Lynx Racing drivers Mike Conte and Sara Senske in Superflow 12 Hours of Sebring
14 March 2000
(Sebring, FL 3/14/00) -- Lynx Racing drivers Mike Conte and Sara
Senske will begin a journey of a thousand miles at this weekend's 48th
running of the Superflow 12 Hours of Sebring, the first race of the 2000
American Le Mans Series.
The difference is that Conte will do the distance in half a day
while Senske's travels will be spread over half a year and a dozen races.
Conte, 31, of Seattle, Washington, finished third in the GTU class
at this event last year, and will be co-driving the #23 Cranium/Alex Job GT
Porsche at Sebring with Randy Pobst and Bruno Lambert. The trio combined
to lead the GTU class and run sixth overall in the Rolex 24 at Daytona in
January until the last in a series of engine problems in the 23rd hour
relegated them to finishing 5th in class and 16th overall.
When not competing in endurance races, Conte drives with Lynx
Racing in the CART Toyota Atlantic series, where he scored eight top-10
finishes in 1999 and finished 11th in the championship. 2000 marks Conte's
third year as an Atlantic driver and his second season with Lynx. This
year he will be teamed with David Rutledge, 21, of Vancouver, B.C. when the
12-race Atlantic season begins with a double-header at the Marlboro Grand
Prix of Miami at the Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 25-26.
Conte is a former software designer for Microsoft who was involved in the
creation of many of the company's most popular products, including Windows
95 and Internet Explorer.
"Sebring is world-class event and so it carries some extra
pressure. But we've got the same team assembled that, except for a fluke
mechanical failure, would have won the 24 hours at Daytona last month, so
I'm feeling confident for the race," says Conte. "I've got a crazy week
scheduled. I fly from Seattle to Sebring on Sunday the 12th so I can test
the Porsche at Sebring on Monday. Then I fly Monday night to California to
test the Lynx Atlantic car for two days. It's our last chance to run the
car before the Homestead race and we need all the time we can get. Then I
get on a red-eye flight to Sebring on Wednesday night to get back for the
12 hour. I am hoping that it will help my endurance training! Sebring is
my last race this year in the Porsche and nothing would be better than to
bring home a win for the Alex Job team."
Sara Senske, 21, of Kennewick, Washington, is one of the top young
female racing drivers in the U.S. She competed in the Star Mazda race at
Sebring last year, qualifying 7th and finishing 6th in a race filled with
crashes and yellow flags. This weekend's race will mark the opening of her
campaign to capture the 2000 Barber Dodge Pro Series Rookie of the Year
award.
Senske competed in the Star Mazda series last year, as well as the
inaugural season of the Women's Global GT series, where she won from the
pole at Portland. She finished 4th in the WGGTS championship and 6th in the
Star Mazda championship and in 20 races (14 Star Mazda and 6 WGGTS),
completed every lap of every event, scoring one win, one pole position,
three fastest race laps, three podium finishes, six top-5 finishes and six
top-10s.
"This is my first race in the Barber Dodge Pro Series cars, but
I've done quite a bit of pre-season testing in them here at Sebring, so I'm
feeling anxious about the start of a new season in a new series but
comfortable with the car and the track," says Senske. "This is a very
important season for me and my goal of climbing the ladder to race in the
CART FedEx series, and I'm feeling optimistic. But I'm also trying to keep
my expectations for this race and this season rooted in reality because
there are a number of very good drivers in the series who've been running
for several years, and several hotshoes over from Europe. The competition
is going to be fierce, but I feel I have the talent and the backing from
Lynx Racing to wheel-to-wheel with the best young drivers in the world."
2000 marks the 10th anniversary of Lynx Racing, one of the most
unique organizations in auto racing today. Created and owned by two women,
Peggy Haas and Jackie Doty, Lynx is both a championship-winning racing team
and a uniquely successful driver development program that focuses on a
driver's spiritual and psychological growth in addition to their on-track
skills.
The Lynx mission is to seek out young drivers with the desire and
potential to become champions at the highest levels of the sport and
provide them with the funding, equipment and training to take the last step
toward realizing that potential, a process the team calls 'destiny by
design.' Lynx alumni include CART FedEx drivers Patrick Carpentier, Alex
Barron and Memo Gidley.
Mike Conte / #23 Cranium/Alex Job Racing GT Porsche
Born in Yonkers, New York, Lynx Racing driver Mike Conte, 31, did not drive
-- or even own -- a car for many years before beginning his racing career
in 1993. 2000 is his second year with Lynx, where he scored eight top-10
finishes in 1999. Conte also races a Porsche in endurance events like the
24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring (where he finished third in
1999). Before he started racing, Conte was a philosophy major at the
University of Chicago and a software designer for Microsoft, where he
helped create Windows 95 and Internet Explorer. His sponsors include Traxx
Racing, a chain of indoor kart racing tracks, and White-Black Design, which
specializes in the development of motorsports data acquisition software.
His racing heroes are Ayrton Senna and Jimmy Vasser, and his advice to
young drivers is "Don't rush it. Learn the fundamentals while they still
let you make mistakes." His favorite book is Moby Dick, his favorite music
is classic jazz and his favorite TV show is NYPD Blue. His hobbies include
mountain biking, snowboarding and squash, and his street car is a 1974
Porsche 911 with no radio.
Sara Senske / #19 Lynx Racing Reynard-Dodge 98E
Sara Senske, 21, of Kennewick, Washington, is now in her third year as a
Lynx Racing driver. First signed in 1997, she competed in the final six
Star Formula Mazda Series races, and won the pole for her first-ever oval
track race, at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In 1998, she ran the full
Star Mazda season, scoring four top-5 and six top-10 finishes. In 1999,
she again ran a full Star Mazda season as well as a full season in the
inaugural Women's Global GT Series. In a total of 20 races, she finished
every lap of every race, won once from the pole in the WGGTS, and was on
the podium three times. In 2000, she will focus on the Barber Dodge Pro
Series. Senske first started racing karts at age 7, won her first race at
age 8 and won her first karting championship at age 9. Her hobbies include
ice skating, rollerblading, skiing, hiking, writing poetry and listening to
music, including contemporary Christian, jazz and classical. She lists
'juggling' among her skills, her favorite TV show is "I Love Lucy" and her
favorite foods are Italian, Thai and Mexican. If she couldn't be a racing
driver, she'd like to be on the U.S. Women's Olympic hockey team..
Circuit information:
The Sebring 12-hour race in 2000 is the 48th to be held. A long-distance
classic, it is not only a test of endurance because of the hours involved.
With its new pit lane and a hotel to add new distinction to the former
airfield, the 5.95-kilometer (3.7-mile) long course still suffers from a
variety of rough patches. The joints and seams between the concrete slabs,
the changing types of surface and various wavy patches and bumps demand a
great deal from a car's suspension tuning and the driver's concentration.
Television information:
The race will be broadcast live, flat-to-flag on SpeedVision, beginning at
9:30 am EST and continuing through 10:30 pm EST.