Steve & Rick Cameron

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Doing Triple Duty

Steve Cameron is Team Manager, Test Driver and Driving Coach for Lynx Racing's 'Young Lions'

It's a rare situation in auto racing when the person running the team is also a top-notch driver who participates in test sessions and coaches the drivers on race weekends.
When it does happen, as is the case with Steve Cameron and Lynx Racing, you get the kind of results the team has achieved in the Toyota Atlantic series -- back-to-back championships, twenty-six race victories and three drivers graduated to the top ranks of open-wheel racing, including Patrick Carpentier, Alex Barron, Buddy Rice and Memo Gidley.

"Being team manager, test driver and driving coach results in quite a full schedule, but it really is useful in terms of getting as much information as possible across to these young drivers in the season or two they're with us," says Cameron. "And it really keeps me on my toes because I have to be as fast as they are or they won't take me seriously. Somewhere in the process there comes a point where the pupil becomes the master, and that's exactly the goal Lynx Racing has in mind every time we sign a hot young driver. It's a good system, but it's also a little hard on the egos involved -- theirs when they first get here and find that some old guy is faster in the car than they are, and then on mine when they get it figured out and start beating my times."

Cameron, now entering his eighth year as team manager and driving coach for Lynx Racing, has 30 years of experience as mechanic, crew chief, driver and team manager with an intriguing variety of teams. In his rookie year as a driver, 1979, he won the New Zealand Formula Vee series and was awarded the Bruce McLaren Memorial Trophy. On his way up the ladder, he has raced in Formula Ford, Formula Mazda, Pro Sports 2000, Formula Atlantic and IMSA.

His major accomplishments behind the wheel include a pair of IMSA Camel Lights class victories in the 24 Hours of Daytona (1991 and 1992) and a runner-up finish in the 1992 Atlantic Championship. Cameron also ran several races in the 1994 season as a factory development driver for Raven Race Cars.

In his capacity as Lynx Racing's driving coach, Cameron guided the early careers of such open-wheel rising stars as Patrick Carpentier, Alex Barron, Buddy Rice, Memo Gidley and Lynx Racing's newest driver, Michael Valiante. He is also very active in karting, both as a winning driver and spotting and encouraging young talent. Additionally, he is a distributor for ITALKART karts, one of the top brands in the intensely competitive world of karting.

Lynx Racing, founded thirteen years ago by Peggy Haas and Jackie Doty is dedicated to providing that career-making 'big break' to potential young champions who have the speed but not the money or connections. The Lynx program is a 'scholarship' that includes funding, the best cars and equipment and instruction in the wide range of disciplines demanded in modern motorsports, from chassis setup and racecraft to dealing with the media, the fans and corporate sponsors.

The Lynx driver for 2003 is Michael Valiante, 23, of Vancouver, B.C. He drove five races with the team in 2001, scoring two podiums and finishing 9th in the championship. In 2003, his first full season with the team, he won three races, finished on the podium three times, completed every lap of every race and led the championship battle until the final race of the season. He finished second in the championship.

Atlantic is the triple-A baseball of open-wheel auto racing, just one step below the Champ Cars of the CART FedEx championship. It is CART's official 'development' series where the top drivers of tomorrow sharpen their skills for a season or two before moving up.

"Having been on both sides of the wheel gives me a unique perspective when working with a young driver," says Cameron. "No matter how fast they inherently are, there is a process that they need to be guided through to turn them into winners. Communication is the key to that process, and when we achieve it, winning comes naturally."

For further information on Lynx Racing, please visit the team's web site at www.lynxracing.com, or telephone team P.R. Manager Peter Frey at (818) 906-6997. The Toyota Atlantic series has a web site at www.toyotaatlantic.com.