Milka Duno and SAMAX Motorsports have officially announced a ten race IndyCar Series program as the lady Venezuelan sports car driver will undertake the most difficult challenge of her racing career.

“We're very happy and fortunate to be a part of this,” said SAMAX owner, Peter Baron. “We know it's a huge undertaking. I don't know how many (people) in the open wheel series have followed our career in the sports car world, but we have had great success in that. We are very proud of it, and our sports car team has been comprised of a fair amount of folks that have come from (the open wheel) world.”

SAMAX and Duno finished second in this year's Rolex 24 Hours, a race she won in 2005. She has two more Grand American Prototype victories to her credit, all coming when she shared the car with Andy Wallace at Howard Boss Motorsports.

While technically she has more victories than Danica Patrick - presently the best female driver in major United States racing - Duno's driving credentials have been widely questioned as she has relied on much faster teammates to help get her wins.

Brian Barnhart, president and CEO of the Indy Racing League, as well the chief steward believes Duno will be ready. “By the time she enters her first race, she'll have thousands of miles of testing under her belt. We will put her through all of the paces, including having her do starts, restarts, pit stops and we may even put some other cars out there to simulate race traffic.”

According to Barnhart, the normally restrictive IndyCar Series testing rules are waived for rookies coming into the series as “it's a double edged sword. Those drivers need experience before getting out there with everyone else, but you can't get that experience unless you run the car.”

Among others, Marco Andretti was given several pre-season tests before he came to the IndyCar Series in 2006, though he was also regularly winning in open wheel feeder series. Marty Roth is likely a better example as he was given a very precise testing plan last season after a very shaky month of May at Indy. Roth had to complete this testing before he was allowed to run at Michigan and Chicagoland.

“I know it's going to be a tough job,” said Duno, who has been racing since 1999, including some time in the Telefonica series. “It's going to be a hard championship. But I like a difficult challenge and I have confidence in my ability and I want to prove what I can do. I have a lot of work ahead, but it's normal for me to work for the things I want.”

Duno brings backing from the Venezuelan owned Citgo oil concern to the IndyCar Series for her ten race stint that will start with the Kansas event. She will also run the Indy 500 as well as other high speed ovals during the summer.

To diversify her learning experience and prepare for a potential full season campaign in 2008, Duno will run also run the road courses at Mid-Ohio and Watkins Glen, and the new short oval at Iowa Speedway.

The SAMAX team has already taken delivery of one Dallara chassis with a brand new Dallara expected to arrive in the country in early April. Her car will be engineered by Steve Challis who has worked for several top open wheel teams and drivers including the late Greg Moore when he was in CART.

ORS / CAPSIS International