JOHANSSON JOINS CORSA MOTORSPORTS FOR PETIT LE MANS
Braselton, Ga. (October 2, 2008) – Stefan Johansson has been added to the Corsa Motorsports driver lineup for this weekend’s 1,000-mile endurance event at Road Atlanta. He joins Johnny Mowlem and Gunnar Jeannette for Petit Le Mans, the 10th Round of the American Le Mans Series, and the debut of Corsa’s Zytek 07S Le Mans Prototype 1.
“We are thankful to Stefan for agreeing to step in and fill the spot,” says Steve Pruitt, owner and team principal. “He brings a wealth of experience to our line-up, including knowledge of the Zytek. We feel like he will work successfully with Johnny [Mowlem] and Gunnar [Jeannette] this weekend.”
Johansson's background is wide and varied, beginning with his 1980 championship in the British Formula 3 Championship. Those successes vaulted him into Formula One where he had 103 Grand Prix starts and achieved 23 podium finishes. He had an accomplished career in CART with 73 starts, including a storied Rookie of the Year season in 1992.
After retiring from CART in 1996, he returned to sports car racing and recorded wins at the 12 Hours of Sebring driving a Ferrari 333 SP and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans driving a Joest Porsche. He has totaled 44 starts in the American Le Mans Series, including 15 Top-3 and 29 Top-5 finishes.
Later he drove for various sports car teams including Audi. In 2000 he fielded a Reynard 2KQ prototype with start-up Johansson-Matthews Racing. That car eventually transformed into the present day Zytek. In 2002 he raced an Audi R8 in the ALMS. In 2003, he returned to CART as a team owner, running American Spirit Team Jimmy Vasser and Ryan Hunter-Reay. In 2004, Johannson competed in the works Zytek and is extending his relationship with Zytek through Corsa. In 2007, Johansson competed in a Highcroft Racing Courage Acura in the LMP2 class of the ALMS.
Corsa Motorsports is a Utah-based professional sports car race team. The team previously announced at Detroit Belle Isle its plans to field an ethanol/electric hybrid Le Mans Prototype 1 in a venture with Zytek.
Corsa was formed in 2005 and has fielded Ferrari F430 cars in the ALMS and Rolex Grand Am Series beginning with the development of the first F430 in the Rolex Grand Am Series to which Corsa added the F430 LMGT in the GT2 class of the American Le Mans Series in 2007.
