Highcroft Racing completed an impressive debut run at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race this weekend, finishing ninth overall in a field that began with 56 cars but only saw 28 cross the finish line.

Driver David Brabham blogged before the event that he was proud to race with the Malaria No More logo prominently featured on the side of the team’s Honda Performance Development ARX-01c prototype. He wrote that Le Mans offered “a valuable opportunity to continue the team’s efforts to battle against malaria.”

Logging a total of 3,100 miles during the 24-hours and reaching speeds of 210 miles per hour, David and the rest of the Highcroft squad spread awareness about the Miles to End Malaria campaign to an estimated crowd of 235,000 spectators, and 105 million television viewers.  

The 24 hours of Le Mans may be over but fans can still help Highcroft Racing and Brabham raise money for the ”Miles To End Malaria” campaign. Fans can donate by visiting the campaign site or by bidding on one-of-a-kind autographed memorabilia and experiences on the special Miles to End Malaira Ebay auction.

Driver David Brabham and the entire Highcroft Racing team arrived in Le Mans, France today to unveil the new Malaria No More Highcroft Racing car in advance of the 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours race. At this year’s race, the Highcroft Racing squad will prominently feature our logo on the side of its Honda Performance Development ARX-01c prototype!

In a recent blog post, David explained why the fight against malaria strikes such a personal chord with him, and how it’s inspired his continued support for the Miles To End Malaria program. “For me, my family is the most important thing,” he writes on his blog. “Just knowing what my family means to me brings a special relevance to my role with [Malaria No More] and to Highcroft’s dedicated support.”

David is thrilled that Miles To End Malaria’s life-saving mission will be highlighted at the 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours race, where 230,000 spectators, and an anticipated 105 million television audience will tune in. Go get that blue-ribbon, David!

Read the rest of David’s blog post here.

Reigning American Le Mans Series champions Highcroft Racing will use one of the biggest stages in international motorsport at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans in France to continue its battle against malaria.

June 12^th and 13^th, the Highcroft squad will outfit its Honda Performance Development ARX-01c prototype in the Malaria No More logo, which will be visible on the side of the car. (As far as we know, this is the first time ever that a Le Mans team has donated the coveted title-sponsor spot on the car to a charity!) With the Highcroft team expected to be one of the favorites to capture the LMP2 class victory in France, the event will provide massive exposure for our cause.

In 2009, the Highcroft team launched a partnership with MNM called “Miles To End Malaria” to raise funds to combat the deadly disease. The partnership was extremely successful: the team clinched the LMP1 class championship AND the campaign raised more than $63,000 to provide bed nets for families in Africa.

Racing fans in the US can back the campaign by texting the word “MILES” to 85944 and a $10 donation will be added to their phone bill. You can also make a donation on the “Miles To End Malaria” website – we recommend $24 to commemorate the 24 Hours of Le Mans race!

A video about the partnership is available here. Details are available here.

Patrón Highcroft Racing is in California today to race the longest-running street race in North America – the Long Beach Grand Prix! And with every lap they get closer to the finish line, they’ll be thinking about a victory over malaria.

American Le Mans Series Champions Patrón Highcroft Racing and MNM have teamed up again for the “Miles To End Malaria” campaign to send anti-malaria mosquito nets to Africa. Last year’s partnership generated more than $64,000 for the malaria fight.

The best part is that fans can join the race via their cell phone by texting “MILES” to 85944 to make a one-time $10 donation to the cause.

Together, we can pull the black flag on malaria.

And they’re off! Friday, January 15th, David Brabham, champion of the 2009 ALMS and Special Ambassador for MNM UK competed in the 2010 Celebrity Karting Challenge to raise awareness and funds to fight malaria.

David Brabham’s Racing4Charity Celebrity Karting Challenge is the only one to host the world’s top motorsport personalities. The amazing celebrity line-up included racing legend Derek Bell, Allan McNish, Anthony Davidson, Emanuele Pirro, Andy Priaulx, Marino Franchitti, Alex Wurz, Franck Montagny, Nicolas Minassian, Matt Neal, Robbie Head and more.

This past Friday, the event raised an astonishing sum of £59,500 ($97,035), taking the total raised from this event the last three years to over £151,000 ($246,249)!

Melinda & Brabs

This weekend, I had the huge pleasure of traveling to Road Atlanta with American Idol alum—and Malaria No More supporter extraordinaire—Melinda Doolittle. Melinda was on hand to cheer the Patron Highcroft Race team and support their Miles To End Malaria program. During Saturday’s race, the team crossed the $50,000 fundraising mark and are still accepting donations at MilesToEndMalaria.org as they get ready for the last race of the season on October 10th in California.

The weekend was packed-full with drama. First, Highcroft suffered a crash during a practice run on Thursday. Luckily, no one was hurt and the team rebuilt the car, from the ground up, in 24 hours. The team effort was astounding!

Melinda joined us on Saturday morning to sing the national anthem (beautifully) and wave the green flag to signal the start of the race. We then slipped into fire suits and joined the team in the pit lane—an amazing experience.

To cap it off, Patron Highcroft Racing earned enough championship points to stay at the top of the leader board heading into the last race of the ALMS season.

Vote for your favorite American Le Mans Series star for the annual “From the Fans” award! There are five people up for consideration for “who made the biggest impact this year?” award and one of them is Patron Highcroft Racing’s own Duncan Dayton!

Duncan is not only the owner of the first-place team, he is also one of the driving forces (pun absolutely intended) behind the Miles To End Malaria campaign. The program has raised nearly $50,000 to fight malaria in Africa, saving lives with every lap around the track!

Duncan is making impact both on and off the grid—if there were a “From the Humanitarians” award, he’d be a shoo-in! Help us give Duncan the recognition he deserves and vote today. You can also vote for favorite driver—both Scott Sharp and David Brabham have been nominated. We can’t choose between these two great guys…they’re both favorites of Malaria No More’s!

Miles To End Malaria can put another notch on their victory belt! Last night, we attended a homecoming party for our friends on the Patrón Highcroft Racing team. At the party, Dr. Panoz, Founder of the American Le Mans Series, announced his plans to pledge $5 for every lap (or mile) raced in this year’s series, on top of the combined $10 per mile pledge from Highcroft Racing and Patrón Tequila. That’s a total of $15 per mile. And there are about 4,500 miles raced in an entire series. $15 x 4,500 miles = $67,00 OR 6,750 African lives saved this series!

Show your support for the Patrón Highcroft Racing team on Saturday, July 18 at Lime Rock racetrack in Lakeville, Connecticut. At the track, you can join the race by pledging as little as one penny per raced mile. It just takes good common cents to save a life!

It’s #FollowFriday on Twitter: @malarianomore, @malariapolicy, @patronhighcroft

MNM's Peter Chernin & Scott Case; Highcroft's David Brabham

The stars were out in Beverly Hills on Tuesday night at the BritWeek Gala to benefit Malaria No More.  Former British Prime Minister and guest speaker Tony Blair, Ryan Seacrest and Malaria No More Chairman Peter Chernin inspired guests with accounts of their own personal connection to the fight against malaria and a performance by Daughtry ended the evening on a high note.  Malaria No More was joined at the event by the Patron Highcroft race team, fresh off the American Le Mans circuit, who brought the car along to show how they are using Miles To End Malaria. The event was a great success, raising more than $1 million to support Malaria No More’s efforts to end malaria deaths!

Missed the event?  You can still be a part of the celebrity action with our online auction, featuring a chance to meet Kiefer Sutherland, tickets to the 2009 Teen Choice awards, tickets to the American Idol Season Eight Finale and more!  But hurry up and place your bids – the auction ends on April 28th!

Kelly Mahoney is Development Officer at Malaria No More. She likes the LA life—fast cars, rock stars…and England?

Patron Highcroft Racing is zooming around the track at the Long Beach Grand Prix…and Malaria No More is cheering them on!

Patron Highcroft Racing has been following the Twitter war as they lead the Miles To End Malaria program. Doing everything in their power to raise awareness—and to thank other grassroots efforts to fight malaria—Highcroft put a sticker in the inside of their cockpit: “thanks @aplusk; milestoendmalaria.org”

Tune in on Sunday at 9:30 PT on ABC to watch the race and catch a glimpe of the shout-out.

Follow Patron Highcroft Racing on Twitter: @patronhighcroft