Gil de Ferran has revealed that he will team up with Champ Car refugee Simon Pagenaud and sponsor Panasonic for his first assault on the American Le Mans Series as an owner-driver later this season.
The former Indy 500 winner and two-time CART champion used the Long Beach round of the ALMS to announce the next stage in the development of de Ferran Motorsports, which was launched earlier this year to become the fourth Acura-powered team on the LMP2 grid.
The veteran team owner will team up with 23-year old former Champ Car Atlantic champion Pagenaud for the remainder of the season, starting at the fourth round - the Larry H Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix presented by Grand & Little Hotels. de Ferran also announced that he was in the process of completing a sponsorship contract with Panasonic, which will see the electronics giant use its association with the team to promote a relationship with Acura and the ELS Surround premium audio system.
"Considering this started as a conversation about a potential race team only a few months ago, it is quite emotional to witness what has happened and see it become reality," de Ferran admitted, "I was in the workshop last week and all our mechanics, engineers and technicians were there. In all, we had more than 20 people working incredibly hard inside a facility which, a couple of months ago, was just an empty building. Now, not only have we begun testing, but we have also gained the support of an internationally recognised company like Panasonic, and secured Simon as our driver - all major endorsements for our nascent team."
The de Ferran Motorsports' iconic red, white and blue-liveried Acura hit the track in testing for the first time at Sebring earlier this week, and the team will be back at the Florida airfield circuit for an additional session with both de Ferran and Pagenaud behind the wheel before making its race debut on 18 May.
