Scott Tucker’s quest for a Ferrari Challenge Series world championship got off to a great start Thursday.  The driver of the No. 755 Boardwalk Ferrari F430 earned the top qualifying position with a speed of 158.416 mph in preparation for Friday’s North American division race No. 1 at the Ferrari Challenge International Finals at Mugello Circuit in Mugello, Italy.

It is Tucker’s first time back in competition behind the wheel of an F430 in Challenge Series competition since last November, when he won a race and finished second in the other at the Ferrari Challenge International Finals in Spain.  Following Race number 1 on Friday will be a second race on Saturday.  Then, the season comes to a close with the F430 World Finals on Sunday where Tucker looks to solidify another driving championship.

A mere .7 seconds separates Tucker from the top qualifier, Italy’s Riccardo Ragazzi, setting up a showdown for the World Championship title.   The Ferrari Finali Mondiali features a world-class field of drivers, and the competition among the F430 cars is as tight as it has ever been .

“We came into this week knowing how hard we needed to work to win here.  The field is very, very tough,” Tucker said.  “This is a very challenging circuit.  You can’t make any mistakes here.  If you do, you’ll run yourself right out of a chance to win.  And, that’s what we came here to do — win.”

Tucker is a three-time winner in the Ferrari Challenge International Finals between 2009 and 2010.  The event was held in Valencia, Spain, both years.

Mugello Circuit, officially the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello, is a 3.529-mile road course near Florence.  The track, built in 1974, is comprised of 15 turns and a long straightaway.

Turns 14 and 15 combine in a challenging hairpin that leads into the straightaway, which is 1,141 meters in length.  The width of the track varies between 9, 6 and 14 meters.

Tucker has competed in four Ferrari Challenge Series races this season, all in the new Ferrari 458.  He won the series opener at Infineon Raceway in California in April and finished sixth in the second race that weekend.

In May at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Tucker finished second to Enzo Potolicchio in Race 1 and fifth in Race 2.  With his busy worldwide racing schedule, he has not participated in the Ferrari Challenge Series since.

The green flag is scheduled to wave for race No. 1 on Friday at 3 p.m. local time.  Qualifying for race No. 2 for the North American division is set for 9:30 a.m. local time Friday.  The green flag is scheduled to wave for race No. 2 at 2:40 p.m. local time Saturday.

Fans looking to follow the action can find live timing and scoring as well as all session and raceresults on the Circuit’s website:  http://mugellocircuit.it/.

Scott Tucker and Level 5 Motorsports will return to familiar racing territory this weekend.  Fresh off yet another championship in the American Le Mans Series, Tucker is primed to once again take on a world-class field of drivers at the Ferrari Challenge International Finals, where he has won three times over the past two seasons.

He will also get back behind the wheel of the Ferrari 430, a car that helped make him the most successful driver in Ferrari Challenge Series history.  The Ferrari Finali Mondiali is set for Thursday through Sunday at Mugello Circuit in Mugello, Italy.

Tucker won eight races during the regular Ferrari Challenge Series season in 2009, and then a pair of races at the International Finals in Valencia, Spain, that year.  He returned to Valencia in 2010 and won one race and placed second in another after a stunning comeback.

“The Ferrari Challenge Finals have been pretty good to us the past couple of years,” Tucker said.  “We were able to run up front and win some races on a tough race circuit in Spain against some of the world’s best drivers, and we’re very proud of those accomplishments.

“Now, we’re headed to Italy to another tough course.  It’s going to be another tremendous challenge for us.  But, I have all the confidence in the world in our Level 5 Motorsports team to bring home a checkered flag or two.”

Mugello Circuit, officially the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello, is a 3.529-mile road course near Florence.  The track, built in 1974, is comprised of 15 turns and a long straightaway.

Turns 14 and 15 combine in a challenging hairpin that leads into the straightaway, which is 1,141 meters in length.  The width of the track varies between 9, 6 and 14 meters.  The David Stone-led team has been in Italy getting the car prepared for what promises to be a true test.

“Just by looking at the layout, you can tell that this is a very challenging road course,” Stone said.  “Scott has a lot of experience with the F430 and we have a good feel for how to get the car set up for him.  We are really looking forward to these races.”

Tucker has competed in four Ferrari Challenge Series races this season, all in the new Ferrari 458.  He won the series opener at Infineon Raceway in California in April and finished sixth in the second race that weekend.

In May at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Tucker finished second to Enzo Potolicchio in Race 1 and fifth in Race 2.  With his busy worldwide racing schedule, he has not participated in the Ferrari Challenge Series since.

Qualifying for race No. 1 for the North American division is set for 3:30 p.m. local time Thursday.  The green flag is scheduled to wave for race No. 1 on Friday at 3 p.m. local time.

Qualifying for race No. 2 for the North American division is set for 9:30 a.m. local time Friday.  The green flag is scheduled to wave for race No. 2 at 2:40 p.m. local time Saturday.

Fans looking to follow the action can find live timing and scoring as well as all session and race results on the Circuit’s website:  http://mugellocircuit.it/.

Level 5 Motorsports ended the 2011 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón season on the top step of the podium, as drivers Scott Tucker, Christophe Bouchut and Joao Barbosa scored a dominant victory in the 14th annual Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda.

Piloting one of the team’s two Microsoft Office 2010-sponsored HPD ARX-01g’s, both making their debuts in one of the world’s toughest endurance races, Tucker, Bouchut and Barbosa stuck to their plan of bringing the new LMP2 car home in one piece. It ended with an impressive sixth place finish overall and class victory after a flawless run in the 1,000-mile marathon.

“The competition was real tough today and we knew this was going to be a real big battle for us,” said Tucker. “We still have a lot of work to do on the car but we did a great job with it. Joao and Christophe drove a great race. We didn’t miss a beat. With the car being just three weeks old and having gone through a six-hour race and now a 1,000-mile race as well with no problems, we’re real fortunate with that.”

Having started from third position on the grid, four-time national driving champion Tucker put the No. 33 car in an early lead, battling with the Signatech ORECA Nissan throughout his solid opening double-stint. The two teams, locked in the fight for the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, enjoyed a spirited fight until the Nissan struck mechanical problems in the fifth hour.

With Bouchut and Barbosa putting in consistent stints, most importantly staying out of trouble around the treacherous 2.54-mile Road Atlanta road course, the final four and a half hours proved to be clear sailing for the Level 5 team, which took the class victory by a hefty eight lap margin.

“We knew coming into this weekend that traffic was going to play a key role,” Barbosa said. “We were lucky enough to have a big enough lead that we could manage traffic with enough care. It was about staying out of trouble and that’s when we went to the lead and just took our time. We didn’t make any mistakes and also didn’t take any risks. The car performed perfectly for the entire race. We’re really pleased about that.”

With its first HPD ARX-01g having only turned its first wheel less than three weeks ago at Laguna Seca, ending the ALMS season with back-to-back victories, as well as becoming a repeat Petit Le Mans winner, came as a huge reward for Level 5, which also scored the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup victory on Saturday.

“In the past, HPD has showed that they could be very fast, competitive and reliable,” Bouchut said. “Level 5 put in a great effort to prove that again. It was a big surprise to see us run so strong at Laguna Seca without any problems and we did that again today. It’s a great way to end to the ALMS season.”

Bouchut, who along with Tucker, earned the ALMS LMP2 drivers’ championship and also gave the David Stone-led team its second consecutive teams’ championship, thanks to five wins this season. Between their ALMS title and Petit Le Mans victory, Level 5 now holds two automatic invitations to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Tucker enjoyed a particularly successful week, as the now two-time American Le Mans Series champion scored four wins in six races, including victories in both Cooper Tire Prototype Lites races and top honors in the SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series event. Saturday’s Petit Le Mans win was Tucker’s 64th career victory.

Level 5’s second Microsoft Office 2010-sponsored car of Tucker, Luis Diaz and Marino Franchitti, which started on pole, overcame an early race turbo failure to finish a respectable fifth in class. Franchitti, who made his team debut, set one of the quickest laps of the race, a 1:13.860 lap time, following the successful repair which got the No. 055 car back on track after a one-hour and 15-minute delay.

“The cars performed well and I’m happy for the entire team on this big win,” said team manager David Stone. “It was unfortunate the Signatech Nissan had a problem with their power steering. Everyone would have enjoyed seeing how the fight would have gone until the end. But we all have those issues once in a while. If we didn’t lose a turbo in our No. 055 car, we may have had two cars on the podium tonight.

“It was great to have won the race with the new chassis and Honda engine, but by the same token, we need to keep pushing,” Stone added. “We’ll be going to Zhuhai next month with the goal of winning again. I think we finally have the equipment to do that, especially given tonight’s result.”

The next stop on Level 5 Motorsports’ world tour is the Six Hours of Zhuhai, the seventh and final round of the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup season. The endurance race in the Guangdong province of China that will close out the exciting sportscar championship is scheduled for November 11-13, with radiolemans.com providing live audio commentary over the weekend.

Scott Tucker re-wrote the record books Friday at Road America, as the Level 5 Motorsports owner/driver took home the gold medal in a thrilling down-to-the-wire duel to claim his third consecutive SCCA National Championship.

In one of his best drives in his young six-year racing career, Tucker used the strength of his Microsoft Office 2010-sponsored Porsche 996 Twin-Turbo to fend off a hard-charging Dodge Viper of David Pintaric lap after lap around the famed 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course.

A heavy Lap 1 accident by two fellow STO class competitors put the field under a full-course caution for over 20 minutes and set up a final six-lap sprint to the finish, with pole-sitter Tucker in prime position for the win. While Pintatic managed to get up alongside the 500-plus horsepower Porsche on two occasions, Tucker failed to relinquish the lead over the entire 12-lap, 40-minute timed race.

After a series of smart, defensive moves and masterful driving, Tucker managed to bridge out a narrow gap on the Viper to take a 0.728-second victory at the checkered flag. It brought an end to an exciting battle that wasn’t decided until the final corner on the final lap.

“It was a great race,” Tucker said. “David [Pintatic] had pressure on me everywhere. There wasn’t a lap to let up. I was very impressed with his driving. He pushed me to the limit. It was a good fight for a six-lap sprint race.”

Tucker not only reached the impressive milestone of claiming his 60th career victory but also notched his third consecutive SCCA National Championship and first in the STO category. Even more impressive, it came in his race debut of the specially prepared Porsche 996 Twin-Turbo.

“Winning my third consecutive National Championship is an incredible achievement and accomplishment and something I’m extremely proud of,” Tucker added. “It’s something we worked incredibly hard for. I’ve been running in the Runoffs since 2006 and none of these championships have been easy to win. I’m just very proud of the entire Level 5 team.”

Built and developed in conjunction with the Jeff Stone-led Kelly Moss Motorsports, both Level 5 and Kelly Moss worked tirelessly preparing the unique four-wheel-drive Porsche for its debut in one of America’s most prestigious racing events. The hard work paid off in a big way, as Tucker becomes one of the select few to have claimed a hat trick of wins in the Runoffs.

“Scott was real focused on going out and driving his hardest but not making a single mistake, and that’s what he did today,” said Level 5 team manager David Stone. “Unfortunately there were two yellows in the race, so that shortened the race time. It would have been fun to go for it for a clean race. But Scott did a really good job and everyone at Level 5 and Kelly Moss put in a great effort.

“There was a lot of time that went into the car, and it was a pretty trick car,” Stone added. “With all of the research, sourcing and bringing a lot of things together, it was a big project. But I’m glad we were able to bring home the win.”

There’s no rest for Tucker and the Level 5 crew as the team heads to Road Atlanta this weekend in preparation for 14th annual Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda, which will see both of their new HPD ARX-01g LMP2 cars in action for the 1,000-mile/10-hour endurance race that closes out the American Le Mans Series season.

The race, which also doubles as the second-to-last round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, which Level 5 currently sits second in the championship race, is set for Saturday, Oct. 1. The race will air on ABC at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 2. Live coverage will be available in the U.S. on ESPN3 or outside the U.S. on americanlemans.com.

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Scott Tucker and Level 5 Motorsports will be going for history in this weekend’s SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Road America, as Tucker aims to become one of the very few drivers with three consecutive National Championship titles in  one of the country’s most prestigious racing events.

Tucker, who recently clinched back-to-back American Le Mans Series championships following his fourth LMP2 victory of the season last weekend at Laguna Seca, shifts his focus to Friday’s championship race, which will see the accomplished road racer take the wheel of a specially prepared, Porsche 996 Twin-Turbo.

“For me, personally, winning my third consecutive National Championship would be an incredible achievement that I have worked very hard for,” said Tucker, who notched his 59th career victory last weekend. “Winning any championship is extremely difficult. All you can do is prepare the best you know how and do you best on track and see where the chips fall at the checkered flag.”

The ambitious project began early this year when Level 5 purchased the 500-plus horsepower, four-wheel drive Porsche. Led by Kelly Moss Motorsports’ Jeff Stone, both KMM and Level 5 teamed up to transform the unique Porsche into a SCCA STO class-winning contender. The car underwent an extensive development program, led by Stone, which included a series of test runs with Porsche factory driver Patrick Long.

Tucker, who won his two previous National Championships with a Ferrari 430 Challenge car in the T1 category, competed in four early-season SCCA events at Sebring International Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway with a modified 430 Challenge car for the STO class before the decision was made to go with with the radical 996 Twin-Turbo.

Led by project manager Ed Zabinski and engineered by veteran Jeff Braun, there’s high expectations for the Porsche 996 Twin-Turbo heading into Friday morning’s 13-lap or 40-minute race on the famed Road America circuit, one of the premier road racing venues in North America.

“We really tried to bring all of the best guys in the program,” said Zabinski, who is also the car’s entrant. “I’m pretty happy at the way it turned out. The Porsche has developed into a reliable car. I think we’re looking pretty good.”

Prospects for the win are high, especially following Tucker’s impressive performance in qualifying on Wednesday. He recorded a best lap of 2:16.462, which stands as the overall quickest time among the STO field  earning the pole position heading into Friday’ race at 8 30 am.

“We’ve been running in the top-three in all of the qualifying sessions this week. Scott loves the car,” Zabinski added. “I don’t know what the stats are, but there are only a few guys who have won three consecutive National Championships. We’ll certainly be going for that.”

The SCCA National Championship Runoffs, The Pinnacle of American Motorsports, will crown Sports Car Club of America’s Club Racing National Champions for the 48th-consecutive year in 2011. The best drivers from across North America convene on Road America’s historic four-mile road course in what is considered the “Olympics” of motorsports. This year’s event begins with four days of qualifying, Sept. 19-22, and concludes with three days of racing, Sept. 23-25.

Adding to the momentum following a successful debut of its new HPD last weekend, Level 5 Motorsports has tabbed prototype veteran Marino Franchitti as the team’s fifth and final driver for its upcoming two-car attack at the 14th annual Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda.

Franchitti will join three-time national driving champion Scott Tucker and 2009 American Le Mans Series LMP2 champion Luis Diaz in Level 5’s No. 055 HPD ARX-01g in the 1,000-mile/10-hour marathon at Road Atlanta, which serves as the season-ending round for the American Le Mans Series Presented by Tequila Patrón.

“I’m very excited to be joining Level 5 Motorsports for Petit Le Mans,” Franchitti said. “Having driven every iteration of the HPD up until this new model, I can’t wait to get in the new ARX-01g next week. Level 5 is no doubt a top team that’s putting all of the resources they need behind this program. It’s very good to be coming back in with a top ride in one of the biggest endurance races of the year.”

The 33-year-old Scot, brother of three-time IZOD IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti, is one of the most experienced drivers at the wheel of the HPD family of prototypes. In 2007, Franchitti was a part of the initial year of development of the ARX-01a with Andretti Green Racing before moving onto a two-year stint with Dyson Racing, also in LMP2.

Franchitti returned to the Honda-powered prototypes in 2010 with Highcroft Racing as the third driver for its ARX-01c effort in the American Le Mans Series and 24 Hours of Le Mans, earning the overall pole position at the Twelve Hours of Sebring and wins at Laguna Seca and Petit Le Mans. His efforts helped propel Highcroft to drivers’ and teams’ championship.

Most recently, Franchitti earned a runner-up result in this year’s Twelve Hours of Sebring with Highcroft’s HPD ARX-01e LMP1 car.  He also played a crucial role in the development of HPD’s 2.8-liter twin turbo V6 engine, which powers Level 5’s new LMP2 cars.

“A car is a car and guys like Scott [Tucker], Christophe [Bouchut] and Joao [Barbosa] are good to drive it to the maximum that it’s capable of,” Franchitti said. “But especially me, having driven every iteration of it now, and Luis as well with being involved, it certainly helps with bringing experience.

“It’s also great working with [engineer] Rick Mayer, who I worked with before and [engineer] Jeff Braun. There’s a lot of people that I’ve worked with before that are on the team. To me, it seems like the ultimate situation. I’m really excited to get back out there and into the American Le Mans Series and back into a prototype.”

Franchitti, who will be searching for his third consecutive Petit Le Mans LMP2 victory, will have his first opportunity to sample the HPD ARX-01g early next week during a two-day test at Road Atlanta. Level 5 anticipates having its second car, the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup-designated No. 33 HPD for Tucker, Christophe Bouchut and Joao Barbosa, also on track.

The 2011 American Le Mans Series Presented by Tequila Patrón season concludes on Oct. 1 with the 14th annual Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda at Road Atlanta. The race will air on ABC at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 2. Live coverage will be available in the U.S. on ESPN3 or outside the U.S. on americanlemans.com. Rogers Sportnet One in Canada and MotorsTV in Europe will also provide coverage. Ticket and schedule information is available on the ALMS schedule page.

Level 5 Motorsports enjoyed a flawless debut of its new Honda Performance Development ARX-01g in Saturday’s ModSpace American Le Mans Monterey presented by Patrón, with drivers Scott Tucker, Christophe Bouchut and Luis Diaz earning their highest overall finish of the season in an action-packed test of endurance at Laguna Seca.

Following a promising qualifying performance on Friday, where Bouchut put the No. 055 car on the grid for the second-to-last American Le Mans Series race of the season, there were high, but realistic hopes heading into the new cost-capped LMP2 car’s first

But perhaps nobody, not even the Level 5 crew, could have expected such an impeccable run in the car’s debut. The HPD prototype hadn’t turned a wheel until last Wednesday and had less than three hours of combined run time before the race start.

With the HPD ARX-01g running like clockwork through all six hours with not a single unscheduled pit stop or issue, Tucker, Bouchut and Diaz took the checkered flag in an impressive fourth position overall.   It was enough not only to secure the team’s fourth LMP2 victory of the season, keeping their undefeated win streak in the American Le Mans Series intact, but also to clinch the drivers’ championship for Tucker and Bouchut prior to next month’s season-ending Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.

For Tucker, who is now poised to become a four-time national driving champion, it proved to be another busy but successful weekend at the track. He also drove in the IMSA Cooper Tires Prototype Lites and GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama races, winning both races this weekend,a double victory in the Lites L2 class to go along with his LMP2 crown.

“It was a busy day,” Tucker said. “I was just trying to bring my game up and get as much track time all weekend. It worked out well and paid off. Everything went to plan with the debut of the new HPD. We wanted to get the car to the finish and we did. It gives us a lot of confidence before the next race at Petit Le Mans.”

There’s also optimism given the car’s impressive pace straight out of the box. Bouchut recorded a best time of 1:16.867 during his middle stint, which was only one-second slower than the LMP1 race-winning car’s quickest time, showing the strength of the bespoke HPD package, even in the early stages of its development in the cost-capped configuration.

“Sometimes it’s hard to push the car to the limit but today the car was really good,” Bouchut said.  “Traffic and the track conditions were difficult but I was able to push the car and didn’t make any mistakes. We made lot of improvements on the setup in such a short period of time. The car reacted very well to the changes we made.   It’s been a wonderful start to this new program. Everybody on Level 5 team is very happy.”

Diaz, who brought the car home nearly on the overall podium, was equally pleased with the effort put in by the entire crew this weekend.

“Level 5 did a great job in putting the car together in a short time,” Diaz said. “The team worked so well in the shop and at the track. Scott has been working hard to show he is at the top of his game. Christophe is so fast and it shows that it’s the car to have. We’re confident with the performance of the car and heading into Petit Le Mans, I think we’ll no doubt be competing for first place in LMP2.”

“This was exactly what we had hoped for,” said team manager David Stone. “The car ran like a Swiss watch all day. That’s really what we wanted to do, so we couldn’t have asked for anything more than that. The drivers all did a great job of not putting a scratch on the car, which is good. The Level 5 team put in another stellar effort with such a short time frame in putting a brand-new car together. All of the people from HPD also did a great job. We’re looking forward to getting into Petit Le Mans and go for the big one.”

It’s no doubt busy times for Level 5, as some of the crew now head back to England to prepare the team’s second new HPD ARX-01g for its planned debut at next month’s Petit Le Mans, which will close out the 2011 American Le Mans Series season. The 1,000-mile/10-hour race at Road Atlanta will also play host to the second-to-last Intercontinental Le Mans Cup round of the year.
 

Testing gets underway next weekend, with official practice beginning on Wednesday, Sept. 28. The 14th annual Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda is set for 11:30 a.m. ET start on Saturday, Oct. 1. The race will air on ABC at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 2. Live coverage will be available in the U.S. on ESPN3.com or outside the U.S. on americanlemans.com. Eurosport will also provide trans-European television coverage.

A new chapter in the already expansive and successful history of Level 5 Motorsports beckons this weekend, as the championship-winning sports car organization debuts its new Honda Performance Development ARX-01g in the ModSpace American Le Mans Series Monterey presented by Patrón.

Less than two months after announcing a mid-season switch to Wirth Research’s new cost-capped LMP2 car, drivers Scott Tucker, Christophe Bouchut and Luis Diaz will turn the  car’s first laps in Saturday’s six-hour race into the darkness on the famed Laguna Seca circuit.

For Level 5 team owner Scott Tucker, the bold and unprecedented move to HPD’s bespoke prototype came in the wake of evolving prototype regulations by Le Mans organizers, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, as well increased competition in Europe.

Despite the challenges, Level 5 secured podium finishes in the 24 Hours of Le Mans (France) and Intercontinental Le Mans Cup Six Hours of Imola (Italy), which added to its early season success of wins in the American Le Mans Series Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and Grand Prix of Long Beach, as well as last month’s four-hour endurance race at Road America.

“We’re confident that the new cost-capped Honda prototype will produce good results on the track,” said Tucker. “Having been partners of Honda since the start of the year, we’ve seen gains in the engine department and look forward to working with them on an even closer level. There’s no doubt this package will be a front-runner in LMP2 and we’re looking forward to getting started with it this weekend.”

Tucker, a three-time national driving champion, will again be the busiest driver in the Laguna Seca paddock this weekend, having also been entered in the IMSA-sanctioned Cooper Tires Prototype Lites and Porsche GT3 Challenge by Yokohama events. Both races will take place on Saturday morning prior to the start of the ALMS round. It’s a similar schedule Tucker achieved last month at Road America, where he scored four podium finishes, including two wins, in a single day.

The focus for Level 5 co-drivers Bouchut and Diaz this weekend, however, will be exclusively with the new HPD ARX-01g, an evolution of Honda’s championship-winning LMP1 and LMP2 car. Both drivers, along with the team’s Intercontinental Le Mans Cup pilot, Joao Barbosa, gained virtual laps of the 2.238-mile, 11-turn Laguna Seca circuit last week at Wirth Research’s state-of-the-art simulator in Bicester, England to help prepare them for the debut run.

Diaz heads to Laguna Seca with the most knowledge of the car, having driven the Acura ARX-01b, a predecessor to Level 5′s new HPD, in the 2009 American Le Mans Series season, earning eight wins out of 10 races an the LMP2 championship.

“There are many strengths for this car,” Diaz said. “I think it’s very good in terms of aero and does what you need for endurance racing. I’m very pleased with this and hopefully we’ll have a good race at Laguna Seca. We know that it’s going to be challenging, but I think everybody within the team is very motivated. I think if we can put a good race together, we could challenge for the overall podium.”

Having spent the last two weeks at Wirth Research building the first of two new HPD prototypes, the Level 5 crew flew directly to California early this week to shake down the first car at Infineon Raceway. With the first running now in the books, the David Stone-led team is full speed ahead in preparing for Saturday’s six-hour American Le Mans Series round.

“While this weekend is technically a race, we’re heading in with the philosophy of it being a test race for us,” said Stone. “It will be the first time to see how the car reacts in a race environment, so we’ll be shaking it down, analyzing how it is in competition and get some sense of the car from the drivers.

“Everybody that I’ve talked to about this car is that the HPD ARX’s love Laguna, so that’s a good thing and should help us in getting up to speed with the new package. But we’re really gearing up towards the big race at Petit Le Mans, where our hopes and goals are to arrive with two cars and be very competitive there against the European teams coming over.”

The Level 5 Motorsports crew paid a visit to Wirth Research to see the new HPD ARX-01g chassis being built before its planned debutin next weekend’s American Le Mans Series race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Team Manager David Stone and drivers Christophe Bouchut, Joao Barbosa and Luis Diaz were all on hand as the cars were readied for delivery. 

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