CLARKE AND DOORNBOS TO DRIVE FOR MINARDI TEAM USA IN 2007

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, March 28, 2007 – Minardi Team USA is pleased to announce that Dan Clarke and Robert Doornbos have signed to compete in the 2007 Champ Car World Series with the Indianapolis-based squad. After a successful pre-season testing program, the team will debut its new DP01 chassis next week, at the season-opening event in Las Vegas.

Britain’s Dan Clarke drove for the team in 2006, finishing second in rookie-of-the-year standings after claiming a pole position and a third-place finish during the season. Clarke joined CTE Racing-HVM from the prestigious British Formula 3 International Series, where he earned seven podiums and one victory in 2005, his rookie season. While competing in Formula Ford in 2004, Clarke also won the famous Formula Ford Festival, at Brands Hatch.

“I’ve been waiting and hoping for this news for a few weeks now, and I’m relieved it has finally been confirmed,” says Clarke. “Although I haven’t been in the new car yet, I’ve kept in close contact with the team and attended the tests, while also concentrating on maintaining peak fitness, so I’m as prepared as I can be at this stage without having driven the DP01. I would like to thank Paul (Stoddart) and Keith (Wiggins), for putting their faith in me, and I look forward to building on my debut season and bringing the team strong results.”

Dutchman, Robert Doornbos, has extensive single-seater experience, having raced for Jordan, Minardi and Red Bull in Formula One, and will combine his Minardi Team USA Champ Car activities this year with testing commitments for the Red Bull Racing F1 team.

“I’m really pleased to be racing with Paul Stoddart, Keith Wiggins and Minardi Team USA,” says Doornbos. “It’s obviously a different Minardi team from the one I last drove for, in Formula One, but there is still the same, close-knit, family feeling about it that I like.

“In addition, the engineering staff is strong, and we’ve made some solid progress developing the new DP01 Champ Car during the pre-season tests. I’m sure that will stand us in good stead once we arrive in Las Vegas, for the first race of the new season. I’m very excited at the prospect of being able to race in a full championship and, hopefully, be in a position to win races and challenge for the title.”
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Team Minardi USA, PR

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Clarke’s entry continues with expanded sponsorship from Ticketmaster and The Australian Pink Floyd Show, and will feature Clarke’s supported charity, ‘Imagine’, and will also be introducing a range of blue-chip brands to Champ Car via the Speedy Dan communications strategy.

A brand initiative has been developed during the off-season which will see a programme of sponsorship, promotions and PR activities introduced over the course of the next two to three years, capitalising on the unique personality and profile of Dan Clarke, known widely as Speedy Dan. This season a number of new partners will join the roster of sponsors already on board, some on a race-by-race basis and others on longer-term contracts. Two sponsor partners: Mirage, Las Vegas and Canadian renewable resource company, Synapse Power, will be making their first appearance on Clarke’s #4 Minardi Team USA entry at the opening round of the Series in Las Vegas on 8 April.
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Alison Hill
ID PR & Marketing