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Team Stargate Worlds Muniz and De Silvestro Battle It Out at Sebring
March 21, 2009
Round One doesn't go as planned but both Team Stargate Worlds drivers earn valuable points.

Sebring, FL (March 22, 2009) – After days of testing and a solid qualifying effort Team Stargate Worlds' Frankie Muniz and Simona De Silvestro showed up Friday afternoon to compete at Round One of the Cooper Tires Presents the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda race at Sebring International Raceway. Under perfect weather conditions the team was looking forward to a great race. While it eventually turned out to be a great race it wasn't under ideal conditions.

Starting in the eighth and ninth spots respectively Team Stargate Worlds drivers Simona De Silvestro and Frankie Muniz lined up on the grid awaiting for the signal to start their engines. When the call finally came Muniz's #77 did not start. The team had no choice but to push the car off-course and began to methodically figure out the source of the problem. A bad ECU was discovered and a new one was installed, but it came too late and Muniz was forced to start at the end of the pack. Efforts were further hampered by the fact that Muniz had lost all radio communication. The team was unable to listen to him and vice versa. Undeterred by the issues Muniz quickly made up ground and fought his way back into the race by swiftly passing the C2 category cars and immediately began attacking the rest of the field. With determination Muniz quickly caught up to tenth place and made the pass. With the race ending Muniz had closed the gap between him and the ninth place of Jensen Motorsport's driver Matt Lee. Separated by only a few feet Muniz and Lee battled for the position but unfortunately time ran out and a pass was never realized. Muniz would end up in tenth. Coming back from the nineteenth spot Muniz's tenth place finish was an impressive feet. He also ran the sixth fastest lap of the race. For his efforts Muniz earned 4 valuable points towards the 2009 Atlantic Championship

For Simona De Silvestro's she began the race and charged through the first turn and narrowly escaped being part of the horrific incident between defending series champion Markus Niemela and 2008 championship runner-up Jonathan Bomarito. Both of whom were involved in a scary crash in turn 17 on the opening lap. Avoiding the incident De Silvestro began to focus on the # 6 of Borja Garcia and after stalking him for the first half of the race De Silvestro made her move on the inside and passed Garcia on lap # 8 for fifth and proceeded to chase the fourth place car of rookie driver Harald Schlegelmilch. De Silvestro's time would eventually run out and she would go on to earn a fifth place for her debut with Team Stargate Worlds. De Silvestro earned 10 points for her fifth spot finish.

Frankie Muniz: “It was a pretty disappointing start. First it was the radio that didn't work then the car didn't start and with that I thought my day was done but we changed the ECU and started in the back. With all that I still think I ran a strong race and ran fast lap times throughout the race. It was unfortunate that the circumstances were that way but we'll learn from this and be ready for the next race. I have to thank everyone at Team Stargate Worlds for their great work and thanks to our sponsors for their continued support.”

Simona De Silvestro - “Well I think we did very good and had the caution been a bit shorter I think we might have had a shot to take one more position. This being our first race and to finish fifth is a strong finish and if we can continue to finish strong and win races I believe we can be in a great position for the Championship. Team Stargate Worlds gave me a great car and I want to thank them and our sponsors for their great efforts”
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Team Stargate Worlds Duo Completes Sebring Qualifying
March 19, 2009
Qualifying is complete and the Team Stargate Worlds duo are ready to race

Sebring, FL (March 19, 2009) – The Team Stargate Worlds duo of Frankie Muniz and Simona De Silvestro completed two days of qualifying for the Cooper Tires Presents the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda at Sebring International Raceway. Under partly cloudy and breezy conditions the team was looking forward to completing two good sessions in the hope of getting great race start positioning

Wednesday's session saw Muniz run a best lap of 1:54.846 (115.981 mph) which put him in the ninth spot while his teammate Simona De Silvestro turned a best lap of 1:54.525 (116.306 mph) good enough for eighth. With another qualifying session scheduled for the next day the team worked hard into the night in preparation for the next session.

Thursday's session saw the track conditions change quite a bit from the previous day due to the various types of cars that had been on the track since. Muniz and De Silvestro entered the track and quickly got up to speed. Muniz muscled his #77 entry around the 3.7-mile permanent road course. The Scottsdale, Arizona resident jumped up as high as sixth on the grid before pitting for some adjustments . He quickly got back on track and eventually hung in to clench eleventh with a best lap time of 1:56350 (114.482 mph). Simona De Silvestro attacked the track and immediately put up a lap that put her second on the grid, but she also experienced a different track from yesterday so the session was going to not be without its challenges. She pitted on her third lap and changed tires and the team made some minor adjustments before she was off again. De Silvestro was able to gain ground on the timesheet and was able to claw her way to an eighth best time of 1:55.161 (115.664 mph) as the checkered flag waved.

Frankie Muniz: “I'm satisfied with our performance today, especially since it's my best qualifying effort yet. The track was not as fast as it was yesterday so we dealt with that but overall I think the crew did a great job prepping the car and I am very excited about tomorrow and where we will be for tomorrow's race.

Simona De Silvestro - “We struggled a bit out there today but I am very confident going into the race tomorrow and I know the Team Stargate Worlds car will be ready for the challenge at hand. I have a great crew and a great teammate and we're all hoping for a great race tomorrow”

Muniz and De Silvestro Complete First Day of Qualifying at Sebring
March 18, 2009
Day 1 is complete at Sebring and the results are in

The 36th anniversary of the Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda season got underway officially today in front of thousands and the Team Stargate Worlds duo of Frankie Muniz and Simona De Silvestro were prepared to start the season on a strong note.

Frankie Muniz ran a total of 16 laps in the #77 machine and ultimately would end up at a very respectable 9th place qualifying position while his teammate Simona De Silvestro hammered her #78 machine to a 8th place qualifying finishing position

Team Stargate Worlds Completes First Series Test
March 13, 2009
Team Stargate Worlds Completes First Series Test at Palm Beach International Raceway.

For Team Stargate Worlds the last three weeks have been hectic. With the team announcement and unveiling a couple of weeks ago, a newly redesigned website, the addition of new crew members and a recent test session at Buttonwillow Raceway, the team showed no signs of fatigue as they arrived for the first Atlantic Championship series test at the 2.034 mile Palm Beach International Raceway road course. By the end of the two days Team Stargate Worlds drivers Simona De Silvestro and Frankie Muniz had turned heads and gave notice that Team Stargate Worlds would be a formidable team for the 2009 Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda season.

The two days for Simona De Silvestro were very productive. Day one saw her put up strong lap times. Working closely with her engineer Burke Harrison, De Silvestro quickly put up very strong times and made great progress learning the track and experimenting with various adjustments. The result was a day best lap of 1:08.823 which put her third quickest of the day. Day two saw Simona continuing to explore new ideas and adjustments, and even though the times were not as quick as other drivers, valuable information was gained and progress was achieved. At the conclusion of the two days the No. 78 Stargate Worlds/Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment/FireSky/Cardinal Technologies machine would end up a strong ninth on the timesheets.

Frankie Muniz's development continued to shine as the series sophomore left an indelible exclamation mark after his two-day testing performance. Coming off a very long off-season with only one test session before this, Muniz climbed into the No. 77 Stargate Worlds/Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment/FireSky/Cardinal Technologies car and stormed onto the track and posted the sixth best time of day. Feeling very relaxed and having "the greatest time", Muniz arrived on day 2 and improved his times with an overall best lap time of 1:07.919, which was enough to catapult him to fourth quickest. This represents Frankie's career best testing session.

The March 25th Sebring race season-opener is next up for Team Stargate Worlds.

Frankie Muniz - "I am extremely happy with the outcome of these two test days. Being fourth quickest overall was a real accomplishment for me and the team and it just shows how we're all clicking. This is the first time that I've had so much fun during a test. I was very relaxed and had a smile the whole time. My engineer Gerald Tyler has done a great job as has the rest of Team Stargate Worlds. I am looking forward to next week's race"

Simona De Silvestro - "The first day went very well. We were third fastest and everything came together fairly quickly and on the second day we struggled a bit. My engineer Burke Harrison and I are communicating and working very well. Team Stargate Worlds has been great and I'm very confident going into the first race of the 2009 season."

Imran Safiulla and Shane Seneviratne, Principals of Team Stargate Worlds - "It was a good test for us. The team did a great job and we are pleased with our preparations leading up to the season-opener. Both drivers have done a phenomenal job in the off-season and we were very excited to see Frankie move up on the grid. Simona had a tough second day but she's going to be just fine."

Team Stargate Worlds Initiates First Test of the Season
March 4, 2009
After announcings its formation Team Stargate Worlds, anchored by drivers Frankie Muniz and Simona De Silvestro take to the track

Buttonwillow, CA (March 3, 2009) - A little less than a week after announcing its formation Team Stargate Worlds completed its first test of the season with drivers Frankie Muniz and Simona De Silvestro. The cars made their debut at the team's home track of Buttonwillow Raceway. The 1.374-mile track provided a full day's worth of testing as well as an opportunity for both drivers to get acquainted to their new Team Stargate Worlds surroundings.
The occasion marks the first time both drivers have hit the track since the last race of the 2008 Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda season. Though the threat of rain continually loomed over the track throughout the day the conditions remained dry and ideal for the Team Stargate Worlds duo. Both Muniz and De Silvestro combined for a total of just over 400 miles.

It also marks the first time that both drivers began working with their race engineers. For 2009 Muniz will work alongside his engineer Gerald Tyler, while Burke Harrison joins Team Stargate Worlds as De Silvestro's engineer. Both Tyler and Harrison have a long history together that goes back to the 2002 Atlantic Championship season where, along with US RaceTronics Team Principal Shane Seneviratne, Dorricott Racing won the 2002 championship in dominating fashion with Jon Fogarty. Tyler and Harrison followed that up by winning the Championship again the following year with RuSPORT.

At the conclusion of the day both drivers and their engineers were happy with what was accomplished and were confident in moving forward. The team will regroup next week at the series-sanctioned test at Palm Beach International Raceway on March 10-11.

Frankie Muniz, Driver No. 77 - "I'm very happy with how the day went. We were very productive and we got to run a lot of miles, which dusted off the cobwebs. I also got to work with my new engineer Gerald Tyler which was great. I'm confident that we'll have a very good year just based on what we've learned thus far. I just want to thank the Team Stargate Worlds team and I can't wait to get back in the car for our next test."

Simona De Silvestro, Driver No. 78 - "Overall the day went very well. The Team Stargate Worlds crew did a great job today and working with my new engineer Burke Harrison had a lot of positive results, which allowed us to be very productive. We tried a lot of things out in order to see what worked and what didn't but overall I think today's test was a definite step in the right direction."

Gerald Tyler, Engineer - No 77- "It was the first time working with the team and I have to say it's a great team. Shane and Imran have a great team here and it was great working with them and I'm looking forward to working with them this year. As far as the test, you couldn't really tell that this was our first test in that once we got going everything just clicked, from the team to Frankie. It all just fell into place very nicely. Working with Frankie and Bob Perona, our driver's coach, I know that we'll all try to get the best out of each other this year and I'm sure 2009 will be great."

Burke Harrison, Engineer, No 78- "What I really wanted to work on was the communication aspect with Simona and we made good inroads on that. There were also a few test items we wanted to complete as well which we managed to do. The track conditions were not that great but I believe we managed to make great progress. The 2009 season will be a very exciting one and I'm looking forward to it."

About Team Stargate Worlds
Team Stargate Worlds entered the 2009 Atlantic Championship season in partnership with US RaceTronics with one of the world's most talented female race car drivers Simona De Silvestro and Hollywood star turned serious professional racer Frankie Muniz. For more information about Team Stargate Worlds please visit teamstargateworlds.com and usracetronics.com.

Team Stargate Worlds Enters the 2009 Atlantic Championship Series
February 25, 2009
It is official, Team Stargate Worlds is now in the Atlantic Championship Series

The worlds of gaming, racing, Hollywood, and women sports all merged today when it was announced during the annual MAZDASPEED Motorsports Media Lunch in Irvine, California that Frankie Muniz and Simona De Silvestro would be teaming up for the 2009 Cooper Tires Atlantic Championship Powered By Mazda as part of Team Stargate Worlds™. The team will be operated by US RaceTronics but will run under the banner of Team Stargate Worlds and features sponsorship from Stargate Worlds™ developer Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment™ and publisher FireSky™. The sponsorship is unique in that Muniz and De Silvestro will be featured in the upcoming Stargate Worlds massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). Based on Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s (MGM) very sucessfull Stargate franchise, Stargate Worlds features tactical modern combat vs. science-fiction weapons and instant travel across the galaxy in a story-driven MMO.

With a challenging 12-race 2009 schedule and a significant prize package that includes a $1 million prize for the series champion, Muniz returns to the Atlantic series after a solid season in 2008 in which he earned three top-10 race results and narrowly missed finishing inside the top 10 in the championship. This marks Muniz’s third year in the series and his second year with the team.

De Silvestro is no stranger to the Atlantic Championship. The native of Thun, Switzerland who currently resides in Phoenix, Ariz. made history last year by becoming the second woman in Atlantic Championship history to win a race by taking the season-opening Imperial Capital Bank Atlantic Challenge of Long Beach. In addition to her historic win last year, De Silvestro’s 2008 season included an impressive eight top-10 finishes and a career-best eighth-place position in the final championship standings.

In addition to the sponsorship from Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment and FireSky, Team Stargate Worlds is also pleased to continue to have the support of Meguiar’s Car Care Products and Mechanix Wear, both of whom have a long relationship with USRT.

Frankie Muniz, Driver No. 77 - “I'm excited about Team Stargate Worlds and the upcoming 2009 Atlantic Championship season. I would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone at Cheyenne Mountain and Mr. Gary Whiting for this incredible opportunity. I'm looking forward to working with everyone at US RaceTronics once again including my new engineer Gerald Tyler. I am very excited about the scenario of mixing my two passions of racing and acting, as I will be starring as a galactic racer in the upcoming Stargate Worlds game.”

Simona De Silvestro, Driver No. 78 - “I'm really excited for the 2009 season with Team Stargate Worlds. I want to thank Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment especially Mr. Gary Whiting for the opportunity of a lifetime. The team has a great combination of proven winners including the capable engineering of Burke Harrison, and we hope to have a very strong team this year. I'm also ecstatic about entering Frankie's world of acting in a virtual sense as I will be starring as a intergalactic racer in the Stargate Worlds game. I'm really looking forward with partnering with Frankie in bringing our team success.”

Imran Safiulla and Shane Seneviratne, Principals of Team Stargate Worlds, - “We are very pleased to have created this association with the USRT family and believe that Team Stargate Worlds will be a very exciting team to watch for in 2009. The Stargate Worlds game is being anticipated as one of the most exciting MMOs to be released and we are very grateful to Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment for their belief in us to develop a strong pre-launch campaign for the game. Both Simona and Frankie are very unique drivers and represent fantastic human journeys. We look forward to being a part of their success and making history.”

Gary Whiting, Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment Founder: “The evolution of Team Stargate Worlds is very exciting for our group. The reach of motorsports to a very large and wide audience demographic is undeniable. The Atlantic series and its assets will prove to be a solid platform that can be used to begin our pre-launch activities for our game, Stargate Worlds. Frankie and Simona are fantastic brand ambassadors and this is just a beginning of what I hope will turn into a long and successful relationship. I would like to specifically thank Shane and Imran for having created a marvelous program.”

About FireSky

FireSky ™ is dedicated to the fusion of social experiences with entertainment software and games. FireSky’s first product is the Social Networks at Play game (SNAP), Stargate Worlds, based on the popular science fiction television series Stargate SG-1? and Stargate Atlantis ™ which are officially licensed by MGM Interactive. For more information, visit the company's website www.FireSky.com and the Stargate Worlds community site at www.stargateworlds.com.

About Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment

Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment ™ is dedicated to the fusion of social experiences with entertainment software and games. Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment's first product is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG), Stargate Worlds, based on the popular science fiction television series Stargate SG-1? and Stargate Atlantis ™ which are officially licensed by MGM Interactive. For more information, visit the company's website www.cheyenneme.com and the Stargate Worlds community site at www.stargateworlds.com

About Team Stargate Worlds

Team Stargate Worlds entered the 2009 Atlantic Championship season in partnership with US RaceTronics with one of the world's most talented female race car drivers Simona De Silvestro and Hollywood star turned serious professional racer Frankie Muniz. For more information about Team Stargate Worlds please visit www.teamstargateworlds.com

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