SCCA

Leighton Reese, Banner Racing Laguna Seca preview

Eden Prairie, MN: (Sept. 6th, 2001); Leighton Reese will continue his strong late season performances as the Trans-Am Series will compete on Saturday Sept. 9th at the famous Laguna Seca raceway located in the scenic Monterey peninsula. Reese's two ...

Edited: Apr 15, 2002, 11:45 PM

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Eden Prairie, MN: (Sept. 6th, 2001); Leighton Reese will continue his strong late season performances as the Trans-Am Series will compete on Saturday Sept. 9th at the famous Laguna Seca raceway located in the scenic Monterey peninsula. Reese's two consecutive 4th place finishes have elevated him into 11th place in the seasons points chase for the BF Goodrich Cup.

While Reese has no hopes of winning the championship, he has stated that the team will measure their success on being able to finish the season inside the top ten. Getting the Banner Engineering Corvette home for a third straight top five finish will move Reese closer to that goal. Reese trails 10th spot by 6 points and is a scant 10 points out of ninth.

"Our race will be to beat the guys who are in front of us in the standings," Reese explained. "We feel that our team is capable of beating them and a top five finish would be great for us, but we need to avoid the mistakes that can result in a DNF and no points."

Last season a late race collision damaged the Reese's car and resulted in a 4 position fade in the last few laps. Something Leighton feels he simply has to avoid, while at the same time he feels that he has to maintain the aggressive hard driving style he has shown in the last two races.

"Last year we had a great five car battle going with Willy T. (Ribbs), Lou (Gigliotti) and a couple of other cars," Leighton said. "I got hung up trying to pass a lapped car and damaged the car. I back slid several spot just trying to keep the car on the road."

"I felt that I finally was aggressive through the whole race at Mid-Ohio," Reese commented. "Earlier in the season I was often too tentative early in the races and that makes it tough later in the race if you let too many people past early on. But at Mid-Ohio we were hooked up and I felt comfortable right from the start. I need to continue that this weekend."

The race at the Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca will complete a trio of races on three of the premier road tracks in North America. When asked to compare Laguna Seca with the previous two venues (Road America and Mid-Ohio) Reese said that while the tracks differed in layout, as racing facilities they were all some of the finest in the world.

"Laguna Seca is another classic American road course," Reese said. "We feel honored to be racing there this weekend. The Trans-Am Series has raced on some amazing race tracks this season and to go to these real road-racing facilities is a real treat."

-br

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