Patrick Dempsey to Race in Long Beach Grand Prix
Racer/Actor to Drive MAZDA3 Racecar to Support No Cost Cancer Treatment

IRVINE, Calif. (March 29, 2010) – MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development today confirmed that Patrick Dempsey will race a 2010 MAZDA3 prepared by Tri-Point Motorsports in the World Challenge race during the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend. Dempsey normally races a Mazda RX-8 in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series GT class.

About the weekend and the difference in racecars, Dempsey said, “I’m thrilled to be able to race near my Los Angeles home. With the GRAND-AM series, I’ve been able to race at many of the great tracks in North America, but now I have a chance to race locally. The Tri-Point MAZDA3 really impressed me during testing. I’ve never driven a front-wheel drive racecar that handled that well before. I shouldn’t have been surprised though as my daily driver is a MAZDASPEED3. The weekend will also be personally rewarding to me as we’ll be carrying the colors of our Dempsey Challenge.”

The Dempsey Challenge presented by Amgen is a non-competitive fundraising event for The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing at Central Maine Medical Center. The 2010 event will take place October 2nd and 3rd in Lewiston, Maine. More information, including registration materials, can be found at www.dempseychallenge.org.

The World Challenge series is for production-based racecars and features three classes, GT, GTS, and TC2. Dempsey will be racing against over two dozen other professional drivers in cars ranging from Porsches, Corvettes, Vipers, Acuras, to Scions. The Tri-Point MAZDA3 will compete in the GTS class.

The World Challenge race is a part of the multi-race Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend, April 16 – 18. The World Challenge race will take place on Sunday, April 18th. Ticket information can be found at www.gplb.com.

Tri-Point Motorsports
MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development