Sunday Group Management

Tune-In Alert–SPEED 1:00 PM, ET Sunday (Today!)

Burrows/Hopwood Programming Reminder: Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge on SPEED – 1:00 PM ET Sunday, May 22

22, May 2011 – Make sure to tune in or set the DVR to SPEED Sunday, May 22 at 1:00 PM ET for the Bosch Engineering 200 in Round 4 of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge at Virginia International Raceway. Having earned their best finish of the season with a 10th place result at Barber Motorsports Park in Round 3, Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood looked to build on that momentum with a strong run on the challenging VIR circuit.

You can also read about the race weekend right from the drivers, with Trevor Hopwood’s latest blog posted here:

http://www.kia.com/motorsports

(Click on “Blogs” Tab on upper right)

And Adam Burrows most recent “In the Cockpit” posted here:

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/in-the-cockpit-adam-burrows-vir-ctscc/

Just 42 points out of the championship lead, Burrows and Hopwood will head to their home track of Lime Rock Park May 27-28 for the Memorial Day Classic in Lakeville, CT.

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: http://www.sundaymanagement.com, https://sundaygroupblog.wordpress.com, http://www.facebook.com/sundaygroup, or twitter.com/Sundaygroup

Programming Reminder: Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge from VIR this Sunday on SPEED

Formula 1 Preview–Passing Highlight from MERCEDES GP PETRONAS

Race Preview Feature Five: Making the impossible, possible

With the exception of Monaco, which is an anomaly in every way, the
Circuit de Catalunya has long been the circuit at which overtaking is
more difficult than anywhere else in Formula One. 16 of the 20 races
held at the circuit have been won from pole position, including every
one in the past decade. In the past three years, normal overtaking
manoeuvres have been measured in single figures; on average, there have
been 2.3 ‘normal’ passes for position per Spanish Grand Prix since 2008.
So if a circuit is going to provide a yardstick for the success of the
2011 regulations, which have so far seen an average of 24.5 ‘normal’
overtaking moves per race, and many more with the use of DRS, then
Barcelona is it…

Why has overtaking historically been so difficult in Barcelona?

The fundamental impediment to overtaking at the Circuit de Catalunya is
that the 880m main straight is preceded by the fast Turn 16. It is a
corner through which it is hard to follow another car closely and, when
performance differentials between are small, this makes overtaking
extremely difficult. Furthermore, teams have normally been testing at
Barcelona and have optimised the car and tyre usage, which usually gives
less variation in performance and strategy than normal.
Read more of this post

VIR post race from SGM

Some Thoughts on VIR–

Saturday’s Rolex Sports Car Series race was due to be all about the bounty. And the new rules. But as it turned out, it was the rain that provided the core plot pivot as the series staged the first of a three-round run of races set over four weeks.

Last year, the race boasted a record crowd, with finding parking a pleasurable problem on race day. Alas, with the weather–mostly due to the forecast as rain didn’t come until late in the day–it just wasn’t as full this time around. But there seemed to be a lot more “pre-committed” folks on site (campers and RVs) this year than last, another encouraging sign as that is not a game day (and weather-related) decision…

The start was vicious, with cars spinning off even before the green and the 01 and 10 seeming to make contact directly in front of the 60. Pew did a great job to keep the car on track and hold position through the trying opening laps.

Rain driving can be unnerving. I remember my first laps in the wet, in the third day of a three day school no less. All of a sudden, the cars had 600 HP! and I can only imagine what dealing with real HP would be like…
Read more of this post

Bosch Engineering Highlights

Monster Mile is Monster Disappointment for Allmendinger

16 May 2011 (Davidson, NC)– Dover is known as the “Monster Mile,” but for AJ Allmendinger, it could well be thought of as the “Monster of Disappointment” after the Richard Petty Motorsports saw a shot at victory end in a puff of smoke in Sunday’s FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks.

Once again starting the race from the front row after the grid was set by practice times, Allmendinger ran in the top five in the opening stages of the race. Working with Crew Cheif Mike Shiplett to keep the No. 43 Best Buy Ford in tune with the rapidly-rubbering up one mile track, Allmendinger was nearly always on screen with the leader, just biding his time to be ready to go when it counted at the end.
Read more of this post

Riley Technologies Sweeps Rolex Series VIR Podium

Riley Technologies Sweeps Rolex Series VIR Podium

Turner Rolex GT Machine back on podium for third consecutive race to score points advantage

Danville, VA (16 May 2011)— Come rain or shine, drivers and teams have long relied on the Riley Technologies Daytona Prototype to deliver at race time. And this weekend at Virginia International Raceway, it was no different as the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series staged round four of the 2011 championship.

With the hype and headlines ahead of the race event all focused on the $25,000 bounty that GRAND-AM put up for any team that could break the streak of race victories for the Riley-BMW of Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, it turned out that the challenging conditions stole the headlines, with a young team doing the same. With the event taking the green flag under a heavy downpour, the race weather eventually cleared with the teams working to adapt quickly to the evolving conditions.
Read more of this post

Burrows Scores Best-Ever Qualifying in Kia with Fifth at VIR

Burrows Scores Best-Ever Qualifying in Kia with Fifth at VIR

Danville, VA (13 May, 2011)–Trevor Hopwood and Adam Burrows continued the upward trajectory of their 2011 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge campaign as Burrows posted a strong qualifying performance on Friday afternoon at Virginia International Raceway to score fifth on the Bosch Engineering 200 grid with the No. 12 Infinity Audio Kia Koup. The inside grid spot on the third row marks the best qualifying result to date with the Kia Koup for Burrows and Hopwood, who are eager to build on the strong 10th place finish the former championship scored in the most recent round of racing.

Digging deep late in the 15-minute session after already setting a top-ten time, Burrows sliced yet another half second from his session best to post a 2:11.412 lap of the challenging 3.27-mile natural terrain circuit nestled in the Virginia countryside.
Read more of this post

Brian Frisselle Finishes Fifth in Harrowing Race at VIR

Brian Frisselle Finishes Fifth in Harrowing Race at VIR

ALTON, Va., 14 May – Brian Frisselle scored a career best finish at Virginia International Raceway and season’s best finish with a fifth place result in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series Bosch Engineering 250. The race began amid a heavy downpour and would remain wet offline through to the end of the race. It was an incident-filled affair, but Frisselle’s drive in the Office Depot Doran Racing No. 77 Ford Dallara was entirely rock solid.

Running as high as second place through the middle portion of the 2.75 hour race, Frisselle took over from co-driver Henri Richard just past the 30 minute mark. The rain abated soon after the start of Frisselle’s stint; however, the conditions remained both challenging and treacherous with low grip and visibility adding to the tension. Read more of this post

Burt Frisselle Fights to Ninth at Virginia International Raceway with GAMMA88 Riley

Burt Frisselle Fights to Ninth at Virginia International Raceway with GAMMA88 Riley

Alton, Va. (14 May 2011) – Burt Frisselle and AIM Autosport co-driver Mark Wilkins overcame numerous challenges in the Bosch Engineering 250 at Virginia International Raceway in an incident-filled race, running in a testing mix of wet and dry conditions. Despite the various obstacles throughout the 2.75 hour event, the duo brought the No. 61 GAMMA88 machine home ninth.

The first challenge came at the very start of the race when a fogging problem on the No. 61 windshield forced Wilkins to pit lane for a replacement. The AIM Autosport team made quick work of the change and Wilkins returned to the track without losing a lap.

“We had issues with the windshield right at the beginning of the race,” said Frisselle. “The AIM Autosport guys were actually able to replace the entire windshield during the race which is something you don’t see very often. We didn’t even lose a lap. The whole team did an awesome job.” Read more of this post