Burrows and Hopwood Take Best Finish of the season at VIR

Burrows and Hopwood Take Best Finish of the season at VIR

Danville, VA (14 May, 2011)– Entering round four of the 2011 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge championship, the goal of the Bosch Engineering 200 race weekend for Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood was to pick up where they left off in the last race and build on the positive momentum after the former Series champions scored their first top-ten of the 2011 season for Kinetic Motorsports.

After 2.5 hours of rough and tumble racing at Virginia International Raceway, it was mission accomplished as Burrows and Hopwood came home eighth with the No. 12 Infinity Audio/Kia Motors/Mobis/Rocky Tools Kia Forte Koup. The machine ran in top five contention nearly the entire distance of the race, with Hopwood running as high as second in the closing stages of the race before the checkered flag saw him come home eighth at the finish. The result is the best finish of the season so far for the duo.

The event, which featured some significant incidents among the combined-class field of over 60 machines, featured some very close and intense racing, but the No. 12 machine emerged with but a few battle scars from the 2.5-hour race.

After an assertive drive to net the best grid spot ever for the No. 12 Kia Koup entry with a fleet run to fifth in qualifying on Friday, Burrows was once again in fast form on Saturday in the opening stages of the race. After moving up to fourth in the opening laps, Burrows turned the machine over to Hopwood on lap 22.

“The car was a little bit difficult in the high speed sections and we just weren’t as planted at the back end as we would have liked to have been,” said Burrows after the opening stint. “We made some changes that helped us in qualifying, but it might have been a little too aggressive for the long runs in the race. Also, the back stretch is so long here, I really wasn’t able to defend myself against some of the turbo cars so I just had to focus on being quick and keeping the car clean for Trevor.”

Returning to the field deep in the pack, Hopwood kept charging forward until the frequently-slowed (5 cautions for 27 laps) race entered its final half hour. Sitting in second, Hopwood did all he could to make the most of the track position he had earned, but the charge was too relentless as he came across the line in eighth.

“It was great to be mixing it up front with the Kia and this was another good step forward for us this season,” said Hopwood. “But I just didn’t have anything for the guys at the end and some of the guys had fresher tires, so I really had to be smart about picking my spots out there. We were hoping to get back on the podium here again at VIR, but this was still another top ten in the books. We scored some points for Kia in the manufacturer championship, and that’s the most important thing we can do. Now, we just can not wait for Lime Rock Park. Just counting the days!”

PR inquiries about Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood should be directed to Matt Cleary at Sunday Group Management; 317.908.2975 (mobile) or media@ sundaymanagement.com
 


For additional information:
www.trevorhopwood.com
www.adamburrowsmotorsport.com
You can also follow the teams progress at www.facebook.com/kiaracing.
www.Sundaymanagement.com

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