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<body> <Table Width="550" border="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" cellpadding="0"><TR><TD Width="35"><IMG SRC="//www.totalmotorsport.com/images/spacer.gif" WIDTH="35" HEIGHT="1"></td><td> <CENTER><Table border="0" width="100%"> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="5">AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2">21/02/2004</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="4">Panoz Esperante GT-LM Has Maiden Test </FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="3">EMT-Built ALMS Impresses With Performance</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><img border="1" src="Storage/panozesparante04.jpg"></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="1">  </FONT></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2"><B>EMT-Built Panoz Esperante GT-LM Has Maiden Test At Road Atlanta</B><BR> <BR> The new Panoz Esperante GT-LM American Le Mans Series race car, built by Elan Motorsports Technologies (EMT), turned its maiden laps Thursday and Friday in a testing session at Road Atlanta. <BR> <BR> The car was built to race later this year in the GT class of the American Le Mans Series, which opens its 2004 campaign with the 52nd annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring March 17-20 at Sebring International Raceway. <BR> <BR> "I was very impressed with the way the car performed," said Scott Maxwell, a veteran sports car racer from Toronto who drove the car in the test session. "The car did everything a competitive GT sports car is supposed to, and with no problems whatsoever. For a brand new race car that has never turned a wheel before today, that is an excellent start." <BR> <BR> "This evolution of the Esperante design has come a long way from the first generation that raced last year," said Maxwell. "I think this car has outstanding competitive potential." <BR> <BR> Based on the Panoz Esperante road car built by Panoz Auto Development, the GT-LM is powered by a 4.6 litre modular V-8 engine from Elan Power Products. Maxwell put the car through two days of rigorous shakedown runs, turning laps on the full 2.54-mile Road Atlanta circuit as well as a smaller circuit inside the main course. <BR> <BR> Though no official lap times were released from the private test session, EMT CEO David Bowes was happy with the results. <BR> <BR> "Our guys have been working long hours to get the car ready to test, and seeing it performing flawlessly on the track was a big payback for their hard work," said Bowes. <BR> <BR> "This car contains all of the proven components of the first-generation Esperante GT-LM and incorporates countless improvements that immediately will make the car more competitive. <BR> <BR> "From the designers, engineers, crew and driver, everyone was smiling today," he said. <BR> <BR> </FONT></TD></TR> </TABLE><BR> </CENTER> <BR><CENTER><font size="1" color="#808080" face="Tahoma">Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport</font></CENTER> </td> </tr> </table> </body>