SAMAX Motorsport has signed Patrick Carpentier to drive the team's No. 11 Pontiac-powered Riley Mk XI Daytona Prototype entry in the 2007 Rolex Sports Car Series. Carpentier, currently living in Las Vegas, drove for SAMAX in the 2006 series race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., where he and Milka Duno of Caracas, Venezuela, combined for a seventh-place finish. He also completed a successful test with the team at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., last month.

Racing at SAMAX is like a homecoming for Carpentier. He competed against SAMAX owner Peter Baron in the Atlantic Championship and was on the same team as SAMAX engineer Steve Challis in the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) open-wheel series.

"I'm very happy to be part of SAMAX Motorsport for 2007," Carpentier said. "This is a tremendous opportunity to race with one of the top teams in the Rolex Series. I have known Peter Baron since my Atlantic racing days and I felt right at home the first time I raced with them last August. I also tested with them a month later and came back more impressed than ever with their professionalism. I'm really looking forward to our next test session in November."

Baron is excited about the team's prospects with Carpentier in the car.

"We are absolutely thrilled to sign Patrick for the season," Baron said. "Pat has a long history with many of our team members, including working alongside engineer Steve Challis at Forsythe [Championship Racing]. We tried a few times to get him in the car last year and finally had the opportunity at Infineon. The fit was amazing – it felt like he had been with us all season. Before the first day together was over, we were already speaking about plans for '07. We were further impressed with Pat's ability to convert to driving a flat-bottomed prototype. At the conclusion of our test in September, Pat's ability to get everything out of the car and communicate effectively with the engineering team gave us some fantastic results that we are really looking forward to building on for '07."

SAMAX Motorsport and Carpentier will participate in a Rolex Series test at Daytona International Speedway on Nov. 6 and 7, in preparation for the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona in January.