De Ferran Merges with Luczo-Dragon

Gil de Ferran was slated to enter the 2010 Izod IndyCar Series season with a two-car effort, moving his outfit over from the American Le Mans Series. However, unable to find funding to compete, he has partnered with Luczo-Dragon Racing for the upcoming season.

The decision stems from not only a desire to compete, but to assemble a championship caliber team capable of challenges the likes of Roger Penske and Chip Ganassi. "We have been talking to Gil about this for some time and we felt this was the perfect opportunity to combine our resources," said Steve Luczo, co-owner of Luczo-Dragon Racing /de Ferran Motorsports. "Gil has the experience of working with major manufacturers and leading racing teams all over the world and we feel we can bring the essential business acumen and managerial expertise to the operation. Our skills are highly complementary and we all have the same vision and ambitions. We're very excited about the direction of our team."

Jay Penske, another co-owner of the team and son of Roger Penske, reflected his partner's thoughts. Gil and I have known each other for 10 years - when he started racing for my father," Penske said. "Gil has always had ambitions outside of the car and Steve and I have been talking to him about working together for some time. Luczo Dragon Racing and de Ferran Motorsports will live together. We all share the same vision for the future in this industry and with our combined skills we are confident that we can make a real success story of this new venture. We have the resources and the knowledge to build a great motorsport organization together."

De Ferran also spoke highly of the new alliance. "This is a hugely exciting announcement," said the former CART champion and Indy 500 winner. "Our aim is to put together a state-of-the-art motorsports operation with a sharp focus in high technology and developing the science of performance. We have a very talented driver in Raphael Matos who has been a winner at every level he raced and showed great potential already last year, becoming rookie of the year. The foundation is set and with our collective resources and leadership we hope to break new ground and become one of the most competitive teams in the IZOD IndyCar Series."

No announcements were made about adding a second car to the partner Raphael Matos, although that remains a possibility, with testing not beginning until next week. Driver, or drivers, will likely be announced soon.