Archer/Viper 4th in Long Beach

Archer Brings the Viper Home in Fourth at Long Beach Long Beach, Calif. - Tommy Archer, driving the number 36 Cinjo Racing/Motorcity True Performance/Viper, drove to a fourth place finish at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Trans-Am race. At ...

Archer Brings the Viper Home in Fourth at Long Beach

Long Beach, Calif. - Tommy Archer, driving the number 36 Cinjo Racing/Motorcity True Performance/Viper, drove to a fourth place finish at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Trans-Am race.

At the start Archer was driving through the field and taking advantage of competitor miscues in front of him. The Minnesota driver had the Viper running as high second place. With a fast race lap of 1:23.452 and an average speed of 74 mph, this was six-tenths of a second faster than the teams qualifying time. Then midway through the one-hour race the Viper began to lose fuel pressure, this forced Archer to short shift increasing his lap times by a second and putting him back to fourth position.

The team leaves Southern California with Archer tied for third place in driver points with 44. The team has more development planned before the next race in Mosport.

Quotes after the race:
Tommy Archer: "The race was unfolding in our favor. We were running a fair pace with an eye on a good finish at the end. Then halfway through the race the fuel pressure dropped, I switched to the auxiliary fuel pump and it was down as well. This forced me to shift 1,000 rpms short, which increased our lap times and allowed some competitors to pass. It is a little disappointing, but the team is showing steady improvement with each race."

Steve Veeder, general manager, Cinjo Racing: "We looked very competitive at the beginning. Tommy did an excellent job bringing the car home in fourth place. This is the type of finish that pays off big at the end of the season when they total up the points."

Joe Tranchida, owner, Cinjo Racing: "Although a podium finish would have been nice, we can't be disappointed with fourth. Tommy's ability to nurse the car around for ten laps and keep it in the top five is a testament to his professionalism. We have more work to do on the car and the improvements are evident with each race." <pre> Finish: 1. Lou Gigliotti Corvette 2. Johnny Miller Jaguar .808 3. Michael Lewis Jaguar 1.037 4. Tommy Archer Viper 6.143 5. Brian Simo Mangusta 11.240 6. Justin Bell Corvette 12.884 7. Stu Hayner Mustang 14.053 8. Kenny Wilden Corvette 31.302 9.Tommy Drissi Jaguar 31.921 10. Bob Ruhman Corvette 43.455 </pre> The Long Beach Trans-Am race will be televised on Speedvision, April 15th, at 12:00 p.m. EST. The next stop for the team will be at Mosport Park in Canada on May 20th.