Patrick Carpentier with Milka Duno and CITGO Racing for Northern California Event
August 21, 2006, Los Angeles, CA...Milka Duno and CITGO Racing welcome open wheel standout Patrick Carpentier to their effort for the penultimate race of the 2006 Rolex Sports Car Championship at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA. this August 24-26. The 2-hour, 45-minute race will be on Saturday, August 26 starting at 3:00pm PDT.
This will be Duno’s first partnering with Carpentier – but not Carpentier’s first time behind the wheel of the Daytona Prototype. He raced with Cheever Racing in the #39 Daytona Prototype at the 2006 Rolex 24 At Daytona – where in his first-ever sports car endurance race – he led for a total of 55 laps. A terminal mechanical failure ended the effort with only two hours remaining – resulting in an 11th place-in-class finish.
Carpentier won the Player's/Toyota Atlantic Championship in 1996 with eight poles and a record nine wins in twelve starts. He then headed straight to Championship Auto Racing Teams in 1997 and earned “Rookie of the Year” honors. From 1998 to 2002 he earned three wins, three poles, twelve podiums and in 2002 finished third in the championship and was presented with the Greg Moore Legacy Award. In 2003 and 2004 Carpentier, now in the Champ Car World Series, scored two wins, two poles, nine podiums and finished the 2003 season third in the championship and the 2004 season fifth in the championship. In 2005, Carpentier finished tenth in the Indy Racing League Championship.
Duno’s previous experience at Sonoma includes an LMP 675 class win in the American Le Mans Series in 2000 in the Reynard 01Q/Judd Le Mans Prototype.
Milka Duno
“I’m a big fan of Patrick’s and have followed his achievements since he earned the Toyota Atlantic Championship. It will be great to have him with us for this race and we’ll do everything we can to make him feel welcome.
This will be the first race for the Daytona Prototypes at Sonoma and that means we’ll have no background data for the car on this track. It will increase our challenge – but it will be the same for everyone else. I’ve raced here before, so that will be helpful. It will be interesting to hit the circuit in the #11 CITGO Pontiac Riley and see how it feels with this car.
We’ve been very competitive all season and deserve to be on the podium. I’ve been on the podium at Sonoma and it’s a great feeling. Hopefully we can earn one this time out!”
Patrick Carpentier
"I am extremely delighted to start racing again. It was good to take a few months off and spend some time with my kids on the ranch, but now it is time to go back to racing. This is a track I enjoyed last year with the IRL and I'm looking forward to going back to it. I want to thank the team and its affiliated sponsors for giving me this opportunity."
The three-day race event will have the team practicing on Thursday afternoon, practicing and qualifying on Friday, and racing on Saturday afternoon at 3pm PDT - with live timing and scoring, plus audio in English and Spanish, available at www.grandamerican.com. The race will be broadcast tape-delayed the next day on Sunday, August 27 at 3pm EDT on the SPEED Channel.
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 www.citgo.com.
For the third consecutive year, well-known Latina racecar driver Milka Duno will be featured in Pontiac's advertising campaigns. Pontiac is a division of General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) and markets the G6 sedan, coupe and retractable hardtop convertible; Grand Prix; Solstice roadster; Vibe and Torrent. In 2005, Pontiac sold more than 437,000 vehicles, ranking third among GM divisions in total sales. For the 2007 model year, Pontiac will be launching the turbocharged Solstice GXP and the entry-level G5 coupe in the Fall 2006. More information on Pontiac and its products can be found at www.pontiac.com. Information in Spanish can be found at www.pontiac.com/sp.
Milka is also the Latin American spokesperson for Sony's Xplod car audio brand. Sony is a leading manufacturer of audio, video, communications, and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. Its music, motion picture, television, computer entertainment, and online businesses make Sony one of the most comprehensive entertainment companies in the world. Sony recorded consolidated annual sales of approximately $64 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2006. You may visit the Sony Corporation website at http://www.sony.net/. Sony Latin America has a regional office in Miami, Florida and subsidiaries in numerous countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico andVenezuela. You may visit the Sony Latin America website athttp://www.sony-latin.com/index_.crphttp://www.sony-latin.com/index_.crp.
For additional information on Milka please visit www.milkaduno.com. For more information on the Rolex Sports Car Series please log on to www.grandamerican.com.
