Grand-Am
SCC: Mid-Ohio: Automatic Racing race notes
LEXINGTON, Oh.- Jep Thornton and David Russell drove the No. 09 Automatic Racing BMW M3 to a finish of 11th in the Grand Sports class during the Grand-Am Cup Mid-Ohio 250 on August 8. They were in third during the first half of the race, but a bump ...
Edited: Dec 21, 2009, 5:26 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
LEXINGTON, Oh.- Jep Thornton and David Russell drove the No. 09 Automatic Racing BMW M3 to a finish of 11th in the Grand Sports class during the Grand-Am Cup Mid-Ohio 250 on August 8. They were in third during the first half of the race, but a bump from another car dropped them back late in the race.
Thornton qualified sixth in the E46 M3, which the team acquired and race-prepped in just 30 days following the previous round at Watkins Glen, when the old car was totaled in a crash.
Thornton dropped quickly worked his way up to third overall at the start of the race, where he remained until he took advantage of a full-course caution in the second hour to pit and hand the car over to Russell.
"It was a flawless race for me, and my times were consistent," commented Thornton. "I think it was my best drive ever. I brought it up to third and was right behind the first two guys when we pitted. We had a great pit stop and driver change."
The round of pit stops dropped Automatic back to fifth, but Russell was able to hang onto the position until the final hour of the race, when he was hit in the right rear by the sixth-place competitor.
The impact caused Russell to spin, and although he did not lose much time in re-joining the race, the bodywork of the car had been pushed against the right rear tire. Russell was forced to pit for a new tire and to pull the bodywork out, and he dropped back to 15th overall and 11th in class.
"I was shocked," said Thornton of Russell's spin. "The guy that put us off is a good friend and a former instructor of mine so it's hard to get mad at him, but the fact that we were dicing with him gave me confidence, so I was surprised. The good news is that the car is still good and there's no big damage, so we're okay heading to Homestead."
Despite the setback, Automatic Racing is pleased with the progress that they have made both as a team and with the new car. "We really had a good car," said Russell. "We can make some improvements, but it's better than the old car. I had some great battles going on. The competition is unbelievable now."
Automatic Racing will head to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the next Grand-Am Cup round on September 11. Fans can keep up with Automatic Racing and chat with the drivers on the team's bulletin board at www.AutomaticRacing.com.
-ar-
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 Finlay Motorsports to enter DP in 2005
Next article Watkins Glen II: Orbit Racing preview
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
David Russell
Erebus re-signs Russell for Supercars enduros
Supercars
Supercars
Erebus re-signs Russell for Supercars enduros
Erebus retains Perkins, Russell for Bathurst
Supercars
Supercars
Erebus retains Perkins, Russell for Bathurst
Todd Kelly abandons Supercars enduro comeback plan
Supercars
Supercars
Todd Kelly abandons Supercars enduro comeback plan
More from
Automatic Racing
Deep field, deep storylines as Pirelli World Challenge heads for Mid-Ohio
SRO America
SRO America
Mid-Ohio
Deep field, deep storylines as Pirelli World Challenge heads for Mid-Ohio
SCCA Pirelli World Challenge GT, GT-A, and GTS teams head to Detroit for a double
SRO America
SRO America
SCCA Pirelli World Challenge GT, GT-A, and GTS teams head to Detroit for a double
TUDOR Championship teams test at Watkins Glen
IMSA
IMSA
TUDOR Championship teams test at Watkins Glen
Latest news
MotoGP Australian GP: Marco Bezzecchi leads Aprilia 1-2-4-5 in Friday Practice
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
2 h
MotoGP Australian GP: Marco Bezzecchi leads Aprilia 1-2-4-5 in Friday Practice
Max Verstappen slams “unacceptable” bumps at Austin F1 track: “It's out of control”
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
9 h
Max Verstappen slams “unacceptable” bumps at Austin F1 track: “It's out of control”
Kimi Antonelli ready to "finish the job" as first F1 title chance beckons at US GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
10 h
Kimi Antonelli ready to "finish the job" as first F1 title chance beckons at US GP
How to watch NASCAR at Talladega II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
10 h
How to watch NASCAR at Talladega II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
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