It was announced the other day that Patron Highcroft Racing had signed Scott Sharp to partner myself in this year's American Le Mans Series. That is great news.
Patron, who make the best tequila in the world and who backed Scott in last year's IndyCar Series, have joined forces with Highcroft Racing to make a very strong ALMS team. After the success of last year, and seeing the potential of this year, I can't wait to get started.
I knew what I was doing over the winter so it made Christmas a bit easier as, sometimes, these deals don't get done until the New Year. It has been a really good build up to the year and, when I think of how unprepared we were at the start of last year, I know that we will be better prepared and ready to win races in 2008. We have tested twice already and the car has shown both good speed and reliability. We have the IMSA test coming up this week and everyone will be there showing off their new colours and drivers, so it will be interesting to see how everyone has moved forward since last year.
I don't really know Scott that well, but we have got some time to adjust before the first race. It is also great to see we have Stefan Johansson back for the endurance races, as he knows the car and can help Scott as well. The commitment from Acura this year has been something else too, and it is really cool being part of this programme. I do feel that I have the best seat in the house in terms of sportscars.
Away from the track, I went to the second European Cleaner Racing Conference at the
Autosport Show in early January, where I gave a talk on why motorsport needs to be ahead of the game in terms of going green. I was on stage with Lord Drayson, who will be driving an Aston Martin in the 2008 ALMS using bio-ethanol, and we discussed the important role motorsport can play in pushing this new and exciting technology.
I have been to a few similar conferences now and I can see that we are gaining a lot of momentum in getting people to focus on going green. Some of the other speakers were Audi engine legend Ulrich Baretzky, former head of GM Motorsport Herb Fishel, MSA chairman and TOCA MD Alan Gow and many others. The event was put on by the Motorsport Industry Association, who have worked so hard in getting people together to talk about the issues facing motorsport if we
don't go green. Chris Aylett, who runs the MIA, has been at the spearhead of it all and, together with EEMS [Energy Efficient Motorsport] - of which I am an ambassador - we are getting more and more of our friends in this sport to come up with solutions for the future.
Also at the
Autosport Show, we announced that the MSA Race Elite programme will be looking for ten new drivers to be part of the scheme in 2008. The current six drivers, who have been great to work with, will move on to further their careers. What they have learnt from the MSA programme has helped them to become more complete drivers, which is what the programme is meant to do. They have learnt how to prepare better mentally and physically for races plus, with our great technical partners, they have learnt how a race car works. Sponsorship advice is always important, and Don MacPherson has been able to help them individually with getting the most out of their situation. They haven't finished yet, as they have a few more visits to Hewland Engineering and Zytek to come, as well as more media training.
For more information on the MSA Race Elite Scheme, you can go to the web site at
www.msabritishraceelite.co.uk.
Finally, it was very sad to hear the news of Anders Olofsson passing. Anders was one of those gems in life because he was such a nice guy and a very fast racing driver. We worked together when we were with Nissan and we won the Spa 24Hrs together in 1991. My thoughts are with his family and close friends and I know he will be missed by everyone. Thanks for the experiences we had together, Anders.
All the best,
DB
