Carpentier To Race in Daytona Prototypes (z04)

Patrick Carpentier Looking for a Busy Schedule in 2007

CARPENTIER TO RACE IN THE R0LEX SPORTS CAR SERIES IN 2007

Montréal, QC, October 12, 2006 - After a transitional year where he only competed in a handful of events in 2006, Canadian driver Patrick Carpentier looks set for a very busy 2007 racing season. The former open-wheel star announced Thursday that he is joining SAMAX Motorsport for the 2007, 14-race Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series schedule. Carpentier, who - with Milka Duno of Caracas, Venezuela - raced the team's CITGO sponsored Pontiac-powered Riley Daytona Prototype to seventh place last August at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA, has been very busy working his way back to full time racing during his off-year.

"I'm very happy to be part of SAMAX Motorsport for 2007", Carpentier said. "This is a tremendous opportunity to race with one of the top teams in the Rolex Series. I have known Peter Baron (SAMAX Motorsport Owner) since my Atlantic racing days and I felt right at home the first time I raced with them last August. I also tested with them a month later and came back more impressed than ever with their professionalism. I'm really looking forward to our next test session in November."

SAMAX Motorsport Owner Peter Baron is delighted to have Carpentier on board.

"We are absolutely thrilled to sign Patrick for the season," said Peter Baron. "We tried a few times to get him in the car last year and finally had the opportunity at Infineon. Pat has a long history with many of our team members, including working alongside engineer Steve Challis at Forsythe [Championship Racing]. The fit was amazing - it felt like he had been with us all season. Before the first day together was over, we were already speaking about plans for '07. We were further impressed with Pat's ability to convert to driving a flat-bottomed prototype. At the conclusion of our test in September, Pat's ability to get everything out of the car and communicate effectively with the engineering team gave us some fantastic results that we are really looking forward to building on for '07."

While this agreement with SAMAX Motorsport is in the books, Carpentier and his business partner Robert Desrosiers are still working with team owners at different levels of the stock car world in order to fill what the Las Vegas resident-driver hopes will be a very busy year of racing. Carpentier, who is currently associated with Mecachrome International, feels that there is room in his schedule to seek opportunities to pursue his dream of running in NASCAR at any level this year. The Canadian needs to develop the momentum from racing 15 to 20 times a year up to the NASCAR Nextel Cup intensity.

"NASCAR drivers race almost 40 weekends a year including off-series excursions in Daytona Prototypes or the Busch Series," Carpentier continued. "Often they double-up on a race weekend running both the Nextel Cup and Busch races. The Rolex runs four times with Busch and there are only eight conflicting dates with the series' 34 races. We don't see why we should not continue our stock car development program while running full time in the Rolex Series."

Carpentier will join Florida-based SAMAX Motorsport for an open test November 6-7 at Daytona Int'l Speedway. It will be Carpentier's second test with the team and his third appearance at Daytona where he led the Daytona 24-Hour race for two hours earlier this year with Cheever Racing. The Rolex Series will debut the 2007 season with the Daytona 24-Hour race January 27-28. The Series will also make its first appearance at Montreal's famed Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve the first weekend of August.