By: RACER Staff | September 11, 2018 11:35 AMTributes from throughout the racing world for Dr. Don Panoz, who passed away today at the age of 83:


GALLERY: Significant Panoz race carsRoger Penske: “Don, to me, was someone who came into the sport with passion. He certainly had a mind of his own and pushed the establishment on what he wanted to do with vehicles that carried his own name. You look at what he did at Road Atlanta and certainly with Scott Atherton with the American Le Mans Series. And then he was smart to combine it with the boys at Daytona. We had a wonderful win with Gil De Ferran in 2003 with his chassis at the Indianapolis 500, and the support we got from them was amazing. I’m sure sorry to see his loss. He was a businessman, someone committed to motor racing, and he was a good friend. I respected him a lot, and in so many ways.”

Gerard Neveu, CEO, World Endurance Championship: “We’re all sad to learn about the passing of Don Panoz, a huge figure in U.S. endurance racing. I’ve never met a bigger fan of sportscar racing and more importantly he was a genuinely good person. We will really miss him and send all condolences his family. Respect Don.”

Tommy Milner, who drive for Don via Multimatic, and whose father Tom runs the PWC Avezzano GT4 program:“My first real interaction with Don was around 2000 with my dad, and that point, my dad been helping a little bit on the LMP side as a manager,. We walked through the Chateau Elan while Don was having dinner, my dad wanted to say hello and give him a hard time–say something funny–and I remember vividly Don turned around, saw me, my dad said I was in go karts and had been through one of the Panoz driving schools, and being shy, I didn’t speak, but Don reached in his pocket, gave my dad 20 bucks, and said here’s this for Tommy’s first contract because he’s going to drive for me one day. I ended up driving for him in 2006 with Multimatic, and I’ll never forget that first meeting.“He loved to laugh and tell jokes, and for me, driving for him and all he did for my dad, was so important in our careers. I can point to that year as being so instrumental in my career with all the people I met and have gone on to race with. In more modern times, my dad always told Don the truth when others were just towing the line. It made him hate my dad at times, but he also respected him for it. And when you look at where sports car racing is today, it’s immeasurable to see what he’s contributed to the U.S. and around the world. Without a strong series like the ALMS to support the efforts of manufacturers who wanted to go sports car racing here, who knows what the landscape would look like today without all that he’s done.”

Andy Meyrick, DeltaWing: “I drove for Don for a number of years and I’m not afraid to say that he was the best boss of my career.

“He looked after us all, let us get on with the job, however tough the task, but then made it fun.“He’s a simply huge loss, not just for those of us on his own teams, but for the whole racing community – There are so many people that I know will feel that they owe him a massive vote of thanks for his contribution.“One final moment — I got an email from Don just 11 days ago asking how I was doing (after his accident at the Spa 24). I knew he was unwell, and for him to do that while he, himself, was battling is the mark of the man.”

Katherine Legge, DeltaWing: “Don was an integral part of my career. When everything was going wrong, he plucked me from obscurity and breathed life into it. He was a legend and he was a really good man. He always had little magic tricks and stories to tell to keep us entertained. He captivated us. I’m devastated by his loss, really. I thought he’d live forever. There haven’t been that many people who’ve had that big of an impact on so many lives. He will be missed, but won’t ever be forgotten.”

Sebastien Bourdais: “He was ecstatic when we won with his car at Sebring in 2006. He always liked those projects that were different. He loved racing and did a lot of things with his own programs, his tracks, and so many things that made an impact. He had a vision, and in racing, the big issue is you are often trying to make things happen against people who have different visions. It was a troubled time for sports car racing here, it was going a separate way from Europe, and his passion and drive brought global sports car racing together again. He was a spectacular person. He let his passion lead the way and never held back. He was a pure racer.”

Wayne Taylor: “It’s a very sad day. I did a lot with him over the years that I can vividly remember, starting with the day we met, and we instantly bonded. I’ll never forget 1998 when he announced the inaugural Petit Le Mans. I was in my pit when I was with the Ferrari team, and he drove down and asked, ‘Where’s Wayne? The guys fetched me, and Don pointed at our race car and said, ‘Wayne, you have the engine in the wrong place.’ At that point, I thought, ‘What is this guy thinking,’ but from that point we became good friends.“I remember him asking me one day to just hang around after a race weekend. We had breakfast and he asked if I wanted to come to the best restaurant at the winery. I didn’t realize you had to wear a coat, so I called and told him I didn’t bring one. Don said, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll bring you one.’ It turned out to be this loud, blue-and-yellow coat, the worst thing I’d seen in my life. But I took it from him and put it on and he said he absolutely loved it, he wanted me to have it.“He asked me many times if I was interested in running his program over the years, which didn’t come to be for one reason or another, but we were always good friends. There might have been things I didn’t agree with him on at ALMS, but I think ultimately he did more for sportscars than anybody. When he announced the ‘For the Fans’ tagline, I thought that was the best thing anybody’s ever come up with for our sport. And then he merged with Jim France and that made it all a huge success. It’s a very sad day for me.”

Max Angelelli: “I only worked directly with Don when he entrusted me in 1999, gaving me the opportunity to drive in the Le Mans 24-hour in a Panoz LMP1 Prototype. That was an unbelievable opportunity that opened a big door for me, and I’ve been grateful ever since for that trust in me. Then, what he did for our beloved sportscar world in the States was never before seen, unheard of. He did so much in the way of personal commitments, financial commitments, promotional commitments, in his vision to get sportscar racing where it is today. It’s safe to say IMSA is the best sportscar racing in the world and he had a tremendous impact on how that has come about. I’m grateful for the opportunity he gave me at Le Mans and grateful for the opportunity to participate in sportscar racing at the highest levels thanks to him. He was the spark that started this fire.”

David Brabham: “I am deeply saddened to hear the news that my old friend and team boss Don Panoz has passed away. When I think about Don I always have a smile, why, because what a character he was, his drive and passion for what he believed in was incredible, who would of thought of building a front-engine sportscar in 1997… ! I was honoured to drive the Panoz Roadsters on the racetracks around the world and we sure shook the establishment by beating the likes of Audi and BMW with his little team from Brasleton Georgia. Without Don Panoz sportscars would not be what it is today, his commitment to bring in the manufacturers, privateers and align with the ACO was a stroke of genius and it paved the way for some of the best racing the USA had ever seen with his American Le Mans Series, a series for the fans.“To Nancy, Danny and the rest of the family, my thoughts and prayers are with you all, Don will be sorely missed by so many people.”

Justin Bell: “Sad to hear that Dr. Panoz just passed away. I always have a chuckle when I think of him smoking as we walked through the new buildings at Sebring as he told me that they were all non smoking buildings! Everyone that loves IMSA sports car racing owes him a huge debt of gratitude.”

By: Marshall Pruett September 11, 2018 10:13 AM Dr. Donald Panoz has died at 83. The pioneering pharmaceutical maven and racing innovator had taken ill in recent weeks, and those close to Dr. Panoz say he spent his final days surrounded by loved ones before passing on Tuesday morning.

Of Italian descent, the Ohioan made his fortune through the invention of the transdermal patch, and through his son Donny’s automotive interests, the Panoz automobile company was formed in the late 1980s and would serve as an eventual bridge to motor racing.Through an alliance with Adrian Reynard’s UK-based design and manufacturing empire, Panoz made waves in the 1990s with the front-engine Esperante GTR-1 which took on more traditional rear-engine sports prototypes. Panoz and Zytek Engineering also broke new ground by outfitting a GTR-1 with a battery-based hybrid drive system which, nearly 15 years later would become standard among top-tier Le Mans Prototypes.Related

Racing community pays tribute to Don Panoz

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GALLERY: Significant Panoz race carsIn North America and Europe, the Panoz Racing team made its mark in a variety of elite championships, winning numerous races with the evocative front-engine prototypes and later, on its own and as a supplier, with its production-based Esperante GT cars.Panoz stepped in at a critical juncture to purchase IMSA, which had been bought and sold numerous times in the 1990s, and under his care, the American Le Mans Series was launched in its place. Along with purchasing a number of important historic racing circuits like Road Atlanta and Sebring, Panoz infused sports car racing with a fan-first approach and brought stability where it was sorely lacking.

With almost every major auto manufacturer having participated in the ALMS at some point, Panoz is credited for using his vision and resources to give sports car fans, teams, and drivers one of the most prosperous and beloved golden eras in motor racing.Panoz was also committed to gender equality in racing, and through the Women’s Global GT Series he created to run alongside the upstart ALMS championship, a springboard was established for women to forge driving careers in sports car racing.In the early 2000s, Panoz also stepped in to purchase the flagging G Force Indy car constructor, and through the investments made in developing the underperforming chassis, he took great pride in watching the rechristened Panoz G Force model capture consecutive wins at the Indy 500 from 2003-2004 with Team Penske and Rahal Letterman Racing.Through his Elan Technologies firm in Georgia, Panoz’s reach in the sport grew from open-wheel and sports car manufacturing to engine building and composites work which, at its peak, was among the busiest and most diverse companies of its kind in the U.S.

Among the various projects Panoz undertook in recent years, his involvement with the open-top DeltaWing grew from taking on a project created by others to assuming full control of the program and building a new closed-top version that displayed impressive speed and potential.

In 2012, Panoz decided it was time to part with the ALMS and the numerous tracks he’d amassed. From the deal to sell those properties to NASCAR, Panoz seemed to find greater joy in focusing on his favorite side of the sport: conjuring and pursuing new ideas.




With the DeltaWing Racing program in full swing, Panoz was drawn back to the early exploits of “Sparky,” the hybrid Esperante GTR-1, and recently formed a new business, Green4U Technologies, with a goal of building and racing an all-electric prototype at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Although it did not reach fruition, the project demonstrated that Panoz’s desire to be different and break new ground remained undimmed even into his 80s.Following the closure of the DeltaWing project, Panoz returned to his roots with an earth-rattling front-engine GT car, the Avezzano GT4, which terrorized the Pirelli World Challenge series upon its debut in 2017. The PWC’s 2018 GTS Sprint and Sprint-X manufacturers’ championships with the Avezzano GT4 bestowed more meaningful titles on his brand and team.




Few have done more to help motor racing than Dr. Panoz whose legacy, seen in the rising tides within IMSA, his commitment to forging new conventions with web-based radio and video streaming, and with unforgettable cars that captured some of the greatest prizes in the world, will be felt for decades to come.