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Kanaan Finds A Home At De Ferran Dragon
December 20th, 2010
Tony Kanaan (left) and Gil de Ferran during the de Ferran Dragon Racing announcement this morning in Indianapolis. Kanaan will join de Ferran Dragon Racing for the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series season. (IndyCar Photo)
INDIANAPOLIS — Tony Kanaan is no longer standing in the unemployment line.
The former IZOD IndyCar Series champion will join de Ferran Dragon Racing next year after spending the last eight seasons with Andretti Autosport as the driver of the No. 11 Dallara Honda.
“Christmas came early for me this year,” Kanaan said. “Being a father, trying to explain to my kid that I was going to ask Santa for a gift as well was really hard. I was trying to mentally be prepared at Christmas and New Years [to think about] what kind of car I was going to drive next year. Gil [de Ferran, team co-owner] made that easier for me.
“Now I’m happy to explain to my son that Gil is not Santa Claus, but he gave me what I wanted,” Kanaan added.
Kanaan, 35, found himself without a ride earlier this year when his long-time sponsor 7-Eleven decided to leave the IZOD IndyCar Series and Andretti Autosport. Kanaan worked out a settlement with team owner Michael Andretti in October that released him from his contract, which allowed him to join de Ferran Dragon Racing.
“From my standpoint Tony brings many things to the team,” said de Ferran. “We are a very young and developing operation with big ambition. Tony brings a wealth of experience and I think we could benefit a tremendous amount from that.
“This is certainly a deal that came together I would say fairly fast. When I found out that Tony became available I tried very hard to get him. That’s really the bottom line,” de Ferran said.
A native of Brazil, Kannan has 132 IZOD IndyCar Series starts and 14 victories. He won the series championship in 2004 driving for what was then known as Andretti Green Racing. He has never finished lower than sixth in the IZOD IndyCar Series standings in eight seasons of competition.
Kanaan and de Ferran, who is also from Brazil, have been friends for many years and when the opportunity for them to join forces arrived, both knew it was the right fit.
“We’ve been really close friends [for years]. Our families spend weekends [together] and we travel,” said Kanaan, who replaces Raphael Matos at de Ferran Dragon Racing. “I think when Gil knew I was available and I knew I was available, I looked him at one day, he looked at me and I said, ‘Should we be talking?’ And he said yes.
“I was honest with Gil and he was honest with me and we started to talk,” Kanaan said. “I saw what I wanted for me as far as a race team and from that point on it made it much easier for me to make my decision.”
De Ferran, who became president and managing partner of de Ferran Dragon Racing prior to the start of the 2010 season, said that sponsorship details would be announced in 2011.
The team, which is co-owned by de Ferran, Steve Luzco and Jay Penske, made its series debut during the 2007 Indianapolis 500 before joining the series full-time in 2009 with Matos as the driver.




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