ABU DHABI // Humaid al Masaood is ready to pit his talents against some of the best sports car drivers in the world in the remaining seven rounds of this year's American Le Mans Series.
The Emirati will team up with Northern Ireland's Steven Kane at the wheel of an LMP1 Mazda-powered Lola coupe.
"The car will hit 320kpm and reach 100kpm in 3.2 seconds, so it's quite a beast," Masaood said.
The pair will join the series at Lime Rock, Connecticut, on July 8-9, and will then compete for the rest of the season, which ends with the famous Petit Le Mans endurance race at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, in October.
The Lola-Mazda is run by Dyson Racing, the series points leaders, in conjunction with al Masaood's Oryx Racing team, formerly known as HMR.
Al Masaood is already a widely-recognised racing driver in the Speed Euroseries.
Kane has previously raced in British Formula Renault, British F3, Spanish F3, the Renault World Series, the Porsche Carrera Cup and British Touring Cars.
He is also a development driver for Williams Grand Prix Engineering and previously tested for McLaren F1. He won the British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC) McLaren Autosport Award in 2001.
"The car is fantastic," Kane said.
"It's great to be working with Lola again, as I know them from my time in British F3 and that was a good time for me.
"With Mazda, Dyson Racing and Oryx Racing, we definitely have the right package.
"The LMP1 is similar in terms of downforce and power to the single-seaters I drove in GP2 testing and the World Series, so it really takes me back a few years."
