The debut of Dempsey Racing’s new P2 Lola-Judd prototype featuring co-drivers Patrick Dempsey and Joe Foster here at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca marks the next big step in a “dream” to take the team and drivers to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, perhaps as soon as next year.

A talented and increasingly experienced racer, Dempsey is now in his eighth season of sports car competition. He actually raced at Le Mans with Foster, his Panoz Driving School instructor, in 2009 finishing ninth in the GT2 category.

“Ideally, we would like to get back to Le Mans next year,” said Dempsey. “To go back to Le Mans and be on the podium would be incredible,” Dempsey recently told veteran writer Mike Harris.

Dempsey, Foster and the Dempsey Racing team have built a key relationship with Mazda, highlighted by his chance to drive the 1991 Le Mans winning Mazda in a 20^th anniversary tribute at Le Mans last June.

The MAZDASPEED Motorsports Ladder is to racing what the baseball farm system is to the majors – a place to grow talent. If a racer can advance upward, sometimes skipping a level, sometimes falling back, they can eventually reach the highest levels of the sport for road racers.

Announced at Sebring earlier this spring, the new Dempsey Racing P2 car, a 2012 Lola-Judd prototype was delivered to the team’s Atlanta area shops last week.

“We want to get the P2 car in a race environment at Mazda Raceway and see where we are,” said Dempsey.  “We want to do it right.”

“Patrick is a serious racer,” said Foster. “He takes direction and can take criticism. He is very focused. His dream is to be on the podium at Le Mans. We are going step-by step.

The team also campaigns a PC Challenge class prototype in the ALMS for Duncan Ende and Henri Richard.  Foster and Dempsey are partners in the American Le Mans Series team with Henri Richard of Silicon Tech Racing.

In addition to support from Mazda and Silicon Tech, Dempsey Racing’s move to P2 comes with second-year sponsor Trina Solar and new partners GNC Beverages and Motegi Racing Wheels.