March 3,2003 The Racer's Group Homestead Race Notes
The Monster Racer's Group Porsche 911 GT3 RS took 2nd place this Saturday in the Grand-Am Nextel Grand-Prix of Miami. Car #66, co-driven by Kevin Buckler and RJ Valentine, had a terrific battle with the #33 Scuderia Ferrari of Washington 360 GT, but in the end, a mechanical problem left the Porsche just slightly slower than the Ferrari. Lead driver and team owner Kevin Buckler reflected on the race.
"The bottom line is, we're very happy with the results. RJ and I knew going in that there were three other very competitive teams that we were up against. I drove conservatively for the first stint, and I kept thinking in the back of my mind, 'Sebring's next week, I have to keep the car in one piece.'
Car #66, the overall winner at the 2003 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, suffered a slight mechanical problem at the first driver change. Kevin explained the difficulty. "As soon as I watched RJ drive out of the pits, I noticed that the car had spilled a huge amount of axle grease. There was this huge puddle on the asphalt, and I knew right then we probably wouldn't finish the race. From that point forward RJ and I babied the car around. We didn't drive slowly, but we also didn't push the envelope. All I could think the last few laps was 'I love my axles, I love my axles--' I was hoping they'd last, and I was so relieved when I saw the checkered flag. I've got to say, that car's a monster. RJ did great, our crew guys were awesome, and we accomplished exactly what we wanted to do. Overall, I was very happy."
RJ Valentine was enthusiastic about the race as well. "I'm so impressed with Kevin and The Racer's Group. They're the gold standard of customer racing -- the Porsche is impeccably maintained and everything is looked after and thought of. We were a bit cautious during the second half of the race because of the axle problem, and I'm amazed that it didn't let go in Kevin's second stint. I'm happy to be on the podium. Kevin is a great driving coach, one of the best I've ever worked with. He does a great job getting drivers to get more speed out of the car. On the business side, being involved with The Racer's Group helps my businesses. Sponsorship with these guys provides a huge benefit to the MBA Group and to F1 Boston. All in all, it's a complete package for me."
February 21,2003 Picchio Reorganization
Following the successful debut of the Picchio DP2 at the Rolex 24 At Daytona, U.S. sales and support operations for the Italian car maker have been reorganized under a new corporate entity, PCA Prototypes, Inc. The new company is headquartered in the offices of G&W Motorsports at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Va.
The Picchio operations had previously been split between an importer office in Texas run by Armando Trentini and the G&W race shop in Virginia. "Now that we have proven the performance of the Picchio Daytona Prototype, it is time to centralize our efforts to make things simpler for our customers," Trentini noted. "I will continue to promote Picchio in the U.S. and manage the relations with Picchio in Italy for PCA Prototypes from my Houston office, but our car owners will be able to call the Virginia office and get answers to all of their questions."
Cole Scrogham has headed the preparation efforts for Picchio in the U.S. from his G&W Motorsports operation since introduction of the company's SRPII car last year. With Picchio's U.S. effort now firmly based out of his shop, he sees a bright future for the Picchio in Grand American's Daytona Prototype class. "We initially got involved in the Picchio with Momentum Motorcars. Now that we have solidified the operation under one roof it will be much easier for us to communicate with our customers and for them to contact us when they have any questions. That should make it better for everyone."
People interested in purchasing a Picchio DP2 for competition in the Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototypes class can contact PCA Prototypes at the following address:
PCA Prototypes, Inc.
1071 Raceplex Drive, Suite A
Alton, VA 24520
Contact: Cole Scrogham
Tel: 434-822-8180
To learn more about the Picchio DP2 online, log on to www.motorsports.gandw.com and www.Picchio.com.
February 13,2003 Marcus Motorsports To Contest Entire Championship
Marcus Motorsports today announced their plans to contest the entire 2003 Rolex Grand American Sports Car series in an updated BMW M3. Road racing standouts Hugh Plumb and Brian Cunningham have been hired as drivers for the year.
Plumb, who had four wins with the Realtime Racing team, scored 14 podiums and qualified in the top five in 85% of his Speedvision World Challenge races. In 2002 Plumb switched to GT Porsches in GrandAm and the American LeMans Series. He led the GT class for much of the first 10 hour of the 2002 Rolex 24 at Daytona, and took a second at the 12 Hours of Sebring, behind a factory Porsche. The former Skip Barber winner began his racing career on motorcycles, winning both Super Sport and Super Bike championships.
Cunningham, grandson of famed sports car racer Briggs Cunningham, was most recently a BMW team driver for PTG. He scored three wins and 19 top 5 finishes in 28 starts in GT racing, and was runner-up for the 1999 ALMS GT Championship. Racing in IMSA's GT1 class in 1996 he took one pole, three fastest laps, and three podiums in five races. Cunningham's impressive background also includes the Skip Barber series, FF2000, the Oldsmobile Pro Series, Toyota Atlantic, British F3, Indy Lights, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series, and GrandAm.
The team opened its season at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, finishing sixth in the GT class and 13th overall in spite of losing over 30 laps to replace a differential.
"Hugh and Brian are two winning drivers," team owner Steve Marcus said, "and PTG has helped us refine and improve our BMW, so we're aiming for the top step of the podium this year. We have the support to run the full season, and the entire team is excited about our prospects for the year."
February 12,2003 FABCAR Starts Construction On Fifth Chassis
After a sound second, third and fifth place finish at the Daytona 24 Hour race, FABCAR has achieved such positive response to its FDSC/03 that it has begun construction of a fifth chassis.
"We have had inquiries about making this chassis Porsche-, Toyota- or Maserati-powered, and we hope to make an announcement about this soon," says designer/builder Dave Klym.
"FABCAR's track side support program was fully functional at the Daytona race," Klym notes. Comprehensive spares were available to all three FDSC/03s.
February 4,2003 Rennwerks Porsche Daytona Recap
The Rennwerks Porsche GT3RS piloted by Johannes van Overbeek, Dave Standridge, Richard Steranka, and David Murry finished third overall and third in GT at the 41st annual running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The top three finishers were all GT cars. The Racer's Group #66 car piloted by Kevin Buckler, Michael Schrom and two Porsche factory drivers Jorg Bergmeister and Timo Bernhard took both the overall win and the GT class win. Second place overall and second in GT went to the Risi Competizione Ferrari 360 driven by Ralf Kelleners, Anthony Lazzaro and Johnny Mowlem.
Although the Rennwerks car was one of the fastest GT cars, it started from the 37th position because it missed the first qualifying session because of a bad clutch. Otherwise, it would have qualified second in GT. However, as soon as the green flag dropped, Johannes who started the race, quickly began to make up positions. Within the 30 minutes after the start of the race, Rennwerks was already near the top of the leader board and was the Speed Channel's "biggest mover".
The race was essentially a sprint race from start to finish. Rennwerks chased the #66 Racer's Group car throughout the night and early morning hours -- always staying within one or two laps. At one point, Rennwerks was the overall race leader. But after running the car at 110% for 16 hours the clutch and transmission began to overheat and the team decided to back off a little to give the clutch and transmission an opportunity to cool down. Then with only 6 hours left in the race, a punctured radiator forced the team to relinquish the second place position to one of the Ferraris. The Rennwerks team replaced the radiator and recharged the system in less than 15 minutes, enabling the team to hold onto the third place podium finish.
January 29,2003 Perspective Racing Ready To Win The Daytona 24 Hours
The Grand American Rolex Sports car Championship kicks off this weekend with the 41st running of the Rolex Daytona 24 Hours. João Barbosa is back with Perspective Racing and the Mosler MT900R, this time in the GTS class. After a winter of development to adapt the Mosler to the new class rules, the first tests have been very encouraging:
"The Mosler MT900R is definitely better than last year, with larger tires, more horsepower, and some definite aerodynamic improvements," said João Barbosa. "The performance increase has put us close to the new Daytona Prototype class, and this could mean a good overall result. Our aim is to win the GTS class, but an overall win could be a possibility. I want to do better than our 5th place last year, for sure, and I'll also try to get the Pole Position, as that would be a hat-trick of Rolex Daytona poles for me - just for the team and my personal satisfaction, however, as the Pole Position is not relevant in a 24-hour race."
Perspective Racing has been working nonstop on the Mosler MT900R since the Daytona tests earlier this month. The car has been rebuilt from the ground up, a host of changes have been made to avoid the problems that crept up during last season, and a stellar lineup of drivers consisting of Andy Wallace, Michel Neugarten and Jerome Policand will ensure that the Perspective Racing Mosler will not be lacking in outright speed and driver experience.
The No. 88 Multimatic Ford Focus Daytona Prototype will be taking on a pit shop in addition to its pit stops for this weekend’s 41st anniversary of the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
1-800-PITSHOP.COM will serve as an associate sponsor on the No. 88 Multimatic Ford Focus Daytona Prototype for the twice-around-the-clock challenge.
1-800-PITSHOP.COM is International Speedway Corporation’s unique traveling marquee and the official online store for Daytona International Speedway. It’s set to land at Daytona International Speedway during the Rolex 24 At Daytona and will be present throughout Speedweeks 2003. 1-800-PITSHOP.COM is complete with interactive displays promoting the company’s various premier facilities, events and products in a high tech, high energy way to capture fans’ attention.
The No. 88 Multimatic Ford Focus Daytona Prototype, which will be driven by Scott Maxwell, David Brabham and David Empringham in the Rolex 24, will carry 1-800-PITSHOP.COM logos in the two-race deal.
January 29,2003 The Racer’s Group Three Car Assault
The Racer’s Group packed its trailers and sent them
on the road towards Daytona today, in preparation for the 41st running of the Rolex 24
Hours of Daytona. In the trailers were the team’s new 2003 Porsche 911 GT3 RS, as
well as the 2002 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and the 2002 24 Hours of Le Mans winning
cars. In anticipation of the race on Feb. 1-2, team owner and lead driver Kevin Buckler
was optimistic about the team’s chances.
"Naturally, we’re excited about the Daytona race, but we’re confident about it. Everyone
that was with us last year when we won the race is back this year, from the tire guy to
the truck driver to the four drivers in car #66. The competition’s a lot stronger this year,
but we’re absolutely prepared for what’s ahead. We like our chances, and we’re going to
Daytona to repeat."
Buckler continued, "Last year, we won at Le Mans because we were more efficient in the
pits than the rest of the teams , we won by a margin of one minute, and the same
strategy applies to the Rolex. 24 Hours seems like a long time, but you have to look at
the whole race as a math equation , if another team is even half of a second faster on pit
stops than us through the course of the race, and there are 20 pit stops, that’s 10
seconds that we have to make up on the track. Going 24 Hours straight without any
mistakes is hard, but we found out last year that being totally prepared is the only way
to win.
Buckler expounded on the competition in this year’s race. "Last year, there was only one
Ferrari for us to contend with, and frankly, it wasn’t that fast. This year, there are four
Ferraris, and they’re full of really fast drivers. Also, we’ve got all the Porsches to compete
against, and of course, it’s hard to beat a Porsche in an endurance event. We’re
confident because we’ve got twelve strong drivers in our three cars , you can’t beat the
experience of a guy like RJ Valentine in #68. 18 years of running the Rolex 24 , RJ’s
ready for the race. And so are we."
Andrew Davis, car #67’s fastest driver at the Daytona test, felt comfortable in the car.
"I turned a 1:54.1 in testing, and what’s great is that I held back just a little. All four of us
were very comfortable in the car, and for me, not having a lot of seat time in a GT3 RS, I
was happy to get up to speed so quickly. What’s even better is that every one of the
guys in the car with me, Dave Lacey, Tom Nastasi and Bobby Julien , were all within a
half of a second of my time. The fact that we’re all so quick, and are comfortable driving
at race pace, means that we’re ready for the race. Come race day, we’re going to put
our heads down, race smart, and let the car do the work."
The lineup for the three-car The Racer’s Group assault on the 41st Rolex 24 Hours of
Daytona is:
#66 2003 Porsche 911 GT3 RS
Kevin Buckler, Sonoma, CA
Michael Schrom, Ghent, NY
Jorg Bergmeister, Langenfeld, Germany
Timo Bernhard, Miesau, Germany
#67 2002 Porsche 911 GT3 RS and winner of the 2002 24 Hours of Le Mans
Tom Nastasi, Stamford, CT
Bobby Julien, Toronto, ON
Dave Lacey, Toronto, ON
Andrew Davis, Lilburn, GA
#68 2002 Porsche 911 GT3 RS and winner of 2002 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona
RJ Valentine, Hingham, MA
Jim Michaelian, Long Beach, CA
Tom Hessert Jr., Cherry Hill, NJ
Tom Hessert III, Cherry Hill, NJ
Created and Designed by John Favata
