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.
