Grand-Am
Homestead: Banner Engineering preview
Banner Engineering Pontiac GXPs ready to return to Grand-Am Racing at Homestead Eden Prairie Minnesota (March 21, 2008): The Banner Engineering/Shock Doctor Pontiac GXP.Rs are set to return to action when the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series ...
Edited: Mar 23, 2008, 2:55 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Banner Engineering Pontiac GXPs ready to return to Grand-Am Racing at Homestead
Eden Prairie Minnesota (March 21, 2008): The Banner Engineering/Shock Doctor Pontiac GXP.Rs are set to return to action when the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 Rolex GT class heads to Homestead Florida for the GAINSCO Grand Prix of Miami on March 29.
Paul Edwards and Kelly Collins will once again pilot the #07 Banner Pontiac GXP while Leighton Reese will be joined by Jan Magnussenwho is coming off a convincing win in a Corvette in the Sebring 12 hour earlier in March.
"We are extremely fortunate to have Jan Magnussen with us for Homestead in the No. 06 Banner Engineering Pontiac GXP.R," said Leighton Reese. "Jan Magnussen is world class and it is humbling to be racing with a driver of Jan's capability.
"For some reason the car goes like it is supercharged when Jan is in the seat. The things he has picked up and learned from racing all over the world is amazing and he is always willing to share that. That will not only make our Banner Pontiacs stronger when he is in the car but also makes our whole team stronger."
Reese also said that the Banner Racing Team is anxious to get going at Homestead after a two month layoff after the season's opening race at Daytona.
"We are going to Homestead trying to redeem ourselves because we had a tough run at Daytona," said Reese. "Homestead will be the first race of the year that will represent the kind of races we will run for most of the rest of the season.
"We are going to be more competitive at Homestead, because, although the top speeds of the GT cars are nearly the same at both tracks, you don't run the sustained high speeds at Homestead that we did at Daytona. We were at a distinct disadvantage at Daytona because of the higher profile of our Pontiac GXPs and it took us 12 hours to get the 07 Banner Pontiac GXP into the lead at Daytona."
Edwards and Collins, teamed with Jan Magnussen, rallied back after a late night crash to finish the season's opener at Daytona in 7th position. Reese and co-drivers Marc Bunting, Robert Nearn and Andy Pilgrim finished 22nd in the #06 Banner Pontiac GXP after a broken half-shaft and contact dropped them many laps behind.
Another addition to the Banner Pontiacs for the hot southern Florida track at Homestead will be air conditioning as both GXPs will have on board air conditioning to fight the heat. The units were designed and built by Leighton Reese Performance Group in their Eden Prairie Minnesota shop and the team was encouraged to give them a try in competition after successfully testing them earlier this year.
"Richard Petty tried this about 20 years ago and got laughed off the track but I think that the time and technology is right to make the units work for us now," said Reese.
-credit: be
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Matt Connolly Motorsports completes lineup
Next article AIM Autosport signs with Level Ten Communications
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jan Magnussen
Bourdais, Moss headline second batch of Sebring's 75 all-time greatest drivers
IMSA
IMSA
Bourdais, Moss headline second batch of Sebring's 75 all-time greatest drivers
Jan Magnussen to make Le Mans return in LMP2 class
WEC
WEC
Jan Magnussen to make Le Mans return in LMP2 class
Magnussen: "Hard to comprehend" extent of Le Mans bad luck
WEC
WEC
24 Hours of Le Mans
Magnussen: "Hard to comprehend" extent of Le Mans bad luck
Latest news
Jesse Love barely holds off Sam Mayer for NASCAR O'Reilly win at Phoenix
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Phoenix II
1 h
Jesse Love barely holds off Sam Mayer for NASCAR O'Reilly win at Phoenix
Lando Norris faces anxious wait as F2 prepares to decide future of his racing team
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
4 h
Lando Norris faces anxious wait as F2 prepares to decide future of his racing team
NASCAR Cup Phoenix starting lineup: Blaney earns pole as Larson struggles
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
5 h
NASCAR Cup Phoenix starting lineup: Blaney earns pole as Larson struggles
Ryan Blaney kind of faces a must-win scenario this weekend at Phoenix
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
6 h
Ryan Blaney kind of faces a must-win scenario this weekend at Phoenix
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe