Paul Walker to race Mazda MX-5 at 25 Hours of Thunderhill

A handful of actors get bitten by the motorsports bug. Some have gone on to great success while others merely fizzled on the starting grid. One actor who likes to jump beneath the helmet and behind the wheel is Paul Walker. He's best known for his work as Brian O'Conner, main character of the Fast and the Furious film franchise that just went to post-production on its fifth installment. Walker is not happy merely pretending to push sports cars to the limits for the big screen and he is actually quite active in the Southern California racing community. Ready for a real test of his skills, Paul Walker has joined up with Motorsports Enterprise Racing (Team MER) to drive at this year's 25 Hours of Thunderhill.

Starting on Saturday the 4th, around 10:45 in the morning, teams from all over the map will watch as the green flag falls, signaling the start of the longest endurance race in North America. Team MER, which includes the aforementioned Walker, also boasts Carl Rydquist, Jeff Westphal and Roger Rodas. It's a skilled team of drivers who will all get seat time behind the wheel of Playboy Cup Mazda MX-5.

The 25 Hours of Thunderhill will put Walker, and his entire team, to the test. They better be good to their Hankook rubber, because just one tire is allowed to be changed per pit stop. Thankfully, the car Team MER is piloting has already been around this track before. Says Westphal:

The MER MX-5 cup car is a well sorted and front running package. Actually the very car we will be using won its class in the 25 two years back, so i have no hesitations that we will be in a great package come saturday afternoon.

Still, this is Paul Walker's first Pro-Am race and it's a lot more exciting than the average Time Attack event he usually competes in. If we could offer a word of advice? When you get to the Cyclone, just point and pray... the track will be waiting on the other side, we promise.