Galaxy Magnesium – a company that provides mine-to-customer magnesium – has partnered with Panoz Racing to create lightweight, safe, high-performance vehicle technology for race cars. Panoz has been a regular competitor in SRO Motorsports Group competitions over the last three years and has garnered multiple team manufacturer and driver championship titles.
Racing is an exciting demonstration platform for vehicle lightweighting and Galaxy Magnesium will be showcasing the latest generation magnesium alloys formulated for the transportation industry. Panoz is integrating the material into its two Avezzano vehicles as its team takes on Aston-Martin-AMR, Audi, BMW, Ford, Ginetta, KTM, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG, Porsche, SIN Cars, and more on the Road America racetrack.
Galaxy Magnesium
“Galaxy Magnesium is sparking a revolution in the world of industrial metal – through proof-of concept via superior performance delivered by Panoz’s championship race cars,” said Michael North, president, Galaxy Magnesium. “Our partnership with Panoz also includes the launch of the non-profit Flying Tigers Institute: a hub of magnesium-intensive technology for the transportation industry and beyond. The institute pays tribute to the heroes of World War II who flew dangerous combat missions, cooperating with other nations to secure freedom for America and the world. The Flying Tigers are reflective of our investment in the future of America’s automotive industry – anchored by the technology and manufacturing excellence of American workers.”
An international company based in the U.S., Galaxy reports that it is streamlining global supply chains, offering custom alloys for unparalleled performance and delivering the “Galaxy Guarantee,” which is all-inclusive pricing, direct from the most productive mines in the world. According to the company, their goal is to pave the way towards a lightweight future through a reasonable, stably priced, guaranteed-quality commercial magnesium. They are focused on providing the magnesium to a variety of industries, from automotive and aerospace to energy, construction, and pharmaceuticals.
Galaxy recently secured a round of private investment from Wisdom Capital, a New York-based private equity firm, to position itself as the world’s largest mine-to-customer source. The investment’s purpose is to create efficient global markets for magnesium so that automakers can confidently design their future cars around it.
Panoz Racing
Panoz Engineering and Panoz Racing, based in Hoschton, Georgia, is a small volume auto manufacturer and a prolific competitor in motorsports. As a manufacturer, Panoz sports cars pride themselves on starting a wave of innovation in vehicle lightweighting, with a focus on modular aluminum-intensive vehicles. Panoz is also an engineer, builder, and winner in Le Mans prototype classes, Indy Car, GT2, GT4, and Trans Am, as well as various spec type race cars and DeltaWing technologies.
The racing company believes its current effort with the SRO will be a game-changer, as Panoz applies its experience with aluminum to magnesium alloys. Panoz and Galaxy will execute the racing program with a transparent protocol: sharing magnesium alloy material and manufacturing technologies openly as a platform for vehicle lightweighting.
“It’s great to be back at SRO America with our amazing team – going head-to-head with our strong competitors from around the world on the Milwaukee track,” said Dan Panoz, company founder, designer, and engineer. “We are especially excited about doing something new this year, openly sharing our newest approach to vehicle lightweighting. We will demonstrate this in the real-world lab of competition, by using latest generation magnesium alloys that will ultimately benefit tomorrow’s road vehicles.”
The SRO event, Pirelli GT4 America, will take place on August 29-30, 2020 and features two 90-minute races at the world-famous Road America Raceway in the heart of Wisconsin, about 20 miles north of Milwaukee. The thrilling race is closed to the public for public health reasons, but will be broadcast live at: https://www.gt4-america.com/live.