Drivers Milka Duno and Marino Franchitti Look Forward to the Challenge
CITGO Racing drivers Milka Duno and Marino Franchitti will compete in a 90-minute race on a closed circuit carved from the streets of downtown Long Beach, CA in the Grand American Challenge of Long Beach - the first-ever Daytona Prototype street race - on Saturday, April 8, 2006. This will also mark the first appearance of the Rolex Series as part of the legendary Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Milka, Marino and the CITGO Racing team will face two unique challenges at this popular event; setting up and maximizing their #11 CITGO Pontiac Riley for the special demands of the street course surfaces and configuration, as well as creating new race strategy for a race lasting only 90 minutes - as most Rolex Series races are 2-hour, 45-minute competitions - at minimum. The1.968 mile street circuit boasts a 3600-foot-long straight using Shoreline Drive - right alongside the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Milka will bring some previous experience on the street circuit with her to this race. In 2003, Milka was invited as a "pro" driver to compete in the "Pro/Celebrity Race" which is a special ten-lap feature race as part of the Grand Prix of Long Beach. Milka was the first Latina to receive this honor. As one of the pro drivers Milka competed against celebrity drivers such as Angie Everhart (model/actress), Jesse James (Monster Garage), two-time Olympic medalist skier Picabo Street and astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Now in its 32nd year, the event raises funds for "Racing for Kids" - a national organization that benefits children's hospitals in Southern California.
Milka Duno"This competition will be fierce and from green flag to checkered flag and the pace will be unbelievable - especially due to the shortened format. Combine that with the challenges of a tight street course - and I'm sure there will be a lot of very close and exciting race action at top speeds. This will be the first time that the Daytona Prototypes will compete on a street course and Marino and I and the CITGO Racing Team will be doing our best to find the optimum set-up and develop the best strategy that will deliver a good result. I hope to stop by and say hello to all the great people that put on the Pro/Celebrity race. It was a great experience with a lot of camaraderie - and all for such a worthy cause."
Marino Franchitti"We don't have a lot of time to learn the track at Long Beach or get the car hooked up, so we're going to have to be on the ball and do our homework before we get to there and make sure we maximize the time we have on the track before qualifying. Street circuits are always 'blind' because of the walls, so it's very important to find your line through the corner before you even run on the track. I know Milka has run at Long Beach before so I shall be drawing on her experience too".
The Grand American Challenge of Long Beach is the fourth round of the fifteen round 2006 Rolex Sports Car Series season. The Saturday race will start at 4:00PM PDT and will be televised tape-delayed on the SPEED Channel beginning at 6:00PM PDT. Live timing and scoring is available at grandamerican.com.
CITGO, based in Houston, Texas, is a refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals, refined waxes, asphalt and other industrial products. The company is owned by PDV America, Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. For more information on CITGO visit citgo.com.
