Sunday Group Management

Riley Makes History at Daytona Once Again

Riley Makes History at Daytona Once Again

Media Contact: Matt Cleary, Sunday Group Management
media
(317) 908-2975

Images of the race-winning Riley Daytona Prototypes available at www.sundaygroupblog.wordpress.com

Daytona Beach, FL (1 February 2011)—A thrilling finish completed a record-setting race weekend at Daytona International Speedway for Riley Technologies as the No. 01 Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates BMW-Riley won the 2011 Rolex 24 At Daytona. Scott Pruett drove under the checkered flag just 2.4 seconds ahead the sister Ganassi team entry driven by Scott Dixon at the finish.

The top four cars finished the race separated by just under four seconds after 24 hours of racing, with all four utilizing the Riley Technologies Daytona Prototype mated to three different engine manufacturers. The weekend opened with the No. 45 Flying LIzards Porsche-Riley setting a new track record for the category in qualifying.

The victory is the seventh Rolex 24 race win in a row for Riley, a remarkable feat in the grueling event, which will celebrate its 50th running in 2012. The victory also marked the tenth Rolex 24 At Daytona overall race victory for a Riley-designed machine in the last 16 years.

Leading 231 of 721 laps, the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates BMW-powered Riley dominated the event after starting third on the nearly fifty-car GT and Daytona Prototype grid. The win is Ganassi’s fourth in the event, all achieved with Riley equipment.

“It is truly awesome,” Pruett said. “To have a 1-2 finish is just incredible. Our No. 01 car has finished every lap here the last five years and won it three times. That in itself is a true testament to what the Ganassi organization does and the preparation on getting this car on the track. They’ve been busting their butts getting our cars ready for this race since October.”

The Riley machines were once again the class of the field, leading 667 of the 721 laps run as a total of 27 different drivers lead the race.

Riley Technologies also had a presence on the GT Class podium at Daytona after Dempsey Racing took its strongest-ever finish in the event as Patrick Dempsey, Charles Espenlaub, Tom Long, and Joe Foster combined to score third with the SpeedSource Engineering-built Mazda RX-8.

“Congratulations to then Ganassi organization on the 1-2 finish,” offered Riley Technologies VP Bill Riley. “It is an incredible achievement just to finish this race, but to take a 1-2 team finish is amazing. Having four of our cars fighting it out on the last lap for the win was exciting, to put it lightly! We are fortunate to have such competitive and hard working teams racing our designs and achieving this kind of success.
“It was also great to see the Dempsey Racing guys on the Daytona podium after they picked up their first GRAND-AM last season. We could not have been more pleased with how this weekend went, and we are already looking forward to racing again at Homestead.”

Notes:
++ 76th Rolex Series race victory for Riley Technologies
++ 7th consecutive Rolex 24 race win for Riley Technologies
++ 10th overall Rolex 24 race victory for Riley-designed machines in 15 most recent events
++ New Track Record (Jorg Bergmeister Riley Mk XX-Porsche 1:40.039 seconds)

Rolex 24 Hour Victories by Riley-designed machines:
1996 Riley & Scott MKIII-Olds Doyle Racing (Riley Factory Team)
1997 Riley & Scott MKIII-Ford Dyson Racing
1999 Riley & Scott MKIII-Ford Dyson Racing
2005 Riley Mk XI-Pontiac SunTrust Racing (Riley Factory Team)
2006 Riley Mk XI-Lexus Ganassi Racing
2007 Riley Mk XI-Lexus Ganassi Racing
2008 Riley Mk XI-Lexus Ganassi Racing
2009 Riley Mk XI-Porsche Brumos Racing
2010 Riley Mk XI-Porsche Action Express Racing
2011 Riley Mk XX-BMW Ganassi Racing

The firm will look to add to the trophy collection in Daytona Prototype, Rolex GT, and Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge competition March 4-5 at Homestead Miami Speedway.

For more information or questions, please contact: Bill Riley, (704) 663-6319 *302

For additional information:
www.rileytech.com

About Riley Technologies:
Riley Technologies has an extended legacy of success, developing competitive on-track products for the Rolex Sports Car Series, the American LeMans Series, the USAC Gold Crown Series, and the Japanese GT Championship Series.

About Siemens:
Riley Tech has long relied on Siemens PLM Software to help design and develop their race-winning machines. NX software, Siemens PLM Software’s digital product development solution which includes computer-aided design, -manufacturing and -engineering (CAD/CAM/CAE) applications, is the preferred development software. NX Software was cited as a driving force behind Riley taking a sixth straight Daytona Prototype Manufacturers championship in 2009 before kicking the 2010 season off with a win at Daytona International.

For more information or questions, please contact: Bill Riley, (704) 663-6319 *302

For additional information:
www.rileytech.com

Riley Technologies Rolex 24 At Daytona Winners

Burrows and Hopwood Push Kia to Podium at Daytona

Burrows and Hopwood Push Kia to Podium at Daytona

Contact: Matt Cleary, Sunday Group Management
media
(317) 908-2975-Mobile

(SPEED will broadcast the race on February 5th starting at 3:00 PM ET )
(Photo: Wes Duenkel)

Daytona Beach, FL (31 January 2011)– Clumsy contact from a competitor early in the Grand-Am 200 race weekend at Daytona International Speedway ended up having a significant effect on the event results for Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwwood as the duo returned to Kinetic Motorsports for the first race of the 2011 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season. But despite the disappointing final result, the weekend still brought significant promise in the form of the impressive speed the duo showed in the No. 12 Kia Forte Koup as well as the strong result the team machine scored on the day.

Hopwood was behind the wheel when he was rear-ended during a practice session on Thursday. While Kinetic hustled to have the car ready to go for qualifying, there was some un-seen damage to the battery that prevented Hopwood from setting a lap time in qualifying. But instead of despairing at the deep grid spot, Hopwood relished the chance to do a lot of passing. Starting last in the nearly 80-car field, he was up to eighth before having to pit to make sure that a relatively small problem didn’t become a big problem.

Running on the 31 degrees of banking, Hopwood’s seat was falling to the side as he hit top speed. This forced him to stop for repairs and while the Kintetic crew worked quickly to bolt the seat upright, the car was several laps down when Burrows took to the track. But the car, which set the fastest lap between the two team entries, showed great pace as Burrows helped the efforts of the sister No. 10 entry, which came home in second to secure the first-ever podium for Kia just one year after Burrows and Hopwood scored the brands’ first race finish at Daytona.

“The race was a lot of fun coming from the back,” said Hopwood. “We definitely had the pace to come out of here with a top five. But I think the hit I took in practice yesterday is what broke the seat. It just wore it down and then the seat finally broke during my stint and that took us out of it. It was good to get a podium up there for the other car. Adam was able to help them out by drafting. It was a great way to start the year. Congrats to Nick and Andy, and hopefully we can bring some more success to Kia and Kinetic when we get back to Homestead.”

“I think really the thing that made the biggest impact on the weekend was the accident that Trevor had on Thursday when we got hit in practice,” said Burrows. “The effects of that we have progressively seen throughout with the battery issue in qualifying that sent us to the back and then the seat breaking in the race. Unfortunately we were always behind because of that. For the team to get the seat fixed in the pits was fantastic. They took the time to really make sure it was done right. I’m not sure how many laps we were down – maybe three or four laps down. We got back out there and the car was fantastic. Even with the accident, the guys did a great job getting everything back together. It worked really well and the car was quick.

“I saw Nic (Jonsson) was in front of me shortly after I came out of the pits and we were in the middle a little bit. I didn’t know what position he was in but I thought that this was going to be perfect to cover his back. Certainly for first race of the year, after all the hard work on the car and making it better through last year to come out in second place for the team is a huge success. Congrats to the team and to Kia, it’s an exciting day for the entire organization and we are looking forward to having more success this year.”

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.konichamps.wordpress.com
www.Sundaymanagement.com

###

Turner Motorsport Leads At Daytona Before Gearbox Setback

Turner Motorsport Leads At Daytona Before Gearbox Setback

Returns to take race finish for second consecutive year

Contact: Matt Cleary, Sunday Group Management
media@sundaymanagement.com
317.908.2975

www.turnermotorsport.com

Attached photo Wes Duenkel: Turner 24 going like clockwork as Dalla Lana gets in and leads the race

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., 30 January – For the first three hours of the 2011 Rolex 24 At Daytona, the Turner Motorsport BMW M3 staked their claim as the team to beat. However, a rare type of gearbox failure forced the team to go back to the garage and effect repairs that took over four hours to complete. The No. 94 BMW M3 machine returned to the track to equal the pace it had set in order to take the lead, but nothing could make up for the hours lost. After 24 hours, the Turner Motorsport entry completed 534 laps to finish 33rd overall, and 17th in class.

Driver Boris Said took on the opening stint from ninth on the 48-car GT and Daytona Prototype grid to take the GT Class lead on lap 43.

“The team has learned a lot from last year, and the car on these Continentals is just a lot more consistent through the run,” commented Said after his first stint of the race. “It’s really good. I just saved the tires better. I could watch those guys run their tires out and I just waited – just was really patient on the gas and was able to keep moving up.”

After Bill Auberlen grew the advantage over the field at the front, Paul Dalla Lana kept the Turner BMW M3 at the front of the pack through hours two and three and into four before a frustrating scoring snafu during a yellow flag saw that advantage erased.

Della Lana handed the reigns to Matt Plumb on lap 151, just shy of the five hour mark. With a mandate from the team to conserve the brakes, Plumb doled out 51 straight consistently quick laps to carry the No. 94 into hour six before the totally unexpected happened.

“On the lap before, I felt the gearbox stiffen up and then it was just a ‘bang!’ and grinding sound, which turned out to be the parts of the gearbox scraping along the track,” Plumb described.

The team sent the car straight to the garage, and up onto the jacks. Soon enough, it became apparent that the most improbable of failures had occurred. A tooth on one of the gears had sheared off, proceeding to cannon ball the rest of the transmission. At 10:30 PM, the Turner Motorsport squad set out to rebuild the entire gearbox.

“We’re going to take our time and rebuild this properly and then put it back on track and get it to the finish,” commented team owner Will Turner.

That they did. Using the stationary time to also address the anticipated scheduled brake change and sort a sundry of fixes, not to mention wiping it clean to present to the track once again with the same attention to detail that the BMW Tuning firm is known for, the yellow and blue BMW M3 returned to Daytona International Speedway at 2:15 AM having missed over 135 laps of the race. It was all at once vindicating and gutting that once back on the track, the No.94 was once again running like clockwork, just as fast as it had before being forced to stop for repairs.

“After it was fixed, it was as good as it was during my opening stint when I was able to put a lap on the field. The car was so well prepared, and all the drivers were really fast. You can be a bit more philosophical when the car isn’t running well. But, when you have a failure that is really nothing other than pure bad luck, it hurts worse knowing you have a car that could have gone for the win,” said Auberlen.

Said, who has over forty 24 hour races on his resume has the experience to know how close this one could have been.

“I really think we would have had a good shot at that Rolex (watch),” Said mused. “The car was as fast and strong at the finish as it was at the start. It’s unheard of how that gearbox broke. Normally it’s a dog ring or some other part that is relatively easy to repair. The way this broke, it required a major repair.”

Matt Plumb, who normally drives for a rival team in GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge competition was behind the wheel when the gremlins struck.

“Aside from the obvious disappointment of getting sidelined while driving a race-leading car,racing with the Turner Motorsport team has been such a wonderful time and I have to thank Will (Turner) for overlooking the fact that we are rivals in the Continental Tire series to give me the opportunity to be a part of this great team. I just wish we could have avoided the one mechanical problem that was the only negative in this whole experience,” Plumb said.

Dalla Lana was given the honor of bringing the No. 94 home and was greeted with an ice bucket bath at the race’s conclusion.

“We got a bad break. Otherwise, we’d have been right there at the finish fighting for the win. We’ve learned some lessons and it was reinforced that to win, you need to be competitive for all 24 hours. What can you do, but keep fighting?” Dalla Lana reflected.

Team owner Wil Turner hid the disappointment in order to focus on the positives.

“We’re ready to go again. Let’s clean up the car, put some fuel in it and do this one more time. It’d have no problem going the distance. The car and the drivers just ran so well and we’ve learned so much that we are eager to do it all over again,” he stated. “If we could take out the laps that we missed and add up all the rest we’d be right there fighting for the lead. But it wasn’t to be this time. Nevertheless, the guys are excited to have finished. They’ve all put in such a wonderful effort and it makes me proud. Now we’ll just try to build from here and really try to be factor in the championship this year.”

Turner had another positive to take from the race. Longtime Turner pilot Joey Hand, who was part of the team’s debut Rolex 24 run in 2010 as well as co-driving to Turner’s first-ever Rolex Series race victory at Mid-Ohio, was part of the overall race-winning Ganassi squad after staging a storming drive in the final hours of the race.

“Turner Motorsport taught Joey everything he knows,” Turner said, perhaps only half joking. “I couldn’t be happier for him. He’s one of the best drivers I’ve ever worked with, probably one of the best drivers in the country, and he really deserves this. Congratulations to him and we’re looking forward to having him back with Michael (Marsal) in the Continental Tire Challenge starting at Homestead.”

Turner Motorsport now looks ahead to round two of the GRAND-AM season in both Rolex GT and Continental Tire series action at Homestead-Miami Speedway, March 4-5.

-ends-

www.turnermotorsport.com
www.Twitter.com/sundaygroup
www.sundaymanagement.com

Turner Motorsport will not only benefit from long-running relationships with top talents like Said and Auberlen, but TMS will also once again enjoy partnership support from a long-held group of sponsors, including H&R Springs, StopTech Brakes, Motul Lubricants, Borla Performance Industries, Escort, and Piloti Shoes.

About Turner Motorsport

Turner Motorsport is the leading BMW tuner in North America, bringing technology and expertise from the racetrack to the street. Turner Motorsport is not about clever marketing tricks or gimmicks. Racetrack results speak themselves. The Turner Motorsport team has won five professional racing championships in two different series since 2003. This storied success is passed into every component that Turner Motorsport designs and sells through their website catalog. Our race team, R&D engineers and Sales team work together, allowing practical knowledge and state-of-the-art engineering to flow in both directions. Few companies in North America can claim such a close relationship to what they sell and what they race.

Michael Shank Racing In the Hunt Through the First Three Hours at Daytona

Michael Shank Racing In the Hunt Through the First Three Hours at Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., 29 January – With 21 hours remaining in the 49th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the Michael Shank Racing entries have been running a consistent and trouble-free race. Knowing full well that the race can’t be won in the early hours, but certainly lost during it, the team has kept both cars, plus the No 23 of the United Autosports with Michael Shank Racing consistently within the top 10.

The No. 6 entry was started by Richard Petty Motorsports regular AJ Allmendinger. He drove the first 48 laps before he pitted from the third position to hand over to Justin Wilson. At hour 3, Wilson was running second overall.

The No 60 car opened the race with Ozwaldo Negri at the controls. The weather had been cool up until race day, which turned warmer than expected. So when Negri had to disconnect his cool suit due to some leaking water, it could have been a bigger problem than it may have otherwise been. In the end however, Negri drove on undeterred, ensconcing the Crown Royal car in the Top 10. Shortly before hour 2, Negri turned the reigns over to John Pew and at the 3 hour mark, Pew was running in the sixth position.

Turner Motorsport 3 Hour Update

Rolex 24 At Daytona Hour 3 update–Turner Motorsport

Turner Motorsport Leads Rolex 24 GT Class at 3 Hour Mark

For the first three hours of the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the Turner Motorsport BMW M3 has been able to show a clean pair of heels to the rest of the GT Class field. Currently, the No. 94 holds a 1 lap advantage.

Boris Said opened the race, starting from ninth on the grid. Only an hour and half later, Said took the point, and was able to open enough of an advantage to turn the car over to Bill Auberlen just before the two hour mark.

“The team has learned a lot and is a lot more consistent through the run. It’s really good. I just saved the tires better. I could watch those guys run their tires out and I just waited – just was really patient on the gas.

Auberlen, in turn, grew the advantage during his two hours behind the wheel before he handed off to Paul Dalla Lana on lap 119.

Team Owner Wil Turner on his team’s lead:

“I don’t want to think about it. I’m not superstitious, but I don’t want to think about it. Everything is going well so far, and we’ve benefited from the track position of some of the DP cars that has enabled us to gain a lap.”

Bill Auberlen on his first stint.

“It’s been nice and easy. The car’s got a great balance in the corners and it’s got plenty of power on the straights.”

What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Matt Cleary, Sunday Group Management
media
317.908.2975 (m)
More details at insightracing.com

What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., 28 January – While the result may not show it, Insight Racing has much to be proud of after making their debut in GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge competition at Daytona International Speedway. Neither of the team’s two cars finished the two and half hour race owing to mechanical woes. Yet, the group leaves unbowed, unbroken and with much more information than when they arrived.

“The outcome was obviously exactly what we wanted to avoid, but we learned that we have great people, the drivers performed as expected and the cars were fast,” said team co-owner and director Gilbert Lynagh. “What makes me really happy is that through the challenges and adversity we faced this weekend, no one blamed anyone or got frustrated. Every person in the team pulled together to do what needed to be done.”

The No. 19 Insight Racing BMW M3 driven by Paul Gerrard and Martin Jensen overcame a slow start to the weekend by qualifying in 15th and eventually making their way to as high as fifth place. However, soon after, with Gerrard behind the wheel for the opening stint, warning lights foreshadowed a problem with the differential. Gerrard heeded caution and turned the car into the garage, and after ten minutes on the jacks, called it a day before Jensen could ever take the wheel.

“It was tough first day, but all-in-all we have to happy with the pace of the car. Without much effort, and a little help from other cars pitting, I was able to get to the front of the field,” said Gerrard. “I was talking through the warnings with the team on the radio trying to determine what to do when I started feeling the differential beginning to fail.

“Still, the car had the pace, which is fantastic given how little milage we have on it, so there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind here that we will be competitive,” added Gerrard.

Jensen never got the chance to race the car, yet still, he too sees it’s potential.

“We knew this was going to be difficult weekend with so little time on the car, but we are closer to the pace we need to be than we first thought. I believe we have more reasons to be encouraged than discouraged,” said Jensen.

After an overnight engine change, the No. 18 Insight Racing 328i rolled out confident in its ability to make up positions from a last row starting position. Driver Tyler McQuarrie took the opening stint, and as expected, was making a charge to the front of the nearly 80-car field.

Fifteen laps in, McQuarrie had already made up 16 places when he pitted to hand the car over to Nico Rondet. During the stop, the Insight Racing crew was forced to top up the engine oil due to falling pressure. Six laps later, the oil pressure problem proved to be terminal and Rondet headed for the garage.

“We started out strong and car was fast when we first put it on the track, and then we ran into problems, first with needing the engine change, then with oil pressure in the race on the new engine. Still, we know the speed is there, so we’ll go to the next race knowing that we truly have the potential, even if we are disappointed today,” said Rondet.

Like the rest of the team, McQuarrie was a mixed bag of emotions, knowing full well that the squad is capable of so much more.

“It’s not the result we were looking for, but at the same time it was awesome to be out here,” said McQuarrie.

Not one to look backward, Lynagh was preparing for the next race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 5th before the green flag even fell on today’s race.

“We already have a strategy and a game plan in place for what we need to do over the next four weeks to be prepared for the next race. We’re going to deal with this and I’m confident that the few glimpses of what we can do will be more in evidence come Homestead.”

-ends-

About Insight Racing:

Insight Racing is entering two cars in the 2011 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. The No. 19 Insight Racing BMW M3 will compete in the top “Grand Sport” (GS) class while the No. 18 Insight Racing BMW 328i competes in the “Street Tuner” (ST) class. Both classes race at the same time to make up the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge field. All races are timed duration events lasting 2 hours and 45 minutes. Each driver must take the wheel for a minimum of 30 minutes during the race in order to score points toward the season championship. The team is based in Dulles, Virginia.

About Dinan Engineering:

Founded in 1979, Dinan is well established as North America’s premiere BMW tuner. Dinan develops, manufactures and markets a comprehensive line of high performance products and systems, distributed through a nationwide network of Authorized Dinan BMW Performance Centers that includes select BMW Dealerships and Independent BMW Service/High Performance facilities.

About Grand-Am

GRAND-AM Road Racing, which was founded in 1999, revolutionized major league sports car road racing in North America. As the organization begins its 12th season of competition in 2011, GRAND-AM is universally regarded as one of the world’s most competitive road racing organizations. GRAND-AM is located in Daytona Beach, Fla. on the same corporate campus that is also home to NASCAR, International Speedway Corporation (ISC) and Daytona International Speedway.

Insight_Daytona_Race_28Jan11.pdf

Tim Bell Impresses in Daytona Debut

Tim Bell Impresses in Daytona Debut

Contact: Matt Cleary
Media
317-908-2975

Daytona Beach, FL (24 January 2011) – Driving the No. 14 BMW 128i for Doran Racing, Tim Bell showed well in his GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge debut on Friday at Daytona International Speedway.

The 2.5-hour race marked Bell’s first-ever start in the GRAND-AM ranks. Moving up from ninth on the grid, Bell showed strong pace in the early stages of the race as he fought for a podium position. A classic road racing battle ensued as Bell made the most of his BMW’s strong exit speed while fighting a car that had more speed on the straight aways.

A thrilling battle for lap after lap was finally disrupted when Bell was hit from behind and forced into the pits to change tires.

“It happened in turn five–he was really far back and I looked in my mirror before I turned into the apex to make sure he wasn’t next to me. He wasn’t there, so I turned into the apex and the next thing I know I’m getting punted,” said Bell of the disappointing development. “It was too bad because it was a great duel, back and forth, but the contact was a little uncalled for.”

The extra stop saw the race strategy hampered as Bell’s co-driver BJ Zacharias brought the machine home in 16th place. While the final result didn’t show the full speed that Bell put to use in his stint, the new rookie was none the less pleased with how his first weekend as a pro racer went.

“Overall, this was a very good weekend,” said Bell. “There are things we could have done a little bit differently and I wish we had the car in qualifying that we had today in the race because we were fast and people could see that. But thats part of learning with this new BMW 128 and for me as a first-time driver, I know that this is just the first race of the season so I’m just trying to learn as much as I can and take it all in. I learned a lot about the GS cars and how they race against the ST cars out there. It can be a little frustrating, but that’s just something to learn and take with me to Homestead. Hopefully we can hit the ground running in the next race–we were very fast at Homestead in testing and I’m already looking forward to it.”

The GRAND-AM 200 will be broadcast February 5th, 3:00 PM (ET) on SPEED.

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

Turner Motorsports Kickstarts 2011 With Podium at Daytona

Turner Motorsports Kickstarts 2011 With Podium at Daytona

Contact: Matt Cleary, Sunday Group Management
media@sundaymanagement.com
317.908.2975

www.turnermotorsport.com

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., 27 January – Turner Motorsport was back in familiar territory on Friday afternoon as the No. 96 BMW M3 of Paul Dalla Lana and Bill Auberlen raced to a third place finish at Daytona International Speedway in the opening round of the 2011 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. The podium result was a strong start to the race weekend for Turner Motorsport, and the group will look for even more champagne when the team returns to the famed track on Saturday to take on the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

The team had been well-placed to take an even stronger result as both entries ran in podium position in the late stages of the race, but an issue with a bearing saw the sister No. 97 of 2010 championship contenders Michael Marsal and Joey Hand lose pace in the final stages, fighting to finish 11th at the checkered flag.

Dalla Lana took the green flag for the the 2.5-hour GRAND-AM 200 from eighth on the nearly 80-car field and moved up in the early laps before turning the machine over to Auberlen. The previous Daytona winner fought his way through the pack, put some typically strong Turner pit strategy to good use, and was fighting in the lead pack in the closing laps of the race. But a late-race yellow flag not only helped some of the competition make the fuel stretch to the finish, it also kept him from getting the chance to fight forward and add to his tally of BMW race wins.

“You know a lot of hard work and it’s good to finally finish. We had a lot of troubles last year so the team has been doing a great job getting the car ready and of course when you have Bill as your co-driver, it’s really nice,” said Dalla Lana. “It’s really good to start the year with a good result. Now the big show (Rolex 24) is on so it’s nice to cast some momentum into that. You know it’s going to be a tough race. The Porsches look strong and you know there’s a couple other really strong teams so we got our work cut out for us but I think you got the winner here (Matt Plumb) and the third place guy in our car so you know we got guys that can go fast so that’s nice.”

“Third is a good start, but honestly that’s not exactly where we wanted to finish,” offered team owner Will Turner after the race. I don’t know what happened to the 97 car yet, but I’m glad he held onto 11th. Bill wasn’t really talking that much– he had a pretty good car and it’s great to be on the podium for the first race. It’s a great way to start off the year. Wish we were up a couple steps on the podium but we got out-fueled by one of the other BMWs, so we had to do that last splash which put us back. But it’s good to be on the podium for the first race of the year.”

The race was an up and down affair for the field, with yellows and fuel strategy mixing the field on multiple occasions.

“It helped with our strategy–we needed two or three laps on fuel,” said Auberlen. “We were nursing it and starting to lean it out and then they said we could run full rich until the end. It helped our competition who for sure would have had to pit. We were able to stay at the front and race at the front. Paul gave me a perfect car, not a scratch on it. We just have some homework, we just need to keep working on the handling. The StopTech brakes were great, I mean everything that was on this car was working great, perfectly.”

The No. 97 entry had fought back from an issue in qualifying that prevented Marsal from setting the times that the car was capable of. But some hard work saw the team have the M3 ready to go full speed ahead of the green flag.

“The Turner guys left no stone untouched-they went through everything and the car was great for my opening stint,” said Marsal. “We were looking very good until the last stages of the race but this is still a solid way to start the year. Just like Will said, we were hoping for more out of the day, but we ran well, the team executed, and we just didn’t have the luck to get back on the podium today.”

www.turnermotorsport.com
www.Twitter.com/sundaygroup
www.sundaymanagement.com

Turner Motorsport will not only benefit from long-running relationships with top talents like Said and Auberlen, but TMS will also once again enjoy partnership support from a long-held group of sponsors, including H&R Springs, StopTech Brakes, Motul Lubricants, Borla Performance Industries, Escort, and Piloti Shoes.

About Turner Motorsport

Turner Motorsport is the leading BMW tuner in North America, bringing technology and expertise from the racetrack to the street. Turner Motorsport is not about clever marketing tricks or gimmicks. Racetrack results speak themselves. The Turner Motorsport team has won five professional racing championships in two different series since 2003. This storied success is passed into every component that Turner Motorsport designs and sells through their website catalog. Our race team, R&D engineers and Sales team work together, allowing practical knowledge and state-of-the-art engineering to flow in both directions. Few companies in North America can claim such a close relationship to what they sell and what they race.

Matt Cleary
Sunday Group Management
media
http://www.sundaymanagement.com
317.908.2975 (m)

Sunday Group Management is a leading motorsports management and communications consulting firm. Based in Indianapolis, 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, sundaygroupmanagement.blogspot.com, www.facebook.com/sundaygroup, or twitter.com/Sundaygroup

DAYTONA DOUBLE AS RUM BUM WINS SEASON OPENING RACE

DAYTONA DOUBLE–RUM BUM WINS SEASON OPENING RACE

Rum Bum Racing
Contact: Matt Cleary
Media
317.908.2975

Second consecutive Daytona win for the team, and third in a row going back to last season.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., 28 January – The No. 13 Rum Bum Racing BMW M3 driven by Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi won the season opening race for the GRAND-AM Continental Sports Car Challenge at Daytona International Speedway. It was both a dominant and thrilling performance from the squad that was clearly the team to beat. The result makes the team two-for-two in Daytona race victories, having won the 2010 running of the event in the team’s debut race outing.

Longhi led the two and a half hour race from the pole, but it wasn’t long before he needed to ease up. The first full course caution came only four laps in, followed by another after only two further laps of green flag racing. Having fulfilled the required 30 minutes behind the wheel to score championship points and looking to launch a competitive fuel strategy, crew chief Joe Varde called him in from the lead for fuel, four tires and a driver change.

“I started the race comfortably making sure that I drove cleanly and smoothly. I was able to open a gap without pushing too hard, but the two yellows gave away whatever lead I had,” said Longhi. “My job was to hand over a clean race car to Matt with a bit of a margin if possible. We managed one out of two. But for me I was thinking about the championship and the big picture so I didn’t take any risks, just tried to keep it up front.”

The yellow flags would continue to play a role in Varde’s strategy that would play to the car and driver’s strengths of speed balanced with good fuel economy and tire management.

“We had a quick car and great stops, but the yellows are really how we made it,” echoed Plumb. “Joe’s strategy, as always, worked to perfection. If I could just manage the fuel and tires, then we knew we had a solid chance of winning.”

Plumb returned the No.13 to the fray on lap 11 in 28th position. His speed combined with others needing to make their first pit stops enabled him to make up lost ground quickly. By lap 26, he had cracked the top-10, and only four laps later was dicing for the lead. At half distance, the Rum Bum BMW was back in the lead and thanks to the fuel economy and tire management strategy, Plumb was able to run a few laps longer while many of his rivals were heading for the pits and their second stop.

On lap 35, Plumb brought the No. 13 in for a full service from the lead, returning in seventh place. Immediately after, the third of four caution periods ensued. Yet again, while others chose to pit for a splash of fuel, Plumb remained on track.

When the racing resumed, Plumb was in second place and chasing down the leading BMW M3, finally retaking the point with a strong move into turn 1 on lap 46.

The pair of Turner Motorsports BMWs were the first to apply the pressure, before the No. 97 car suddenly fell off the pace. Then it was the turn of the No. 15 Mustang to apply some pressure, but Plumb was able to manage the gap sufficiently to never let the Mustang mount a credible challenge. A final caution period allowed Plumb to cruise to the finish line to take Rum Bum Racing’s fourth series win and third in a row dating back to the final two races of 2010.

“I was managing the pace well enough at the end, because the Mustang was coming fast. But when I needed to, I was able to push hard enough for a couple laps to maintain or build the margin and then return to running a comfortably fast pace and avoid overheating the tires and brakes,” said Plumb.

The overall vision and strategy deployed by team owner and co-manager Luis L. Bacardi continues to build momentum for the Rum Bum Racing squad as it enters its sophomore season looking for wins, as well as shot at the overall title. With one win firmly in the bank, they’re on track to do just that. The team will look to bring the momentum to the home track at Homestead Miami Speedway in March.

-ends-

www.rumbumracing.com
www.sundaymanagement.com

###

Matt Cleary
Sunday Group Management
media
http://www.sundaymanagement.com
317.908.2975 (m)

Sunday Group Management is a leading motorsports management and communications consulting firm. Based in Indianapolis, 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, sundaygroupmanagement.blogspot.com, www.facebook.com/sundaygroup, or twitter.com/Sundaygroup