Not only has the team been preparing two cars for entry in next week’s 71st running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, under the entry of Veloqx Prodrive Racing, but it has also been organising and packing up equipment for shipment to the US for the next round of the 2003 American Le Mans Series.  Round two of the series will take place on June 27-29 at Road Atlanta, Georgia.

The team will be entering two cars for the remainder of this season – the same two that compete at Le Mans – and have recently concluded the driver line up.  Rising American star Danica Patrick, the young protégée of Bobby Rahal, will be joining the team at Road Atlanta to share the cockpit with Briton Anthony Davidson, currently official test driver for the BAR F1 team. 

They will be alongside team regulars Tomas Enge from the Czech Republic and Dutchman Peter Kox, the pairing which won the GTS class at Laguna Seca, California, last year and took two further podium places at the end of the season.

Danica Patrick, the diminutive 21-year-old from Roscoe, Illinois has followed a similar career path to Davidson, starting out in karting and then moving to the UK to progress to single-seater racing cars – coming up against her new team mate on a number of occasions.  Most recently, Danica has been competing for Team Rahal in the 2003 CART Toyota Atlantic Championship.

Despite only a brief opportunity to test the 6-litre, V12 engined Maranello before the forthcoming race, Patrick and all those associated with her believe she has the talent and determination to succeed in whatever she drives.  Just two weeks ago she had the opportunity to test a Porsche 911 GT car at the challenging 2.54 mile Road Atlanta track and made no secret of her wish to enter the premier sportscar racing series in North America. 

The team, returning to the US for the first time since Sebring, is confident its two Ferraris are capable of challenging the all-conquering Corvette team for Championship success.  Much work has been carried out since the end of last season on reliability and technical development – the greatest test for which will be next week’s endurance classic at Le Mans.