Lime Rock: Robertson Racing adds second car for Petit Le Mans

Robertson Racing set for second Ford GT at Petit

27/07/2010 - Robertson Racing will introduce a second Ford GT to their American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron line-up at Petit Le Mans on September 29-October 2 as their programme continues to expand.

The ten-hour/1000-mile ALMS championship finale at Road Atlanta, which has also been designated North America's Intercontinental Le Mans Cup round, is the home race for the Braselton-based squad, making it the perfect venue for the team's debut as a two-car operation.

The existing #40 chassis will continue in the hands of David and Andrea Robertson who are joined by experienced Grand-AM GT-class racer Craig Stanton. A second GT, designated #04 and currently under construction at the team's race-shop, will be piloted by double Le Mans Series GT2 champion Rob Bell, former NASCAR and IndyCar driver Anthony Lazzaro and current Robertson Racing regular David Murry.

Both Dunlop-shod Ford GTs will be powered by the V8 unit recently developed by Elan Motorsport Technologies. The second car is expected to be completed by early September ahead of a limited testing programme before the event.

"We have been working hard for some time now to turn this into a reality so it's fantastic to finally announce our expansion into a two-car squad," said Team Manager Andrew 'H' Smith. "The Series' GT class is probably the most competitive in world motorsport which makes running an independent team without works-backing very challenging.

"But adding a second car, especially in the hands of such a talented trio that mixes speed with experience, marks a significant step forward in Robertson Racing's short history. Rob has been very successful in Europe while both David and Anthony are a pair of well established, fast Americans. In fact, David put the car on pole at Petit last season so we're certainly hopeful of a similar performance."

"The Ford's going to be different to the other GT cars I've driven recently but as a professional racing driver you should be able to jump in any car and get to grips with it after a couple of laps," said Bell. "In another sense it's also a good challenge to get in a different car and experience something new as it keeps you motivated. It's a one off at the moment but the way I always look at it is if you do a good job you never know what might happen in the future.

"I'll help the team as much as I can because they're still developing the car, but we are going there to get the best result possible. I've not driven round Road Atlanta in a GT car before but have experience from racing the P1 Lola there last season. Obviously the two will be very different so I'll try and learn as much as I can from David Murry."

Robertson Racing returns to ALMS action at Mid Ohio on August 5-7.

-source: robertson racing