03.04.2008 VICI RACING St. PETERSBURG PREVIEW
 

Miami, Florida - From the longest race of the season to the shortest, the Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg on Saturday (April 5), the second round of the 2008 American Le Mans Series (ALMS), presents another immediate, and very different, challenge for VICI Racing and its tire development partner, Kumho Tire.

For the second consecutive year, the ALMS competitors will hit the streets of St. Petersburg for the first of four races meeting to take place on a temporary street circuit. Last year the exotic sports cars of the American Le Mans Series raced into dusk on this course, however for this year an early afternoon race has been scheduled. After the concrete swages of the historic Sebring airfield circuit, the track at St. Petersburg is a mostly asphalt road course; and VICI Racing, along with partner Kumho Tire, will take to this short but highly demanding 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary road course tomorrow morning for the opening practice session with the innovative tire development program having moved up another gear since the opening ALMS round in March.

VICI Racing and Kumho Tire have teamed up this year to undertake an exciting-and ambitious-season long tire development program on behalf of Kumo Tire which aims to evolve new racing compounds for the ALMS GT2 class. VICI Racing is campaigning the new 2008-specification Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Straight out of the box the team hit the ground running in Sebring (12-15 March) for a week that would see a whole set of new components gelling together.

The professionalism and experience of all the partners came into play straight from the start and the team made huge strides all week. The program’s inaugural race, the legendary 12-hour fight for survival, went far beyond all expectations, despite the team choosing to formulate a conservative strategy. The #5 VICI Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR ran in a strong podium position for much of the race and eventually crossed the line in a very respectable 6th place even after a string of late race dramas, that were all beyond the team’s control, intervened.

This excellent result clearly demonstrated this new program’s huge potential and was a just reward for everybody’s hard work and total dedication; it sets the team up perfectly for the unfolding of the 2008 ALMS season and in particular for St. Petersburg, the second consecutive ALMS race to take place in Florida, which is just over an hour from Sebring.

VICI Racing is delighted to announce that Brazilian Ruben Carrapatoso is join the team’s talented driver roster, all of whom will be adept on a circuit which demands technical ability, concentration and the skill to negotiate the incessant traffic and keep the sports cars safely away from the unforgiving concrete crash barriers that line the narrow street track. 26-year-old Ruben from São Paulo began his racing career in karts in 1993, going on to win the world title in 1998 after a season during which he took on and beat Fernando Alonso, who has since gone on to win two F1 titles, and the well regarded Toyota F1 Test Driver Ryan Briscoe.

Ruben then graduated to British Formula Ford in 2001, before following a path, well trodden by many of his countrymen, in making his way up the single-seater ladder via Italian- and then British-Formula Renault, the Euro F3 Series, and driving for Team Brazil in the F1 ‘feeder’ series, A1GP. Along the way he has also gained closed-roof experience, winning races in the highly competitive Brazilian V8 National Stock Car Championship and the Argentinean V8 Touring Car Championship, over the last three seasons. Ruben arrives at VICI Racing with a reputation already cemented for his rapid pace, natural racing ability, and a tough but smooth style.

The driver pool for the #5 VICI Racing Porsche for this week’s action in St. Petersburg will feature as uaual Craig Stanton and Nathan Swartzbaugh, the team’s driving heroes of Sebring who perfectly played out their part on track, running fast, consistent laps throughout the 10-hour race. Craig’s vast experience, enthusiasm and drive, not to mention winning pedigree, coupled with Nathan’s youth, speed and raw talent, make them perfect combination to drive this program forward – and up a gear.

Nathan Swartzbaugh: "Heading in to St. Petersburg this week I think the main objective will just be gaining more experience. I know we really turned heads at Sebring with our pace and strategy, and I think if the team can keep the car together all the way to the end, there's no reason why a great result can’t be achieved."

Craig Stanton: "Sebring was just awesome for all of us. To have been as close as we were to a podium has just made us all the more motivated for St. Petersburg, and I’m sure if we get the strategy as good as it was in Sebring, we might surprise a few people.”

Ruben Carrapatoso: “I’m really delighted to be joining VICI Racing at St. Petersburg this week; this will be an important step forward in my racing career. The team is very professional, highly motivated and focused on achieving success on track. I’m also looking forward to learning from my team mates; I will be able to draw on their Porsche and ALMS experience. It will be a big challenge for me, but I have raced for the last three years in South American Stock Cars so I have built up a lot of experience of close action sportscar racing. I have never driven the RSR before, but it’s regarded as a superb car and the guys have told me it’s very driveable. I haven’t seen the St. Petersburg track either but I have been watching lots of videos to memorise the layout and the corners, and I love racing on street circuits, they’re a great challenge. I can’t wait to get out on the track this week.”

Ron C. Meixner, President, VICI Racing: “We’re all looking forward to St. Petersburg and the ingredients are in place to see the program move up a gear on what will be a very different event to Sebring. The team performed really well in the 12 Hours and we came away having clearly demonstrated our potential. For such a new venture, the absolute levels of professionalism I demand throughout the organisation really showed through.
 

"However this was just the start, we have to raise the bar with every test and race, getting to the front in GT2 will demand a lot of hard work and development; however I am confident that we can achieve our season targets. Nathan and Craig did everything asked of them at Sebring; while Ruben is a great sports car prospect, and it will be good to get him in the car, and I’m pleased he’s joining us. This is a superb line up to have to choose from. I’m now looking for a very good performance in all areas this week.”

Roland Wall, Technical Director & Chief Engineer, VICI Racing: For St. Petersburg we will be having resolved the issues we had with the car in Sebring that were out of our hands. The track is totally different, much slower; top speed will be around 235km/h instead of 258km/h at Sebring. At St. Petersburg the track surface is only concrete on the main straight; everything else is tarmac, normal road conditions, that requires a different setting for the car. There are many slow corners so I will be looking for lots of mechanical traction on exiting the corners. Due to it being a shorter and slower track I hope that we will be a bit closer to the leading class rival, and I hope the development work Kumho is doing will be starting to show up already the next generation of racing tires, feeding back from the Sebring race and the test program.

Tim Bumps, Team Manager, VICI Racing: Sebring was a great event for VICI Racing. Our team showed we can be competitive, and handle a tough challenge that hampered us the final hour of the race. Everyone on the Team is hungry for a successful race at St. Pete, and feels we can be competitive at a street circuit event. We also look forward to a successful season.

The action at St. Petersburg gets underway tomorrow (Friday April 4) with a one hour long free practice session (8:05 – 9:05 AM) Eastern Time (ET) open to all ALMS competitors (LMP1, LMP2, GT1 and GT2). This is followed by a second hour long session (1:05 – 2:05 PM), again combining all the classes, before the 20 minute final qualifying session (2:15 – 2:35 PM) reserved for the GT1/GT2 classes which will decide the starting grid. On race day (Saturday 5th April) a warm up session for all the ALMS classes takes place (9:25 – 9:50 AM) before the second round of the 2008 American Le Mans Series, the Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg gets the green light at 1:25 PM ET. The race is scheduled to last for 1 hour 55 minutes, with the checkered flag set to be waved at 3:20 PM.

The race will be broadcast on ABC from 1:30-3:30 p.m. ET on April 5. American Le Mans Radio coverage will be available on XM Satellite Radio Channel 144 and americanlemans.com, which also will feature IMSA's Live Timing & Scoring.

About Kumho Tire

Established in 1960, Kumho Tire Co., Inc., of Seoul, South Korea, had 2007 sales of $2.4 billion. Kumho manufactures and distributes a complete line of tires for passenger cars, light trucks and heavy-duty trucks. The company has manufacturing facilities in Korea and China, and operates technical centers in Birmingham, England, and Akron, Ohio.  Founded in 1975 and headquartered in Rancho Cucamonga, CA, Kumho Tire U.S.A is the U.S. distribution arm of Kumho Tire Co.  In addition to its 830,000 square foot headquarters and central distribution facility in Rancho Cucamonga, the company operates four additional distribution facilities in Atlanta, Chicago, Columbus and Dallas. For more information, visit the Kumho Web site at www.kumhotire.com

About VICI Racing

VICI Racing is a Miami, Florida-and Munich, Germany-based racing team with more than 20 years of experience competing at the topmost levels of international sportscar racing, in both GT and prototype categories, in Europe and the United States. VICI Racing is a wholly owned subsidiary of the VICI Group, which is comprised of technology-led companies. VICI Racing roll call of wins includes GT victory in the Daytona 24 Hours. For more information visit www.viciracing.com

About Wempe

Established in 1878, Wempe is a family owned company that has been in business for over 125 years.  Wempe is headquartered in Hamburg, Germany where Mrs Kim-Eva Wempe took over the reigns from her father, Mr Hellmut Wempe, in 2003.  She owns and operates 25 stores worldwide in 6 countries, with global sales of over $300 million. Opened in 1980, the New York Flagship Store – the only Wempe location in the U.S. – is located on Fifth Avenue and 55th Street.  The boutique is an elegant European style salon at the base of the Peninsula Hotel. Carrying 18 of the world’s finest watch brands along with its own line of exquisite jewelry, Wempe is known not only for its commitment to quality, but also for exceptional service. For more information visit www.wempe.com

About Tornos

Since the company’s foundation in 1880, Tornos has always specialized in high precision turning solutions.  Selling a variety of machines that can include up to eight spindles, the Swiss-born company has developed a growing specialty in providing solutions to the most complex and detailed spinning parts. From miniature bone screws to microscopic components in radio-controlled cars, Tornos machines provide solutions for a variety of industries requiring high precision.

About Westway Development

Westway Development is a privately-owned commercial real estate company that possesses over 25 years of industry experience. Their team of real estate professionals has developed several million square feet of office and industrial properties. Motivated by its successes in the commercial sector, Westway Development is committed to providing the Federal Government and its contractor companies a blend of traditional office and build-to-suit real estate development solutions, regardless of complexity or degree of specialization.
 

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