Daytona
Rolex 24 Hours, January 26th-29th 2007
Cheever Heading for Daytona. Issued January 18th 2007
RML
Drivers join up with Cheever Racing for Daytona 24
Cheever
Racing¹s driver lineup for the 2007 Rolex 24 at Daytona
in Florida, USA, includes an Indianapolis 500 champion,
the 2004 and 2005 overall race winners, and two out of the
three drivers that have won the LMP2 class at Le Mans for
the last two years - Mike Newton and Thomas Erdos. They
are all on a mission to win the famous sports car endurance
event, which the team led for 74 laps in 2006.
"We
were one Indy 500 away from a podium finish last year,"
said Eddie Cheever about his team¹s first-ever Daytona
24-hour race in 2006, where they ran solid in the top-five
for most of the first 22 hours but fell victim to a mechanical
failure in the final hours of the race.
This
year, Cheever Racing will again field two cars at Daytona.
Brazilian Christian Fittipaldi returns for his second full
season driving the # 39 Cheever Racing Porsche Crawford.
Fittipaldi, the 2004 overall winner, is joined by Porsche
factory drivers Emmanuel Collard, the 2005 overall winner,
and Sascha Maassen.
Returning
to drive the # 51 Cheever Racing Porsche Fabcar for a second
run at Daytona are Tommy Erdos and Mike Newton, along with
team owner and 1998 Indy 500 winner Eddie Cheever. 26-year-old
Californian Harrison Brix will make up a foursome in the
#51 for Daytona, but will subsequently join Christian Fittipaldi
in driving duties of the # 39 car for the remainder of the
season.
Cheever Racing Fabcar
The
#51 Cheever Racing entry at Daytona will be a Fabcar chassis.
The team hopes the chassis comes with a little good karma,
since it is the same chassis (# 002) that won three Daytona
Prototype victories in 2003. A technical team, including
Cheever Racing, Fabcar Engineering and Porsche Motorsports,
has updated the car for 2007.
"Eddie
and his engineering team recognise the potential of the
Fabcar and feel, with continued development, the car can
be made competitive," said Dave Klym of Fabcar Engineering.
"With four years of running and tens of thousands of
race and test miles, the Fabcar has had nearly zero mechanical
DNF¹s."
AD Group Technology at Daytona
AD
Group and Dedicated Micros, global CCTV solution providers,
return for a second year at Daytona with brand names NetVu
Connected and TransVu on the No. 51 entry. In addition to
traditional sponsorship activation with Cheever Racing,
the group will also test its TransVu technology on the car.
A TransVu unit will be installed inside the car and will
be used throughout the race weekend.
"These
are probably among the most arduous conditions in which
a CCTV recorder can be run," said Adam Wiseberg of
the AD Group. "The sustained high revs on the banking,
for 24 hours, subject the unit to constant vibrations, high
cockpit temperatures and g-forces. The TransVu unit has
run throughout the two consecutive LMP2 class wins at the
Le Mans 24 Hours with the NetVu-RML # 25 MG Lola. At Daytona
it will be used to monitor car performance, mapped against
the telemetry data to help the team optimize the setup and
provide essential feedback to the drivers both before and
during the race."
Keep
Up to Date at CheeverRacing.com
The
regular staff here at the MG Lola site won't be able to
cover the Daytona 24 Hours in person, but anyone wishing
to follow the Daytona race hour-by-hour will be able to
stay on top of the team¹s progress at
www.cheeverracing.com.
A new site will go online during race week, and will will
feature driver interviews, daily trackside reports from
Daytona, and hourly race updates on the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Driver
Profiles in Brief
#
39 Cheever Racing Crown Royal Special Reserve Porsche Crawford
EMMANUEL
COLLARD
Born in Paris, France on 3rd April 1971, where he still
lives
Fast Facts: Winner of the overall 2005 Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Last year drove the # 10 SunTrust Pontiac Riley in the
Rolex 24 at Daytona finishing 29th. Works driver for Porsche
in recent years, and also LMP1 sports prototype driver
for Pescarolo. Current LMP1 Le Mans Series champion.
CHRISTIAN
FITTIPALDI
Born in Sau Paulo, Brazil, on 18th January 1971. Currently
resident in Key Biscayne, Florida.
Fast Facts: Returns for another full season in the Rolex
Series with Cheever Racing to drive the # 39 Crown Royal
Special Reserve Daytona Prototype. Fittipaldi was the
overall winner of the 2004 Rolex 24 at Daytona. In 2006
he drove the full season of the Rolex Series with Cheever
Racing, earning a best result of second at
Homestead for a total of eight top ten finishes.
SASCHA
MAASSEN
Born in Aachen, Germany, on 28th September 1969. Currently
resides in Raeren, Belgium
Fast Facts: A Porsche factory driver, Maassen opens his
2007 racing season co-driving the # 39 Cheever Racing Crown
Royal Special Reserve Daytona Prototype with Christian Fittipaldi,
Emmanuel Collard. Last season Sascha finished fourth at
the Rolex 24 at Daytona co-driving the # 58 Red Bull-Brumos
Racing Porsche Fabcar with David Donohue and Darren Law.
EDDIE
CHEEVER JR.
Born in Phoenix, Arizona, on 10th January 1958. Now living
in Orlando, Florida.
Fast Facts: The 1998 Indianapolis 500 winner fields a
team in the Rolex Series for the second consecutive year.
Cheever will drive at select events in 2007 and also compete
in the international GP Masters series. During 2006 Eddie
drove in nine Daytona Prototype events with a best finish
of fifth at Virginia. He won the Silverstone race in the
GP Masters series, racing against F1 legends such as Emerson
Fittipaldi and Nigel Mansell. Also drove in seven IndyCar
Series events with a top finish of 10th at Homestead.
THOMAS
ERDOS
Born on 20th October 1963 in Brazil, but now a full time
resident of Great Brickhill, Bedfordshire, England
Fast Facts: Returns for a second year to drive the # 51
NetVu Connected entry for Cheever Racing at the Rolex
24 at Daytona. LMP2 class winner at Le Mans in 2005 and
2006. In last year's Daytona 24 he drove in two Rolex
Series races for Cheever Racing, finishing 12th at the
Rolex 24 at Daytona and 7th at the second Watkins Glen
race.
MIKE
NEWTON
Born on 16th April 1960 in Northwich, Cheshire, England
Fast Facts: Returns for a second year to drive the # 51
NetVu Connected entry for Cheever Racing at the Rolex 24
at Daytona. LMP2 class winner at Le Mans in 2005 and 2006.
Last season Mike finished 12th in the Rolex 24 at Daytona,
driving for Cheever Racing.
HARRISON
BRIX
Born in San José, California, on 2nd December 1980,
where he still lives
Fast Facts: Joins Cheever Racing for a full season of
Daytona Prototype competition. Last year Harrison dove
the full season for Doran Racing and earned seven top
ten finishes in Daytona Prototypes with a top run of fifth
place at Mexico.
