Luyendyk Jr joins Robertson Racing for Rolex 24

Arie Luyendyk Jr. Joins Robertson Racing, LLC for the prestigious 12 Hours of Sebring Arie Luyendyk Jr. will be testing over the next 8 days in preparation for his first taste of the 12 Hours of Sebring with a newly formed team, Roberson Racing, LLC. Luyendyk will be piloting the #53 Panoz GTLM in the GT2 class with Dave and Andrea Robertson, who both will make their professional driving debut at the famed 12 Hour classic. Luyendyk will use the 8 days of testing (3 of which are official American Le Mans test days) to get acclimated with his first experience in a front engine race car.

Michigan-based Robertson Racing will campaign a Panoz GT-LM Esperante for three rounds of the 2007 season with plans for full-season competition in 2008 and beyond. The Robertson Racing Panoz GTLM will debut at the 55th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on March 17.

The Robertson's have experience with the Panoz brand through the Panoz Racing Series and SCCA competition featuring a Panoz GTS racer. Robertson made his decision after some careful consideration and seeing the Multimatic Motorsports Team Panoz's victorious performance at Sebring.

"From day one we wanted to get into where we could race in something that matters," said Robertson, a former director of operations with Spirit Airlines who currently is a pilot for Spirit. "The people I talked to at Panoz were very smart people and were all very decent, honest and helpful".

Robertson's team will receive technical assistance and support from Dick Barbour Racing. When they are not racing with the American Le Mans Series, Robertson Racing will be testing at other Series venues to familiarize themselves with the layouts and challenges of tracks on the American Le Mans Series schedule for 2008.

"We'll start with a small schedule," Robertson said. "In between we'll load the trucks up and go places where we haven't spent much time; get data, get familiar with those tracks and run the cars into the ground. Then we'll run the full Series for 2008 and 2009."

Arie Luyendyk Jr. will be joining the effort at the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Petit Le Mans at Road America, October 6th. "Driving the Panoz will be quite an experience and a change of pace for me. I am looking forward to the 12 Hours of Sebring and driving with Dave and Andrea. The operation that they have built in this amount of time is amazing, Dave is very determined to build this into a very competitive team and I am thankful I could be a part of his organization." www.arieluyendyk.com