02.12.2008 VICI RACING FOCUSED on NEW SEASON
 

A long, exciting, successful season in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) that hit the targets set is but a distant memory for VICI Racing as the team is now fully focused on the relentless build up to the 2009 season, where victory is the objective, and with the clock ticking its way down day-by-day. In fact barely had the chequered flag fluttered at a dry and dusty Laguna Seca on 19th October than the experienced, Miami, Florida-based team was turning its attention to next year.

This year’s participation in ALMS for VICI Racing was fast moving, and saw a different focus as we took up the challenge of running an innovative development project on behalf of a tire manufacture. It all started with a real high at Sebring, with our car running in the top-three for more than four hours of the blue-riband sports car race; and the team rallied round expertly after late race issues reared their head to bring the car to the finish line for an excellent result. The best way to start a long season.

From then it was a whirlwind tour from March to October as the ALMS takes in some of the finest circuits in the United States, with classic long distance races such as the 12 hours at Sebring, 500 miles at Road America and the 1,000 miles at Road Atlanta, blended in with quick sprints between the concrete barrier lined city streets of cities of St. Petersburg, Detroit and Long Beach, the high altitude, dry heat of Utah, the rolling green hills of rural Mid Ohio, as well as a quick jaunt over the Canadian border to Mosport. The theme of the season in ALMS was an innovative tire development program, and by the end of the year all the boxes with this project had been ticked at our end, reinforcing VICI Racing’s technical excellence in the area of cutting-edge racing development.

“I’m satisfied with how the season progressed,” says Team President Ron C. Meixner, “we achieved the objectives we set out before the start of the year. With the tire program wrapped up, we can focus once again on making sure we win next year.” The ALMS GT2 class is the most competitive category in sports car racing worldwide today, with manufacturers including Porsche, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Corvette and BMW set to slug it out for supremacy in 2009. The growth of GT2 is set to evolve into a new world championship in the near future “For VICI Racing this [GT2] is certainly the place to be, we define ourselves by taking on the best challenges available,” continues Ron, “and in 2008 we showed that our professionalism and pace is with the best, so next year we will kick off the season in a winning position.
 

"We only go racing to win, making up the numbers isn’t what we are about, and so we work day and night to make sure that we are in the best possible position to win. We have to be ruthless, single-minded and totally focused to race at the front.”

Almost exactly a month after the engines fell silent at the Monterey track we are now working hard on putting together a program for the 2009 ALMS which will build upon, and leverage, this year’s development programme. The team worked professionally this year focused on a target of developing new tires; we have demonstrated that we can punch with the very best in the most competitive sports car series in the world, with the roles all filled by an unrivalled pool of highly experienced staff, drawn for their expertise and desire to win.

“We’re gearing ourselves to significantly ramp up the team’s operations next year,” adds Ron, “we only got the opportunity to run two cars on one occasion this year [during the Utah Grand Prix] due the fact that we were running new development compounds at every race this year and the rapid-fire pace of the development meant that there simply weren’t enough tires available to run two cars. Next year we will run a full season with three cars. We’re now looking forward to getting our hands on the new 2009-specification [Porsche 911 GT3] RSR.”

“Our plans for the coming season are exciting, totally focused on ALMS, and I’m quite sure we will add a further dimension to this series. For next year we are talking to a number of exciting drivers to fill the seats, but I’m pleased that the driving strength will be led again by Marc [Basseng] and Nicky [Pastorelli],” notes Ron. Marc Basseng is one of the most respected drivers in sports car racing, with a long win-laden career, much of it synonymous with the Porsche brand. As a Porsche factory test driver he is synonymous with the development of the victorious 911 GT3 RSR. Nicky Pastorelli was the 2004 European F3000 Champion and is a former official F1 test driver with the Jordan and Midland teams. After a stint driving in ChampCar, the 25-year old Dutchman was persuaded by VICI Racing to switch from his impressive single seater career to sports cars, kicking of his involvement with us at last year’s Daytona 24 Hours and the joining the ALMS program this season.

A new chapter is already swirling in the history book of VICI Racing, and it promises to be another exciting one that will lead to more glory for the team; there are many more pages to be added in 2009. VICI Racing still has exciting opportunities for partners and drivers for next year, for further information please contact us.