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Autohaus Motorsports Primed and Ready for Miami Grand-Prix

DELRAY BEACH, Florida, March 3, 2011 – Following a solid 14th place finish when the Autohaus Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro took the checkered flag at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, the team is looking forward to beginning the remainder of the 2011 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 at the Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead Miami Speedway this weekend. The Grand Prix of Miami kicks off the final 11 races of the season with qualifying on Friday afternoon and the 2 hour 45 minute race on Saturday. Homestead Miami Speedway is a 2.3 mile, 11 turn speedway road course. In addition to the tight infield portion, competitors will use the front and back straights as well as NASCAR turns 3 and 4. This is the series’ second and final event at a speedway course for the season.

#88 Autohaus Motorsports Camaro GT.R: Romain Iannetta, Bill Lester, Matthew Marsh, Johnny O'Connell, Jordan Taylor

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“The speedway courses with their long straights and high top speed are not usually a favorite for our car,” explains Autohaus technical director Marcus Haselgrove. “The Pratt & Miller chassis excels at some of the tighter, technical road courses we visit later in the year, but we are still really optimistic for Homestead. It is a tricky course to get right with the heavy loads the cars bear on the banking and the high top speeds we see on the straights. It is traditionally very hard on tires, but we had some great pre-season testing here with the new Continental tires, and are ready for this weekend.”

The team returned from the grueling Rolex 24 generally unscathed, and used the past month to refresh the entire car. After running nearly an entire season in a day, every inch of the car needs to be inspected, and components replaced to prepare for the season ahead. It is essentially a new car taking to the track this weekend, and team drivers Jordan Taylor and Bill Lester are anticipating a great weekend.

“I am looking forward to racing this weekend,” says Jordan. “The November test at Homestead was really positive for the team. We learned a lot about the car and the new tires. There is no doubt that it will be significantly hotter this weekend, but I know Charlie [Pratt & Miller engineer] will give Bill and I a competitive car that can run for a win.”

The support the team has received through their key partnership with General Motors has been significant already. The core team at Autohaus has been the same since 2008, but the addition of the resources of GM, Pratt & Miller and Katech are a valued addition to the team. Autohaus Motorsports is also pleased to announce a new relationship with Pfadt Race Engineering, a well-respected race engineering firm that designs, tests and manufactures suspension and race components for C5, C6 and C6 ZO6 Corvettes, as well as a new line of products for the 5th generation Camaro. Introduced by Sports Car Champion Johnny O’Connell during the final race of 2010 in Utah, Autohaus and Pfadt quickly recognized the synergies that exist. Autohaus has joined Pfadt as an authorized retailer and installer and will work to promote their products throughout South Florida and at our racing venues across the country.

The GT Series racing action begins on Friday, March 4th, 2011 with morning and afternoon practices followed by Rolex Series GT Qualifying at 4:10 PM EST. The green flag flies for the Miami Grand Prix on Saturday, March 5th at 12:00 PM EST and will be broadcast live on SPEED TV.

Follow Autohaus Motorsports on Twitter at twitter.com/autohaus88, and on our website at autohausmotorsports.com.

-source: am