Tim Bell Set for VIR Debut on Saturday

Tim Bell Set for VIR Debut on Saturday

Alton, Va. (13 May 2011) – As a rookie in the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, Tim Bell has set off on a racing adventure that will see him travel to new and different racetracks throughout the country as he learns his craft in one of the most competitive categories in racing. With a podium finish already to his credit this season, Bell has proven to be a quick learner when it comes to the various challenges that each new facility presents.

When the California driver arrived at Virginia International Raceway for the Bosch Engineering 200 and round four of the 2011 championship, he continued to show great improvement in the No. 14 Office Depot BMW 128i – posting quicker lap times in each session as the weekend progressed.

After setting his fastest lap time of 2:12.442 seconds in the intense 15-minute qualifying session, Bell will roll off from the ninth row to run the first stint of the 2.5-hour race before handing driving duties over to co-driver BJ Zacharias.

“We’ve improved a lot since yesterday’s practice session,” said Bell. “In this morning’s practice I ran two seconds quicker than yesterday and in qualifying I ran another second faster than this morning. The Doran guys did a great job of making the changes we needed and those changes obviously worked. We’ll start 17th, but we started further back than that at Barber and that worked out well for us.”

The Doran Racing duo showed how well they can maneuver through traffic to the front of the field when the pair raced from 19th to a second place result at the Barber 200.

With the weather forecast predicting a potentially rainy day on Saturday, Bell could have the opportunity to learn yet another new aspect of racing.

“I’ve never raced in the rain before,” offered Bell. “I’ve tested in the rain so I know how to handle a car in wet conditions, but racing might be a little different. If it rains, it will be another new challenge and it should make for an exciting race both for the drivers and the fans!”

Bell returns to the track for a final practice session tomorrow morning prior to the start of the Bosch Engineering 200 which is set to begin at 11:15 AM (ET). The race will broadcast on May 22 at 1:00 PM (ET) on SPEED.

Matt Cleary
Sunday Group Management
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www.sundaymanagement.com
317.908.2975 (m)


Based in Indianapolis, Sunday Group Management is a leading motorsports management and communications consulting firm.

Sunday Group Management works with clients in a variety of motorsports categories, including NASCAR Sprint Cup driver AJ Allmendinger, Riley Technologies, GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series organization Michael Shank Racing, Continental Tire, and several teams and drivers in Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge competition.

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