14.07.2008 VICI RACING – MID OHIO PREVIEW

Miami, Fla - Exactly two months after racing at Utah, VICI Racing and development partner Kumho Tires will take to the track for the sixth round of the American Le Mans Series at Mid Ohio this weekend (July 17-19) and face together another unique challenge in their highly demanding first year together.

Although the team has had a lengthy early summer break, the pace has been hectic as all the infrastructure necessary for a long term program in the American Le Mans Series has steadily been put into place. Most recently, the bespoke new transporters arrived just few days ago, while the new race shop is now fully up and running. A promising tire test took place at Sebring during the series’ mid-season break, while a technical step forward, along with a push on new tire compounds by Kumho, meant the team chose to skip last weekend’s fifth round at Lime Rock to concentrate all its resources on achieving a step in competitiveness at Mid Ohio.

VICI Racing now heads for one of America’s classic sports car tracks, the 2.258-mile, 13-turn Mid Ohio Sports Car Course at Lexington for the sixth round of the 2008 American Le Mans Series (ALMS) ready to carry on with the season-long tire development program and push up the GT2 class order. The ALMS series continues to emphasis its unrivalled diversity and for the tire development program another set of variables come into the mix, meaning the steep learning curve will be maintained into round six. With time to upgrade just one car, only the #18 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (2008) will be in action this weekend. The #18 car will be driven at Mid Ohio by Nicky and Francesco Pastorelli, the young Dutch racing brothers who impressed the team during their solid first outing in the ALMS at Utah in May.

VICI Racing and Kumho Tires have teamed up this year to run a new tire development program in the ALMS, and it’s been a fast moving opening three months in a schedule that has seen the project carried out in the full racing glare. Fresh out of the box and with most staff members unfamiliar with each other’s names at Sebring, the team confounded its own expectations during the famous 12-hour marathon as the new #5 car ran in a podium position for over four hours, and clinched a sixth place finish after overcoming a catalogue of late race dramas that were outside the team’s control. However, motor racing brings highs and lows, and at St. Petersburg (round 2) the team came crashing back to earth and went home early after a practice accident which caused damage that couldn’t be repaired at the track. Following that setback a huge dose of professionalism was called for to make the grid at Long Beach a fortnight later, and another helping of points was a perfect reward for many late nights. Round four in Utah saw the line up double as the #18 car joined the #5 in the paddock, and after a string of minor issues, getting both cars to the finish in the points sent the team into the break continuing to make progress.

VICI Racing arrives at Mid Ohio having made two key further additions to the team’s personnel: James Lang arrives as Team Coordinator while Andre Nischan joins the mechanical department. James joined the team shortly after Utah and he has already taken on a great deal of responsibility. He is currently focusing on several longer term projects which will enable the team continue to position itself as a first class organization for many years to come. James will also focus on our corporate partners at the track. Andre meanwhile also started after Utah. He has many years of experience with Porsche race cars, and it will be a huge benefit to the team.

Ron Meixner, Team President VICI Racing: “We’re looking forward to getting back into race action this week. The two months since Utah have really flown by and the team has been flat out during that period. We have made big strides in all areas, from technical to infrastructure, as we build a team locked into chasing success in ALMS. I’m very pleased with the influx of new staff; they perfectly compliment our core members, we have put together a very motivated and tightly-focused group. I’m also delighted to welcome Hughes Network Systems and Hughes Telematics to the team, they will prove invaluable partners for our future and are fully committed and enthusiastically supporting our push forward.”

Roland Wall, Technical Director & Chief Engineer VICI Racing: “We move onto a fresh set of challenges for the team at Mid Ohio. The track was resurfaced a couple of years ago so it’s an all-tarmac surface now and it’s pretty smooth. It’s very technical and a driver’s ability is amplified here: the driver needs to be smooth, quick and make use of the kerbs; there are only a couple of overtaking points and it has to be done very precisely. Top speed isn’t that high, and we will have to focus on an aero package that suits the specifics of this track; while the RSR should make a competitive showing here. We need to focus on a strong race strategy with two stops at Mid Ohio being the norm; and while some teams will not change tires at each stop we will do so as tire evaluation is a key part of our season, and we will want to work through the new development tires that Kumho are providing for this race. It’s certainly an easier track on tires so this will be a benefit. Kumho are working hard on the development program, we will have new technical developments, and so I hope we can make a step forward here.”

Jason Myers, Motorsport Development Director, Kumho Tires: We anticipate a good showing at Mid Ohio as we continue our development with VICI Racing. Kumho Tires R&D center is located in Akron, Ohio, so this is our home track. Our staff have been working very hard to meet the challenge of working with Porsche, as well as meeting the expectations of VICI Racing. Kumho will provide a completely new tire for Mid Ohio based on previous data and testing. We have many test laps at this track, so we believe this will give us an advantage over the competition.”

Tim Bumps, Team Manager VICI Racing: “The team is in fast forward mode this year, the early schedule for us was intense, and we have faced many real character-building moments. Doubling the line-up to two cars in Utah posed another task for the team, and, although we had a few minor glitches, it went pretty well, and after our setback at St. Petersburg I was delighted that we loaded up two undamaged cars at the end of the race. All members of the team have worked really hard and I’m proud of their commitment and professionalism. We have spent much of the long mid season break expanding the team, and I’m delighted to welcome two key new individuals, James Lang and Andre Nischan, both are highly experienced and bring their own strengths to the team. James is our Team Coordinator, whom I have worked with in the past, and works directly with me. Andre is joining our highly professional technical staff and will be working directly with key members Alex Zaric [Crew Chief] and Jody Coenen [Mechanic]. Everyone at VICI Racing is now really looking forward to going racing at Mid-Ohio.”
 

Nicky Pastorelli (Holland), Car #18: “I’m looking forward to Mid Ohio, I’ve heard a lot about its particular requirements but I haven’t driven on it yet. In fact although I have done a season of ChampCar, the only track on the ALMS schedule I know is Road America so I’m learning a lot of new circuits this year. Getting into the program at Utah was great; we had a solid weekend with the new car and everything started to gel very quickly, while I know how fast my brother is. The team is very professional and tightly focused; we have a lot of work to do, but we know what we have to achieve and we will push hard. I was pleasantly surprised but the Kumhos in Utah so I expect that they will have new compounds to try at Mid Ohio.”

Francesco Pastorelli (Holland), Car #18: “I was really pleased to hook up with VICI Racing at Utah and I think we’re going to have a good season; ALMS impressed me, it’s really professional and this seems a good career move for me. I learnt a lot at Utah and I think the team were satisfied with the job I did. I know how fast Nicky is, he’s proven and as my older brother he is a constant benchmark. I’m really pleased to be driving the RSR too, it’s a big step up for me but it’s a fantastic car, very driveable. It’s much more than I expected, a polished machine that reacts exactly as a race car should. It’s a challenging car for the driver, you have to work hard to unlock all its potential and get everything out of it.”

The track action at Mid Ohio gets underway on Friday (July 18) with a 30 minute free practice session (12:25-1:25PM) followed by an hour long second practice session (4:25-5:25PM). Both sessions are open to all classes (LMP1, LMP2, GT1 and GT2). This will be followed by a quick fifteen minute break before the 20 minute qualifying session for GT1/GT2 cars takes place (5:40-6:00PM). Race day (Saturday, July 19) gets underway bright and early with a 30 minute warm up session (8:00-8:30AM) before the Acura Sports Car Challenge American Le Mans Series Race, the fifth round of the series, gets underway at 2:10PM. The race is scheduled to last 2 hours and 45 minutes with the checkered flag expected to drop at 4:55PM.

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 Hughes Telematics

Hughes Telematics (www.HUGHEStelematics.com) is a leader in developing the next generation of telematics solutions. The company designs, engineers and manages vehicle- and driver-centric solutions to increase vehicle value, ownership experience, convenience, efficiency and safety and security. Headquartered in Atlanta, HUGHES Telematics offers a portfolio of proprietary consumer, manufacturer, fleet and dealer services designed to set industry standards for intelligent vehicle interaction and information exchange.

About Hughes Network Systems

Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES) is the global leader in providing broadband satellite networks and services for large enterprises, governments, small businesses, and consumers. HughesNet® encompasses all broadband solutions and managed services from Hughes, bridging the best of satellite and terrestrial technologies. Its broadband satellite products are based on global standards approved by the TIA, ETSI and ITU standards organizations, including IPoS/DVB-S2, RSM-A and GMR-1. To date, Hughes has shipped more than 1.5 million systems to customers in over 100 countries. Headquartered outside Washington, D.C., in Germantown, Maryland, USA, Hughes maintains sales and support offices worldwide. Hughes is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hughes Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: HUGH). For additional information, please visit www.hughes.com

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 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 LuxuryMotors.com

As the world largest e-commerce automobile retailer, LuxuryMotors.com strives to provide customers with the best selection of new and pre-owned luxury cars through a unique and convenient online buying experience. Our website provides the largest selection from our inventory on the market today. A team of car experts constantly searches the web to guarantee the lowest possible price and the best value for our customers. Purchased vehicles can be conveniently delivered to any location worldwide. Our selection of over 2000 luxury cars are being showcased at different locations and can be test driven at your convenience in a customer friendly atmosphere. Financing and Leasing are also available online or at any our retailer locations. For further information please visit www.luxurymotors.com
 

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