FA: PR1 chooses Forest, Bomarito for '06 campaign.

For its first full season in the Champ Car Atlantic Championship, PR1 Motorsports will rely on two drivers that have a history of success with the team.

The California-based team will compete with a strong two-car line-up featuring former Atlantic racer and 2003 U.S. Formula Ford Zetec champion Jonathan Bomarito and 2005 Pacific F2000 champ Mike Forest. Both drivers earned their most recent titles while racing for PR1 Motorsports.

"We've been fortunate to work with both drivers in the past so this seemed to be a good fit for both PR1 and for Jonathan and Mike," said Bobby Oergel, owner of PR1 Motorsports. "We certainly know what both of these drivers are capable of and they know the team. We know each other's strengths and weaknesses and that should help make a smooth transition for us this season."

After years of success competing in the Formula Ford ranks, PR1 did a great job in its first foray into Atlantic racing in 2005. The team competed in three races and produced three top-seven results, including a pole position and a second-place finish at Denver with 17-year-old racer Alan Sciuto.

"We got our feet wet a little bit last year and we decided with the new car and a lot of new competitors this would be a good time to make the transition to the series full time," said Oergel.

Bomarito, the 23-year-old native of Monterey, California, earned the '03 Zetec title on the strength of five wins and nine podium results for PR1. When Bomarito joined Atlantics with Transnet Racing in 2004, Oergel served as his driver coach. John Hayes worked as Transnet's team manager that season with Bomarito emerging as one of the series' top rookies with four top-five results in seven starts. Hayes will be reunited with Bomarito as his race engineer at PR1 this season.

Forest, a 23-year-old talent from Edmonton, is excited about entering Atlantics as a highly-touted rookie this season. The son of former racer Ric Forest, he took full advantage of PR1's veteran leadership last season on his way to the Pacific F2000 crown. Forest got off to a terrific start in '05 winning the first four races of the season before locking up the title in late September. Andy Garvey, who has been with the PR1 team since 2001, will serve as lead engineer on Forest's car this season.