It’s a different lineup but AIM Autosport is looking for the same result at Indianapolis
Toronto, Ontario – A combination of speed, strategy and a little bit of racing luck brought AIM Autosport to victory lane at last year’s Brickyard Grand Prix, then a part of the Rolex Sports Car Series. Drivers Bill Sweedler and Townsend Bell have scored one victory and two additional podiums this year in the no. 555 AIM Autosport Ferrari 458 Italia and lead the GT-Daytona championship of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.
AIM Autosport is heading to Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the back of a disappointing race two weeks ago at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. An early race incident put the no. 555 AIM Autosport Ferrari 458 Italia down the order, and the team is looking for a strong rebound race at IMS.
“This isn’t the first time this year that we have had to come back after a difficult race,” said Sweedler. “We had a tough finish at Detroit, and the team came right back and things ran like clockwork at Watkins Glen for another podium finish. It’s a good feeling to know we are racing at Indianapolis with the guys who won the race last year and we are motivated to get another strong race under our belt and strengthen our championship lead. And, I am really looking forward to racing at Indianapolis.”
Townsend Bell is no stranger to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, having competed eight times in the Indianapolis 500 including a strong run at this year’s event where he ran as high as third position.
“Going backwards down the front straightaway at Indianapolis will be a little bit strange the first time I do it,” said Bell. “And then it’ll be just like learning any other circuit. There are quite a few teams in this series that have experience here, but the change in layout will help to level the playing field a bit. This layout looked very fun to race on when the Indycars were here, and I am hoping for more of the same this weekend. We have a big challenge ahead of us this weekend, and all of us will have to execute very well.”
As the person who guided the AIM Autosport Ferrari to victory at IMS last season, team engineer Ian Willis understands the challenge of this race – and the fact that everything has changed from last season’s race to this Friday’s.
“The new circuit at Indianapolis presents a different challenge when it comes to the setup of our Ferrari 458 Italia,” said Willis. “With the new layout, a new surface, and the change in the spec of the Ferrari from last year’s Rolex Series GT class to this year’s TUDOR Championship GT-Daytona class, we are approaching this weekend as a clean sheet of paper. As you can imagine, we are looking forward to the challenge of defending our class win from last year and we’ll have to do everything perfectly in order to make that happen.”