Atlantic team to expand to two cars

Mathiasen Motorsports announced its intention to expand its racing operations and field a two-car effort in the 2008 Cooper Tires Presents The Champ Car Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda. With the 2007 Atlantic season recently concluded, the teams focus now turns toward an aggressive off-season testing program commencing in October. The ultimate goal of the testing program is for Mathiasen Motorsports to obtain the services of two drivers capable of not only challenging for, but winning the 2008 Atlantic Championship.

Mathiasen Motorsports team owners Leslie and Ray Mathiasen and their Technical Director Alain Clarinval look forward to the challenge of expanding the three year old team after a 2007 season that saw its performance improve significantly from the previous year. The team was able to finish consistently in and around the top ten this season, and finished within 2 points of tenth place overall in the driver point standings. This year’s Atlantic campaign was the first season for Clarinval with Mathiasen Motorsports. His years of motorsports experience, including successful stints in Atlantics and Indy Lights with Dorricott Racing (where he won a championship with Oriol Servia), was one of the major reasons for the teams improvement.

Along with the engineering skills of Clarinval, in 2007 Mathiasen Motorsports added a new race shop in Indianapolis with updated equipment, top level mechanics and a team manager, all of whom have years of motorsports experience and are expected to continue as an intact unit for the 2008 season. In addition the team intends to add additional engineering and support personnel and further update its equipment and race shop to provide the best possible platform for two drivers to focus on achieving podium finishes and victories in what is now known as one of the most, if not the most, competitive driver development series in the world.

“Everyone on the team is very excited about the expansion of our Atlantic racing program for 2008" said Ray Mathiasen. “Both Leslie and I are pleased to be able to keep the team we assembled this year together and, consistent with our longer term plans when we decided to form the team in 2005, we are now in a better position to provide two young drivers with the opportunity to win the Atlantic championship in 2008. We intend to use the sharing of data and driver input from our two-car campaign to enhance our ability to achieve these results."

Interested drivers, including those with previous Atlantic experience, and their representatives should contact Mathiasen Motorsports quickly, as the list of drivers to participate in the tests will be finalized soon. For additional information, contact Alain Clarinval at (970)227-9808 or via e mail at aclarinval@aeolustech.com. For additional information on Mathiasen Motorsports visit www.mathiasenmotorsports.com