Mont-Tremblant: Price Cobb returns with Synergy Racing

Legendary Racer Price Cobb Returns to Porsche Racing after More Than 10 Years

MONT-TREMBLANT, Quebec (May 20, 2005) -- Legendary Porsche driver Price Cobb will return behind the wheel of the marque that helped make him a champion this weekend in the 6 Heures du Circuit Mont-Tremblant. After more than a 10-year hiatus from Porsche racing, Cobb will partner Mae Van Wijk in Synergy Racing's No. 81 Porsche GT3 Cup, sponsored by autobysite.com and pipeservicestt.com, for the six-hour enduro.

Van Wijk was originally slated to team with Synergy drivers David Murry and GT points leader Craig Stanton in the No. 80 Porsche for Saturday's race, but with a fierce GT points race underway, the team decided maintaining its two-car effort was the best strategy for this weekend's race.

"Taking a look at the points, we felt this was the best thing for all of our drivers; not just Craig, but all the drivers," explained team owner Cole Scrogham. "We want to put our team and drivers in the best possible position early on, because we know there's a lot of competition out there. We want to be smart about the points race to give our drivers every opportunity we can."

Cobb, who has worked with Synergy Racing as Director of Racing Operations since 2001, is excited to slide behind the wheel of a Porsche again for a race.

"Of course I'm excited," Cobb said. "The only reason I don't race anymore is because I don't have that 'need' to drive that I had when I was younger. I still love to drive though. I truly love every minute inside a race car, and I know I'll enjoy being back in one this weekend. This will be a hoot."

Cobb's last stint in a professional race was back in 2003 when he took to the wheel of Synergy Racing's (then G&W Motorsports') BMW Picchio Daytona Prototype for the season finale at Daytona. However, the last time the championship-winning racer took to the track in Porsche in professional competition was in 1994, the year he became the first American to win the coveted worldwide Porsche Cup.

In addition to taking the worldwide Porsche Cup, Cobb also won the North American Porsche Cup three times, resulting in its retirement. He also took overall top honors at the 1990 24 Hours of Le Mans and 1994 One Lap of America, and scored back-to-back podium finishes at the 1989-90 Rolex 24 At Daytona. Cobb has driven for factory teams of Porsche, Chevrolet, Mazda, Jaguar, Chrysler and Nissan in SCCA, IMSA and FIA GTP competition.

This weekend, he looks forward to teaming with Van Wijk, whom he has helped mentor in racing the last two years.

"Clearly something happened in Mae's progression as a driver at Laguna Seca," Cobb said. "She passed through another threshold. You could see with every lap she took. For us, this is really exciting."

Although Cobb has raced at Mont-Tremblant in the past, his last laps around the circuit were in 1975 in a Formula Atlantic race. Since then, the track has been renovated and modified.

"The track is hugely safer than when I last raced on it," Cobb noted. "Some of the turns and jumps have been leveled out to make it safer; other than that, it's the same circuit, just a lot nicer."

Van Wijk will qualify the No. 81 Porsche on Friday afternoon at 2:45 p.m. The 6 Heures du Circuit Mont-Tremblant will get underway Saturday at 11 a.m. ET, with live coverage on SPEED Channel.

About Synergy Racing
Team owners Cole Scrogham and Danny and Steve Marshall introduced Synergy Racing in December 2004. Based at Virginia International Raceway, Synergy Racing is an evolution of G&W Motorsports, which had catered to Porsche racing since 1996 and became the most successful team in the Rolex Sports Car Series with four championships, 15 class wins and more than 50 podium finishes. The team underwent a major transformation that included a name and logo change, as well as a complete restructuring into a customer-based championship racing business, which concentrates on the needs of the customer rather than the desires of the team. For more information on Synergy Racing, visit www.synergyracing.com.

-sr-