April 16, 2008 

Gil de Ferran, Acura. Former Indy 500 winner and two-time CART champion Gil de Ferran announced his campaign for the LMP2 class championship in the 2008 American Le Mans Series today. Team owner and driver de Ferran will team up with 23-year-old ex-Champ Car Atlantic champion Simon Pagenaud in the de Ferran Motorsports' Acura ARX-01b for the remainder of the 2008 American Le Mans Series, starting at the fourth round of the championship - the Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix presented by Grand & Little Hotels. de Ferran Motorsports also announced it is in the process of completing a sponsorship contract with Panasonic that will utilize its association with the team to promote their relationship with Acura and the ELS Surround premium audio system, which is available on the Acura TL, Acura RDX, Acura MDX and the all-new Acura TSX. The de Ferran Motorsports' red, white and blue-liveried Acura tested for the first time at Sebring International Raceway this week. The team also will undertake an additional test session at Sebring at a later date with de Ferran and Pagenaud behind the wheel, before making its American Le Mans Series race debut on May 18. Today's announcement took place at the Long Beach Grand Prix.

(Photo courtesy of de Ferran Motorsports)

(Yokohama)
Yokohama Tire will promote its relationship with Warner Bros. Pictures' upcoming live-action family film Speed Racer at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach (April 19) and Grand Prix of Utah (May 18). Yokohama's ADVAN® tires were named the official tire of the movie and Mach 5 race car earlier this year. The latest film by the Wachowski brothers and producer Joel Silver, creators of The Matrix trilogy, Speed Racer will open across North America in theatres and IMAX on May 9. The Yokohama- and BP- sponsored Mazda LMP2 race car will feature Speed Racer movie logos as well as the famous letter "M" on the front. Drivers Ben Devlin and Gerardo Bonilla will be wearing specially-designed suits inspired by the movie with blue tops and white bottoms and featuring Speed Racer logos. The crew will also be in Speed Racer-designed shirts. In the ultimate nod to the Mach 5, the LMP2 race car's number will be changed from 8 to 5 exclusively for the two races in Long Beach and Utah.

 
Cindi Lux, Team Mopar. Cindi Lux, the 1999 American Le Mans Series Women's Global GT Series Champion, will represent the parts division of Chrysler in the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship. NayKid Racing will enter the Lux Performance Group, LLC prepared and managed No. 2 Mopar Dodge Viper Competition Coupe starting at the April 20 Long Beach SPEED GT Presented by Applied Computer Solutions. The Long Beach event marks the first race of the 2008 SPEED World Challenge season for the Aloha, Oregon, resident.

(NayKid Racing Photo)
The NayKid Racing No. 2 Mopar Dodge Viper Competition Coupe.