Following their Top 10 finish in January's Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona and coming off back to back wins at Road Atlanta and Homestead-Miami Speedway, the Supercar Life Racing team is gearing up for the Bosch Engineering 250 at Virginia International Raceway April 23-25. The weekend kicks off round 2 of the 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 Championship.
Drivers Scott Tucker and Christophe Bouchut will take to the track in the No. 55 Supercar Life BMW-Riley Daytona Prototype. The two have kept the wheels turning during the three-month layoff since their successful ninth place finish in January's season-opener.
Participating in the late-March Rolex Series open test at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Bouchut set the unofficial fastest time in the Daytona Prototype class, breaking the track record with a time of 01:12.42. Triple FIA GT champion, winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Spa and 24 Hours of Daytona, the Frenchman also broke the unofficial circuit record at Daytona International Speedway back in October, pushing the No. 55 to a lap time of 01:39.9 during the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series October Test Days.
"Driving at Homestead for the first time and breaking the track's unofficial record was incredible," Bouchut said. "There's plenty of competition out there this season that will make for a fantastic battle to the podium. Our team will look to push the No. 55 to the head of the pack early on in this weekend's race."
While the Homestead outing was heartening, Team Manager David Stone knows that Virginia International Raceway will hold its own challenges.
"With any track, there's going to be kinks along the way; turn two is the kink here," he said. "It's important to set up for turn one correctly, so that you'll be positioned properly for turn two. Coming off a long straight from turn one, our drivers will be arriving at turn two at a high speed. This week our crew has made subtle adjustments to make sure the car performs its best on that turn in particular-and on the track as a whole."
Certainly no stranger to victory lane, team principal and driver Tucker has dominated this season's Ferrari Challenge Series; he comes to Virginia this weekend just days after sweeping races three and four at Road Atlanta. So far undefeated in the Series, Tucker has a significant lead at the top of the standings. With 800 points, he is 200 points ahead of the field.
"The No. 55 has already proven it's a competitive car," Tucker said. "It's fastest lap times are evidence of the talent and dedication of our team. Running a race team has its challenges; however, this team has a lot of momentum heading into VIR. We are all looking forward to doing a great job for the Supercar Life and all of our sponsors."
Sharing in the excitement of the race weekend will be contestants from Raleigh, North Carolina's 96 Rock and 94.7 QDR radio stations who participated in a promotional prize giveaway, competing for a Grand-Am Rolex VIP Race Day Experience. Four lucky winners will enjoy a meet-and-greet and autograph session with Supercar Life Racing team members and have the opportunity to attend a driver's meeting, the victory lane celebration and the post-race press conference. During the race, the group will have prime position by the starting grid during driver introductions and the race start. Once the green flag drops, the winners will get an up close view of the pit area until after the first pit stop. The next promotional prize packages will be available for the Verizon Wireless 250, held at New Jersey Motorsports Park May 3, and Verizon's Festival of SPEED held at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca May 17. To register to win a VIP Race Day Experience, listeners must log on to www.947qdr.com or www.96rockonline.com. All winners will be notified a week prior to race weekend.
"It's not everyday that our fans get a behind-the-scenes look at race day," said Brian Weaver, CEO of team sponsor Supercar Life. "To be able to watch the race from the pits, where most of the action takes place, is a rare opportunity. This prize package promotion is just one of many ways that the Grand-Am Rolex Series is bringing the excitement of motorsports to fans in race markets across the country."
Always a crowd pleaser, all fans of the Grand-Am Rolex Series will be able to watch the Bosch Engineering 250 when it airs on SPEED TV, April 25 at 2:30 p.m. EST.
Notes About Our Sponsors:
Supercar Life: The only event of its kind that allows motorsports enthusaists to drive a collection of the world's most elite supercars on a private racetrack and at the speeds they were designed for, Supercar Life provides the opportunity to spend an entire day behind the wheel of a Ferrari F430, Lamborghini Gallardo, Aston Martin DB9, Mercedes CLK63 AMG Black Series and a Porsche Turbo 997. For additional information, please visit www.supercarlife.com.
eData Solutions: As a data systems company that specializes in data base analytics, eData Solutions will continue to serve as a secondary sponsor for the 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 season in the No. 55 Daytona Prototype.
eCommLink: eCommLink's enterprise payment processing platform is the foundation for the future of stored value and debit solutions. eCommLink offers the stored value industry's only multiple account payment platform with an ACH engine, money transfer and bill payment capability. The platform enables issuers, institutions and employers to offer unique applications for stored value, debit and credit, all on one card. For additional information, please visit www.ecommlink.com.
About Grand-Am Rolex Series: The Grand American Road Racing Association was established in 1999 to return stability to major league sports car road racing in North America. As the organization begins its tenth season of competition in 2009, Grand-Am is universally regarded as one of the world's most competitive road racing organizations. For additional information, visit www.grand-am.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment