Sunday Group Management

Office Depot Doran Racing Strategy Doesn’t Pan Out for Frisselle

Office Depot Doran Racing Strategy Doesn’t Pan Out for Frisselle

MONTEREY, Ca., 9 July – Brian Frisselle and his Office Depot Doran Racing squad attempted a risky strategy in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series Continental Tire Sports Car Festival Powered by Mazda race. Up to now, Frisselle’s co-driver Henri Richard has driven the first stint before turning over to Frisselle. Richard is an accomplished gentleman racer and a Rolex Series rookie who shows great potential. But, with such an aggressive field of talented racers, the No.77 Office Depot machine has found itself responding to a larger than desired deficit by the time Frisselle gets behind the wheel.
As a result, the team opted for an unusual strategy. Frisselle would start and finish the race at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca with Richard driving the middle stint.

With Frisselle behind the wheel at the start the No. 77 Ford Dallara, having qualified a season best fourth, was running strongly during the opening segment of the two hour and forty-five minute race.

Richard took over the driving duties for the middle portion with good track position which he was able to preserve. Unfortunately, during the second pit stop, when Frisselle was to return to duty, Richard was unable to get the race car into neutral gear for the second driver change, costing valuable time in the pits. He was eventually successful and able to hand the car over to Frisselle, but at that point valuable track position had been lost.

The No. 77 slid down to ninth place where it would finish the race.

“I made a good start, keeping the No.99 and the No.01 in sight for much of my stint and then Henri drove a great, consistent stint, so it looked like our strategy may work out. Unfortunately, when the car would not go into neutral gear, that cost us a lot of time. If we wouldn’t have needed to make the driver change, that wouldn’t have been a big deal. But, since it’s not possible to change drivers with the car in first gear, that’s where the risk in the two driver change strategy came into play,” Frisselle explained.

Still, he drew a silver lining.

“We made some developments with the set up that improved our speed and gave us quite a boost. As a result, I think we’ve closed the gap to the front running cars quite a bit,” he added.

The next stop for Frisselle and the Office Depot squad takes them from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic seaboard and New Jersey Motorsport Park on July 23.

-30-

Matt Cleary
Sunday Group Management
media
http://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.

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

Marsal Strong in Laguna Debut

Marsal Strong in Laguna Debut

Monterey, Calif. (9 July 2011) – Michael Marsal and Turner Motorsport co-driver Don Salama drove to a 13th place finish at the Continental Tire Sports Car Festival Powered by Mazda and Round 8 of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge 10-race championship.

Marsal opened the 2.5-hour race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca from 10th on the grid and immediately set a consistent, quick pace as he moved into the eighth position by lap 15.

The Turner Motorsport squad called Marsal to pit lane during the race’s first caution period and Marsal re-entered the track in the 14th position. However, the second-year racer would waste no time in moving forward as he advanced four positions to run 10th prior to the team’s second pit stop.

During the fourth of six caution periods, Marsal headed to pit road for the team’s second scheduled stop and handed the No. 97 BMW over to Salama, who filled in for Turner Motorsport driver Joey Hand, to finish out the race.

Salama, who won the 2006 ST championship along with team owner Will Turner, remained just outside the top-10 throughout the remainder of the race to cross the finish line 13th.

“It was a good day for us,” said Marsal. “I felt pretty comfortable in the car, and we were in the top-10 for most of my run. It was a nice long stint in the car and it was good fun racing. Because of the longer stint, we lost traction as others had newer tires later in my stint. So it was a challenge. The traction in Turn 11 was tough as well as the braking into Turn 2, but overall I’m very happy with the race. I also have to say a big congrats to Joey (Hand) on his American Le Mans Series win at Lime Rock Park today. Now I’m looking forward to racing close to home in a couple of weeks.”

Next up for Marsal is the B+ Foundation Heroes 200 in two weeks at New Jersey Motorsports Park July 22-23.

The Continental Tire Sports Car Festival Powered by Mazda will broadcast July 17 at 1:00 PM (ET) on SPEED.

Matt Cleary
Sunday Group Management
media
http://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.

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

Burrows and Hopwood Rebound from cut tire to finish 14th in 50th Start

Burrows and Hopwood Rebound from cut tire to finish 14th in 50th Start

TV Information:SPEED, July 17th, 1:00 PM ET

Monterey, Calif (9 July, 2011)– Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood were hoping to make their 50th race start as a driving duo a special one, but the visit to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca wasn’t exactly what they had been hoping for. After running as high as third with the No. 12 Infinity Audio Kia Forte Koup, the 2007 champions recovered from a cut tire late in the race to finish 14th in round 8 of the 2011 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series championship.

Burrows opened the race from 22nd on the grid after Friday’s qualifying was curtailed before he could set a representative time. But he had some high-quality company with him deep in the pack as the 2.5-hour race went green. With a significant group of Kia Motors Team Members on hand, Burrows made the most of the car he had, moving all the way up to third in the combined ST and GS class pack with some deft driving that included an outside pass of Simon Pagenaud on his way forward.

Kinetic Motorsports called him into the pits to turn the car over to Hopwood well after the one hour mark, with the No. 12 set to rejoin the pack in 23rd. Hopwood took up the fight and was making forward progress before a string of setbacks ultimately cost the duo a storybook run in their 50th start.

“There were more than a couple of guys driving like idiots out there, but fortunately I was able to work my way through them pretty quickly,” said Hopwood about rejoining deep in the fray. “But then I cut my tire when I went off the track to avoid Veejay when he spun, got off his brakes, and coasted directly into my path going down the hill. At the end, the last 45 minutes, it just kept popping out of gear so I was driving with one hand because I had to keep my other hand on the stick to keep it in gear. I also lost fifth so I was getting crushed on the restarts! It wasn’t how we wanted our 50th start to go, but even though our race wasn’t ideal it was a blast having all the Kia folks with us this weekend. Now, on to Jersey!” Read more of this post

Two Podiums on the Trot as Rum Bum Racing moves up to Second in Team Title Pursuit

Two Podiums on the Trot as Rum Bum Racing moves up to Second in Team Title Pursuit

MONTEREY, Ca., 9 July – Rum Bum Racing scored their second consecutive podium finish, and fourth of the season, at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in the Continental Tire Sports Car Festival Powered by Mazda, round 8 of the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. Matt Plumb took over early from co-driver Nick Longhi to drive the No.13 Rum Bum Racing BMW M3 to third place, just over two seconds short of the race win.

“This was a successful weekend for us. Our focus is on the team championship and today’s points made a big impression on that,” said Plumb who despite preferring a win, was clearly satisfied with the significant haul of points that sees Rum Bum Racing claw back 10 points on the lead and move from fourth overall into a tie for second place.

“The Camaro (of race winners Matt Bell and John Edwards) was just stretching away from us like it has been doing for the past several races,” Plumb continued. “It was a huge points day for us, and that was definitely on my mind today in the car.” Read more of this post

Matt Bell Wins Second Consecutive Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Race

Matt Bell Wins Second Consecutive Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Race

Attached photo courtesy Wes Duenkel Photography

p6s4263

MONTEREY, Ca., 9 July – Matt Bell took the opening stint in the No. 9 Stevenson Chevy Camaro from the pole to drive away from the field before handing over to co-driver John Edwards who brought home the pair’s second consecutive win in GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge competition. This time, the win by a margin of just two seconds, came at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in the Continental Tire Sports Car Festival Powered by Mazda.

Bell had earned the pole on Friday, and used it to full advantage as he drove his entire stint in the race lead with mainly nothing but open track ahead of him. There was also a lot of open track behind him as he made the most of his advantage and constantly grew his lead.

Read more of this post

Tim Bell right at home with top ten finish

Tim Bell right at home with top ten finish

First time as closer nets top ten finish at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Monterey, Calif. (9 July 2011) – GRAND-AM rookie runner Tim Bell produced another strong performance at the Continental Tire Sports Car Festival Powered by Mazda in his GRAND-AM debut at his home track of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca to finish eighth along with Doran Racing co-driver BJ Zacharias.

Bell, whose usual duty is to qualify and start each race in the No. 14 Office Depot BMW 128i, added to his scope of experience as the California racer had the opportunity to close the 2.5-hour event and cross the finish line eighth in front of many family and friends in attendance. Read more of this post

Honda Indy Toronto starting lineup

TORONTO – Qualifying Saturday for the Honda Indy Toronto IZOD IndyCar Series event on the 1.755-mile(s) Streets of Toronto, with starting position, car number in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, time and speed in parentheses:”

1. (12) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 59.5771 (106.047)
2. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 59.6646 (105.892)
3. (10) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 59.9000 (105.476)
4. (27) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 59.9326 (105.418)
5. (38) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 01:00.0463 (105.219)
6. (2) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 01:00.3341 (104.717)
7. (19) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Honda, 59.8239 (105.610)
8. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 59.8715 (105.526)
9. (77) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 59.8901 (105.493)
10. (6) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 59.9020 (105.472)
11. (22) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 59.9636 (105.364)
12. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 01:00.0115 (105.280)
13. (06) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 59.8346 (105.591)
14. (14) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 59.9869 (105.323)
15. (34) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Honda, 59.9389 (105.407)
16. (82) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 01:00.0149 (105.274)
17. (78) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Honda, 01:00.0806 (105.159)
18. (59) EJ Viso, Dallara-Honda, 01:00.1191 (105.091)
19. (5) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 01:00.1003 (105.124)
20. (26) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 01:00.1542 (105.030)
21. (7) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 01:00.3438 (104.700)
22. (4) JR Hildebrand, Dallara-Honda, 01:00.4472 (104.521)
23. (18) James Jakes, Dallara-Honda, 01:00.6226 (104.219)
24. (8) Paul Tracy, Dallara-Honda, 01:00.4524 (104.512)
25. (83) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Honda, 01:00.6463 (104.178)
26. (24) Ana Beatriz, Dallara-Honda, 01:00.7917 (103.929)

Firestone Indy Lights Toronto 100 starting lineup

TORONTO – Qualifying Saturday for the Toronto 100 Firestone Indy Lights event on the 1.755-mile Streets of Toronto, with starting position, car number in parentheses, driver, time and speed in parentheses:

1. (7) Esteban Guerrieri, 01:02.9865 (100.307)
2. (5) Stefan Wilson, 01:03.2450 (99.897)
3. (26) Peter Dempsey, 01:03.3321 (99.760)
4. (9) Anders Krohn, 01:03.4809 (99.526)
5. (11) Josef Newgarden, 01:03.5946 (99.348)
6. (2) Gustavo Yacaman, 01:03.7421 (99.118)
7. (77) Daniel Herrington, 01:03.7797 (99.060)
8. (28) Duarte Ferreira, 01:03.8991 (98.875)
9. (29) Bruno Andrade, 01:04.1278 (98.522)
10. (3) Victor Carbone, 01:04.3187 (97.726)
11. (4) Jorge Goncalvez, 01:04.3314 (98.210)
12. (16) David Ostella, 01:04.8723 (97.391)
13. (22) Victor Garcia, 01:05.0158 (97.176)
14. (12) Eric Jensen, 01:10.3708 (89.782)

Top-Ten For Marsal on Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Grid

Top-Ten For Marsal on Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Grid

Salinas, Calif. (8 July 2011) – Michael Marsal delivered a strong performance at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and will open the Continental Tire Sports Car Festival Powered by Mazda from the fifth row on the Grand Sport class grid. The Turner Motorsport crew worked diligently throughout the day’s practice sessions to improve the No. 97 BMW and that effort paid off when Marsal posted a fast lap time of 1:36.955 seconds during the 15-minute qualifying session. The result marks Marsal’s third top-10 starting position of the season as he will start 10th among the 54-car combined class grid.

Marsal, who is joined by 2006 ST class champion Don Salama in the No. 97 machine for the first time this season, makes his first GRAND-AM appearance at the California road course from behind the wheel of a BMW. The duo will look to move forward as Marsal opens the 2.5-hour race before handing the car over to Salama.

“I was overdriving a bit so didn’t have as good of a time as I should have,” said Marsal of his qualifying run. “We were hoping for more, but it’s good to be in the top-10 and we should be able to move up tomorrow. I’m a little bit frustrated because I think the car was capable of more, but hopefully we can make up for that tomorrow in the race.”

The Continental Tire Sports Car Festival Powered by Mazda is set to begin Saturday at 10:45 AM PDT. Grand-am.com will carry live timing and scoring during the event with the race set to broadcast on SPEED July 17 at 1:00 PM (ET).

-30-

Matt Clear
Sunday Group Management
media
http://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.

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

Unlucky Lottery in Qualifying For Burrows and Hopwood in 50th Start

Unlucky Lottery in Qualifying For Burrows and Hopwood in 50th Start

Monterey, Calif (8 July, 2011)– Racing drivers are urged to look as far down the road or through the corner as they possibly can to best navigate through a fast lap time. Unfortunately for Adam Burrows, he’ll have over 20 cars that he’ll need to look through to see just about anything after a truncated qualifying session prevented him from setting a proper lap time on Friday. The result will see the 2007 Series Champ start the race from 22nd on the Continental Tire Sports Car Festival grid.

He’ll have some speedy company with him back on row 11 as Le Mans 24 Hour podium finisher and IndyCar rookie runner Simon Pagenaud will start next to Burrows in the 2.5-hour race, set for a 10:45 AM local green flag time.

The race marks the 50th GRAND-AM start for Burrows together with co-driver Trevor Hopwood as the duo hope to make it a special one in the No. 12 Infinity Audio Kia Forte Koup, but will have an even bigger hill to climb than the one that leads to the corkscrew as they look to move up at race time.

“What can I say? We just got unlucky and didn’t get to set a time before the session was stopped,” said Burrows. “It’s a shame because we’d made solid progress with the car–which was great at Road America–and were looking to show that in qualifying. But Christian and Lee and all the Kinetic guys are pretty clever so maybe we’ll look at some of the other areas of our strategy to make up some track position. The main goal is to get as many championship points for Kia as we can. This is a fun track, and has been a great car so even we have a lot of work to do, hopefully it will turn our way tomorrow.”

While the No. 12 suffered from the twist of racing fate, it was full ‘Yahtzee!’ for the sister No. 10 machine, which entered the track early in the session and nabbed third on the grid before qualifying was shut down.

“Congrats to Michael (Galati) on a great grid spot,” said Hopwood. “Obviously this isn’t where we wanted to be at the start of the race tomorrow, but I’ll admit that I’m a little bit jealous of Adam–it’s fun to start at the back. Hopefully, though, he’ll do all the hard work at the start! We’ll see what happens–Nic and Michael started from way back in the pack last time out and won, so maybe we’ll get some breaks and make up track position to be where we need to be at the finish to bring some points home for Kia again.”

TV Information: SPEED, July 17th, 1:00 PM ET

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

###

Matt Cleary
Sunday Group Management
media
http://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.

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