Monthly Archives: June 2012

Brumos Celebrates Memories & Marks New Milestones at Watkins Glen

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watkinsglen62011Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Entering the final stretch of a grueling six weeks on the road, most crew members in the GRAND-AM Rolex Series would agree that there’s no place like home. For Brumos Racing, traveling to Watkins Glen may be the next best thing, as that historic racetrack has been special to Brumos for decades. ‘Legends of the Glen’ Hall of Fame inductee Hurley Haywood holds the track record for most victories at the Glen and scored his first career win there in 1969. Current drivers Andrew Davis and Leh Keen created their own chapter in Brumos history at the Glen in 2011, as their hard-fought victory in the Six Hour race marked the first win for the team’s new GT program. Now, for 2012, Brumos is set to mark another Glen milestone as Andrew Davis prepares for his 100th GRAND-AM career start.

Davis, who has always been fascinated by the racing history of Watkins Glen, is honored to be marking his significant accomplishment there. “Watkins Glen is very special to me, particularly since last year’s Six Hour race was my first victory with Brumos Racing,” he said. “It is literally a dream come true to be starting my 100th GRAND-AM race behind the wheel of the famous #59 Brumos Racing Porsche 911. I still have a long way to go to catch up to my mentor, Hurley Haywood, but with his guidance I know that anything is possible.” Davis is also looking forward to the Six Hour race as the 2nd round of the new North American Endurance Championship, adding, “The unique structure of points in the NAEC helped us in Daytona, as we led several of the segments that counted towards points. We are still right in the thick of it for that championship. Endurance racing is always great for the Porsche 911 and for Brumos, so we are focused on that and ready to fight to claim the first Endurance Championship.”

Leh Keen has plenty of his own history at Watkins Glen and, like Haywood, earned his first professional career win there. Keen’s first Glen victory in 2005 was followed up with two additional trips to Victory Lane before last season’s Brumos win. Understandably excited to return for 2012, Keen said, “The Glen is one of my favorite tracks, especially since last year. The track has a lot of good memories for Brumos and a lot of good memories for me. Since I started my career in a Porsche, to win at the Glen in the famous Brumos #59 Porsche was really special. We are just one point out of the lead in the Endurance Championship and are coming off a solid finish at our last race, which gives us good momentum. The car is in good shape and had no major damage, which is also a plus given the tight schedule. It would be great to see Andrew’s 100th race end in Victory Lane. I know our guys will work hard to get the car ready and we will hope to come out on top for the race and for the Endurance Championship.”

The Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen will be Round 8 of the Rolex Series season and Round 2 of the North American Endurance Championship. The six hour timed event will be held on Sunday, July 1st and will start at 11:00 AM ET. The race is scheduled for live coverage by SPEED TV as well as MRN Radio, which will feature live streaming of the race action on MotorRacingNetwork.com.

Brumos Brings Home a Top Five Finish in Difficult Road America Race

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rdamericaSunday, June 24, 2012

When the GRAND-AM Rolex Series released their 2012 schedule, it was apparent that the month of June would be the most difficult stretch of the season. With two back-to-back race weekends that month, Brumos Racing was aware of the challenges ahead. As they headed to Road America to kick off the second set of back-to-back weekends, the team was ready to rebound from recent disappointing finishes. The first day of practice saw struggles, but the crew put in late hours to make the needed changes and the Brumos #59 Porsche 911 GT3 posted some of the fastest laps the next day. The team’s hopes for a pole were dashed as heavy rains caused cancellation of qualifying. As a result, Andrew Davis started the race from 7th place, based on points. Driving his usual strong stint, Davis put the #59 up front, despite damage to a rear wheel from early contact. Strategy also fell into place as the car was handed off to Leh Keen. Keen, who ran as high as 2nd in the closing laps, was unable to hold that position, but brought the #59 home in 5th place, the best Porsche result of the day and Brumos’ best finish since opening the season with a pair of podiums.

While hoping for a better result, Keen was pleased with the overall effort, saying, “At the end of the day, we were in GRAND-AM tech, which means we had a top 5 finish. That’s good, because we’ve had a tough time the last few races. The car was awesome in the morning warm-up, but the track had changed a bit by race time, so we didn’t have quite the car we were hoping to have for the race, but we had good strategy and it got us to the front. I was trying to hold off the cars behind me but it was really tough at the end. The tires had gone away a bit so we didn’t have quite the speed we needed to stay in front, but now we are back to our top 5 program and really looking forward to heading to the Glen next.”

Starting driver Andrew Davis was especially disappointed the qualifying session was rained out, saying, “The guys had worked really hard to get us a great car and we were posting quick times in practice. Having to start from 7th was tough, and from the beginning there was quite a bit going on. I got checked up at the start when the car in front of me got on the brakes early and I lost a position. Then I had contact from behind that damaged the right rear wheel. I struggled with that throughout my stint, as it affected the balance of the car. I have to commend Leh for his drive and the entire team for their superb job. I am really proud to be a Brumos driver and to be part of this organization. We got some good points and regained some ground, so we can take this momentum on to our next race at the Glen, the site of our first win in 2011 and one of our favorite tracks.”

The 5th place finish boosted Brumos to 6th place in the team championship standings. Their next race will be the Six Hours of the Glen, which is the 2nd event in the North American Endurance Championship. That race will be held on July 1st with a start time of 11:00 AM ET.

Brumos Set to Mark Half-Way Point of 2012 at Historic Road America

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moTuesday, June 19, 2012

When GRAND-AM added Road America to their schedule for the 2011 season, it marked the return of Rolex Series competition following a ten-year absence. For Brumos Racing, it was a welcome return to the Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, track, a site rich with a long history of Brumos victories. That 2011 race, kicking off the 2nd half of the season, would mark the Road America debut of Brumos driver Leh Keen. For co-driver Andrew Davis, it was a return following several years of absence. Despite the unfamiliarity of the course, both drivers rose to the challenge. Davis qualified the Brumos #59 in 3rd place and Keen led the race for 10 laps, more than any other GT driver.

Now, as Brumos prepares to return to Road America for 2012, they are again at the midpoint of the season’s schedule. Although they started out the year with a pole position and a pair of podium finishes, thus far, the iconic Brumos #59 is still in search of its first win of the year. The entire Brumos team feels that win is long overdue and is hoping to find the winning combination at Road America.

Andrew Davis not only enjoys driving the Road America course, he finds the area’s fans to be both knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Davis said, “Road America is one of my favorite circuits on the GRAND-AM schedule. Elkhart Lake’s rich history in American motorsports makes it a true racing community. Brumos Racing has a lot of great history there as well, so it is always a lot of fun. Our Porsche 911 GT3 has been running really strong lately, and I feel that Road America’s track will play into our strengths nicely. We have been very close several times this year to that first win, but just haven’t quite made it yet. Our entire team is hungry to get back to our winning ways, so for now our focus is on achieving that goal.”

Sharing his co-driver’s enthusiasm for the course, Leh Keen was thrilled to find Road America on the schedule again for this season. “Road America is one of those great North American tracks,” he said. “This will only be the 2nd time I have raced on it, but we ran really well there last year, despite it being so new to us. This year we will have more data to work from, which will be a big help, too. Road America is a long, high-speed track that will be great for our #59 Brumos Porsche to stretch its legs. About this time last year we turned up the heat and had a string of wins and podiums that took us to the Championship. I am really ready to see us do that again. I know we will have a fast car to match the fast Road America track, so I can’t wait to get out there and show the field what Brumos is made of.”

The Road America race is Round 7 of the Rolex Series season and will take place on Saturday, June 23, 2012. The 2.00 hour event will begin at 12:00 PM ET, and is scheduled for broadcast live on SPEED TV.

MacNeil and Keen Fine Tune WeatherTech AJR Porsche at VIR

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12 Hours Of Sebring 60th Anniversary, Round 1 of the both the FI
TAVARES, Fla. (June 15, 2012) – Alex Job Racing’s (AJR) Cooper MacNeil and Leh Keen spent the day on Thursday fine-tuning the No. 22 WeatherTech Racing AJR Porsche in the American Le Mans Series sanctioned test at Virginia International Raceway (VIR). The team is preparing for the heart of the season as well as the first event to be held at VIR on Sept. 15.

Keen has many laps at the VIR circuit behind the wheel of a Porsche. MacNeil was making his return to the track after more than two years. The pair was working through a test plan with the AJR crew that will reap benefits once the ALMS series comes off of its two-month Le Mans hiatus July 7 at Lime Rock Park.

“The test went well,” MacNeil said. “We took some time to get reacquainted to the car and the track. But once I did, I was able to run good laps. It was definitely a good test and we will carry that momentum into the race and Lime Rock.”

Keen has a lot of laps around VIR in a Porsche 911.

“We did a lot of changes on the WeatherTech Racing Porsche,” Keen said. “It was a perfect opportunity to try things and Cooper, and I did a lot of in and out laps. Working with the AJR crew we were able to find some grip and improve the overall balance of the car. This will help us in the races for the rest of the season and, of course, when we come back to VIR in September.”

Team owner, Alex Job, is happy to have the opportunity to keep MacNeil and Keen in race shape for the remaining seven races on the ALMS schedule.

“Cooper and Leh did a great job at the test,” Job said. “Leh has a lot of laps around VIR and knows where there is speed to be had. We got Cooper reacquainted with the track and worked hard on some set-up changes that will be valuable for the rest of the season. We have Cooper leading the GTC class by one point, so we are working hard to win the championship this year.”

The American Le Mans Series is in the middle of its yearly break for teams to participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The next event will be the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix, July 6-7 at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut.

Alex Job Racing is one of the most successful teams in ALMS history with 42 wins. This record is supported by 48 pole positions and 102 podium finishes. The team has won three championships (GT in 2002, 2003 and 2004) complimented by their two GT class wins at Le Mans. The team also boasts eight Sebring 12-hour victories.

The ALMS GTC category is specific to one of the most popular factory produced racing cars in the world, the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Developed for Porsche’s one-make series around the world, the new version of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup is based on the road-going 911 GT3 RS. The power unit featured in the new 911 GT3 Cup is largely identical to the production engine of the 911 GT3 RS with the same output of 450 bhp and the same maximum engine speed of 8,500 rpm.

Brumos’ Solid Performance at Mid-Ohio Yields Little Reward

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midohio2012
Sunday, June 10, 2012

Following recent race weekends that featured heavy rain, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course delivered a refreshing change, as the EMCO Gears Classic saw sunshine and warm temperatures. Brumos Racing was in fine form as well, the team having put in long hours on the road to deliver a sound car for Andrew Davis and Leh Keen. Davis definitely found it to his liking, qualifying the Brumos #59 Porsche 911 GT3 in 2nd place. Davis maintained his position during the opening stint of the race and the car was handed off to Leh Keen under yellow. The car developed a front end vibration early in Keen’s stint, making it difficult to handle. Although a 2nd set of tires late in the race improved things dramatically, Keen was not able to make headway in the time remaining against the highly competitive field, and Brumos settled for a 7th place finish.

“All in all, we had a strong weekend,” Keen said. “We had a great car off the truck and Andrew did an awesome job qualifying in 2nd place and staying up front for his entire stint. When I got in the car, I picked up a vibration in the front end after a couple of laps that just got progressively worse. The car started to pick up a big push and became really difficult to drive. We lost speed because of the push. In the end the vibration was shaking the whole car down the back straight and I could feel it through the brake pedal, so I was happy to come in and get those tires off. We lost some positions, but the new tires were great and I was beginning to make up some ground on the cars that had passed us. We just ran out of time there in the end. We had a little bit of bad luck with the tire, but the car was sound and the guys did a good job all weekend. We will build on that as we head on to our next race and will definitely look for a better result.”

Andrew Davis, having narrowly missed taking his second pole position of the year, was determined to keep the #59 up in the front in his opening drive, saying, “We had a good position, I just couldn’t quite keep the pace with the leader. I was able to hold on to 2nd and felt like we had a podium car. I had a lot of pressure from the cars behind me but the balance of the car was good, and as the fuel load dropped off, the car actually got better. I was happy about that, and felt the race would come to us in the end. I’m really proud of our crew. After we had a little problem in our last race, they gave us some of the best stops I have seen from them, but when Leh had the problem with vibration that affected the car, we dropped back. It a tight field and once you lose position it is really hard to pass here at Mid-Ohio. The main thing was that we had a mistake-free race and every member of the team was strong, so I am proud of the Brumos crew and our effort. Now it’s time to move on to Road America, where we also know we are good, and concentrate on getting the Brumos #59 up on the podium.”

The 7th place finish at Mid-Ohio puts Brumos 7th in team points as they head to Road America. That race will take place on June 23, 2012 and will be broadcast live on SPEED TV.