Photo by John Thawely St. Petersburg, Florida-  B-K Motorsports No. 8 BP Lola B07/46-Mazda MZR-R LMP2 car enjoyed a solid top-10 finish in Saturday's 2008 American Le Mans Series Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg. Rookie of the Year contender, driver Gerardo Bonilla brought the car across the line to take the checkered flag sixth in class.

"What a day, " said Bonilla. "We finally got to race the car and it was a treat. To be able to race in the ALMS with all of these first class drivers is incredible. The No. 8 BP Lola B07/46-Mazda MZR-R was great, I feel so fortunate."

"The car was amazing and we plan to make it even better," continued Bonilla. "The Yokohamas were terrific all day. I have to thank everyone that allowed me to be here; BP, Yokohama, Mazda, Robert Bach and the whole team."

Added Mazdaspeed's John Doonan, "Our goal coming here was to get a finish and keep the car clean, we accomplished those two things. We were looking for a top five, but getting a good finish from the great job by both drivers and the team, we can now go to Long Beach with some confidence. Yokohama keeps supplying us with good product. We are moving up the results sheet and that is the goal."

"I am proud of the guys to come back from our experience at Sebring and get a result like this," said team owner, Bob Bach. "We are looking forward to Long Beach and continuing the success."

Next up will be the Tequila Patron American LeMans Series at Long Beach, April 18-19. The series returns for the second straight year at the historic street circuit just south of Los Angeles in one of the most anticipated races of the season. Coverage will be on ABC at 12:30PM PDT, April 20th.

About Mazda:
On any given weekend, there are more Mazdas on the road-race tracks of America than any other brand of vehicle. At the track, you’ll see MX-5 Miata, RX-8, MAZDA3, MAZDA6, RX-7 and other vintage Mazda models competing, because every Mazda has the Soul of a Sports Car. In fact, the largest road-racing class in the U.S. is the SCCA’s Spec Miata class, with over 1,500 first- and second-generation Miatas tearing up America’s racetracks, making it the most-raced production car in the world. Mazda’s involvement in motorsports extends to its relationship with Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, one of the world’s premier road-racing circuits, and the Skip Barber Schools for driving and racing.

Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., Mazda North American Operations oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States, Canada and Mexico through nearly 900 dealers. Operations in Canada are managed by Mazda Canada, Inc., located in Ontario, Canada, and in Mexico by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City. For more information go to www.mazdausa.com

About BP:
BP markets more than 15 billion gallons of gasoline every year to U.S. consumers through 13,000 BP and ARCO branded retail outlets and supplies more than four billion gallons of fuel annually to fleets, industrial users, auto and truck manufacturers, railroads and utilities.

BP is the single, global brand formed by the combination of the former British Petroleum, Amoco Corporation, Atlantic Richfield (ARCO) and Burmah Castrol. BP is a global producer, manufacturer and marketer of oil, gas, chemicals and renewable energy sources. For more information go to www.bp.com

About Yokohama Tire Corporation:
Yokohama Tire Corporation is the North American manufacturing and marketing arm of Tokyo, Japan-based Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., a global producer and distributor of premium tires since 1917. Servicing a network of more than 4,500 points of sale in the U.S., Yokohama Tire Corporation offers a complete line of tires, including high-performance, light truck, passenger car, commercial truck and bus, as well as off-the-road mining and construction applications. For details on Yokohama’s environmental efforts, go to www.ecotreadsetters.com.

American Le Mans Series
The American Le Mans Series is the premium brand of motorsport in North America, featuring high-tech sports cars from the most prestigious automobile manufacturers in the world. Its unique four classes of competition showcase exotic, open-top prototypes and sophisticated production-based GT cars, all competing on the track at the same time. The American Le Mans Series competes at the premier road racing tracks across North America and at selected temporary street circuits in major urban markets. With a 2007 television package that includes five network broadcasts on CBS and NBC and seven telecasts on SPEED, plus live broadcasts across Europe, the Series delivers a global marketing platform that is unmatched in motorsports. The Series, founded in 1999 by Georgia entrepreneur Don Panoz, represents a mirror image to the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world’s most famous and authentic automobile race. The American Le Mans Series features elite marques such as Audi, Porsche, Corvette, Aston Martin, Ferrari and Panoz, and premium brands such as Michelin, Yokohama, Kumho, Lowe’s, Shell and many others. To follow the series, go to www.americanlemas.com.