Here is a brief introduction to two who have already been chosen and a third who is known to be shopping around for a seat.  

Cyndie Allemann

Twenty-one year-old Cyndie Allemann of Switzerland comes to the American Spirit Racing team without even having yet sat in an Indy Pro car, much less driven one! Team owner Jon Lewis hired her based soley on converstations that the two have had. "It's intuition," Lewis said. "You can sense how a person is, how they handle themselves. From that standpoint, she is very professional. She is very focused and driven. She wants to learn and win."

For her part, Allemann is excited to be racing at this level, but aware of the challenges that lay ahead. "I am really exited to race in the Indy Pro Series in 2008 with a very competitive team," Allemann said. "I really feel comfortable at team ASR and with the team owner Jon Lewis. I'm looking forward to start testing soon. It's difficult to know the level of the Americans. This is my first time in America, so I'm going to discover new things." 

Cyndie has several years' experince in karting and the European developmental racing series such as Formula 3.

Ana Beatriz

Sorry, guys; I'm not talking about Brazilian supermodel Ana Beatriz Barros: this is up-and-comming race driver Ana Beatriz, know simply as "Bia", a veteran of the Brazilian Formula Renault Series &  the Team Brazil A1GP squad. Now the twenty-one year-old has landed a seat with the Indy Pro Series' dominant team; Sam Schmidt Motorsports.

"We're excited about bringing Bia on-board with us for this next season," team owner Sam Schmidt said. "She is very focused on succeeding in the Indy Pro Series. With the tools we'll provide her along with her own determination to learn, we're confident she'll do a great job this year."

"I'm extremely happy to be here in such a competitive series with the best team there is..." Ana commented. "I'm just very proud right now, and I can't thank these guys enough." Over the past few years Beatriz has kept in regular contact with her fellow contrymen in Indy Pro & the IRL such as Tony Kanaan, Helio Castroneves and Vitor Meira "They've told me how great it is over here and how very competitive it is."

Leilani Munter

Unlike Allemann and Beatriz, the twenty year-old American does not yet have a ride for 2008. What she does have - that they lack - is actual experince in the Indy Pro Series, having run two events at the end of 2007. While the offer to drive for those races was somewhat unexpected considering that Munter had spent the past few years working her way up the NASCAR developmental series ladder, she seized it with enthusiasm. While her first outing was cut short by a crash (that was not her fault), she showed great potential with a charge from mid-pack to 4th place in just a few laps.

Munter originally hoped that she would land a full-time deal with Sam Schmidt Motorsports - the team that she drove for in '07 - for 2008, but it did not come to pass. Last month she participated in a test for Panther Racing's Indy Pro squad. Given her NASCAR-oval background, she admits that foot/peddle work on road courses is an issue. “It’s cool to learn something new like road course racing because I’ve been going in circles for so long,” Leilani said. “The biggest step for me is going to be my footwork, because when the footwork is messy, it hurts the rest of your racing. I need to get into a go-kart and practice my shifting so I can get used to it – it’s a lot different from what I’m familiar with in a stock car. It continued to get better and better after I was able to practice for awhile. I’m excited about this challenge.”

While Panther boss John Barnes noted that Munter isn't the only driver under consideration, he admits that he was impressed by her. Panther Racing is expected to make an annoucement about who gets their Indy Pro ride - as well as their second IRL ride - within the next month. 

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