TEAM REPORTS (ST LOUIS, MO) - Jeannett and BryanMark Join Stevenson Team For The Rolex 24
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Team Manager Mike Johnson announced his potent lineup for this premier event. "We are pleased to say that, in addition to our two primary drivers for the season, Andrew Davis and Robin Liddell, we have added two tremendously talented professionals to the team for the Rolex 24. We previously announced the addition of Randy Pobst to our lineup, and now we can tell everyone that former Panoz factory driver Gunnar Jeannette will also be on the team."
Team Manager Johnson's positive opinion of Jeannette dates back to an incident several years ago that has stayed fresh in his mind as it demonstrated the level of commitment Jeannette is willing to make to succeed.
"The first time I met Gunnar, he loaded one of his dad's Lola B2K/40's into a Ryder truck and drove it all the way from Florida to Lime Rock to replace a car we had destroyed the week before at Watkins Glen. We ended up building that car in two days and won the race that weekend. Gunnar could have taken his time to drive the car the 1,000 miles north to Connecticut but he drove through the night to get it to us as fast as he could. He's the type of guy that will do whatever is needed to get the job done."
Jeannette had this to say about joining the Stevenson Team: "I am very much looking forward to joining the Stevenson squad for the 24 hour. John Stevenson and Mike Johnson have put together a very competitive package with the Pontiac GXP-R and the driving line up - which I can't wait to be a part of!"
Jeannette continued, "I know that Robin and Randy have both won the 24 in previous years and hopefully Andrew and I can join them on the top spot of the podium this year. And the GXP-R is a proven race winner and a solid endurance car. I believe that with the combination of such a great car and team that getting to victory circle even with such solid competition will just be up to us drivers. And I think that it's a challenge that we can handle."
As the new Pratt & Miller constructed Pontiac GXP-R is almost ready for delivery to the team, the last few key pieces needed for a successful assault on the 2008 season championship are now coming together. Chief among these is the addition of a premier sponsor for the Rolex 24 and beyond, the BryanMark Financial Group.
Nick Bellon is a partner and Director of Business Development at BryanMark. His enthusiasm about bringing his resources to the highly capable Stevenson Motorsports effort is evident in this comment: "After I had the opportunity to meet with John and learn more about all the resources and talent that he has brought into Stevenson Motorsports for the upcoming season, I could not be any more excited about our new relationship. We view this as an important first step towards our goal of having significant involvement within Stevenson Motorsports and the Grand-Am Rolex Series. We are excited to be a part of the team and we wish Stevenson Racing the best of luck this season"
Bellon continues: "Our affiliation with the exclusive M Financial Group gives our clients access to the M Proprietary life insurance products that are specially designed to meet the needs of the ultra affluent market in estate planning strategies and business succession planning. Often times our clients engage in activities that are considered by traditional underwriting standards to be exceptional risks; non commercial flight, exotic travel, and boat/automobile racing for example. Our familiarity with these insurability issues allows us to provide our clientele with exclusive life insurance products which are uniquely priced for the ultra affluent client."
Team owner John Stevenson welcomed BryanMark aboard when he said, "Nick Bellon and his team at BryanMark are the kind of professionals we look forward to working with this season. BryanMark is an exceptional provider of astute financial services and we know our association with them will mean positive results for both of our organizations."
The Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona will start on Saturday, January 26, 2008 at the Daytona International Speedway. The race will include cars competing in two classes, Daytona Prototypes and GT. The #57 Stevenson Motorsports Pontiac GXP-R competes in the GT class against other teams running cars carrying such vaunted names as Porsche, Ferrari, Mazda and the Ford Mustang Cobra.
Stevenson Motorsports operates out of a new facility located in Jacksonville, North Carolina. About The BryanMark Financial Group
BryanMark Financial Group was founded with the mission of providing sophisticated planning solutions to affluent and ultra-affluent clientele. Our approach brings together an experienced team of financial professionals from both within BryanMark Financial Group and throughout our network of legal and accounting resources in the advisor community to help ensure our clients receive the highest level of advice and service in developing a strategic plan. We focus on working with highly successful business owners and wealthy individuals who have accumulated a large amount of assets and recognize they face numerous unique planning challenges that must be adequately addressed to preserve their wealth for generations to come.
As evidence of our commitment and expertise in delivering solutions to the affluent market, we have joined the prestigious M Financial Group as an M Member Firm. The M Group is a network of over 110 independent financial services companies that have demonstrated an unparalleled ability to meet the sophisticated planning needs of affluent and ultra-affluent clients. This has led to the development of proprietary products and dedicated resources that are available exclusively to clients of M Member Firms. At BryanMark Financial Group, we are dedicated to utilizing our specialized resources to deliver the highest level of advice to help you attain your individual planning goals.
About Gunnar Jeannette
Jeannette has finished on the podium in some of racing's premier events including the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 12 Hours of Sebring. He has been first to the checkered flag several times in his career, including races held at Lime Rock Park, Mosport and Fontana. He was also the inaugural winner (in 2000); in the American Le Mans Series LMP2 class at both the Laguna Seca and Las Vegas events. He has raced in open-top prototypes, having worked as a factory driver for the Panoz team. He has piloted Porsche GT cars in Grand-Am, raced in the Porsche SuperCup series, the Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series and in vintage racing.
Jeannette was selected as one of People Magazine's 50 Hottest Bachelors (June 2005 Issue) and he once filmed an episode of the MTV show "True Life".