CUMMING, Ga. - Atlanta-based Tafel Racing has announced a season- long marketing partnership with San Jose, Calif.- headquartered Bell Microproducts, Inc (NASDAQ:BELM). The second year American Le Mans Series team will enter the No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Racing Ferrari F430 GTC for the full 2008 GT2 season. The Bell Microproducts-backed Ferrari will be driven by Dominik Farnbacher (Ansbach, Germany) and 2000 American Le Mans Series GT2 class Champion Dirk Müller (a native of Germany now living in Monaco). Bell Microproducts (www.BellMicro.com), a world- leader in computer-based storage solutions as well as other high-tech products and services, will also provide support to the No. 73 Tafel Racing Ferrari F430 GTC during the 10th Anniversary season of the American Le Mans Series.

Bell Microproducts, which has a long history in professional sports car racing, will make its debut with the Jim Tafel (Alpharetta, Ga.) owned team at the 56th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh From Florida on March 15th. 2007 Le Mans Series GT2 Champion Rob Bell (Northants, England), no relation to Bell Microproducts founder Don Bell, will join the driver lineup in the No. 71 Bell Microproducts Ferrari at Sebring.

CUMMING, Ga. - Tafel Racing will contend for the LM GT2 class honors this June at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Automobile Club De L'Ouest (ACO), official sanctioning body of the world's most famous sports car race, announced the Jim Tafel (Alpharetta, Ga.) owned team has been honored as one of only 13 cars invited to participate in the road-based LM GT2 class at the June 14-15 24 hour event. The second-year American Le Mans Series team will be making its first appearance at Le Mans. Team regulars Dominik Farnbacher (Ansbach, Germany) and 2007 FIA GT Series GT2 class Champion Dirk Müller (a native of Germany now living in Monaco) will share the Italian supercar with Sebring teammate and 2007 Australian GT Champion Allan Simonsen (Danish-born living in Melbourne, Australia). Tony Dowe (Cumming, Ga.) will oversee preparations for the No. 81 Tafel Racing Ferrari F430 GTC.

Due to the high standards of the ACO, to be selected to one of only 34 non-automatic slots is a distinct honor for the program. Tafel Racing, which will race on Michelin tires, was up against some of the most heated competition in the 76 year history of the event. 88 requests for invitation were sent to the ACO since the first of the year. Of the 55 cars invited to compete across the four Le Mans classes, 21 were automatically invited as a result of event and/or championship success in ACO-ruled classes around the world, such as the American Le Mans Series. Tafel Racing showed itself strong with solid finishes throughout its rookie season in the American-based ACO series finishing third in the GT2 Team Championship behind teams with much longer pedigrees in the division. 

Eight Ferrari F430 GTCs have been asked to compete on the 8.476 miles-long Circuit De La Sarthe in Le Mans, France. The LM GT2 class is the second largest trailing the 20 cars in the LM P1 prototype field. 12 cars comprise the LM P2 class while 10 LM GT1 entries round out the field. Eight additional "reserve" cars have been invited to attend the Le Mans "Test Day" on June 1; three of which are LM GT2 class cars. Tafel Racing is one of four American Le Mans Series teams that have been invited to race in its class. Overall, nine American Le Mans Series teams, seven from the United States, will participate in the historic event.