Italian firm to collaborate with Cheever

Italian racecar engineering and manufacturing firm Picchio will serve as a primary technical partner to Cheever Group in launching a new Grand-Am Daytona Prototype sports car competing in The Rolex Sports Car Series, it was announced today. The Ancarano, Italy-based company will apply its technical staff to the development of the new car, which will be built at Cheever Racing headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana.

In September 2007, Cheever Group obtained the Daytona Prototype license from established sports car maker Fabcar. The Cheever race team spent the 2007 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series season developing and competition testing a hybrid Fabcar chassis. Moving ahead, Cheever Group will continue to maintain a strong relationship with Fabcar, including utilizing the racecar manufacturer as a vendor.

Working with Picchio, it is Cheever's intention to produce and race their new Daytona Prototype at the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona in January 2008. At the same time, Cheever Group continues to develop a Porsche-based V8 program for the Grand-Am prototype division in conjunction with the Florida-based Spirit of Daytona racing team.

"We have found in Picchio, and its sister company ETA Automotive, the technical excellence we needed to complement our current resources," said Eddie Cheever, Jr., founder and CEO, Cheever Group. "Our project with them involves sharing the extensive on-track experience of Cheever Racing with their superior technology and engineering resources. Members of our respective engineering staffs currently work side-by-side and we already see this level of collaboration paying dividends."

The high-visibility presence of Picchio technological input in the U.S.-based Rolex Sports Car Series coincides with a continuing upswing in involvement by other notable European racing brands including Pirelli tires and chassis manufacturers Lola and Dallara.

"Beyond leading the technical development of the new Daytona Prototype, Cheever Group is advancing the formulation and subsequent launch of a new technical company with its first business objective to be the commercial exercise of our Grand-Am Daytona Prototype license," Cheever concluded.

A leader in American motorsports, Cheever Group is built on the 30-plus years of experience owner Eddie Cheever Jr. has in Formula One, sports cars and open-wheel racing. Grand-Am