Friday, 10th October 2008

Sportscar virgin Andrew Prendeville will swap his Indy Lights Dallara for ECO Racing's biofuel Radical at the ALMS finale.

ECO Racing has chosen Firestone Indy Lights regular Andrew Prendeville to partner experienced Japanese driver Hideki Noda in the team's much-hyped debut in the final round of the American Le Mans Series at Laguna Seca next weekend.

The British team will take its ground-breaking, production-engined bio-diesel-powered LMP1 class Radical-AER to California for a belated first appearance in the series, and has sprung something of a surprise by picking Prendeville, a sportscar virgin, for the outing.

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"After testing successfully over the past two months in the UK, I am delighted that ECO Racing will be at Laguna Seca, one of the great race tracks and a real challenge for our car in its debut event," founder Ian Dawson said, "The team and our partners, Radical and AER, have worked very hard to create the best possible baseline for us to begin our journey into 2009.

"I am also very pleased that we have a very strong driver line-up in Hideki and Andrew. We have a great mix of experience and speed."

Dawson raced the first bio-diesel sportscar at Le Mans in 2004, two full years ahead of the debut of Audi's diesel racer and three years ahead of diesel-powered rival Peugeot, and, since that time, has continued to develop the production car-based V10 engine, creating a partnership with D1 Oils to use the Jatropha-based bio-diesel fuel, made from the drought-resistant, inedible oilseed curcas tree of the same name.

While Noda appears a safe choice for ECO, Las Vegas-based Prendeville, who has raced competitively in the Firestone Indy Lights Series for the past two seasons, will be making his sportscar debut in the #10 machine.

"I think this is going to be a very interesting weekend for me," the 27-year old New Jersey native admitted, "The American Le Mans Series is very intense this year, but I'm very excited to be teaming up with Hideki Noda, ECO Racing, Matt Connolly Motorsport and P1 Groupe to make this all come together. This is a very intriguing opportunity, and I'm hopeful for a positive outcome."

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