ALMS

Washington DC: SpeedSource enters inagural event

SpeedSource has long enjoyed great success in the professional street stock endurance series ranks. With nine wins and twenty-seven top five finishes in the 2001 Grand-Am Cup season, SpeedSource was the most successful Porsche team in North ...

Edited: Jul 19, 2002, 12:05 AM

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SpeedSource has long enjoyed great success in the professional street stock endurance series ranks. With nine wins and twenty-seven top five finishes in the 2001 Grand-Am Cup season, SpeedSource was the most successful Porsche team in North American Professional racing. As a natural progression, SpeedSource is entering American Le Mans Series racing this year to find out if it is something they would like to do more of in the future. Their first race in the series will be the Washington, D.C. event.

SpeedSource will enter the #70 Red Hat/ Workscape/ Mears Motor Coach Porsche GT3-R in the GT class with three SpeedSource regulars in the car; Selby Wellman (Cary, NC), Paul Mears, Jr. (Orlando, FL), and Sylvain Tremblay (Coral Springs, FL).

"We are looking forward to competing in the ALMS," commented Wellman, who won two overall Grand-Am Cup races last season. "I enjoy racing this car as much, if not more, than the GT3 Cup car I drive in the Grand-Am Cup Series. The most important factors to adapt to with this car, as opposed to the Cup car, are the added grip of the racing-slicks, lack of ABS, and the huge amount of downforce."

"Beyond the differences in the two cars, we also have to adapt to being the slowest class on the track instead of the fastest, which is what we are accustomed to in the Cup series. That means a lot more of watching our mirrors. The prototypes come up on you so quickly that it is sometimes hard to judge when they will be passing you in the turns."

"This Washington, D.C. race is a chance for us to try something different. We plan on entering the street race in Miami later in the season if all goes well."

Wellman's prior experience in a GT class Porsche GT3-R includes a third place finish at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona earlier this year. For his co-driver, Paul Mears, Jr., this will mark his first time racing the car.

"I have tested this car, but never raced it," added Mears, who finished third in the Grand-Am Cup Grand Sports II Championship last year before moving up to the Grand Sports I class this year. "It is a completely different animal than the Porsches I am accustomed to driving. It will be interesting to get some experience in the car under race conditions."

The American Le Mans Series will qualify on Saturday, July 20th at 12:20 PM. The 2 hour and 45 minute race will begin on Sunday, July 21st at 12:00 PM with live coverage on NBC beginning at 1:00 PM.

Websites of interest:
www.speedsourceinc.com/
www.imsaracing.net/
alms.americanlemans.com/
www.nationalgrandprix.com/

-ss/wn-

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