Generac 500 at Road America - Live reporting from the VICI Racing pits

5:00 PM The #18 car is back in the paddock now. The damaged parts will be replaced this evening by the hard-working crew and preparations for tomorrow's practice and qualifying sessions will get underway. A long evening is in store.

3:15 PM Nicky is discussing the session with brother Francesco. "We were able to carry out tire evaluation during my stint and I enjoyed my time out on the track,” says Nicky. “This is the first track we have been on that I know, having tested here in ChampCar two years ago. However it is very different driving a GT2 car on the track, you have to carry a lot less speed into the corners; but I got up to speed quite quickly, and I enjoyed it.”

3:10 PM Approaching the two thirds marker Nicky handed over to Marc. The German ran several laps on a track he was driving for the first time but having to take action to avoid a spinning GT2 car, Marc brushes a wall causing some mild damage and he brings the #18 car back to the pits where the team end their participation in the session.

2:45 PM Technical Director Roland Wall and Team Owner Ron Meixner are discussing the session during a brief red flag break. Roland is utterly focused when the car is on the circuit, listening to the driver and watching the monitors, prepared for any scenario that should arise.

2:40 PM Nicky, who is very familiar with the RSR and the Kumho tire program, has kicked off the test session, getting the running underway with two laps in the 2:12 bracket, before running a 2:11.797 after a quarter of an hour. The session has been interrupted by short red flag periods; however Nicky is able to run consistent lap times.

11:30 AM Nicky and Francesco are briefing Marc of the team's set up, in particular the tire situation as our new German driver hasn't run on Kumhos before. Nicky and Marc are both coming off impressive winning weekends in Europe: Marc was on the winning crew in the G3 class at the Spa 24 Hours in Belgium last Sunday while just over the border Nicky won both races in a Dutch Supercar Challenge round at Assen.

11:00 AM Nicky, Francesco and Marc are in a temporary studio being interviewed by the Speed TV team who are recording background details with each driver introduces himself.

10:45 AM This week for the first time we are also pleased to have in service the first of our brand new state-of-the art trailer units that have been fitted out to our specific requirements. The new trailer looks impressive, and the crew are delighted with it. A demanding inaugural year for the team in ALMS but each piece of the jigsaw is slotting into place on schedule.

10:30 AM There is a new face in the #18 car this weekend as sports car racing star Marc Basseng has joined the team. "It’s great to be joining VICI Racing and I’m relishing the chance to actively contribute to the tire development program," says Marc. "The team has impressed me from what I have seen of them in the ALMS this year, they’re coming on race by race, and I know that Ron Meixner is very focused on winning. I’m also looking forward to working with Technical Director Roland Wall, he is one of the best guys in the business and very good at getting the most out of a car."

10:10 AM The major focus of our program this year is on tires, and in this area we saw real, tangible results last time out at Mid-Ohio, where the latest development compounds from Kumho achieved a consistent level of traction over the full 53 lap opening stint. The event brought an improvement in lap times of around 2 seconds a lap. The team and Kumho are both very pleased that the program is going in the right direction, but we are aware we have a long way to go. We're looking to sustain and build on this improvement over the next three days.

9:10 AM The team has a long morning ahead preparing for the first action on track which will get underway this afternoon with a 90 minute test session (2:10-3:40PM), with the first hour open being to all classes while the final 30 minutes will be reserved for the teams in the GT1 and GT2 classes. Tomorrow sees an hour long late morning practice session (10:00-11:00AM) which is open to all classes, before a second hour long session takes place mid afternoon (1:50-2:50PM), again open to all classes. A brief ten minute break will follow before the 20 minute qualifying session (3:00-3:20PM) reserved for the GT1 and GT2 competitors takes place. Race day, Saturday 9th, will kick off with the late morning Warm-Up session (11:05-11:30PM) before the Generac 500, the 7th round of the 2008 American Le Mans Series goes to green flag at 4:00PM. The 4 hour race is due to see the checkered flag waved at 8:00PM.

7:45 AM We're on our way to the track at Road America this morning as the seventh round of the 2008 American Le Mans Series gets underway three weeks after we recorded another solid top-ten classification at Mid-Ohio, keeping up a highly consistent record for the Miami, Florida-based team which has seen the RSRs classified amongst the finishers in every ALMS race this year, apart from St. Petersburg where we endured an early practice setback. Everyone's looking forward to this race, and we expect to make another step forward. Driving the new motorhome, supplied by team partner LuxuryMotors.com, to the track this morning is our new truck driver Guy; he knows these roads well, as before moving to Florida a couple of decades ago he lived an hour away from here.