Four Team USA Drivers To Contest Charity Karting Event in England

Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. – Four recent Team USA Scholarship graduates will travel to England next week to take part in a star-studded charity karting event at the Autosport International Show. The event takes place at the NEC (National Exhibition Centre) Birmingham on Friday, January 15.

The Celebrity Karting Challenge is hosted by reigning American Le Mans Series LMP1 Champion David Brabham and benefits Malaria No More UK which is committed to ending the suffering and death caused by malaria. Brabham himself is among the world-class drivers taking part, along with fellow Le Mans 24 Hours race winners Allan McNish, Emanuele Pirro, Guy Smith and Alex Wurz, and three-time FIA World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx.

The Team USA Young Guns roster will comprise 2007 Team USA Scholarship winner Patrick Barrett, 2008 winners Conor Daly and Josef Newgarden and 2009 alumnus Connor De Phillippi. (Fellow 2009 winner Brett Smrz’s hopes of making the trip were upset by a schedule conflict.)

“I can’t wait to head back over to England to represent Team USA again,” said Daly, 18, from Noblesville, Ind. “It’s good to be a part of the Team USA ‘family.’ I am looking forward to experiencing the Autosport International Show and taking part in the prestigious charity event. I’m also glad I get to take part in the event with my good friends Josef, Connor and Patrick! We’re going to have a strong team.”

“I’m very excited to join the Team USA Scholarship alumni for the upcoming Autosport charity karting event,” added Newgarden, 19, from Hendersonville, Tenn. “I’m always up for racing any chance I get, and competing for such a worthy cause will make this an extra special event. I know we are going to give it our all representing the USA!”

“I am so excited,” exclaimed De Phillippi (pronounced “Dee Phi-LEE-pee”), 16, from San Clemente, Calif. “This is another great opportunity thanks to the Team USA Scholarship. To represent the USA in this race with the caliber of drivers that are competing and to be helping raise to money for the fight against malaria makes me that much more honored to have the pleasure to compete in this fantastic charity event.”

“I’m extremely excited about competing in England again and representing the Team USA Scholarship,” said Barrett, 20, from Los Osos, Calif. “My last visit overseas in 2007 was an unbelievable opportunity, and to go back with a larger Team USA group will make for a memorable experience. It really is an honor to be apart of such a prestigious charitable event.”

The talented quartet’s cross-Atlantic trip has been made possible by long-time Team USA Scholarship supporters and Road Racing Drivers Club members Doug Mockett, proprietor of Mockett & Company, Torrance, Calif.-based purveyors of “fine architectural hardware for your fine furniture” (www.mockett.com), and Duncan Dayton, principal of Patrón Highcroft Racing – the American Le Mans Series team with which David Brabham took the LMP1 spoils in 2009.

“To be able to attract America’s most promising young drivers is a real indication of how the Celebrity Karting Challenge has grown in stature,” said Brabham, who in addition to his racing career and charitable work, oversees a similar young driver program based in the United Kingdom – the MSA British Race Elite. “It will be fantastic to have Team USA competing alongside the MSA British Race Elite team and see some of the sport’s best young stars in action.”