Bryan Sellers Test New Mazda

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LYNX DRIVER BRYAN SELLERS TESTS NEW FORMULA MAZDA

Lynx Racing driver Bryan Sellers, who will be the full-time driver of the team's #19 Swift 014.a in the 2004 Toyota Atlantic Series, got a taste of something different recently when he spent a day in the first production model of the 2004 Star Formula Mazda Race car.

The all-new, high-tech car -- powered by the ultra-reliable, 240 horsepower Mazda Renesis rotary engine and now with a carbon composite chassis replacing the tube frame of the previous model -- opened more than a few eyes during the all-day session at Southern California's Buttonwillow Raceway test facility, lapping less than two seconds off the pace of the Sierra Sierra Atlantic car being tested at the same track.

"The Star Mazda was surprisingly fast and a lot of fun to drive," says Sellers, the 2002 Formula Ford Zetec champion with seven poles and eight victories. "This will be a great car for drivers to graduate to Atlantic from. We worked through a pretty comprehensive development program and the car responded really well. The day was good for me, too, since I got to work with the Lynx team, including Rick Cameron, who will be my Atlantic engineer in 2004. It really helped us all knock some of the between-seasons rust off and get the lines of communication up and working."

Rick Cameron, the Lynx Racing engineer who worked with Sellers during the test, was also enthused about the results of the day, saying "This is a safe, fast and well-designed race car, and Bryan did an excellent job. His technical feedback was Champ Car caliber just what we expect of a Lynx driver -- and will help the Star Mazda series provide a really good baseline setup for the customer cars. Now that we know how competitive this car is, Lynx and the other Atlantic teams will definitely be paying more attention to the young drivers coming up through the Star Mazda series."

The Star Mazda Series is one of the most successful racing series in the U.S. with an average of more than 30 cars starting each of the Star Mazda Series events in 2003. All series races are broadcast on Speed Channel, and a new title sponsorship from Goodyear Tires, along with the participation of Mazda and other sponsors, assures a minimum $500,000 prize fund each year through 2008.

Star Mazda race cars are assembled by the series in a Southern California facility. The carbon fiber chassis are built to FIA specifications, and are powered by a 240 horsepower Mazda Renesis rotary engine mated to a 6-speed manual transaxle with "no lift" shift. Performance figures include 0 to 60 mph acceleration in 2.78 seconds (comparable to an Atlantic car), and a top speed of 130 mph.

2004 marks the 14th anniversary of one of the most unique and successful organizations in auto racing today. Created and owned by two women, Peggy Haas and Jackie Doty, the mission of Lynx Racing is to seek out young drivers with the desire and potential to become champions at the highest level of the sport and provide them with funding, equipment and training that focuses on their mental and spiritual development as well as their on-track skills – a process the team calls "Destiny by Design." The "scholarship" provided by the team is worth $2.5 million over two years. Graduates of the Lynx Racing program include such rising open-wheel racing stars as Patrick Carpentier, Buddy Rice, Memo Gidley, Alex Barron and Michael Valiante.

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.