SCC: Watkins Glen: SpeedSource preview

Series - Grand Am Cup
Event - Sports Car Grand Prix at the Glen - Watkins Glen, New York
Team - SpeedSource Inc.

SpeedSource rebuilds for the Glen.

Sunrise, FL -- The last time the Grand Am Cup Series was in action was late April at Phoenix and the SpeedSource Engineering crew had an unfortunate weekend. Two of their cars suffered severe damage from the unforgiving walls of Phoenix International Raceway.

"Phoenix was a really tough weekend for us," commented team owner and driver of the #70 Porsche, Sylvain Tremblay. "As soon as we got home, we started the long task of rebuilding these cars.

"We had to get a brand new tub for the #70 Redhat/ Workscape/ Champion Porsche/ Fikse Wheels Porsche. We think it is better than the original one. Selby (Wellman) came to test the rebuilt car at Homestead, and he had a real solid test."

The second car that was damaged at Phoenix was the #67 Porsche Boxster. The team has completed rebuilding it as well and also took it out to test at Homestead.

"The car is as better than it was at Phoenix," commented driver and Crew Chief David Haskell. "Car Chiefs John Beitz and John Schellenberg did an awesome Job rebuilding the cars and more than proved their dedication and professionalism by turning out what I think is a better car than the factory. We keep developing the Boxster and they get better every time we take them out on the track, but so do the other guys."

Watkins Glen will also mark the second race of the season in which the Grand Am Cup Series will have a split race format. The Grand Sports I and Grand Sports II class cars will race in one race, while the Sports Touring I and Sports Touring II cars will have their own race. With two cars in GSI, three cars in GSII, and two cars in STI the split race format effects the SpeedSource effort more than any other team in the series.

"On paper the split race format looks like it would make our job easier, but it actually makes it harder," commented Tremblay about the format. "We are so used to doing everything as a group. Now we try to split the groups, and you almost need two separate teams rather than one big team. Logistically, the split events are actually harder for us."

The SpeedSource crew will have some new drivers for the Sports Car Grand Prix at the Glen. David Shep will be joined by Keith Alexander, an American Le Mans Series regular, in the #65 Mears Motor Coach / SpeedSource / Champion Porsche / Fikse Wheels Porsche. The team will also be welcoming back Donis Horne in the #62 Edge Racing Wheels / Direct Line Distributing / Gulfstream Brasil Porsche in the Grand Sports II class. Horne will be joined by new comer to the team Marcelo Abello.

The following is the lineup for Watkins Glen:

Grand Sport I

#66 Mears Motor Coach / SpeedSource / Champion Porsche / Fikse Wheels Porsche GT3 Cup
Paul Mears, Jr.
David Haskell

#70  Redhat/ Workscape/ Champion Porsche/ Fikse Wheels Porsche GT3 Cup

            Selby Wellman

            Sylvain Tremblay

Grand Sport II

#62 Mears Motor Coach / SpeedSource / Champion Porsche / Fikse Wheels Porsche 911
Donis Horne
Marcelo Abello

#63 Wilson Sporting Goods / SpeedSource / Champion Porsche / Fikse Porsche 911
John Sturm
Sylvain Tremblay

#65 Mears Motor Coach / SpeedSource / Champion Porsche / Fikse Wheels
David Shep
Keith Alexander

Sports Touring I

#67 Network for Medical Communication and Research / Champion / Fikse / SpeedSource
Stan Winokur
David Haskell

#68  Giantbank.com / Onboard Media / Papa John's Pizza / Champion / Fikse

            Scott Schlesinger

            JC France

Qualifying for the 250 mile - three hour race (whichever comes first) will be held on Friday afternoon and the two races will take place on Saturday. The Sports Touring I race will be held at 2:30 and the Grand Sport I and II race will be held at 5:45.

Tickets for the 2002 Sports Car Grand Prix weekend, are now on sale. For tickets, reserved camping, and additional information, please contact The Glen ticket office at 607-535-2481 or log on to the official Watkins Glen website at www.theglen.com.

Websites of interest: www.speedsourceinc.com/ www.grandamcup.com/

-ss/wn-