08.10.2009 T-MOBILE® VICI RACING™ LAGUNA SECA PREVIEW
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Monterey, Calif. – T-Mobile® VICI Racing™ will hit
the track late tomorrow morning in the dry autumn
heat and ever-present dust of Laguna Seca,
California for their final racing appointment of the
year, the tenth and last round of the 2009 American
Le Mans Series (ALMS) with the objective being to
wrap up this year’s racing programme with another
competitive showing. However this demanding 4-hour
race, which is always a highly popular date on the
series’ calendar, will in fact be rather a first
port of call in our close-season test and
development programme than a battle to the checkered
flag for a top result, as the team’s complete focus
is has now switched to 2010, meaning the 2.238-mile
circuit complete with its famous “corkscrew”, will
provide a final opportunity of the year to run in
full race conditions over a longer distance, and
with the Miami, Florida-based team having a number
of important objectives to work through during a
hectic three day programme on track.
As
Technical Director Roland Wall puts it, “Laguna Seca
will in effect be the first stop in our winter test
programme and will provide the perfect platform for
some interesting developments for next year to be
tried out as well as putting some new team
methodologies into practice in a full racing
environment and bedding in some new crew members and
a new driver.” Team President and veteran Porsche
long-distance racer Ron C. Meixner adds; “We would
really like to turn in a good result to wrap up our
year and give everyone a lift as our partnership
with T-Mobile(R) gears up for an exciting 2010,
we’ve had a good start, spirits are good, but now we
must focus on next year and that has already
started. We all know the big task in hand to be
competitive in what is the toughest sports car class
in the world today.”
VICI Racing™ is a long-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.
Richard Westbrook and Johannes Stuck will once again
share the cockpit of the #18 T-Mobile (R) Porsche
911 GT3 RSR, the British and German pair having
formed an effective partnership in the ALMS this
year; they will however be joined this weekend for
the first time in the magenta-and-white car by
German youngster Lance David Arnold.
Richard's huge experience and winning record,
particularly with the Porsche brand, combined with
Johannes' speed and clearly emerging talent, have
produced results that have exceeded the team's
projections, particularly as Johannes is learning
all the tracks from scratch while Richard has only
been familiar with a handful of North American
tracks. The T-Mobile(R) VICI Racing (TM) partnership
has proved to be immediately competitive, highlights
of the first season include Richard muscling his way
unceremoniously past one of the factory BMWs on the
concrete-lined streets of Long Beach to kick the
year off with a fighting fourth-place finish,
Johannes wresting control of a full speed moment in
the high altitude dry heat of Salt Lake City, Utah,
to bring the car home safely in fifth, or Richard
nursing a leaking radiator which sent the
temperatures through the roof in the dying laps of
the Lime Rock round, fought out in the rolling green
countryside of Connecticut, to hand the team a third
consecutive top-five finish.
The new face in the team this weekend (although
certainly not a new face to the team) will be that
of Lance David Arnold. With the plan being to use
Laguna Seca as a starting point to focus on next
year it makes perfect sense to give Lance a run out
in what will racing conditions. The German youngster
is familiar with the team, his services were called
upon during our winter test programme last year,
with the RSR, and has raced Porsches since the start
of his career, so we are expecting him to slot in
very well, although he will be thrown in at the deep
end by Laguna Seca, as will our other drivers.
“Lance is very capable, we have always been close to
his career, I’m convinced he will be a star of the
future, and he slots into our longer term plans,”
says Ron Meixner. “With the team focused this
weekend on gearing up for a big challenge next year,
it makes perfect sense to give Lance his first ALMS
race start. He won’t be under any pressure as we
aren’t chasing a top result, so it will give him a
great opportunity to bed in with the team, the
series and learn the track. I’m confident that he
will do an excellent job and that he will surprise a
few people in the future.”
The 22-year-old from Duisberg in Germany started his
career as a youngster in karting, winning titles as
a junior between 1994 and 2002. In 2002 he moved up
to race in Formula BMW/ADAC and in 2004 stepped into
the VW Polo Cup. His obvious talent brought him to
the attention of Porsche Motorsport bosses and with
it came a coveted seat in the UPS Porsche Junior
Team in the Porsche Carrera Cup in 2005.
He didn’t
disappoint either, winning the rookie of the year
title and taking fifth place in the overall
championship. A year later he finished seventh in
the Carrera Cup after a part season and spread his
wings further, taking part in races in the Porsche
Michelin Supercup, the VLN series, as well as in the
Nürburgring 24 Hours and a first appearance in the
United States in the 24 Hours of Daytona.
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In 2007 another busy season beckoned as he contested
another part season in the Porsche Carrera Cup, as well as
taking in Supercup races, the VLN and the
Nürburgring 24 Hours, while he finished a very
credible fourth in the GT class in the 24 Hours of
Daytona. Lance’s diary got even fuller last year as
again programmes in the Porsche Carrera Cup, Porsche
Supercup, 24 Hours of the Nürburgring, 24 Hours of
Daytona and VLN [Langstrecken Meisterschaft
Nürburgring] beckoned as well two races in the ADAC
GT Masters where he was in winning form, and an
appearance in the Italian GT Championship, where on
his first visit to Monza and first time in a GT2
class car he planted the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR firmly
on pole and comfortably led until he handed over to
his team mate at half distance. He has also squeezed
in instructing at the Porsche Driving School.
The Laguna Seca Raceway in California is a famous
and demanding venue and the traditional final date
on an ALMS calendar that is littered with some of
North America’s finest and most challenging motor
racing circuits. The four hour race on Saturday,
which ends with the cars racing into the gathering
dusk, will be the perfect way for the team to round
out the season, the first in partnership with T-Mobile(R).
It will be pose a superb test for us, and for all
three drivers it will be their first time at the
2.238-mile track that boasts a bit of everything,
including sharp elevation changes and of course the
famous downhill ‘corkscrew’.
“Laguna is a four hour race, says Roland, “which
means there are a few things we can gain just by a
proper set-up, and the track is pretty tricky, so
that too is in our favour, it has some slow corners
like the famous corkscrew and some pretty fast parts
like finish straight left hander; as well as some
nice bumps on the fast back straight for instance.
It means I have to find a smooth but stiff setting
to get the best out of the tyres and to have a good
car, so I have to look for mechanical grip and not
to waste too much energy hunting for downforce. Last
year with the car on 996 type Dunlops we got the job
managed pretty well so we will get it managed even
better this weekend on competitive Michelin tires.
This year we have a slightly different programme to
get through particularly with a new driver and new
faces in key positions in the crew, and some testing
to be carried out so this will have to be factored
into the equation.”
Richard and Johannes are looking forward to this
weekend as well: “I'm glad to getting to race on
another track in the states, especially in Laguna, a
great track with the legendary corkscrew,” says
Johannes. I'm very happy to be teaming up with
Richard again, as we have had some pretty good races
together this year,” the son of sports car legend
Hans-Joachim adds. I’m looking forward to this
race,” comments Richard. “I hope we can carry the
momentum of this season forward. We had a good start
to the year at Long Beach so let’s hope we can wrap
the season up with another good showing. It’s been a
good year for everyone, we have learnt a lot, and we
now confidently have one eye on next year.”
The action at Laguna Seca for T-Mobile® VICI Racing™
gets underway tomorrow morning (Friday October, 9)
with an hour long practice session (9:45-10:45AM)
before in the afternoon a second practice session
(2:30-3:00PM) will lead into the 20-minute
qualifying run (3:10-3:30PM) reserved for GT2 and
ALMS Challenge cars after a short, ten minute
breather. Saturday (October 10) will see the final
round of the 2009 American Le Mans Series, the
four-hour Monterey Sports Car Championships at Mazda
Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. The
green flag is scheduled for 2:45PM (PT). The race
will air on SPEED from 2:30 to 6:30PM (ET) on
Sunday, October 11. Live coverage will be available
on American Le Mans Radio presented by Porsche via
americanlemans.com, which also will feature Living
Timing & Scoring on Racehub. Live coverage also can
be heard on Sirius 126 and XM 242. You can follow
the Series on Twitter and on the series’ Facebook
page. The race will also mark the 10th and final
round of the 2009 MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge.
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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