26.07.2005 XM SATELLITE RADIO VICI RACING HEADING FOR PORTLAND THIS WEEKEND BUOYED BY A HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL TWO DAY TEST AT WILLOW SPRINGS

The IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge moves on to Portland, this coming week for the third round of this inaugural championship, an event that will denote the series' mid-point. At the Oregon track on Sunday XM SATELLITE RADIO VICI RACING driver, Nathan Swartzbaugh, will be looking for another good result to further strengthen his title challenge.

With two IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge races completed (at Road Atlanta and Mid-Ohio) thus far, the title race remains wide open, and Nathan sits very handily in second place (with 24 points), just six off the new 'effective' series leader Jay Policastro. (Actual point's leader Ricardo Imery - who has amassed 36 points courtesy of two second place finishes - has now switched his attention to the SCCA Speed World GT Challenge). Just behind Nathan in the standings is Paul Orwicz, who has 22 points, while Brent Martini and Lawson Aschen are tied on 20 points. With a maximum of 60 points remaining available, the inaugural title remains there for the taking.

Nathan Swartzbaugh

19-year-old Nathan Swartzbaugh actually joined XM SATELLITE RADIO VICI RACING just before the last round, and so, prior to this weekend's IMSA GT3 Cup race at Portland the Florida-based racing team scheduled a two-day testing session for the youngster to help him grow more accustomed to the Porsche GT3 Cup.

A speciality machine sales executive, Nathan has been track racing for seven years now, taking part in wide variety of club races, under the auspices of NASA and SCCA. Most of this period has seen him racing Spec-Trucks, a championship which encourages low-cost, close-racing thrills, where talent can rise above budget and invaluable experienced can be gained. After winning ‘Rookie of the Year’ in his first season at the age of 14, he went on to win the title twice. At just 16-years-old Nathan also acted as 'Crew Chief' for one of the front-running Spec-Truck racing teams as he eagerly sought to broaden his all-round experience and gain a greater understanding of all aspects of motor racing.

Thus for 2005 Nathan took the big decision of moving up to the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge. ”The Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge is the first real chance I have had to judge myself against highly-rated, experienced drivers,” said Nathan prior to Mid Ohio. “Now I am racing up against guys who put huge dollars and huge efforts into winning. I am also extremely pleased to have the chance to race against drivers like Alfred Renauer and Brent Martini, because they are guys that I can learn so much from."

Highly productive two day test at Willow Springs

Willow Springs is a very fast 2.5-mile, 9-turn race track set in a 600-acre complex comprising of six race tracks which embrace almost every conceivable motor sports discipline, located around an hour's drive north of Los Angeles, California, near Lancaster.

Along with major elevation changes, it is an ideal track to bring out all the the characteristics of the Porsche GT3 Cup racer. With a severe heat wave sweeping across the United States over last weekend, the conditions at this circuit - positioned right in the desert - were blisteringly hot, well over 40 degrees centigrade.

"With our data acquisition equipment installed in the Porsche, this allowed our engineers to record almost every activity within the car, and then to sit down with Nathan and analyse the test lap-by-lap," commented VICI RACING Team President Ron C. Meixner.

To provide a solid benchmark and to teach Nathan about the car, contracted VICI RACING driver Robert Renauer was on hand. Robert - the twin brother of Alfred Renauer, the winner of the opening IMSA GT3 Cup race at Road Atlanta - knows the Porsche GT3 Cup racer pretty much inside out: he has been a regular competitor in both the Porsche Carrera Cup and the Porsche Supercup over the last couple of years.

"Robert ran a few laps on Saturday morning to shake the car down, and to establish lap times for Nathan to aim for," added Ron. "We put Nathan in the car for a few laps and then compared data to establish where he was losing time. At the beginning Nathan was two seconds off Robert's pace, by the end he was just half a second adrift. We were delighted, especially as the conditions were unbearably hot. The test proved to be a real success and hopefully it will form a real springboard for Nathan to pick up a good result at Portland this weekend."

Nathan was ecstatic with the outcome of the test. "I have learnt so much this weekend," he commented, "the VICI guys are fantastic, Robert was a great teacher, and I feel I have gained an awful lot of valuable experience this weekend and moved on as a driver."

VICI RACING has gathered more than twenty years of experience racing Porsche's. In fact one of the team's most memorable ever victories was steamrollering the GT class at the 1993 Daytona 24 Hours. Not only was it the team's first ever race in the United States - with the mix of drivers and engineers literally thrown together for the race - but they finished a clear hour ahead of the next GT car, and in fact help the class lead for the final 17 hours. "I think over the years we have learnt an awful lot," reflects Ron, himself a veteran IMSA GTP and Le mans driver. "I cannot praise our engineers too highly, and I think that we gain a competitive edge by having experienced, rapid drivers such as Robert and Alfred contracted to the team, and thus able to work very closely with our customer drivers to improve their skills in very short periods of time."

IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge, Rd 3 - Portland

The team's attention now switches to Portland for this coming weekend, where Nathan will expecting to show a further improvement in what will be only his third race at the wheel of the Porsche GT3 Cup racer. A 1.967 mile, 12 turn circuit created in 1961, it - rather unusually - features virtually no track elevation changes.

Opening free practice - for the expected eighteen IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge runners - will takes place on Friday (29th July) between 1135 and 1205, with a second 30 minute session scheduled for the afternoon, kicking off at 1530. Qualifying itself will take place on Saturday (30th July) between 1130 and 1200, while the 45 lap race (estimated to last around 45 minutes) will start on Sunday (31st July) at 1315.

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