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Jon Groom Racing expands to two car team

AXA Financial Expands JGR To Two-Car SPEED GT Effort for '05 and 2006 SPEED GT NEW YORK (Dec. 14, 2004) -- Following two successful seasons partnering with Jon Groom Racing, AXA Financial, Inc. has agreed to expand its sponsorship program to ...

AXA Financial Expands JGR To Two-Car SPEED GT Effort for '05 and 2006 SPEED GT

NEW YORK (Dec. 14, 2004) -- Following two successful seasons partnering with Jon Groom Racing, AXA Financial, Inc. has agreed to expand its sponsorship program to include two Porsche race cars in the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship for 2005 and 2006.

Robin Liddell, of Edinburgh, Scotland, will return to the team in 2005 to drive a 2005 model Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, while team principle Jon Groom will return to drive the No. 65 2003 Porsche GT3 cup car.

"We're very excited with the two-year program as it will enable both the team and AXA to be better prepared to leverage the brand building and marketing opportunities that the AXA Porsche presents," AXA Financial Senior Vice President of Marketing Greg Winsper said. "We've been pleased at how well this program has worked in the last two years and look forward to even more success going forward."

"We're pleased AXA has agreed to the increased support and to the longer term commitment, which helps create stability within the team," Groom said. "We're really excited about the program, having Robin back with us for the season and adding a new Porsche to our team for next year. We're confident that we can compete head-to-head with the best teams in 2005."

Liddell, 30, joined the team in 2004 for only two races, Road America and Road Atlanta, narrowly missing out on a win at Road Atlanta by less than a second to Max Angelleli in a factory Cadillac.

"I'm excited about next year and looking forward to competing for a championship with a very aggressive team," Liddell said. "I'm grateful AXA and Jon Groom Racing is affording me the opportunity to drive a new Porsche next year in the most competitive sports car series in North America."

While most of the leading teams in SCCA SPEED GT have the high horsepower, massive torque, US "muscle" V8s and V10s, Jon Groom Racing has deliberately stayed with the Porsche package for 2005 and 2006.

"Although we looked at alternatives, in the end, we feel that Porsche has been, and will continue to be a force to be reckoned with in sports car racing generally, and in World Challenge in particular," Groom added. "We've been very impressed with the commitment they're making to World Challenge, and are very happy with the decision to stay with Porsche."

Uwe Brettel, President of Porsche Motorsport North America added, "We're very excited about this program and about the relationship with AXA for the future. Jon has proven that his team can compete at the top level, so we're very much looking forward to the team, led by Robin in a new car, running competitively in this great series."

For more information about the SCCA SPEED World Challenge Championships, visit www.world-challenge.com or www.jongroomracing.com.

About AXA Financial
AXA Financial is one of the premier U.S. organizations providing financial protection and wealth management through its strong brands: AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company, AXA Advisors, LLC, Alliance Capital Management, L.P., Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., LLC, AXA Distributors, LLC, and the MONY family of companies, including MONY Life Insurance Company, U.S. Financial Life Insurance Company, Advest, Inc., and Lebenthal, a division of Advest, Inc. (Member: NYSE, NASD, SIPC.) AXA Financial had approximately $551.3 billion in assets under management as of September 30, 2004. AXA Financial is a member of the global AXA Group.

-scca pro racing-

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