February 1, 2005
Harmonic Convergence
Rising Canadian star Michael Valiante will be among six graduates of the Lynx Racing driver development program racing – as both teammates and competitors -- in this year’s 24 Hours of Daytona or Indy 500.
Lynx graduates racing in the 2005 Rolex 24 at Daytona include Vancouver native Michael Valiante, as well as 2004 Indy 500 winner Buddy Rice and Champ Car veteran Memo Gidley. Racing at the Indy 500 will be Rice, and Red Bull Cheever teammates Patrick Carpentier and Alex Barron.
The Lynx Racing ‘Destiny by Design’ program included a $2.5 million, 2-year ‘scholarship’ to race in the Toyota Atlantic series, and focused on mental development as well as on-track skills. Owned by two women, Lynx Racing is the most successful combination of championship-winning racing team and driver development program in open-wheel racing history.
Michael Valiante is one of more than a dozen of the world’s top young racers who have graduated from Lynx Racing – a unique combination of championship-winning racing team and driver development program owned by two women, Peggy Haas and Jackie Doty.
“As the race gets closer, I find myself really looking forward to this new experience and to racing against an amazingly large group of the best drivers in the world,” says Valiante. “I’ve been sleeping on Memo Gidley’s couch in Sonoma, California for the past few days while we’ve been spending time at the race shop fine-tuning the seating in the car and practicing pit stops and driver changes. Pretty much everyone involved in the team has worked together before, so even though I’m sure we have a lot to learn when we actually get to the track and start racing, we’re all feeling fast and ready.”