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KnightHawk Racing receives Le Mans invite

Merci Beaucoup Le Mans! March 22, 2002 Road Atlanta, GA -- KnightHawk Racing has been extended an invitation by the Automobile Club de l' Ouest to compete in the most famous sportscar event in the world -- the 2002 24 Hours of Le Mans in ...

Edited: Apr 15, 2002, 11:45 PM

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Merci Beaucoup Le Mans!

March 22, 2002 Road Atlanta, GA -- KnightHawk Racing has been extended an invitation by the Automobile Club de l' Ouest to compete in the most famous sportscar event in the world -- the 2002 24 Hours of Le Mans in France.

KnightHawk will immediately finalize preparations to insure the safe travel of it's new MG Lola 675 LMP, all necessary support equipment and the entire crew to the Sarthe region of France for the May 5th Preliminary Practice Session.

The ACO is the organizing body of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and as so, sets and monitors the compliance of all the rules and regulations concerning the event. What makes the legendary event even more prestigious is that not all teams that enter are invited to attend. All teams that desire an invitation must go through extensive observation by the ACO in areas such as competitive ability and presentation. Today, after a long study of the 96 entries submitted for this year's race, the ACO released the names of the 48 teams confirmed, and 8 teams in reserve, that are honored with an invitation.

In order to advance to the May 5th Preliminary Practice Session, the team must first submit their MG Lola for an in-depth and thorough Scrutineering Session that will be conducted by the ACO the day before -- Saturday, May 4th. On Sunday, the circuit is open for practice for all teams from 9:00am -- 1:00pm and then again from 2:00pm to 6:00pm.

The team will field its new purpose-built LMP 675 -- the MG Lola -- that qualified an outstanding 3rd overall in the just-run 50th Anniversary Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring. Piloting the Le Mans Prototype will be team owner/driver's Steve Knight and Mel Hawkins, with an additional driver TBA.

"We are very honored, and we graciously accept the invitation to the 2002 24 Hours of Le Mans," says team owner/driver Hawkins. "The Le Mans race represents the pinnacle of global sportscar racing and we feel very fortunate to be able to race at this year's event."

"When Mel and I formed KnightHawk over four years ago, one of our main objectives was to be invited -- and then to hopefully win at Le Mans," said owner/driver Knight. "I can't begin to tell you what this invitation means to me as driver -- and team owner. From a very early age I've been fascinated with the history and glory of this spectacular event -- to actually be involved is a dream come true. I can't wait to be in the car and on the circuit."

"The team is very excited about this opportunity to race at Le Mans," said Team Manager Mike Johnson. "In fact, we've been preparing for sometime in hopes that we would be granted an invitation. Now that we've received the formal invitation we will continue our preparation and look forward to the big race. Drivers, of course, feel very excited and honored with an invitation -- but I'm here to tell you -- so do Team Managers!"

The 2002 event will be the 70th running of the famous race and teams representing 6 countries will participate; 15 teams will represent France, 11 for the USA, 8 from Germany, 7 from England, 4 from Japan, 2 from the Netherlands, and 1 from Italy. The new 13.880km layout of the circuit will test 20 different makes of chassis and 18 different engine types.

For additional information regarding the 24 Hours of Le Mans, please log on to their official website at www.lemans.org. For detailed information on KnightHawk Racing we invite you to visit www.knighthawkracing.com.

-kr-

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