Mike Sweeney Looking For Strong Showing In Grand AM: Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series With Co-Driver Mike Halpin

Altamonte Springs, FL -- (SBWire) -- 04/09/2010 -- P1 Groupe, the premiere motorsports management company is proud to announce that four of its top drivers will be taking part in the GRAND AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series and the GRAND AM Rolex Car Series at the Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama on Saturday, April 10, 2010. Owen Trinkler will be in car 196, a Mini Cooper S, sponsored by Cruise America/Grand Fondo Cycles and P1 Groupe. Nineteen year old, GRAND AM racing sensation Dion von Moltke will be driving the #77 Doran Racing Ford Dallara. PR Newswire just became a sponsor of the car joining McDonalds and South African Airways. Mike Sweeney, one of the hottest names on the GRAND AM circuit will be taking part in the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Series with co-driver Mike Halpin. Matt Bell will again be piloting the #6 Sunoco Camaro for Stevenson Motorsports in the GS Class of the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Series.

Dion von Moltke was born in Texas, and has lived in Sydney and Los Angeles before moving to his current home in Miami. Following a racing career with multiple championships in karting and open wheel racing, Dion competed in 2009 in both the Continental Tire Challenge Series and Rolex Sports Car Series. In seven rounds of the Continental Tire Challenge Series, he managed 3 wins and helped his co-driver, Mike Sweeney, to a top-10 in the season Driver Points Championship while turning many heads in the Rolex Series in both GT and DP classes. His goal is to conquer the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series in 2010. His story is even more remarkable as he balances professional racing with a full course load of studies at FIU, whilst also trying to spend as much time as he can manage in his beloved South Africa. Recently through P1 Groupe, he has deal with Doran Racing that will see him driving Doran Racing’s #77 McDonalds/South African Airways/PR Newswire Ford Dallara throughout the remainder of the GRAND AM season.

Monterey, California based driver Mike Sweeney got a later start for his racing career than many of his sports car racing counterparts, but his determination and focus on the sport he loves has allowed him to make up a lot of ground on his competition in a very short period of time. He began his driving career as a substitute driver in a Porsche 356, bringing the car home in 7th position after spending several years Grand Prix’s on his Honda RS 125 Road Racing Bike. Mike began building his driving resume behind the wheel of several Porsche’s in historic events, consistently finishing at the front of his class. To date, only two years into his professional career, that career he longed for is taking off in the Continental Tire Challenge Series with the APR Motorsport VW GTi. Sweeney won back-to-back events in the series; including the first ever win for APR Motorsports and VW’s first professional win as a manufacturer in over 25 years.

Sweeney and Bell both signed with P1 Groupe to guide their motorsports careers during the Barber round of the 2009 racing season. Bell is looking to build on his 2009 season that saw him capture 5 Pole Positions starts in the series.

Additional information on P1 Groupe may be obtained at http://www.p1groupe.com.