15.07.2009
T-MOBILE® VICI RACING™ AMERICAN LE MANS NORTH EAST
GRAND PRIX, PREVIEW
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Miami, Florida – Following a lengthy calendar
break in the American Le Mans Series the action
resumes with the American Le Mans Northeast Grand
Prix at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut,
this weekend (July 17-18) and with T-Mobile® VICI
Racing™ eager to build on the excellent top-five
results the team achieved in its first two races of
the year. Driving the #18 T-Mobile® VICI Racing™
Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (2008) this coming weekend will
be Richard Westbrook and Johannes Stuck, the driver
pairing that superbly kicked off our second season
in the ALMS with a fighting fourth place finish at
Long Beach in April.
The new partnership between T-Mobile USA and VICI
Racing™ got underway on the unforgiving
concrete-lined streets of Long Beach in California
in the best possible manner with a highly
competitive showing, and the fourth place finish
laid down a marker that the team would be fighting
for honours. ALMS GT2 is now one of the most
competitive classes in sports car racing the world
over, making it the perfect arena for T-Mobile® VICI
Racing™ to show off its ambitions to battle with the
best. From Long beach it was on to the dry, dusty,
high altitude heat of the Miller Motorsport Park in
Utah and with former F3000 Champion and Official F1
Test Driver Nicky Pastorelli, now starting his third
season with VICI Racing, alongside Johannes, another
very strong race saw the duo cross the line –
despite a high speed scare - in fifth place.
The third race of our season, the American Le Mans
Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park this weekend,
will provide yet another contrast as the ALMS
arrives in the rolling green Connecticut countryside
for a race on the shortest track of the year where,
with the prototype cars lapping the 1.53-mile
circuit in less than a minute, one of the key
objectives for any driver is to steer clear of the
inevitable accidents. Lime Rock Park, celebrated its
50th anniversary as racing amphitheatre two years
ago while the “Park” tag in the title signifies that
the track nestles in over three hundred acres of
natural Northwest Connecticut countryside.
Richard, a multiple Porsche Carrera Cup and Porsche
Supercup championship-winning driver, made his ALMS
debut at Lime Rock Park last year and a second place
finish amply demonstrates his ability and ease on
this track, the Londoner professing to “instantly
liking” a circuit that tests the very best of
drivers. Sharing the cockpit of the
magenta-and-white #18 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR will be
Johannes Stuck, who resides in Mauren, Lichtenstein.
The 22-year-old son of Hans Stuck, one of history’s
most legendary drivers, he is rapidly following in
the family “trade” and his shining natural talent is
being honed with each race.
VICI Racing™ is a longtime-established German/US
racing team which has set out this week on its
second year in the prestigious sports car racing
series. T-Mobile USA is a leading innovator and
provider of mobile communications. At the end of
2008, T-Mobile USA served more than 32.8 million
customers. T-Mobile USA is the U.S. operation of
Deutsche Telekom AG’s Mobile Communications
Business, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of T-Mobile
International, one of the world’s leading companies
in mobile communications. T-Mobile is a federally
registered trademark of Deutsche Telekom AG.
Michelin is a technical partner of the team.
The American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix at Lime
Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut, is scheduled
for 2:05 p.m. EDT on Saturday, July 18. The race
will air live on SPEED. American Le Mans Radio
presented by Porsche and Live Timing & Scoring will
be available at Racehub on americanlemans.com. You
also can follow the Series on Twitter (almsnotes).
An RSS feed of Series news also is available. The
race also will mark the fifth round of the MICHELIN®
Green X® Challenge.
Ron C. Meixner, President VICI Racing: “After two
good races at Long Beach and Utah I am looking
forward to continuing the progress the team has made
this year and I’m targeting another good result in
Lime Rock.
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"I’m very pleased with
the drivers we have this year. Johannes is doing
well as I expected, he’s quick and developing into a
very promising sports car driver. Richard did a
great job at Long Beach, he gave 110 percent all
race which is all any team owner can ask of a driver
and I look forward to him doing the same at Lime
Rock which he knows well and taking a real grip of
the race. Our partnership with T-Mobile is moving
forward strongly, so I think we can all look forward
to a good weekend at Lime Rock.”
Roland Wall, Technical Director VICI Racing: “We get
back on track now after the break with the trip to
Lime Rock, and the start of a busy programme of
races. Richard and Johannes have been doing a great
job and I think they will both go well here; Richard
in particular was quick last year and he should be
ready to get on the pace. We didn’t race here last
year so we will need to accumulate data with the RSR
so we have to work hard to get in position for a
good race. I was last in Lime Rock two years ago
with the [Porsche RS] Spyder, the track is very
short and fast so care has to be taken to make sure
an accident doesn’t occur. The prototypes were
lapping Lime Rock well under a minute two years ago.
I also have to take into account the new surfacing
and track changes that have been done since I was
last here. It’s a tough race, you have to take care
here and be really on the ball, but I’m sure we can
have a good race.”
Richard Westbrook: “I’m pleased to be back for my
second race of the year with VICI Racing and I look
forward to building from the fourth place we had in
Long Beach. I have been very busy this year and have
had winning results so I hope that I can continue
that momentum to Lime Rock. I would like to aim for
a strong finish and I love the track which I
finished second at last year when I was making my
ALMS debut. Johannes is a good team mate; he is
learning every race and getting quicker and
quicker.”
Johannes Stuck: “I'm really looking forward to Lime
Rock of course, it has been a long break from the
ALMS and I have had some disappointing races in
Europe in between, especially technical failure in
the [Nürburgring] 24 Hours. I’m glad to be with the
team again, and I think we'll do well as we are all
working so hard. After good results from my first
two ALMS races with the team I’m pleased with the
progress I’m making and I’m enjoying learning new
tracks and racing in America. I’m also very happy
that my mother, sister and brother will be at the
track this weekend to support me.”
About
T-Mobile USA, Inc.
Based in Bellevue, Wash., T-Mobile USA, Inc. is the
U.S. operation of Deutsche Telekom AG’s Mobile
Communications Business, and a wholly owned
subsidiary of T-Mobile International, one of the
world’s leading companies in mobile communications.
By the end of 2008, 128 million mobile customers
were served by the mobile communication segments of
the Deutsche Telekom group – 32.8 million by
T-Mobile USA – all via a common technology platform
based on GSM, the world’s most widely used digital
wireless standard. T-Mobile’s innovative wireless
products and services help empower people to connect
to those who matter most. Multiple independent
research studies continue to rank T-Mobile among the
highest in numerous regions throughout the U.S. in
wireless customer care and call quality. For more
information, please visit
www.T-Mobile.com. T-Mobile is a federally
registered trademark of Deutsche Telekom AG.
About
VICI Racing™
VICI Racing™ is a racing team based in Miami,
Florida and Munich, Germany, with more than 20 years
of experience competing at the topmost levels of
international sports car 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’s roll call of wins includes
GT victory in the Daytona 24 Hours. In 2009 VICI
Racing™ is competing in the American Le Mans Series
in conjunction with partner T-Mobile USA. VICI
Racing™ is a registered trademark of the VICI Group.
For more information visit
www.viciracing.com
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