Alan Racing announces agreement with Matt Lee
SYOSSET, N.Y., Dec. 17 - Alan Racing has announced the agreement with the drivers Matt Lee, Barrett Mertins and Fabrizio Comi for the 2010’s season of the Italian Formula 3 Championship.
The first two drivers come from America while the Italian Comi will run his second season with the Team from Cologno Monzese.
The three drivers have tested the Mygale M09 on the Magny Cours track last month, running tens of laps to discovery the car and to get acquainted with the team.
The three drivers will join others two youngest driver, Gilles Pagani from Argentina and Matteo Torta from Italy, committed in the Formula Abarth Championship.
Lee to Tackle Italian Formula 3 in 2010
SYOSSET, N.Y., Dec. 10 - Following an excellent two-day test at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in France, American Matt Lee announced today that he will compete in the Italian Formula 3 series in 2010.
The 20-year-old from Syosset, N.Y. will attempt to become the first American to ever win this championship, which has produced stars such as Formula 1's Riccardo Patrese and Giancarlo Fisichella and the Rolex series' Max Angelelli.
Lee, who finished second in the Formula BMW USA series in 2006 before advancing to Atlantics, has signed with Alan Racing based in Cologno Monzese, Italy for 2010. The team finished third in this year's championship with Pablo Sanchez Lopez.
Although the 2010 Italian Formula 3 schedule has not yet been released, this year the series was contested at Adria, Magione, Mugello, Misano, Varano, Imola, Vallelunga and Monza.
Lee drove one of Alan Racing's Mygales at the test.
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Matt Lee in Alan Racing's Mygale
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"The weather wasn't the greatest, as it rained both days," he related. "I enjoyed it a lot though. I was traveling with my manager, Eric Scalvi, and my coach, Christian Boudon. Overall the test went very well. Despite not racing since an Atlantic race at Lime Rock in July, I was up to speed quickly and I felt comfortable. The engineer and I made a few changes to improve the car, but overall it was great from the beginning."
While Lee is looking forward to the challenges ahead in the new year, he will also always remember an exciting event he competed in recently, the SKUSA Superkarts USA Supernationals held recently at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas.
"It was the most competitive go-kart race I have ever been in or seen, and I will never forget it," said Lee of the event, which attracted stars such as Formula 1's Michael Schumacher, Sebastien Buemi and Nelson Piquet Jr., IndyCar's Raphael Matos, many top competitors from the European World Championships and many other big names.
"I hadn't been in a go-kart since last January when I raced in the Florida Winter Tour at Homestead, Fla.," said Lee, who drove a CRG kart with a Maxter engine fielded by PSL Karting. "We started the weekend with a little trouble in the first practice with an engine failure, and in the second practice we were breaking in the new engine. That didn't get our heads down though, because we knew that the only thing we were working for was a good finish in the final.
"For the heat races I started 29th, two spots behind Michael Schumacher. I finished 21st in the first heat; I was 23rd in the second heat and I was 21st in heat three. I was able to finish all of the heats without any mechanical problems or crashes.
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Michael Schumacher (left) and Matt Lee (right)
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"A few laps into the final I hit one of the temporary barriers that had been moved from another driver hitting it earlier. That bent my steering shaft, but despite dealing with that for the rest of the race I was able to continue to race and still fight for position on the track.
"I ended up 20th in the final, but it was an accomplishment to just be able to finish these races without crashing out," he noted. "In the final, only 23 finished out of 44 competitors."
For more information on Lee, see Alan Racing's Website at alanracing.com and the Italian Formula 3 series' Website at F3italia.it.
Lee Will be in Action Saturday at Lime Rock With Backing of JoJo Energy Drinks
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Matt Lee
Photo: Atlantic Championship/Phil Sedgwick
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SYOSSET, N.Y., July 16 - With the backing of a new sponsor in JoJo Energy Drinks and with an excellent test session under his belt yesterday at New Jersey Motorsports Park, Matt Lee is looking forward to competing in Saturday's Atlantic Championship race at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn.
Lee, 19, of Syosset, N.Y., returns to Conquest Racing in what is currently a one-race arrangement. He competed with that same Indianapolis-based team in the Atlantic series in 2007.
The last time Lee raced at Lime Rock Park he certainly turned heads, as he started way back in 23rd spot and charged all the way up to seventh before the checkered flag flew in the first half of a Formula BMW USA doubleheader there over the Memorial Day weekend in 2006 while running with Team Autotecnica. He had even better results in the second half of the doubleheader that weekend, as he sat on the pole and finished second in that race. Lee went on to finish second in the Formula BMW USA championship that year.
With such a rousing history behind him at this track, Lee hopes to be able to give his family and friends something to cheer about this weekend at Lime Rock Park too as he tackles the challenging, 10-turn road course. "I have a few friends coming, and my new sponsor, JoJo Energy Drinks, plan to have a hospitality tent there," Lee said. "It's a new company based out of Long Island, just like I am. They make very good products, full of super antioxidants, green tea extracts, amino acids, B vitamins and cognizin. I like the black cherry drink the best myself. They're also unique in that they have a special infusion system in the cap to keep all the ingredients at their full potency."In addition to representing JoJo, Lee is looking forward to racing on the new pavement that has been applied to Lime Rock's 1.53-mile track surface since his last appearance there, as well as his return to Conquest Racing.
"I'm really optimistic because we had a good test yesterday at New Jersey Motorsports Park," Lee said. "The team worked well together. I was happy with the engineering, and I think a top-five finish is something that realistically we can aim for."
Lee will drive car number 12. All the Atlantic cars are Swift chassis powered by 300-horsepower Mazda-Cosworth MZR engines, and they all sport Cooper tires.
The weekend schedule shows practice for the Atlantic series from 1:30 p.m. to 2:20 p.m. on Friday followed by qualifying from 5:30 p.m. to 5:55 p.m. Saturday's 45-minute Atlantic race, the first for the series at Lime Rock in 17 years, will begin with a standing start at 11:20 a.m. All times are Eastern.
In addition to JoJo Energy Drinks, Lee represents Matt-Con Services Corp. and Integrated Structures. For more information, see Lee's Web site at mattleemotorsports.com and the series' Web site at atlantic-championship.com. JoJo Energy Drinks' Web site is jojoenergy.com.
Lee Enjoys Being Back Behind the Wheel And Hopes for Future Opportunities
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Matt Lee
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SYOSSET, N.Y.,
March 6
When opportunity knocks, Matt Lee will be ready.
The global economic downturn has affected racing sponsorships, but Lee continues to search for partners to join him in a motorsports marketing program. Since his last race was his impressive debut in the Firestone Indy Lights Series last July, Lee wanted to get back behind the wheel in the new year to make sure he would be ready for any opportunities that should develop in 2009.
The result was added confidence, as the 19-year-old driver from Syosset, N.Y. quickly proved he hasn't lost a thing despite the mini layoff.
First he went back to his roots of karting, a form of the sport that many top racers use as part of their regular training regimen. Running with PSL Karting based in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, he finished on the podium in both of the pro shifter races he entered Feb. 20-22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla. The races were part of the very competitive Florida Winter Tour, and Lee drove in the "Formula Kart" categories on the facility's newly repaved, 7/10-mile circuit.
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Matt Lee
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Driving a CRG/Maxter kart in the pro shifter category, Lee finished a solid third that Saturday.
On Sunday Lee had trouble in the prefinal and retired early, so he had to start the main event from 12th place. Despite that setback, he recorded a thrilling performance and was up to second when time ran out and the checkered waved.
"I knew he was good, but this was the first time I worked with him, and he impressed me a lot," said PSL Karting's Dominic Labrecque of Lee's performance. "Pro shifter is really a tough class; it has pretty good power.
"If Matt would have had more time in the car he would have won the race," Labrecque continued. "He was pretty quick right out of the box. Then on Sunday he beat Gary Carson, the national champion and the best shifter kart driver in the United States right now. So if Matt did more races in the future, I'm sure he'd win. He hasn't been in a kart for some time, but he really impressed me."
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Lee Records an Eighth-Place Finish In First Foray into Firestone Indy Lights
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Matt Lee
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SYOSSET, N.Y., July 14 2008 - Matt Lee now has two Firestone Indy Lights races under his belt, and is looking for further opportunities in the official development series of IndyCar.
It was a pressurized indoctrination for the 18-year-old driver from Syosset, N.Y., who made his series debut in the Corning Duels doubleheader at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, N.Y. on July 5. The event marked the first time in the series' history when more than one race was held on a single day. It was also Lee's first race at the historic upstate road course, and his first event as a member of Albuquerque, N.M.-based Guthrie Racing.
Despite the challenges, Lee completed both races and went home with one top-10 finish when he placed eighth in the second race.
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Matt Lee
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He qualified 15th for the first race with a time of 1:40.2217 and an average speed of 121.052 miles per hour for the 11-turn, 3.37-mile road course. That put him right behind Guthrie Racing's lead driver, Sean Guthrie, for the start of the first race. Lee's qualifying time was only 0.1865 of a second off the time posted by Guthrie, who has been competing in the series for three years.
The first race didn't start well for Lee, however, as he spun on cold tires between Turns 7 and 8 on the warm-up lap. The car's gearing was such that he couldn't get up the next hill on the track from a dead stop, so he went down a lap right away.
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Syosset, N.Y.'s Lee Posts Fifth-Fastest Time In Indy Pro Series Testing at Homestead
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Matt Lee
Photo: Linda Mansfield
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HOMESTEAD, Fla., Feb. 28, 2008 - Trying his best to impress potential marketing partners and team owners, Matt Lee posted the fifth-fastest time out of 21 drivers participating in the Indy Pro Series open test Thursday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
It was only the third time the 18-year-old driver from Syosset, N.Y. had driven on an oval track. The Indy Pro Series rookie also lost valuable practice time due to clutch problems in the morning.
He ended up getting about an hour and a half of track time during the scheduled six-hour test, but he made the most of it. His fastest lap came on the 79th and final lap he completed on the 1.5-mile oval Thursday, which took 28.6248 seconds for an average speed of 186.761 miles per hour.
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Matt Lee
Photo: Scott Morris/autoracing1.com
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Lee's fastest lap was just 0.0720 of a second longer than the fastest lap any driver ran all day. It was posted in the afternoon, while the fastest lap of the test was posted in the morning, when speeds are generally faster due to cooler air temperatures.
Only one other driver in the top 10 posted fewer laps than Lee's 79 circuits. Two drivers ran more than 200 laps, but they placed 10th and 13th.
Lee is trying to compete full-time in the Indy Pro Series, the official development series of IndyCar. The 2008 season opener is Saturday, March 29 at Homestead. All 16 Indy Pro Series races are televised on ESPN2 and run in conjunction with IndyCar races.
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RLR/Andersen Works Hard During Testing at Homestead Thursday
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Matt Lee
Photo: Linda Mansfield
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HOMESTEAD, Fla., Feb. 28, 2008 - RLR/Andersen Racing didn't complete as many laps as it hoped during the open Indy Pro Series test Thursday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but the Palmetto, Fla.-based team still ended up fifth and 12th on the time charts at the end of the day with its two Dallaras.
Matt Lee of Syosset, N.Y., who is looking for sponsorship in order to run a full season in IndyCar's development series, ran a lap in 28.6248 seconds (an average of 186.761 miles per hour) for the 1.5-mile oval at the end of the day to place fifth in the rundown in the RLR/Andersen No. 25. His fastest lap was the 79th and last one he ran Thursday. He only did two laps before the lunch break due to a clutch problem, and Thursday's test was only his third time on an oval.
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