PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports announces David Cheng as driver for 2013

Cheng returned to the PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports program at the end of the 2012 Pacific F2000 series, scoring a second place podium finish in the series finale before finalizing plans to race full-time for the team in 2013.

#52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca FLM09: David Cheng, Javier Echeverria

Photo by: Darren Pierson

"In so many ways, this team is family to me," Cheng stated. "I love racing for the Oergels and all the guys on the team. It's the same crew that I've been with since I first came up from Skip Barber and they've seen me through F2000, GRAND-AM, and my first start and podium in the ALMS two years ago. They know me and and my driving style, a fact that was evident the moment I took my first laps back in the #52 in testing a few weeks ago. Some of the cars I've raced over the past few years, especially in the one-make only series that don't allow for a lot of tuning or development, can force a driver to have to adapt to a car that's not 100% setup for their style. Working with the PR1/Mathiasen engineers and coaches to dial the car in is a great experience in comparison. Those guys always find a way to put the fastest car in class on the track and it is an absolute blast to be back in one of their cars. I'll admit, it took a few laps to get used to the downforce again and have faith in the car's grip through the quick corners, but once we got up to speed, we never slowed down. It was the sort of welcome back testing session that gets everyone excited to get back to Sebring and compete for the win!"

Born in Beijing, China and a longtime Sammamish, Washington resident, Cheng started racing for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports in 2009 in the Pacific F2000 series before graduating to the team's GRAND-AM program for the 2011 Rolex 24 at Daytona.

PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Team Principal, Bobby Oergel, sees Cheng's 2013 ALMS program as the culmination of his team's driver development program.

"DC (David Cheng) is the perfect example of what our driver development program is all about," Oergel explained. "This is a guy that came to us years ago with just a few years of karting, a few races in Skip Barber, a lot of ambition, and a fierce desire to compete at the highest level. He's come a long way from where he was when we first tested him in our F2000 cars. Since that day we've seen him take poles, lead every lap and win in those cars. We've seen him on the high banks of Daytona in the middle of the night at the 24 pushing a car held together with little more than hope and zip ties to the limit. And we've seen him standing on the podium, soaked in rain and champagne at the end of his very first ALMS race. It has been quite a journey and a tremendous source of pride for me and for everyone on our team that has helped him on his way up. We still have work to do, however, so we've been putting him through an extensive testing program to help him focus on the challenges that we'll face at Sebring in a few weeks. Knowing DC as I do, I know he'll give us another stellar performance to be proud of."

Round 1 of the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón begins with the 61st Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida on March 16, 2013.

Source : PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports