Lynx Racing Academy principals Peggy Haas and Jackie Doty, the first-ever female owners of a championship-winning, professional open-wheel racing team, along with team manager Steve Cameron today announced that two rising young West Coast karting stars, Andrew Evans and Alex Keyes, have been signed to bring the team's legendary logo, colors and car numbers back to the track for the first time in nine years.  The duo -- running car numbers 19 and 32, the same numbers used by Lynx alumni Memo Gidley and Alex Barron during the team's 1997 championship season in the Atlantic series -- will compete in the 2013 Pacific Formula F1600 series, a 6-weekend, 15-race series running on tracks up and down the U.S. West Coast."Both drivers have tested several times in the Lynx Racing Academy's Spectrum F1600 car and their performances were impressive," says team manager Steve Cameron.  "The jump from karts to open-wheel cars is bigger than most people think, but they both handled the transition very professionally.  They're quick on track, understand the importance of data analysis and setup, and most importantly, they're eager to learn.  After a long career in racing at the top levels, I find myself really looking forward to working with Alex and Andrew this season.  Not only do I expect the team to win races this season, I expect it to be fun."Evans, a 15 year-old native of Sammamish, Washington, has been driving karts since age 8, with a successful history starting in the TaG Cadet class where he still holds multiple local track records.  In 2012 he won the IKF Region 6 TaG Championship and placed 3rd in the S5 Junior Shifter category at SKUSA Supernationals XVI in Las Vegas.  So far in 2013, Andrew has already captured the Vice-Champion title in the DD2 shifter category at the six race Rotax Challenge of the Americas series.  He attends Skyline High School and is in the 9th grade."I've been aware of the Lynx team since I first started racing and decided I wanted to make a career as a driver," said Evans.  "The team's reputation for training the 'complete' driver is something that makes a lot of sense to me.  Largely thanks to the professionalism of the Lynx Racing Academy team, I felt comfortable in the car almost right away, within the first couple of on-track sessions.  The biggest difference between a kart and an open-wheel car is the suspension, and the effect that has on your driving style.  In karts, with no suspension, its 'fast hands, eyes down'.  In an open-wheel car, you have to slow your hands down and look much farther through the turn.  It took a bit of getting used to, but the testing results speak for themselves and we're carrying on the Lynx tradition in our first race of the season at Thunderhill."Keyes, also 15 years old, is a native of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and lived in Michigan for twelve years before moving to Northern California in 2012. During a trip to England at age 12, he participated in a driving school and has been rising through the karting ranks ever since. Racing in the Red Line Oil Karting Championships at Sonoma Raceway, he won the Rotax Junior Championship, took second place in the TaG Junior class and was Junior Driver of the Year.  Earlier this year, he won the California ProKart challenge in the TaG Senior class.   He is a 10th grader at Vista Del Lago High School in Folsom, California."The first thing the team did was have me help with assembling the car so that I know how it goes together and how things work, and that was a huge education right there," said Keyes.  "The first time on track I was amazed at how well the car handled and how responsive it was to changes that the team made.  It took me about two days to get used to the car as compared to the karts I race, with different speed, shifting, different racetracks, but now I feel very comfortable and am working on how to make changes to the car's handling while I'm driving.  The first race of the season is next Friday at Thunderhill, which is where we did our most recent test.  It'll be the first time we've been on track with other cars and start learning how to pass, how to work with the team on a race weekend and all the other things.  It's a lot to learn and I have to learn it fast, but I'm excited."The 2013 Pacific Formula F1600 Series season-opener takes place April 13-14 on the 3.0-mile, 15-turn road course at Thunderhill Raceway Park.  Round 2 is a Buttonwillow Raceway, a 3.1-mile, 12-turn road course on May 18-19.  Round 3 is June 8-9 on the 2.8-mile, 21 turn Auto Club Speedway road course.  The series returns to Buttonwillow Raceway for Rounds 4 and 5 on July 27-28 and September 7-8.  The season finale takes place October 4-6 on the 2.8-mile, 21-turn road course at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.The series will also, for the first time, feature an internet video presence for the 2013 racing season. Post-produced highlight shows, totaling four in all, will be launched throughout the season by MathisenMedia, and supported by F1600 FF engine manufacturer Honda Performance Development.  Shows will include the latest race highlights, relevant interviews, track footage and moremainly utilizing onboard footage provided by competitors and teams.  The four show schedule calls for a first-race-weekend recap show, debuting in May, followed by a mid-season show in late June and an episode in September. Finally, the year ends with a championships edition in October.  Available on YouTube, Series websites, through Honda and a variety of other platforms, the FF shows will deliver more exposure to an historic and rejuvenated motorsports class.It's has been nine years since a Lynx-branded race car took to the track, but 2013 will see the return of the famous colors and cat-in-racing-goggles logo.  Past Lynx Racing drivers include Indy 500 winner Buddy Rice, top endurance such as racers Michael Valiante, Memo Gidley, Dane Cameron and Bryan Sellers, as well as Champ Car standouts Patrick Carpentier and Alex Barron.  To view the history of Lynx Racing, please visit www.LynxRacing.com."Alex and Andrew are the inheritors of a long and successful Lynx tradition of producing top drivers, and we have every confidence that they're up to the challenge," says Haas.  "And we have our own challenge to live up to.  These young drivers are at the most important, and fragile, stage of their careermaking the transition from karts to open-wheel cars.  A lot of talented drivers get lost at this stage, and the mission of the Lynx Racing Academy is to make sure that they are not only fast on track, but get a comprehensive, well-rounded education that provides them with a solid foundation for the rest of their careers."The Lynx Racing Academy will provide the cars, team, training and guidance for the team drivers. The drivers will be responsible to secure sponsorship to cover the operating cost of the race season and other criteria. The drivers will undergo PR training, driver coaching and career planning as part of the program."Drivers of the caliber that we look for at the Lynx Racing Academy aren't easy to find, but when you do, the qualities that make them right for us are immediately apparent," says Doty.  "They're confident about where they want to go, but know that they have a long road ahead and are eager to learn.  And when you watch them in the car, you know right away you're seeing something special.  Both of these young men have those qualities and we're proud to have them on the team."About the 2013 Pacific Formula F1600 SeriesFormula F1600 is the world's premier junior development category in motor sport.  The Pacific Formula F1600 Series is a 6-weekend, 12-race series based on the U.S. West Coast and is designed to provide an affordable transition for drivers as young as 13 to move from karting to open-wheel racing.    The 'spec' formula is designed to reduce costs to about the level of a season of karting, and cars are built with a light-weight tubular space frame designed to maintain the highest levels of driver safety.  A number of manufacturers, both local and international, build the basic Formula F body and chassis; the most common being the Van Dieman, Mygale, Piper and  Spectrum.  The F1600cc engine is either the new Honda FIT powerplant or the Ford Kent engine that has been with the category for over 30 years.The key to the category's long-term success is the uniquely level playing field dictated by the performance parity rules, allowing the differing skills of the drivers to determine the victor.  The relative equality between the vehicles also guarantees the category's reputation for some of the most exciting and close racing to be seen on any American or international circuit.No less than eight World Formula One champions have come from the F1600 open-wheel class, including Michael Schumacher, Mikka Hakkinen, Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, Emerson Fittipaldi, James Hunt, Jody Scheckter, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve.