Dane Cameron joins Team Seattle
Dane Cameron Joins James Gué on No. 41 Team Seattle/Global Diving & Salvage/Dempsey Racing Mazda RX-8 GT Team
Dempsey Racing Returns Two Mazdas to Rolex GT in 2011; Greg Cates Named Team Manager
ATLANTA (November 12, 2010) – California road-racing talent Dane Cameron will partner with returning driver James Gué in the No. 41 Team Seattle/Global Diving & Salvage/Dempsey Racing Mazda RX-8 GT in an all-out bid for the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series GT Championship in 2011. Cameron’s signing was announced this afternoon by Dempsey Racing and Global Diving management personnel at the racing team’s Atlanta-area headquarters just prior to the team’s season-ending holiday celebration scheduled for Friday evening.
Dane Cameron
Cameron joins the No. 41 team for its second season of Rolex Series GT competition after a breakout rookie campaign that saw Gué and then teammate Leh Keen score one victory, three more top-three podium finishes and a fourth-place finish in the team championship standings. The No. 41 will again run as part of a two-car campaign with the No. 40 Dempsey Racing Mazda RX-8 GT which is heading into its fourth consecutive full season in Rolex GT with lead drivers and Dempsey Racing principals Patrick Dempsey and Joe Foster.
“I am extremely excited to be joining the No. 41 Team Seattle/Global Diving & Salvage/Dempsey Racing Mazda RX-8 GT for the 2011 season,” Cameron said. “I think James and I will form one of the strongest pairing in the series. Coming on board the No. 41 car for the full season represents a fantastic opportunity for me to join a proven race winning organization with a great shot at the championship.”
Although he turned 22 just last month, Cameron brings extensive championship and race-winning experience to Dempsey Racing. His resume includes a full season of Rolex GT in 2009 in the No. 30 Racers Edge Mazda RX-8 GT, a car nearly identical to the No. 41 Team Seattle car.
“Having competed for Racers Edge full time in 2009 gives me a great amount of knowledge about the ins and outs of the Mazda RX-8 GT car, which should help me get comfortable in the No. 41 very quickly,” Cameron said. “It will be a huge help having a year of experience in the car under my belt. I believe this is the first time in my career that I have had the opportunity to return for a second full season in any category so I intend to make the most of it!”
Cameron also has Daytona Prototype experience which included select races with Starworks and Beyer Racing this past season. He also made his overall GRAND-AM debut with the powerhouse Chip Ganassi Racing Daytona Prototype team in 2007’s season-ending race at Miller Motorsports Park. Ironically, that Utah race was the same event where Dempsey, Foster and Charles Espenlaub competed in the No. 40 Mazda RX-8 GT for the very first time.
“Dempsey Racing continues to grow as a team and we made a big step in 2010 by expanding to two Mazda RX-8 GTs and getting our first professional race win,” Dempsey said. “This season will be another year of progress as we continue the fundraising push for Seattle Children’s Hospital on behalf of Team Seattle. Additionally we are grateful to John and Jeri Graham of Global Diving & Salvage for making it possible to support this cause while also allowing a Mazda ladder system graduate like Dane Cameron to race for the win with James in the No. 41 car.”
Cameron began racing in go karts in 2000 and capped a four-year career by winning a scholarship to the Jim Russell Racing School and earning a semi-finalist spot in the 2004 Red Bull Driver Search. He won the 2005 Russell Series Championship and Rookie of the Year honors, catching the attention of the Team USA Scholarship program which brought him to Europe and ultimately the 2006 Palmer Audi Winter Championship title. That same year, Cameron stepped up to Formula 2000 competition back home and captured his second straight Rookie of the Year honor while finishing second in the championship. Cameron then won the 2007 Star Mazda Championship, along with another rookie title, as just the second first-year champion in the 18-year history of the competitive Mazda series.
“Mazda has been a huge part of my career,” said Cameron, who also raced Mazda-powered Atlantic Championship cars in 2008. “I have grown up racing Mazda products so it is a great pleasure to get back behind the wheel of the RX-8 GT for a full season once again. Mazda has helped me achieve some great things in my career and they have always stood behind me, so I am looking forward to helping Mazda try to repeat as the GT Manufacturers Champion in 2011.”
Cameron’s success in the Mazda ladder system paved the way for the 2009 season with Racers Edge. He put in a solid season that included a third-place podium finish at Watkins Glen in the August short-course race, fourth at Mid-Ohio and top-10 showings in half of the season’s 12 events. He led races on three occasions and set the second fastest overall GT race lap at night in that season’s Rolex 24 At Daytona.
A significant part of Cameron’s involvement with his new team will be joining Gué in continuing the successful fundraising effort for the Team Seattle Guild for Seattle Children’s Hospital in 2011. Last year marked the first time the Team Seattle cause expanded to a full season campaign after focusing in the past strictly on successful fundraising campaigns at major races such as the Rolex 24 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“I really feel honored to be able to represent the Seattle Children’s Hospital through the Team Seattle Guild,” Cameron said. “It’s a truly phenomenal organization and I am very excited to be a part of it. It definitely gives me a little extra motivation to know that our efforts on and off the track will benefit so many children and the hospital itself. I am looking forward to my first visit to Seattle Children’s Hospital in a few weeks. It will be a great opportunity to meet everyone involved and go behind the scenes and see the technology first hand that makes this hospital tick.”
Gué returns for a second season in the No. 41 Team Seattle/Global Diving Mazda, providing some important continuity for both the team and the Seattle Children’s Hospital fundraising efforts.
“I’m really excited to have Dane on board for the season,” Gué said. “I think he’ll be a prefect fit for the team. He has had a lot of seat time in the Mazda, so he should up to speed right away. We had a successful year this season both on and off the track. I really think we will be able to build on that in 2011. I really feel fortunate to be with such a good team and to be partnered with Global Diving and John and Jeri Graham. They have been so supportive over the past year and it’s great to be back with Team Seattle/Dempsey Racing for a second year.”
Another new addition to the team is experienced motorsports professional Greg Cates who joins the organization as Dempsey Racing Team Manager. Cates will manage the day-to-day and at-track operations of both the No. 40 and No 41 Mazda entries including overall team and competition operations.
“On the organizational side, Joe and I are also trying to grow the team in a professional fashion,” Dempsey said. “Having Greg Cates come on board in the team manager role will also bring championship winning experience into our shop on a daily basis. I’m very happy with the progress we’re making both in the shop and at the track.”
Cates joins Dempsey most recently from Rahal Letterman Racing where he managed and served as crew chief for the team’s 2010 ALMS GT2 Championship-winning BMW effort. He has also been part of winning teams at the Rolex 24, Le Mans and the Indianapolis 500 and has GRAND-AM Daytona Prototype experience with Fernandez Racing in 2006. Cates began his career in sports car racing in the late 1980s as a member of the record-setting Nissan Performance Technology Incorporated (NPTI) effort that won several IMSA championships with its Nissan GTP cars.
Next up for Dempsey Racing is GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series testing, December 1 – 2, at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The No. 40 Mazda and Foster are scheduled to anchor the Miami session after the No. 41 team and Gué handled the testing duties at GRAND-AM’s first off-season test last month at Virginia International Raceway.
