APR Motorsports, contenders in both classes of the Grand Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, performed well in the season’s opening event, the Fresh From Florida 200, run before the Grand Am Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona International speedway. The team is optimistic for the rest of the season.
The team fielded three cars, an Audi S4 in GS Class and the two VW GTi’s in ST. All three ran well, and all three finished, despite unavoidable bad racing luck.
Director of Motorsport for APR, Jeff Mishtawy, said “APR and their engineering team proved once again their abilities to prepare the cars for competition. The S4 and the GTi’s were in excellent condition and ready for the race. I’m excited about the rest of the season as our development progresses and the drivers continue to settle in.”
Drivers Ian Baas and Mark White in the Audi S4, competing in its first race, finished 19th, two laps behind the leaders, after qualifying 36th. The car ran as high as fifth until a flat tire late in the race put the car out of contention.
Mark White said in an APR press release, “My hat is off to APR for taking the Audi S4 from concept to execution in such a short period of time. It’s incredibly difficult to develop a solid racecar from a brand new-to-the-market street car because there is no blueprint to follow.”
The team fielded three cars, an Audi S4 in GS Class and the two VW GTi’s in ST. All three ran well, and all three finished, despite unavoidable bad racing luck.
Director of Motorsport for APR, Jeff Mishtawy, said “APR and their engineering team proved once again their abilities to prepare the cars for competition. The S4 and the GTi’s were in excellent condition and ready for the race. I’m excited about the rest of the season as our development progresses and the drivers continue to settle in.”
Drivers Ian Baas and Mark White in the Audi S4, competing in its first race, finished 19th, two laps behind the leaders, after qualifying 36th. The car ran as high as fifth until a flat tire late in the race put the car out of contention.
Mark White said in an APR press release, “My hat is off to APR for taking the Audi S4 from concept to execution in such a short period of time. It’s incredibly difficult to develop a solid racecar from a brand new-to-the-market street car because there is no blueprint to follow.”
In ST class, Josh Hurley and co-driver Kevin Stadtlander had worked the #181 GTi into fourth place in class when the car was rear-ended and spun off the track. The #181 Gti finished 15th in class after starting 23rd.
The #171 APR GTi, driven by Mike Sweeney and Mike Halpin, started 16th in class and finished 24th. The #171 car trailed right behind its sister car for most of the race, but numerous minor collisions slowed the car as the race drew to a close.
Josh Hurley was in good spirits despite the forced off-track excursion, “I was really in a great place to push for the win as time was winding down. The GTi was in great form and Kevin drove very well in the first half of the race to give us a chance to charge for the podium.”
Mike Sweeney said, “We were ready to take over for Josh after his incident and race to the podium but our car suffered similar struggles as well. It was all I could do to get the car to the finish after being hit several times.”
APR returns to its Opelika, Alabama, shop to prepare for the next Grand Am Continental Tire race, the Grand Prix of Miami, at Homestead Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida on March 6, 2010.
Tickets for the race weekend are available online.
The #171 APR GTi, driven by Mike Sweeney and Mike Halpin, started 16th in class and finished 24th. The #171 car trailed right behind its sister car for most of the race, but numerous minor collisions slowed the car as the race drew to a close.
Josh Hurley was in good spirits despite the forced off-track excursion, “I was really in a great place to push for the win as time was winding down. The GTi was in great form and Kevin drove very well in the first half of the race to give us a chance to charge for the podium.”
Mike Sweeney said, “We were ready to take over for Josh after his incident and race to the podium but our car suffered similar struggles as well. It was all I could do to get the car to the finish after being hit several times.”
APR returns to its Opelika, Alabama, shop to prepare for the next Grand Am Continental Tire race, the Grand Prix of Miami, at Homestead Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida on March 6, 2010.
Tickets for the race weekend are available online.
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