
HOMECOMING RACE FOR SAMAX MOTORSPORT
AT HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY
Wednesday, March 21, 2007 - SAMAX Motorsport driver
Milka Duno will be visiting her favorite racetrack this weekend
as the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series heads into Homestead-Miami
Speedway. The 400-kilometer Grand Prix of Miami, Round 3 of
the 14-race 2007 season, is scheduled to start Saturday March
24 at 2:00 p.m. Duno, who shares the No. 11 CITGO Racing Pontiac
Riley Daytona Prototype with Las Vegas resident Patrick Carpentier,
has scored two of her three Rolex overall wins at the 2.3-mile
11-turn South Florida road course. When she won the Grand Prix
of Miami in February 2004 with co-driver Andy Wallace, Duno
became the first woman to win a major North American sports
car race. She repeated the feat later that year in the second
race of the season at Homestead in late September to sweep
both events.
"I'm always very excited to race at Homestead-Miami Speedway
- and for many reasons," said Mika Duno. "Miami is my hometown
and the speedway is where I've enjoyed earning a couple of
wins. But it is also the home track for SAMAX, which means
the families and friends of all the crew have an opportunity
to race with us - which makes it all the more special. Many
friends and supporters from CITGO will be here as well, so
I think we'll have a lot of people cheering us on!"
Carpentier is also no stranger to Homestead, even though his
five-race experience is restricted to the oval portion of the
speedway. During his open-wheel days, he finished four times
in the top nine with a fifth place as his best result. Duno
and Carpentier are currently tied in third in the driver standings
with 52 points each, only 11 points from Scott Pruett in first
place.
"Even though my racing experience at Homestead is limited to
the oval track, I have tested often on the road racing section
as each year we used Homestead for road course simulation and
preparation during the pre-season," said Carpentier. "I always
felt at ease on that track configuration, so naturally I feel
quite confident for the race. The track has no secrets for
me, so there will be no learning curve. The car was very competitive
during the Rolex Series test days last December. I think we
finished fourth, right up there with the leaders."
SAMAX Motorsport sits in third place in the Team Standings
with 52 points, 11 points from first place. The team finished
second at the season opener Rolex 24 at Daytona in late January
and missed a Top-10 finish in the caution-free Mexico City
race earlier this month. After a 20-day layoff, the team feels
it is ready for the upcoming 400-kilometer race on Saturday.
Once again, the team strategy will have Milka Duno qualifying
the car and taking the green flag while Patrick Carpentier
will follow up for the second portion of the race.
"At the winter test, the car was incredibly fast," said team
owner Peter Baron. "We opted not to run stickers for a fast
lap at the end of the final day and dropped to fourth. We have
made a few refinements on the car since then, but we are simply
placing the set-up on from the end of the last test aiming
to capture the same performance. Milka and Pat have great track
knowledge. We'll have about 30 CITGO VIPs at the race so we
hope to perform at our best for them."
Rolex Daytona Prototype action starts on Thursday afternoon
with two back-to-back practice sessions beginning at 2:45 p.m.
A one-hour combined practice session is scheduled for Friday
morning. The 15-minute Daytona Prototype qualifying period
will start later that day at 2:55 p.m. The 400K Grand Prix
of Miami, a 109-lap race, is slated to begin at 2:00 p.m. Eastern
Time on Saturday. Live television coverage on SPEED begins
Saturday, March 24, at 2:00 p.m. (ET).
A SAMAX release will be sent following the end of Saturday's
race. SAMAX Motorsport, based in Pompano Beach, Florida,
is in its third year of competition in the Grand-Am Rolex
Sports Car Series. More information on SAMAX Motorsport is
available at www.samaxmotorsport.com. Learn more about
Grand-Am at www.grand-am.com