competition. At the end of the eight-race season, each had won their first championship.

Under the preparation and guidance of John Danby Racing, Matt Manderson was crowned the 2003 Champion of the "SRCC S2000 Pro Series presented by Euroleisure", the high profile series that is the stepping stone to professional Sports and GT racing and a rung up from the popular Classic Sports 2000 Championship. The Pro S2000 cars utilize an all aluminium, fuel injected, twin cam 16-valve Duratec 2- litre engine; a lightweight, compact modern production engine producing relatively high power and torque. The Classic Sports 2000 relies on the traditional Pinto power plant.

Enroute to the championship, Manderson earned five poles, six wins, six fastest race laps, and four new track records, while dominating fields as large as 40+ cars. He set the standard by winning the first race of the season with a margin of 48 seconds and never looked back, dominating the Series despite the best efforts of very capable competition.

Manderson, 31, of Silverstone, is the full-time paint shop leader for the BAR Formula One team and did only occasional races in 2002 before setting his sights on a full season of competition in 2003. He had this to say regarding his first championship, "I am really happy to have won this in our first attempt. It's the support from JDR and the Carbir chassis that made it possible."

"The Carbir has been the car to beat this year. Nothing else has even come close," states John Danby, owner of JDR, Colchester. Danby is former Chief Engineer for Lotus Motorsport, where he oversaw the preparation and raceday engineering of all cars participating in the Autobytel Elise Championship. He now operates John Danby Racing and serves as the European importer for Carbir. In addition to the Duratec car, JDR campaigned a Carbir Pinto car in select races this season, also claiming wins, poles, and fastest race laps in that class, despite missing several events.

-carbir@execpc.com