Luca Forgeois to pilot No. 97 Stevenson Entry
When fans attend a Grand-Am race they have come to expect fast GT cars from the Stevenson Motorsports team running at or near the front. In 2011, race fans will have an opportunity to see an open wheel car from the Stevenson team charging to the front as the team is about to enter the Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda series for 2011.
Luca Forgeois, son of former F2000 driver, Georges Forgeois will drive the team’s Van Diemen Ford Zetec powered chassis, wearing No. 97, a number the Stevenson team carried on a Chevrolet Corvette and Chevrolet Camaro in past Grand-Am Rolex Series seasons.
Early in his racing career, Stevenson Team Manager Mike Johnson ran a team and drove an F2000 car in the series and he remembers the experience fondly:
“I drove in F2000 from 1995-1998 and my Archangel Motorsports team ran cars in the series from 1999-2000. I am really excited about going back to my roots and running a car in the USF2000 National Championship. The series road course schedule fits in great with the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Schedule, so this program should be a great compliment to what we are already doing in Grand-Am, plus it will give some of our guys a new experience."
The team’s selection of Luca Forgeois in a sense reconnects Johnson with a former driver on his Archangel team and compliments his desire to seek out new opportunities for success in an arena with which he is very familiar.
“I have known Luca since he was about 5 when his father Georges drove with us at Archangel.” Johnson said. “It's very exciting to see him grow up and enter such a great series which is now part of the IndyCar Road to Indy. At only 15 years old, this will be his first experience in a car, but he has already been very quick in testing.”
Luca Forgeois sees this turn with the Stevenson team, in this series, as an excellent way in which to progress as a racer. “I am really excited about taking part in the USF2000 National Championship.” He said, “I think it is an extremely promising series that rewards the best of the drivers and I look forward to participating in it. My goal for this season is to finish every lap, be consistent and maybe win a race or two. Having Stevenson Motorsports as my team should make that goal more than realistic. I honestly think I have the perfect team to win. Stevenson Motorsports is an experienced and dynamic team and I feel very confident that they will provide me with the tools and support necessary to be competitive. I’m very excited about working with the team and look forward to it.”
The senior Forgeois couldn’t be happier to have his son enter this series under the tutelage of Mike Johnson and carrying the Stevenson Motorsports banner.
“I am really exited to have my son Luca join with Mike Johnson and the Stevenson team.” Georges Forgeois said. “I raced with Mike with success in the F2000 and in the American Le Mans Series. With a prestigious team like Stevenson Motorsport I am sure Luca is with the right team to bring him success”.
USF2000 series owner Dan Anderson welcomed the Stevenson entry to the series when he said, “Adding Stevenson Motorsports to our list of USF2000 teams for 2011 is a great pleasure for me, not only because of Stevenson’s stature as a team within the pro ranks, due to its involvement and success in the Grand-Am Rolex and Continental Tire series, but also because Team manager Mike Johnson is a former competitor himself in our USF2000 series back in the late 1990’s, and from there we became good friends.
“Mike was always a strong competitor,’ Anderson continued, “and he presented himself and his car in a thoroughly professional way at all times, and I expect nothing less from Stevenson based on his involvement with them the last few years, and the excellent reputation the Stevenson team enjoys. They will do well, I am sure, and I look forward to them running at the front of our fields in 2011.”
The Stevenson team plans an initial run of five races highlighting only the road courses in the National Class for the 2011 season. Fans can look for the new No. 97 at the Sebring, St. Petersburg, MidOhio, Road America and Baltimore rounds of the series.