SCC: Mid-Ohio: Burrows, Hopwood preview

The Pressure is on as Burrows and Hopwood Head to Mid-Ohio; Best race result of the season last round, what's next this long race weekend?

Lexington, OH (16 June 09)--With a 6th place finish at Lime Rock Park and then a 5th place result at Watkins Glen, Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood have continued to raise the bar with the No. 198 Fischer Skis MINI Cooper in Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge competition. And as the two KONI Champions head into the EMCO Gears Classic this Sunday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, they will continue to aim high with the RSR Motorsports-prepared machine.

The two know that Mid-Ohio could well be a good spot to score the best finish to date for the MINI since the RSR first started campaigning the diminutive machine in KONI competition.

Last year, Burrows scored a front-row starting position along side the pole-winning MINI driven by current RSR teammate Owen Trinkler. The chance for victory was shattered when a wheel hub broke at top-speed as Hopwood put all his car control skills to keep the machine pointed the right way and head back to the pits.

So with a duo that clearly know the fast way around the track and a car well-equipped to make the most of the twisting and undulating circuit, the pressure is on to perform this weekend.

"With not racing at Laguna Seca, we aren't really focused on the championship battle like we have been the last two seasons," said Burrows, who with Hopwood backed up his run to the 2007 championship with a charge to 2nd in the championship standings to close out the year. "So for us, we aren't being conservative at all and the goal is to just get as much as we can out of each weekend and target the best possible result. We certainly know from Owen's qualifying performance last year that this is the right track for the Mini, and it'd be awesome to get this car up on the podium this weekend."

"I think this weekend is going to be fun," said Hopwood. "We had been looking forward to Lime Rock Park because we thought that might be a good place for this MINI and even though it was a decent result with 6th, we were hoping for more. Mid-Ohio is another track that we've been looking forward to because it should be a good place for us to make the most of the brakes we have and I know it's going to be a blast to race this car on Sunday."

-credit: sgm