Novo Nordisk announced today that it has joined Chip Ganassi Racing to create the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team for the 2011 IZOD IndyCar season. The team will sponsor a new entry in the series driven by American racecar driver and type 1 diabetic, Charlie Kimball. This partnership makes Kimball one of the first drivers from the 2010 Firestone Indy Lights series to move up the official “Road to Indy” with a full season sponsorship.
Charlie Kimbell, began racing go-karts at age nine, and has since raced on both sides of the Atlantic, shattering the European stereotype that “Americans are not fast” and becoming the first American in 11 years to win a British Formula 3 race.
In 2007 Kimball was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, which prevented him from completing the World Series by Renault season. With the help of a team of diabetic specialists he returned to form and to the Euroseries with Prema Powerteam. In 2009 Kimball returned to the US racing with Team PBIR in Firestone Indy Lights. Kimball, 25, finished fourth in the 2010 Indy Lights season, capturing five podium (top three) finishes, including four second-place finishes.
Novo Nordisk has sponsored Kimball for the past two seasons in the Firestone Indy Lights series. During this time he has developed “not only as a race car driver, but also as a role model to thousands of people with diabetes,” said Camille Lee, Vice President of Diabetes Marketing at Novo Nordisk.
The creation of the new team allows Novo Nordisk to continue as Kimball’s primary sponsor, with naming rights to the car, as well as other branding elements. Kimball will also continue to make appearances for Novo Nordisk throughout the country,with the award-winning Race with Insulin™ and other diabetes campaigns.
Kimball monitors his blood sugar before, during and after each race, and uses the Novo Nordisk insulin Levemir® (insulin detemir [rDNA origin] injection) and NovoLog® (insulin aspart [rDNA origin] injection) and a pre-filled insulin pen device, called FlexPen® to help manage his diabetes.
“I am honored to join Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing and excited to be moving up to the IZOD IndyCar Series,” said Kimball. “This is a dream come true and I am very proud to work with Novo Nordisk and continue to spread the message that diabetes does not have to slow you down.”
Source: http://press.novonordisk-us.com/
