MADISON, Wis. – IMSA Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama Gold Cup class champion Roman De Angelis has signed on to drive with Kelly-Moss Road and Race in the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama series.
The 16-year-old driver is moving up to a Platinum Cup car, which will be sponsored by Medical Properties Trust to benefit Racing for Children’s, a unique national charity that supports children with cancer when they are most vulnerable – sick and hospitalized at Children’s of Alabama.
“I’m looking forward to a new car and a new team,” said De Angelis. “Racing for Children’s is obviously a huge opportunity for me and I really appreciate MPT and Children’s of Alabama helping me. I’m really motivated because now I’m not only racing for a Championship, I’m racing for these kids.”
“We’re excited to welcome Roman as our driver for 2018,” said Edward K. Aldag, Jr., Chairman, President & CEO of Medical Properties Trust, which has sponsored the distinctive Racing for Children’s car – covered with handprints of young cancer patients – since the fundraising effort began eight years ago. “Roman will be carrying the banner for children battling cancer in Alabama and around the nation on every lap he drives,” Aldag noted. “It’s a cause that’s very dear to our hearts.”
Born in the minds of racing enthusiasts at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham who wanted to give something back to the community, Racing for Children’s initially put a car on the track only one weekend per year. Now with expanded sponsorship support from MPT and the support of Jeff Stone and the Kelly-Moss Road and Race Team, the Racing for Children’s Porsche was able to compete in the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama series for the full 2017 season, bringing home the championship in the Platinum class.
Racing for Children is a year-round program that not only raises funds for childhood cancer research, but also creates interactive experiences designed to give kids with cancer a different focus than their treatment regimen and a driver to cheer for within the racing community.
“We bring the young cancer patients out to the track, give them a tour of the Barber Motorsports Museum and take them on hot laps around the track at about a hundred miles an hour,” said Doug Neil of Redmont Consulting Group, who has been part of the Racing for Children’s team since its early days. “This lets them experience what it truly feels like to be a racecar driver, helps them focus on something beyond their adversities and lets them know that there’s hope,” he said.
De Angelis has already started the season off with a bang after winning the season-opening race for the IMSA Prototype Challenge at Daytona Int’l Speedway Jan. 6.
De Angelis, a Belle River, Ontario, native, started driving karts at the age of 9 and quickly moved on to national races by age 11. In his 2017 season, De Angelis won pole position at every race and won all but one race in the GT3 Cup Challenge Canada series. He also won pole position at every race he started in the USA series, where De Angelis may have won another championship had he not missed two rounds of competition because of his academic studies.
De Angelis is also driving for Mark Motors Racing in the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama series in 2018 – once again vying for two IMSA championships. If he wins, he will be the first driver to win dual Canadian and USA championships in the same season.
Source : speedsport.com
Comments
