Pantano to tackle road courses for Ganassi.

Ex Jordan Grand Prix driver Giorgio Pantano has been named as Chip Ganassi's third driver for the two upcoming IRL IndyCar Series road course races at Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen.

The 26 year-old Italian won't get a chance to practice the #10 Target sponsored Panoz-Toyota that started the year in the hands of Englishman Darren Manning before the Infineon weekend although he will get two days of practice and qualifying before the August 28th Argent Mortgage Indy Grand Prix.

"We're really excited to have such an experienced and talented road course racer added to our team for the Sonoma and Watkins Glen races," said Target team owner Chip Ganassi. "He was the best driver available to us and we couldn't be happier that his schedule allowed him to be able to participate in both races. Along with Scott Dixon and Ryan Briscoe, we expect the Target Team to be the team to beat out there for these two road course races.

"We had a strong showing at the first street race in St. Petersburg. We're hoping the addition of Giorgio will help us turn the corner in that department and get to victory lane."

Pantano, who made 14 starts for the Jordan F1 team in 2004, began his racing career at the age of nine and quickly became a teenage sensation in karting collecting two Junior World championship wins (1993-94), three European Championships (1993 95-96); and three Italian national titles (1993-94-96).

His first year of single-seater competition was with the Swiss KMS team with whom he won the competitive German F3 2000 Championship, clinching the title with three victories and seven podium finishes.

The young driver won at Monza in his debut season in the FIA F3000 in 2001 with the Coloni team, finishing the season runner-up to Sebastien Bourdais (2004 Champ Car Champion) in the Championship with three race wins. Pantano began testing with McLaren and then joined Williams in 2001 as their test driver. Another team change and another great performance in 2003 in the FIA F3000 series saw the young Italian driver take third place overall in the series. Pantano currently competes in the GP2 series with the English Super Nova team.

"Giorgio Pantano represents enthusiasm, excitement and a passion for motor sports and that is what this team is all about so this is a great fit for us," said Team Managing Director, Mike Hull of the addition of Pantano for the Sonoma road race. "While he is new to IndyCars, Pantano has the talent, background and experience to be successful right away and, as this is an IndyCar road course rather than an oval, the transition will be much easier as well. This team is looking forward to having all three of our Target drivers up front for these road course battles."

"This is a very good opportunity and a good challenge that Chip Ganassi and the Target team have offered me and I am looking forward to living up to expectations," said Pantano. "This will be my first experience with IndyCars and I can't wait to get behind the wheel and get a feel for it. It is fantastic to be with a team that puts so much into winning."

While IndyCars may be a novelty to Pantano, and this will be his first visit to either Infineon Raceway or Watkins Glen International, he will be familiar with some of his fellow competitors; he has previously competed against 2005 Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Weldon and Kosuke Matsuura in karting and knows Target teammate Briscoe from racing in Italy.