Champ Car World Series stars Justin Wilson and Graham Rahal have landed
rides with Michael Shank Racing for next month's Rolex 24 Hours at
Daytona, the opening round of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series
season. The two open-wheel drivers will join full-season pilots Oswaldo
Negri and Mark Patterson aboard the No. 60 Ford Riley.
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Justin Wilson. Photo by Bob Heathcote.
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Wilson made his Rolex Series debut on the Daytona high banks in 2006,
co-driving the No. 60 Daytona Prototype with Negri, Patterson and AJ
Allmendinger to a 2nd place finish. The tall Englishman recorded his
second start last September in the Sunchaser 1000k at Miller Motorsports
Park, also sharing the wheel with Negri and Patterson.
"I really like driving with Mark and Oz and it should be good fun to
have Graham in with the team as well," said Wilson, who was recently
named as recipient of the Greg Moore Legacy Award for the second time.
"I get along with Mike (Shank) and his whole team really well. It's
a good atmosphere and we know we have a great opportunity for a good
result once again."
Having spent the past four seasons in Champ Car, Wilson scored four wins
and 15 podium finishes in 55 career starts. After a short stint with
Conquest Racing, he moved to the RuSPORT stables in 2005. Wilson's first
victory came in Toronto later that year. In 2007, a partnership between
RuSport and the Rocketsports team fell apart mid-season, but Wilson
was still able to secure a win at Assen and finish runner-up in the
championship in his CDW RuSPORT machine. He has yet to sign a contact with a team for 2008.
Aside from his one prior start in the Rolex 24, Wilson also experienced
another twice-around-the-clock endurance race. In 2004, he took part in
24 Hours of Le Mans, co-driving a Racing for Holland Dome S101-Judd with
Tom Coronel and Ralph Firman.
"For a 24 hour event, this race always makes for amazingly close
finishes," Wilson said of the Rolex 24. "There are a lot of really
strong teams with great drivers from all over so I expect that it will
be another competitive race. I think having already worked with Mark
and Oz and all the guys on this team is going to be a big help, and I'm
really looking forward to getting back to it in testing."
Rahal will be making his third consecutive Rolex 24 start, despite only
being 18 years old. The second-generation racer became the youngest-ever
driver to stand on Champ Car podium by earning a second place finish at
Houston. The Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing racer finished his rookie season
fifth in the championship and looks for 2008 to be his year to shine in
Champ Car.
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Graham Rahal. Photo by Michael Tan.
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In addition to his open-wheel ride in 2007, Rahal raced a Porsche 911
GT3 RSR in two American Le Mans Series races for his father's team,
Rahal Letterman Racing. He along with co-drivers Tom Milner and Ralf
Kelleners finished third in class in the 1000-mile Petit Le Mans at Road
Atlanta last October. Coupled with endurance racing experience from two
previous starts in the Rolex 24, Graham will be gunning to become the
second Rahal to visit victory lane at Daytona. Father Bobby won the
24-hour classic in 1982, driving a Porsche 935 K3.
"The race itself is a historical event - one that you really want to
win,' Rahal said of the Rolex 24. "Every time I walk into a jeweler,
it's the first thing I think of when I see that watch - how great it
would be to win a Rolex. Knowing all the people who have won it in the
past, there would be a great sense of pride having that watch on your
wrist. Between Daytona, Indy, Sebring, and Le Mans, those are four races
any driver wants to win and it would be really fantastic to knock one of
those off the list! Dad has done it so it'd be great to do it again for
the family."
Team owner Shank hopes to rekindle some of the success the
Ohio-based outfit enjoyed at Daytona in 2006.
"I'm excited to have Justin back with us and we're really looking
forward to Graham being part of the team as well," Shank said. "Justin
is quick in anything he gets into and was a big part of our success in
2006. We expect some big things out of Graham as well; he tested with
us last season and I am happy he could be a part of this effort. We are
really excited about our package with Ford behind us. Our drivers really
liked the new Pirellis and while there is a lot of work ahead for us;
this whole team is really pumped up about the 24."
Shank's other car, the No. 6 Ford Riley, will be co-driven by Ian James
and John Pew for the entire season. Details on the full driver lineup
for the Rolex 24 will be revealed at the Daytona Test Days on Jan. 4-7.
