18.04.2005  DEBUT WIN FOR XM SATELLITE RADIO VICI RACING AT IMSA GT3 CUP OPENER IN ROAD ATLANTA

 XM SATELLITE RADIO VICI RACING yesterday claimed victory in the opening race of the inaugural IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge in style, the team’s young German driver Alfred Renauer winning a hotly fought race he had started from pole position.

It was an ultimate ‘dream’ debut result for the team, which was using the Michelin-sponsored IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge race at Road Atlanta to launch its 2005 sportscar racing programme, and at the same time, inaugurating the team’s new long-term strategic partnership with XM SATELLITE RADIO.

After topping the timesheets during free practice, and then planting his no11 Porsche GT3 on pole, more than two seconds ahead of his nearest rival, 20-year-old series ‘guest driver’ Alfred Renauer then fended off the close attentions of the highly experienced Bret Martini to take the chequered flag, and round out a stunning weekend for the Florida-based team.

The inaugural five-round North American IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge draws on its hugely successful European counterpart, the long-running Porsche Carrera Cup. The purpose-built race cars are based on the Porsche 996 body style, with sealed engines and transmissions to provide for close racing where the driver's talents will be exemplified. Porsche Motorsport North America (PMNA) is providing additional technical support for the series with personnel, parts and expertise both away from, and at, the tracks.

The IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge runners took to the Road Atlanta track for the first time on Friday morning, for two 30-minute ‘free’ practice sessions. After months of talking, hype and much anticipation, no less than 26 Porsche Type 996-based racers were at Road Atlanta for the start of the proceedings.

XM SATELLITE RADIO VICI RACING, with their no 11 Porsche GT3 car being driven for this race by Alfred Renauer, joined the top class field out on the track at 0935 on Friday morning, an entry which included strong rival outfits, such as Alex Job Racing, TRG and Orbit.

After weeks of hard work to ready their car for track action, XM SATELLITE RADIO VICI RACING’s familiar and highly experienced core of personnel and engineering staff, were gearing themselves up to yet another racing challenge, joined for the occasion by several new faces. The VICI GROUP has had a long and successful tradition in global motor racing, which includes a famous GT class win at the Daytona 24 Hours.

Invaluable experience has been gained through a wide range of competitive programmes such as winning involvement in offshore powerboat racing, as well as in diversified areas like the application of lightweight composite materials, and aero engineering.

The opening day couldn’t have gone better for VICI RACING. Alfred Renauer headed the timesheets; his best lap of the day, a 1:27.897, proving to be a whole 1.385 seconds faster than the next quickest of the GT3 Cup runners, Keith Alexander in the first of the six Farnbacher-Loles entries.

Team President Ron C. Meixner, a race winning veteran of the factory Porsche IMSA GTP programme of the 1990s, was delighted with the progress achieved on day one. “It’s all very much a case of a new team bedding in and facing an exciting new challenge. Everything has gone reasonably smoothly and Alfred has adapted to what is a new circuit and challenge extremely well. That he has topped the timesheets on the first day of his first visit to a US circuit is impressive, as has been the smooth and careful way he has settled in.”

Saturday morning qualifying was to get even better for the XM SATELLITE RADIO VICI RACING team. Alfred Renauer planted the no11 car firmly onto pole position, a massive 2.029 seconds ahead of the highly experienced Brent Martini in the no12 Wheel Enhancement TRG Porsche GT3. Third place went to Ricardo Imery (Farnbacher-Loles) 0.087, while the top five of the grid was rounded out by Phil DeAngelis and Chris Wally (both Kelly-Moss Racing) with a 1:28.911 and 1:29.054 respectively.

The 2.54-mile, 12-turn Road Atlanta circuit at Braselton in Georgia, steeped as it is in sportscar legend, is a daunting and very demanding track on which to start a US racing career, but 20-year-old German Alfred Renauer was already taking matters in his stride. “I’m really happy to be on pole position,” he commented afterward, “The team has been just fantastic, they have really helped me learn the track, and the car is getting progressively quicker and quicker as we work towards an optimum race set-up. I’m really looking forward to the race tomorrow.”

At the rolling start Brent Martini in the Wheel Enhancement Racing/TRG Porsche, starting from the outside of the front row, jumped into an early race lead. Alfred squeezed past the highly experienced former Ferrari 360 Modena Challenge pilot a few laps later and the pair tussled for the lead, swapping positions until the yellow flags came out after 20 minutes, when the VICI driver was in the ascendancy. Once the race track returned to green flag status, Alfred, who also posted the race’s fastest lap, a 1:29.316, cemented his lead to beat Martini (TRG) to the chequered flag by 0.185 seconds, after 26 laps of racing. Venezuelan driver Ricardo Imery (Farnbacher-Loles) claimed the final podium position with Mark Hupfer (J3 Racing) fourth.

Alfred was ecstatic. “The weekend couldn’t have got any better,” commented the young German. “VICI provided the perfect set-ups for qualifying and the race, so all I had to do was keep it all on the road. I have been delighted to be a ‘guest’ driver in the series, and I am looking forward to announcing details of my next US challenge very shortly.”

Buoyed by this very promising start to the season, XM SATELLITE RADIO VICI RACING will very shortly announce further 2005 sportscar racing plans, which will of course include their 20-year-old new star driver, Alfred Renauer.

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