HOPWOOD AND ROACH RETURN TO COMPASS360 RACING

2007 Street Tuner Champion to share driving duties with long-time Grand-Am competitor

(Toronto, Ontario, Canada) -- Compass360 Racing (C360R) released details of its fourth and final driver pairing for the first race of the 2012 season, announcing Bo Roach and Trevor Hopwood as pilots of the the #77 Joe Marina Honda / Luna-C Racing / Honda Performance Development Civic Si.

Roach returns to the team for a third year, having driven for C360R at select races in 2008 and 2009. He'll campaign the #77 car with support from Joe Marina Honda for the entire 2012 season.

Hopwood, who last drove for the team in 2008 with Adam Burrows, will now compete against his former co-driver with both having been signed to take over the "closing" (or second-stint) duties in two different C360R Hondas.

"It gives me great pleasure to have brought both Trevor and Adam back to our team," remarked Team Principal Karl Thomson. "Since 2007 they've always been paired together in the same car and I'm really excited to see what fireworks erupt when they're battling against each other in the closing stages of a race. Then you throw in Ryan Eversley and David Thilenius as closers in our other cars and you've got an amazing inter-team four-car Honda rivalry on the high banks of Daytona."

 

"I'm really excited about coming back to C360R and racing with Bo," said Hopwood. "It is going to be fun, and I'm grateful to Karl (Thomson) and Joe Marina Honda for making this opportunity possible. I'm also looking forward to racing for Ray (Lee), he really  knows what he is doing and we just want to start the year with a solid run at Daytona and build from there."

Roach was similarly enthused. "I had a great test in my #77 car last weekend. The car was hooked up and easy to drive, just like I remember from 2009. The team was fantastic and I'm just so thrilled to be back for a full season with them. Having Trevor as my co-driver for Daytona is going to be amazing."

Said Thomson, "Bo and I both competed in Grand-Am for the first time in 2004. We battled hard on track a number of times, and I remember one particularly spirited fight between us at Fontana where he and I were nose-to-tail for the entire final stint of the race. Bo's a great competitor and it's an absolute thrill to have him back in the Grand-Am paddock full time."

The first Grand-Am race of the season at Daytona on January 26-27. Tickets can be purchased at the Daytona International Speedway website: http://bit.ly/rEnQzs.