FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MILNER AND JOHNSON PLAN A SECOND GO-AROUND AT LIME ROCK PARK RACEWAY MEMORIAL WEEKEND
Richmond, Virginia (May 20, 2008)
Billy Johnson of California will team up with Tommy Milner of Virginia for the Grand-Am GT Classic at Lime Rock Park Raceway in Lakeville, Connecticut this Memorial Weekend. The duo will take the challenge in a new BMW Z4 M-Coupe built by Motorsport Technology Group.
The debut of Car #18 marks the four year anniversary of Johnson and Milner as a rookie team. They participated in the inaugural season of Formula BMW USA, which has since become Formula BMW Americas. They met in Valencia, Spain at the Formula BMW Shootout where they both won scholarships to participate. They became teammates on Team PTG to run the debut for the race series at Lime Rock on Memorial Weekend in 2004. It was the start of both their professional careers. While they’ve raced in events together, they’ve never raced in the same car. Milner said, “Billy is a good friend of mine. In the past we’ve driven similar cars and provide similar feedback, which should help the team.“
This year’s event will be the first time a Z4 M-Coupe, or a currently-produced BMW, has raced in a major US race series. Car #18 is the feature of Motorsports Technology Group’s stable of racers including Car #19 piloted by Andrew Davis and Darren Law, and Car #21 driven by Ryan Eversley and Keith Carroll. The BMW has received close scrutiny and careful engineering headed by Steve Marcus and partner Larry Hahn. Johnson said, “MTG does a great job building and prepping racecars and I expect the Z4 M-Coupe to be a good platform. I expect the car to be competitive even though Lime Rock is going to be the car's first race. “ Milner added, “I expect the set up on the car to be pretty close. This is a brand new car for the team and with the scheduled charity event this car is getting a lot of attention.”
In early May, Marcus announced intentions to donate season proceeds from the racer to the Meisha’s Hope Fund #338 at Morris Animal Foundation to further fund research and the prevention of AIHA, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, a rare canine disease affecting his six-year old husky, Tasha. The car will honor the Foundation’s colors and sport paw prints and dog bones representing donations made to the Meisha’s Hope Fund. Stickers can be purchased in advance at MTG’s website at www.motorsporttechnologygroup.com.
The Grand-Am GT Classic will feature the Rolex GT cars, KONI Challenge ST and GS classes, the SCCA Speed World Challenge and the Mazda Invitational. Practice and qualifying precede the 12:45 start of the Skip Barber Race on Saturday, followed by the Speed World Challenge Race at 1:45 and the KONI Challenge ST Race at 3:00 p.m. Sunday features a 5K at 11:00 a.m. and a Mutt Strut at 12:00 noon. Both events are an opportunity to be on the closed-course race track with race car drivers and fans to support the fund-raising efforts of event sponsor Motorsport Technology Group. Registration for Sunday’s events takes place from 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. and pre-registration is available on line at www.motorsporttechnologygroup.com. Saving the best for last, Monday’s KONI Challenge GS Race will start at 9:45 a.m. followed by the Lime Rock Classic 250 Rolex Series GT Race at 3:00 p.m.
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For more information contact Steve Marcus at stephen.marcus@att.net, or call 804.338.RACE (7223). For public relations information contact Donna Deno at ddeno1@charter.net.
Motorsport Technology Group provides professional and amateur drivers the experience of a lifetime with meticulously-maintained sports racing cars. The team's mission is to share the passion for motorsports with everyone who has ever wanted to pilot a race car at full speed. In addition to rental programs, Motorsport Technology Group sells professionally-built race cars and street cars at their headquarters in Richmond, Virginia. |
