Road America: Johnny Mowlem race report

TOUGH LUCK FINISH FOR MOWLEM, ACEMCO TEAM

ELKHART LAKE, Wisc. (Aug. 22, 2005) -- Strategy, talent and equipment all came together for Johnny Mowlem and his ACEMCO Motorsports teammates in the Generac 500 at Road America. Unfortunately the missing link, racing luck, was absent and the team's Saleen S7R eventually finished well back in the standings after a series of technical problems.

Mowlem qualified the S7R a strong third and then managed to pass Ron Fellows in the #3 GM factory Corvette on the first lap, running a strong second for some 20 laps. Then on the restart after a full course yellow that lasted 45 minutes, the British driver was able to pass both factory Corvettes to take the GT1 lead, only to get repassed into turn one with an aggressive, smoky tire move by the eventual GT1 winning #4 Corvette.

The ACEMCO Saleen, still in the hands of Mowlem, even ran as high as second overall after the second full course yellow at around one and a half hours into the race, but shortly afterwards earlier shifting problems became significantly worse and eventually meant that Mowlem had to pit for repairs, dropping four laps in the process.

A simultaneous gear shifter repair and change of drivers saw Terry Borcheller out setting fast laps to try and make up some ground but it all eventually came to nothing after 16 laps when he lost his front left wheel.

"Days like this are part of motor racing, but we felt the car would be competitive all day long," Mowlem said. "This is the first time this year that we've had any reliability issues, which is a testament to all the hard work of the team. We ran very well again, in amongst the leaders for the third race in succession, now it would be just nice to get a finish in amongst them!"

The next race for the ALMS cars will be Sept. 2 at Mosport International Raceway.

One of Britain's most successful and personable sports car drivers, Mowlem started his career behind the wheel at age 19. In 2004, he finished fourth in the British Racing Drivers Club Gold Star Award voting for international British racers. A married father of two, Mowlem was raised in Majorca, Spain. He has earned university degrees in economics and Spanish.

-www.johnnymowlem.com.