Marsal Looking Ahead to Barber Return

Michael Marsal Looking Ahead to Barber Return

Birmingham, Ala. (26 March 2012) – Michael Marsal returns to GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge action this weekend after opening the season at Daytona International Speedway in January. Marsal and co-driver Boris Said return to the seat of the No. 97 Turner Motorsport BMW GS for Round 2 of the 2012 championship at Barber Motorsports Park located just outside of Birmingham, Alabama.

The duo kicked off the season with a sixth place result at Daytona and will look to improve on that effort with a podium finish this weekend.

With two top-10 finishes in two GRAND-AM starts at the track, Marsal certainly knows what it takes to run well at Barber. He scored a podium result in his debut at the picturesque facility in 2010 when he drove the Turner BMW to a third place finish with co-driver Joey Hand. The pair returned in 2011 with a run to sixth at the finish.

“Alabama is all about tire maintenance–the track surface is really aggressive on the tires, so patience is key,” said Marsal of the 2.3-mile road course. “After the long break since Daytona, it will be nice to get back in the groove of regular racing starting this weekend. Considering how strong Boris (Said) and I were at Daytona, I expect us to keep the push going this weekend. The two of us have really gelled. We work really well together and I think this will lead to a successful season.”

While the GRAND-AM Series has not convened for race action in over one month, Marsal has remained active as he prepares for a racing season that recently got much busier. In addition to his full-season Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge campaign, Marsal was recently announced as a driver of the No. 20 Lola B09/86-Mazda for Dyson Racing in the American Le Mans Series and will contest six ALMS races this year with co-driver Eric Lux.

“Joining a team like Dyson Racing is an unbelievable opportunity for me,” offered Marsal who recently tested the LMP1 machine at Sebring ahead of his Long Beach debut April 13-14. “I know that stepping up to a prototype is going to be a new challenge, but it is one that I’m very excited about. I’ve tested the car, and the performance is just incredible. I think Eric and I are going to be great co-drivers. Even though the GRAND-AM car is completely different from the prototype, the Barber weekend is a good way to get back to the regular rhythm of the race weekends after this long break. ”

The Barber 200 is set to begin Saturday, March 31 at 5:00 PM (ET). The 2.5-hour race will be televised April 8 at 12:00 PM (ET) on SPEED.

Live timing and scoring can be followed at www.grand-am.com.

Thursday, March 29

TIME LOCATION

11:00 AM Continental Tire Drivers Meeting Toshiba Trailer
1:30 PM – 2:15 PM Continental Tire Practice
4:35 PM – 5:20 PM Continental Tire Practice

Friday, March 30

TIME LOCATION

8:00 AM – 8:30 AM Continental Tire Practice
9:50 AM – 10:05 AM Continental Tire Qualifying – GS

Saturday, March 31

TIME LOCATION NOTES

9:00 AM Continental Tire Drivers Meeting Toshiba Trailer
3:20 PM Continental Tire Fan Walk
3:50 PM Continental Tire Recon Laps
4:00 PM START – Continental Tire Race (2.5 hours)

Matt Cleary
Sunday Group Management
mediawww.sundaymanagement.com
youtube.com/sundaymanagement
317.908.2975 (m)

Sunday Group Management is a leading motorsports management and communications consulting firm. Clients include Penske Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup driver AJ Allmendinger, Rolex 24 at Daytona Champions Michael Shank Racing, Riley Technologies, Continental Tire, and several teams and drivers in Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge competition.

For additional information: www.sundaymanagement.com, www.facebook.com/sundaygroup, or twitter.com/Sundaygroup