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Montagny in as AGR revises driver line-up |
Andretti Green Racing has signed Franck Montagny to lead its American Le Mans Series challenge for the remainder of the 2008 season, having ditched the veteran pairing of Bryan Herta and Christian Fittipaldi after just four rounds.
French ace Montagny becomes the primary driver of the #26 XM Satellite Radio Acura ARX-01b for the remainder of the season, beginning with Lime Rock Park on 12 July, with a selection of drivers stepping up to join him. Herta and Fittipaldi handled driving duties for AGR is all four races to date, but failed to produce the sort of results the team achieved in its debut season last year.
"Making a change in the middle of the season isn't something you enjoy, and I think it's even tougher in this case because we're talking about Bryan and Christian," team owner Michael Andretti admitted, "Bryan has done everything we've ever asked him to do since he joined Andretti Green in 2003, including helping us win the 12 Hours of Sebring in our first ALMS start last year. Christian joined us this year and wanted to win as badly as we did. We will always appreciate the effort that both Bryan and Christian gave to the team."
"But we're looking forward to seeing what Franck can do in the XM Acura. He's got a lot of experience in different types of cars, including prototypes, and that should help him adjust pretty quickly to what we're doing here."
Indeed, Montagny brings a diverse background to AGR, including seven F1 starts with Super Aguri, stints as an F1 test driver with Renault, Jordan and Toyota, a solitary Champ Car outing - at Long Beach this season - and national appearances with the French A1GP squad. More importantly, however, the 30-year old can also boast three top-five finishes in the Le Mans 24 Hours, including a third-place overall earlier this month with the factory Peugeot team.
"I'm very excited to join Andretti Green Racing and the XM Acura programme," Montagny said, "I am looking forward to working with the team in the very near future and hoping to get off to a good start at Lime Rock. I know how competitive the American Le Mans Series is and know how challenging this will be, but I believe I am ready for it. I am eager to get started."
A variety of drivers will partner Montagny during the final seven events of 2008, beginning with Marco Andretti, who returns to the cockpit of the Acura for the first time since joining Herta and Fittipaldi at Sebring. The 21-year old excelled on that occasion, driving the first three stints and moving from twelfth overall to the lead in the opening two hours. The #26 Acura later retired with overheating problems, however, after completing 287 laps.
The Lime Rock appointment clashed with Andretti's IndyCar commitment at Nashville, but the youngster will attempt to qualify for that event on 11 July before travelling to Lime Rock for the ALMS Northeast Grand Prix. He will then return to Nashville for the Firestone Indy 200 later that night.
