PSCR: Panoz Motorsports Technical Center Opens
5 August 1998
BRASELTON, Georgia, -- Panoz Motor Sports has opened the Panoz Motor Sports Technical Center, a 25,000 square-foot facility located on the grounds of the Road Atlanta Motor Sports Center, and features meeting spaces, a showroom, engineering offices, and work space for the Visteon Panoz Racing Team.One major advantage of the Technical Center is its proximity to Road Atlanta. This provides the Panoz Motor Sports GT team more time for vehicle testing and driver development. Panoz Motor Sports ran its first test out of the new facility July 28-30 with IRL driver Steve Knapp, and Panoz Motor Sports drivers Doc Bundy and Raul Boesel.
"I am delighted with the way we have brought together the necessary elements of a modern and complex race car facility here in Georgia," says Tony Dowe, managing director of Panoz Motor Sports.
Everything is to top-level specification and the facility is fully equipped to work on the cars in-house. There are purpose-built preparation areas for race cars, including a specific area for chassis set-up and alignment. The hydraulics assembly and clean room is equipped with aerospace-level acoustic and air filtration systems, as is the composite maintenance room. The dedicated electronics area has the latest diagnostic and set-up equipment, and an overhead exhaust extraction system allows the cars to be started within the shop area.
The engineering center, which boasts the latest in CAD hardware, is linked to the UK via satellite.
The Panoz Technical Center also features a showroom suited to display race and road vehicles. Currently it contains the Panoz GTR-1 road car, one of the few street-legal GTR-1s in existence, and a 1997 GTR-1 race car.
"I am extremely pleased with the support and guidance that Don Panoz has brought to the project," says James Selwa, Chief Operating Officer, Panoz Motor Sports. "I am very proud of what Tony Dowe has created. He has provided the foundation for our future race car programs."
