HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- When Scott Tucker gets behind the wheel of his Ferrari 430 Challenge race car, he has a single goal: finish first. His incredible 11 victories in last year's Ferrari Challenge Series is a feat no other driver has matched. In fact, it seems the biggest threat to that record is Tucker himself. Despite an incident in the closing laps of the 2010 campaign at Homestead-Miami Speedway today that relegated him to a 10th-place finish, Tucker is once again looking for a record-breaking season.
"That is not exactly how we wanted to start the season," said Tucker following contact with a rookie driver on the famous circuit in South Florida. "We had an unbelievable year last year, and wanted to pick up where we left off. But, that's racing. We'll be back on the podium, I have no doubt."
Tucker qualified second in the Boardwalk Ferrari Level 5 Motorsports entry and never lost sight of his goal. He ran second for most of the event behind Enzo Potolicchio, pacing the race with laps of 1:30 (88 mph). With only a few laps remaining, Tucker made a clean pass to take the lead and drove under the checkered flag first with a 15-car-length lead.
Unfortunately, an incident involving a rookie driver erased Tucker's season-opening victory and dropped the Boardwalk Ferrari Level 5 Motorsports entry to 10th after being penalized for avoidable contact.
"I did all I could to give him the space he needed, but the race officials must have thought I could have done a bit more," Tucker said after the race.
Tucker's teammate, Ted Skokos, finished second in the No. 2 Boardwalk Ferrari Level 5 Motorsports car with a fast lap of 1:30.786 at 87.635 mph.
Already
this spring, the Level 5 team has been in a whirlwind of racing action.
The team kicked the year off in style by earning a third-place overall
finish in the prestigious Rolex 24 At Daytona in January.That was followed by a strong showing in the Grand Prix of Miami last weekend. The team then moves to the famous 12 Hours of Sebring next weekend for the American Le Mans Series season-opener.
The weekend's festivities also included a unique honor for Tucker as he was selected to participate in a private test of the new Ferrari 599XX prototype. He was invited to participate in the test by Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa and was the only Ferrari Challenge driver selected for the session.
"There is no doubt we are hitting the ground running this year with all of these events," said Tucker. "But, this a team of passionate professionals who are certainly up for this challenge."
The opening weekend of the Ferrari Challenge series continues tomorrow. Qualifying for the F430 Race No. 2 is scheduled for 10 a.m. Sunday, while the race is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.
ABOUT BOARDWALK
Boardwalk Ferrari, Located in Plano, Tex., is one of the nation's leading Ferrari and Maserati dealerships. The company has extensive involvement in motorsports including relationships in the American Le Mans Series and their extremely successful sponsorship of Level Five Motorsports Ferrari Challenge entry.
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Diageo is a global company, trading in more than 180 countries around the world. The company is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (DGE). For more information about Diageo, its people, brands and performance, visit us at www.diageo.com. For our global resource that promotes responsible drinking through the sharing of best practice tools, information and initiatives, visit DRINKiQ.com. Celebrating life, every day, everywhere, responsibly.
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