American Le Mans Series

Former “Real World” Cast Member to Drive at Petit Le Mans

He has gone from the cockpit to the pitbox and now back again behind the wheel. It’s the latest in long line of racing ventures for Atlanta’s Mike Johnson. The St. Louis native will team with George Forgeois and Bill Woodman in the No. 7 BAT Competition Nissan-powered Lola at Petit Le Mans, Round 9 of the American Le Mans Series.

Johnson has been racing in a variety of series for the better part of 13 years. He started in the SCCA in 1992, the moved to British Formula Renault in 1995 (with Guy Smith and Darren Turner) and then to U.S. Formula Ford 2000 in 1996 (with Buddy Rice, Sam Hornish Jr. and Andy Lally).

He also served as a lead instructor at Panoz Racing School at Road Atlanta from 1998-2001. That’s also where his Archangel Motorsports shop was based from ’98 to 2003. The team finished second at Petit in LMP675 for both 2001 and ’02.

In those season, Archangel finished third in the class team championship standings.

Johnson also served as the team manager for Intersport Racing’s class-winning Le Mans campaign in 2004.

“Driving at Petit has always been a dream of mine,” Johnson said. “Our No. 1 goal is to have a flawless run with no penalties, no mechanical failures and no accidents for 10 hours, and then see where we are at the end. I have full faith in the team and the car, and I know we will be there at the end. But since we have a 150 hp disadvantage, I expect us to be the slowest car of the class, but that’s OK. Our team is all about having fun, doing well, and enjoying the event.

“Andy Lally will be my pit strategist, which will be a role reversal for the two of us,” he added. “We raced against each other in F2000, he won his first two championships with me (2001 SRP-II, 2004 SGS) calling the shots, and his only 24-hour win. He was the best man at my wedding, and he bought my old house in Hamilton Mill. I used to host a post-Petit Party every year after the race, and now Andy will continue the tradition for the fourth consecutive year.

“Georges Forgeois has been a customer of mine since 1999, when he raced an Archangel F2000 car. He also ran in a handful of SRP-II and LMP2 races with Archangel,” Johnson added.

Johnson has had fun off the track two as he was a cast member for MTV’s Real World IV, which was filmed in London from January to June of 1995. He also has served as a color commentator for SPEED during the 2004 SCCA Runoffs.

“I need to thank all of my friends within this business for helping me drive in this fantastic event,” Johnson said. “Everyone from BAT Competition, Georges, BSR Products and PFC, TRG, Essex Racing, Yokohama, and the great people at IMSA have bent over backwards to help us enter this event. I can’t wait.”