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Grand-Am: 26 countries represented at the Daytona Rolex 24

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Khatir Soltani
With drivers coming from 26 countries and regions from six continents in 2009, the Daytona Rolex 24 may boast one of the biggest international fields in motor racing.

The U.S. has an overwhelming advantage in terms of drivers calling a certain country home, but that is to be expected as the majority of teams and drivers are based within the continental 48 states.

However, the United Kingdom is second on the list, with 15 drivers either born in the U.K. or calling the U.K. home.

Italy and Canada and are third and fourth on the entry list with 12 and 10 drivers, respectively.

France has five drivers in the race, including two drivers who have overall victories in the race.

Other countries represented include Australia, Portugal and South Africa with three each; Austria with two and one each from Argentina, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Guatemala, San Marino, Spain and Sweden.

Birth-countries aren't the only ones represented, though. While the drivers represent 24 countries spanning the globe, teams and crews also add to that list.

Countries Represented
(Drivers listed were born in country other than U.S. or have dual citizenship)

Argentina (1): Claudio Burtin
Australia (3): Ryan Briscoe, Paul Morris, Allan Simonsen
Austria (2): Martin Ragginger (now living in Germany), Richard Lietz
Belgium (1): Eric van de Poele
Brazil (3): Oswaldo Negri, Ricardo Zonta, Raphael Matos
Canada (10): Jean-Francois Dumoulin, Mark Wilkins, Mike Forest, Michael Valiante, David Empringham, John Farano, Ross Bentley, Keith Carter, Steve Paquette, Sylvain Tremblay
Colombia (1): Juan Pablo Montoya
Czech Republic (1): Tomas Enge (now living in Monaco)
Denmark (1): Jan Magnussen (now living in United Kingdom)
France (5): Romain Dumas (now living in Switzerland), Emmanuel Collard, Patrick Pilet, Phillip Martien, Christophe Bouchut
Germany (8): Sascha Maassen (now living in Belgium), Timo Bernhard, Marco Holzer, Jorg Bergmeister, Wolf Henzler, Dominik Farnbacher, Dirk Werner, Pierre Kaffer
Guatemala (1): Richard Campollo (now living in Dominic Republic)
Italy (12): Max Angelelli (now living in Monaco), Matteo Bobbi, Fabrizio Gollin, Diego Alessi, Max Papis, Luca Pirri, Luca Drudi, Roberto Sperati, Giacomo Petrobelli (now living in United Kingdom), Giorgio Rosa, Gabrio Rosa, Costantino Bertuzzi
Mexico (3): Memo Rojas, Josemanuel Gutierrez, Pepe Montano
New Zealand (1): Scott Dixon
Portugal (3): Pedro Lamy, Joao Barbosa, Cesar Campanico
San Marino (1): Christian Montanari
South Africa (3): Mark Patterson, Dion von Moltke, Dave Lacey (now living in Canada)
Spain (1): Antonio Garcia
Sweden (1): Nic Jönsson
United Kingdom (16): Dario Franchitti, Alex Lloyd, Andy Wallace, Ian James, Jeff Ward, Ryan Dalziel, Darren Manning, Oliver Gavin, Darren Turner, Robin Liddell, Tim Sugden, Nick Ham, Robert Nearn, Richard Westbrook, Matthew Marsh (now living in Hong Kong), Dan Watkins
Territories
Puerto Rico (1): Gerardo Bonilla
photo:Grand-Am Series
Khatir Soltani
Khatir Soltani
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