gaijin
09-20-2005, 05:27 PM
KANE JOINS ASTON MARTIN RACING TEAM FOR PETIT
Gaydon, UK - Aston Martin Racing has confirmed that Jonny Kane will link up with the team for Petit Le Mans, the next round of the American Le Mans Series at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga.
Kane will join David Brabham (Australia) and Darren Turner (UK) in the No. 57 DBR9 for the 1,000-mile/10-hour enduro, with Car No. 58 piloted by Tomas Enge (Czech Republic), Peter Kox (Netherlands) and Pedro Lamy (Portugal).
Born in Comber, Northern Ireland, Kane started kart racing in Ireland in 1988, posting 12 wins in the National Karting Championship before moving to the Irish Junior Formula Ford Championship and the British Formula Vauxhall Junior Championship. After winning the Irish Senior Formula Ford Championship in 1992 and joining the British Formula Ford Championship, Kane took the British Formula Ford title in 1994 with a record 13 wins, 11 poles and 12 fastest laps. He won the European Formula Ford Championship and the Formula Vauxhall Winter Series in the same year.
Kane made his Indy Lights debut in 1999 and was named Rookie of the Year. More recently, Kane has driven for the MG factory team, Audi UK and Team Bentley in a variety of sports car programs. This season, Kane has been driving a TVR for Team LNT, winning the GT2 class at the LMES' Spa 1,000-km race and finishing third in class at the Silverstone round of the FIA GT Championship. Kane also has been in the studio over the past few years working on the IRL series for Sky Television.
Kane said, "I was really envious of the other Aston Martin drivers at the start of the season because the car looks so good. It's great to be getting a chance to drive it myself and to be a part of the Aston Martin Racing team.
"Although I have visited the track at Atlanta, I've never driven there so I am really looking forward to it; the track looks very exciting. It will be my first time in the car as well as my first time at the track so the test days prior to the race are going to come in very useful!
"I am also looking forward to driving with David (Brabham) again as we previously worked together on the Bentley program."
David Braham commented: "I worked with Jonny (Kane) at Bentley, and he is a real talent. Great team player and will be a great benefit to the team."
Teammate Darren Turner said: "I raced against Jonny in F3 back in 1997 where he went on and won the championship, so I know he is very quick and able to race well. Both of us have won the B.R.D.C McLaren Autosport Young Driver Award and also we shared our debut Formula 1 test on the same day. I'm looking forward to working with Jonny and hopefully he can bring us some good Irish luck!"
Team Principal, George Howard-Chappell said: "It's great to get a driver of Jonny's pedigree on the team. We have been talking to Jonny for some time now, so it is nice to be able to pull something together to get him in the car. He is more than capable of doing a great job for us and we are looking forward to getting him familiarized with the car in Atlanta".
Petit Le Mans, the ninth round of the American Le Mans Series, is a 1,000-mile/10-hour endurance race scheduled for 11:20 a.m. EDT Oct. 1 at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga. SPEED Channel will provide live television coverage. Qualifying is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. EDT Sept. 30. American Le Mans Series Radio, and IMSA Living and Timing Scoring will be available at www.americanlemans.com.
Gaydon, UK - Aston Martin Racing has confirmed that Jonny Kane will link up with the team for Petit Le Mans, the next round of the American Le Mans Series at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga.
Kane will join David Brabham (Australia) and Darren Turner (UK) in the No. 57 DBR9 for the 1,000-mile/10-hour enduro, with Car No. 58 piloted by Tomas Enge (Czech Republic), Peter Kox (Netherlands) and Pedro Lamy (Portugal).
Born in Comber, Northern Ireland, Kane started kart racing in Ireland in 1988, posting 12 wins in the National Karting Championship before moving to the Irish Junior Formula Ford Championship and the British Formula Vauxhall Junior Championship. After winning the Irish Senior Formula Ford Championship in 1992 and joining the British Formula Ford Championship, Kane took the British Formula Ford title in 1994 with a record 13 wins, 11 poles and 12 fastest laps. He won the European Formula Ford Championship and the Formula Vauxhall Winter Series in the same year.
Kane made his Indy Lights debut in 1999 and was named Rookie of the Year. More recently, Kane has driven for the MG factory team, Audi UK and Team Bentley in a variety of sports car programs. This season, Kane has been driving a TVR for Team LNT, winning the GT2 class at the LMES' Spa 1,000-km race and finishing third in class at the Silverstone round of the FIA GT Championship. Kane also has been in the studio over the past few years working on the IRL series for Sky Television.
Kane said, "I was really envious of the other Aston Martin drivers at the start of the season because the car looks so good. It's great to be getting a chance to drive it myself and to be a part of the Aston Martin Racing team.
"Although I have visited the track at Atlanta, I've never driven there so I am really looking forward to it; the track looks very exciting. It will be my first time in the car as well as my first time at the track so the test days prior to the race are going to come in very useful!
"I am also looking forward to driving with David (Brabham) again as we previously worked together on the Bentley program."
David Braham commented: "I worked with Jonny (Kane) at Bentley, and he is a real talent. Great team player and will be a great benefit to the team."
Teammate Darren Turner said: "I raced against Jonny in F3 back in 1997 where he went on and won the championship, so I know he is very quick and able to race well. Both of us have won the B.R.D.C McLaren Autosport Young Driver Award and also we shared our debut Formula 1 test on the same day. I'm looking forward to working with Jonny and hopefully he can bring us some good Irish luck!"
Team Principal, George Howard-Chappell said: "It's great to get a driver of Jonny's pedigree on the team. We have been talking to Jonny for some time now, so it is nice to be able to pull something together to get him in the car. He is more than capable of doing a great job for us and we are looking forward to getting him familiarized with the car in Atlanta".
Petit Le Mans, the ninth round of the American Le Mans Series, is a 1,000-mile/10-hour endurance race scheduled for 11:20 a.m. EDT Oct. 1 at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga. SPEED Channel will provide live television coverage. Qualifying is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. EDT Sept. 30. American Le Mans Series Radio, and IMSA Living and Timing Scoring will be available at www.americanlemans.com.