AIM Autosport Chasing Two Championships in Ten Hours at Petit Le Mans

 

AIM Autosport
AIM Autosport

September 29, 2014 (Toronto, Ontario) – Petit Le Mans, the 10-hour / 1000 mile endurance classic that will close out the TUDOR United Sportscar Championship, could see AIM Autosport’s drivers Bill Sweedler and Townsend Bell celebrating a championship at the checkered flag.

But for AIM Autosport, the green flag will have extra significance as by simply taking the green flag at the start of Petit Le Mans, AIM Autosport will clinch the Patron North American Endurance Cup team championship for the GT-Daytona class. However, both drivers will be gunning for the NAEC driver’s championship which they would clinch by meeting the minimum driver time requirement during Petit Le Mans. However, in the season-long TUDOR Championship’s GT-Daytona driver championship, they enter the weekend at a seven point deficit to the championship-leading BMW .

Closing out the season with one of the longest races on the calendar is an opportunity that the team is looking forward to.

“It seems the longer the race, the better we do, and that’s evidenced by the fact that the team has a commanding lead in the Patron North American Endurance Cup,” said Sweedler. “AIM Autosport should be super proud of their yearlong accomplishments – especially when you consider the level of competition in the GT-Daytona class. But we are still aiming for highest honor – the GT-Daytona TUDOR Championship. We are anticipating a very challenging and very long race on Saturday. It’s no secret we’ve really struggled to match the pace of the other cars in GT-Daytona right now. But Petit Le Mans is not so much about pace as it is about staying out of trouble and keeping our nose clean for the entire race. ”

Teammate Townsend Bell echoed Sweedler’s thoughts of aiming at the TUDOR Championship.

“It’s a great testament to the team that they have virtually locked up Patron North American Endurance Cup team championship,” said Bell. “It’s been the team’s performance in the endurance races that has put us in the position to potentially win the season championship. We have a big job ahead of us, but if can execute like we have in the other races I’m confident in what the team can do on Saturday. ”

Joining the team for Petit Le Mans will be Conrad Grunewald. Grunewald, who spends most of his time behind the wheel of a Ferrari as a coach, is most well-known for piloting at 1000 horsepower Chevrolet Camaro in the Formula Drift Pro Championship. Grunewald is also a highly sought-after coach in the Ferrari Challenge series as well as the Ferrari Driving Experience.

“I am really looking forward to driving with Bill and Townsend at Petit Le Mans,” said Grunewald. “I have been lucky enough to work with AIM Autosport in the past and it is going to be great to finally drive for them. They have done a phenomenal job all season to put themselves in a position to win a championship, and my goal is to help them do that by going as fast as I can and keeping the Ferrari in one piece.”

Guiding the team for the endurance classic will be AIM Autosport engineer Ian Willis. Willis led the AIM Autosport team to a GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series championship with a Ferrari in 2012, and is well aware of the challenges that lay ahead of his team at Petit Le Mans.

“I’m excited to see how the race will Petit Le Mans will play out,” said Willis. “Our track record in the long races this year has been very good – with a win and two second places – and we’ll need another race like that to have a shot at the championship. I’m happy to have Conrad joining Bill and Townsend in our Ferrari – he will surprise a lot of people with his speed. It will take a full team effort to get back on the podium and win a championship – or two – this weekend.”

From: AIM Autosport

Michael DiMeo 2014 Season Recap

Courtesy of Michael DiMeo:

Michael DiMeo
Michael DiMeo

2014 Pirelli World Challenge Season Recap

How time flies! It feels like just yesterday I was boarding a plane to Birmingham, Alabama to join Compass360 Racing (C360R) and begin my first season in Pirelli World Challenge (PWC), and now I’m writing a season recap, reflecting on an unforgettable year.

Leading up to the season opener at Barber Motorsports Park, I was as excited as I had been in a long time. I knew I was staring at an opportunity that I had wanted and worked on for several years, but also recognized that this would be a season of learning. In addition to getting comfortable with the car, I thought my two biggest on-track challenges would be getting up to speed quickly enough at tracks I had never been to, and being consistent in navigating traffic from other classes without impacting their race or mine. Off the track, my biggest challenge, by far, was securing the budget to stay in the car.

The 2014 season included a lot of highs, and only a few lows, and ended with the Driver’s Championship, Rookie of the Year, Team Championship and Crew of the Year awards. It’s not lost on me that drivers don’t get to experience what I did this season and don’t win races, let alone a championship, without a strong car, a talented team and some luck. I was fortunate to have all three. Of the twelve races I entered, we finished on the podium ten times, including eight wins. Before we arrived at the season finale at Miller Motorsports Park, the C360R #71 Civic Si started and finished every single track session during the season and was free from any mechanical issues. I don’t think a driver can ask for any more than that from his team.

Throughout the season, I was fortunate to be surrounded by people who helped and supported me and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them.

First and foremost, I feel lucky to have been able to work with the guys on our team and appreciate all they’ve done for me and supporting me without fail. I also could not have asked for a better teammate and team Principal than Karl Thomson, who showed confidence in me from the first time I met him and has been more than willing to share his knowledge, both on and off the track, in order to help me succeed.

From the first race in Alabama to the last in Utah, one thing that didn’t change, regardless of where we were, was the presence and support our team received from NF Heroes and families from the Children’s Tumor Foundation. Rain or shine, they came to the track, hung out with us and cheered for our team. It was awesome to meet everyone that came out and we appreciate all the support we received.

I was also fortunate this season to have a group of companies and individuals that invested in my program. Quite simply, without the commitment from Grand Alarms, York Auto, LiUNA, ENJ, Formcrete, Luxcon, and True Broach & Tool, it’s a certainty that this season would not have happened for me.

I’m very proud to have been a part of the PWC paddock and think in time, when I look back on this season, I will appreciate the people I met and relationships made just as much as the success our team experienced. I met so many people, from fellow drivers and team members from all the classes, to personnel from Pirelli World Challenge, who treated me with courtesy and respect before I had a chance to earn it. Furthermore, I’ve received kind words of support from many people online, some whom I’ve met and many I haven’t, for which I am grateful.

With the 2014 season a wrap, it’s time to begin planning for 2015 in hopes of the opportunity to build upon our work this season.

Mechanical Issue takes David Ostella out of the race at COTA

 

AUSTIN, Texas (Sept. 20, 2014) – A weekend reminiscent of a sad country song, David Ostella faced a heart breaking weekend at Circuit of the Americas when his first Lone Star Le Mans weekend ended early due to a broken pickup point.

Early on in Ostella’s stint of the 2 hour and 45-minute race he ran into issues handling the No. 38 Dash Neighborhood/ Phillips 66 Prototype Challenge car. After a quick radio check with the crew during the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race to explain that something was off with the left front of the car, Ostella cruised into the pits to face disappointment as head engineer, Ty Sayman, declared that a broken pickup point was the problem.

With only one hour remaining in the race, there was not enough time to fix the No. 38 Oreca FLM-09 and recover position on track. Ostella and the team were forced to retire from the race.

Ostella had been climbing back through the field after taking the car over from co-driver James French halfway through the race in the fifth position before the issue arose.

French had driven through nearly the entire TUDOR United SportsCar Championship field to find his position after the team’s failure to qualify forced them to start from the back of the field therefore making Ostella and French’s effort all the more impressive.

“The biggest thing for me after this is just focusing on our program for the season finale at Petit,” Ostella said. “Our race program has been about finding the perfect setup. We worked on getting faster in qualifying but our focus is on our setup for race day. I think it shows when we get into the race, we’re always quick. That’s where it matters, especially for the longer races like Petit Le Mans. I think that is going to be key.”

Ostella will next race in the famous 10-hour endurance event, Petit Le Mans Powered by Mazda at Road Atlanta October 2-4. The race will be broadcasted on FOX, check local listings for details.

AIM Autosport’s Ferrari was Neutralized at COTA

September 22, 2014 (Austin, Tex.) – Entering the TUDOR United Sportscar Championship’s Lone Star LeMans at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, AIM Autosport drivers Bill Sweedler and Townsend Bell were hoping to reestablish themselves at the head of the GT-Daytona driver championship.
It would be a tall order. Tied for the lead with three other drivers, the Ferrari 458 Italia was given a Balance of Performance adjustment before the race in which it received an additional 150rpms but also gained 10 additional kilograms of weight. However, the team was hopeful that the weight penalty would be negated by the additional straight line speed.
Ultimately, it would be a frustrating weekend for Sweedler and Bell. Qualifying in 15th position, it was apparent that the performance deficit to the other marques in the GT-D class had widened even further. Taking the wheel of the no. 555 AIM Autosport Ferrari 458 Italia for the opening stint of Saturday’s race, Sweedler was able to advance to 11th position before handing the car over to Bell. Through strategy and attrition, Bell was able to move to up eighth position by the checkered flag.
However, finishing in eighth enabled their main championship rivals to take the lead and establish a gap with only one race remaining in the season. Sweedler and Bell now sit unofficially at 268 points, seven points out of the championship lead.
“We knew that the only way we were going to have a good finish was with a lot of luck, and it just didn’t come for us today,” said Sweedler. “The team prepared a flawless race car and everybody executed to a very high level but despite making no mistakes, we just didn’t have the pace to race with the other manufacturers. We will keep fighting and keep digging and we will do everything we can to bring home a championship at Petit LeMans.”
It was a difficult day at Circuit of The Americas for Bell, but is already looking ahead to the season finale at Petit LeMans.
“After the way qualifying went, I had an idea that it might be a very long day for us,” said Bell. “I had a very big battle during my stint with one of the Audis, but with all the weight we have in the car we were really struggling with tire life and I couldn’t keep him behind me. We are hoping for some kind of change before Petit LeMans, but one way or another we will go there and give our best effort. The long races have suited us well this year so maybe we can make some good out of the situation at Road Atlanta.”
Team engineer Ian Willis hopes that the 10 hour / 1000 mile Petit Le Mans will offer the team a chance to regain some of its lost ground in its bid for a championship.
“Unfortunately, the BoP change prior to this weekend has had a big effect on the championship,” said Willis. “Bill and Townsend drove great races today and our crew guys put in an amazing job as well. The long races are what we are best at, and we still have ten hours of racing to go so we are putting our hopes onto a really strong race at Road Atlanta.”

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L.P. Dumoulin, J.R. Fitzpatrick Vie For First NCATS Championship

Dumoulin, Fitzpatrick Vie For First Championship
By Jason Cunningham, NASCAR
September 15, 2014 – 1:00pm

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – When the checkered flag falls on the season finale Pinty’s 250 Saturday at Kawartha Speedway, the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 will have a first-time titlist as either L.P. Dumoulin or J.R. Fitzpatrick will take home the championship trophy.

Dumoulin enters the season-ending event with a 16-point advantage on Fitzpatrick, 418-402. The Trois-Rivieres native can become only the second driver from Quebec to capture the championship in series history, joining two-time titlist Andrew Ranger.

In the point-per-position scoring format that also includes bonus points for winning the race, leading a lap and leading the most laps, there are a number of combinations that would see Dumoulin crowned the champ. Simply put, however, the championship hardware would head home with Dumoulin’s No. 47 Dodge team with a finish of 11th or better at Kawartha, a .375-mile oval in Fraserville, Ontario.

Dumoulin has posted a pair of wins and a series-high nine top-five finishes through 10 races this year. His only result outside of the top five was a sixth-place run at Nova Scotia’s Riverside International Speedway. Nothing is guaranteed at Kawartha, however, where Dumoulin has posted an average finish of 16th in three previous starts.

A two-time championship runner-up, Fitzpatrick has a tough hill to climb for his first crown. Not only does he have the 16-point deficit to overcome, but he’s not fared much better at Kawartha through the years than Dumoulin, with an average finish of 15th across seven starts. The Ayr, Ontario, native does bring plenty of momentum into the finale, however, with finishes of first and second the last two times out this year.

Dumoulin or Fitzpatrick will become just the fourth different champion since the Canadian Tire Series began competition in 2007. In the seven previous seasons, Scott Steckly has captured the title three times with two apiece from D.J. Kennington and Ranger.