Seasoned Pro Patrick Lemarié in
Driver’s Seat for PK Racing
INDIANAPOLIS, January 29, 2003 Patrick
Lemarié, a Formula One test driver who has competed in racing
series throughout the world during his 15-year career, was named
today as the driver for PK Racing, the new Champ Car World Series
team owned by Craig Pollock and Kevin Kalkhoven.
The official test driver for F1’s British American Racing
team for the last four years, Lemarié, who turns 34 on February
6, has a wealth of driving experience in such international series
as American and European Le Mans, Formula 3000, Formula 3 and Formula
Ford and Renault. He last raced competitively in 2001, when he teamed
with Stefan Johansson in the Audi R8 for five races in the American
Le Mans Series, including the race in Czechoslovakia that produced
Lemarié’s first sports car victory.
Lemarié’s racing experience in North America came when
he competed in the Atlantic Championship in 1993-94 and made it
to the podium in his first season with a second-place finish on
the Laguna Seca road course. The winner of that race was Lemarié’s
close friend Jacques Villeneuve, and the two would later be teammates
when the BAR team began operations, under the helm of Craig Pollock
in 1998.
“Patrick is an extremely solid driver who is racing fit,”
said Pollock. “He is definitely well prepared for this opportunity
to get back into competitive racing. He has invested a lot of time
over the last four years setting up an F1 car, and in that capacity
he was invaluable in providing input and giving his feedback to
the engineers and mechanics.
“When you’re a new team in a series, as PK Racing is
in CART, you need to have a driver who is well-versed in the driving
and the testing aspects because this team is being put together
in an extremely short time frame. I have been in a position to observe
Patrick’s work for a number of years, and I know that PK Racing
is getting a driver whose knowledge and experience are major assets
for our team.”
Lemarié, who will have his first on-track opportunity with
his new team during CART’s three-day spring-training session
at Sebring, Florida, Feb. 4-6, said he has been interested in driving
in the CART series for a number of years.
“I still have fond memories of racing in North America in
the Atlantic series, and I have always closely followed what is
happening in CART,” said Lemarié. “For me, CART
is the most complete racing series because you have all the disciplines
– ovals, road and street circuits. It is a big test for a
driver, and I enjoy racing on all of these circuits.”
Lemarié, one of several drivers making a debut in the CART
series in the season-opener, February 23 in St. Petersburg, said
his biggest challenge as a CART rookie will be adapting to the new
racing environment as quickly as he possibly can.
“I’m very pleased that Craig and PK Racing have given
me this opportunity,” he remarked. “I have known Craig,
on and off the track, for a number of years, all the way back to
my days in Atlantic, and then as the BAR test driver. I am confident
that, under his leadership, PK Racing will, over time, become a
competitive force in the CART series. I may not have raced that
much competitively in the last few years, but you never lose the
competitive spirit, and I know that I have plenty of that.”
Additional information on PK Racing, along with photos of Patrick
Lemarié and team management, are available at
http://www.torchiacom.com/media/cartracing/index.html
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Information:
Paul Vaillancourt / Johanne Lépine
Torchia Communications
(514) 288-8290
jlepine@torchiacom.com
paulv@torchiacom.com
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