Patrick to race Prodrive Ferrari

The young American will partner Briton Anthony Davidson in the car, and will make her series debut in the race at Road Atlanta on June 29.

"I've always wanted to do Le Mans-type racing," said Patrick. "I have the racing background and experience to move up to the next levels of the sport. I am ready to show everyone that I belong here. I believe I'll show them I can do the job."

Bobby Rahal, who is Patrick's team boss in the Toyota Atlantic championship, was the driving force behind the deal. The former CART champion wanted his driver to gain as much racing experience as possible.

"I feel that it's important for a driver to drive in different types of racing," said Rahal. "At Danica's age, and with her lack of experience, racing in this series will really help her. The more you do as a driver, the more you learn. And endurance racing is really good for a driver because you learn how to take care of a car and when to race."

Davidson and Patrick should already be familiar to each other, having finished first and second respectively in the 2000 Formula Ford Festival.