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Created on Monday, 07 October 2013 08:48

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Alton, VA – October 5, 2013.  The racing was just as hot as the temperatures during Saturday’s American Le Mans Series (ALMS) race at Virginia International Raceway (VIR).  With championships at stake, the Prototype Challenge Class presented by Continental Tire (PC), left nothing on the table.  But mistakes, contact and pure domination dashed some dreams while creating others.  In the end, it was the BAR1 Motorsports Canadian combination of Chris Cumming and Kyle Marcelli that put on a clinic at the 3.27-mile, 17-turn road course for the win.

Temperatures in excess of 80 degrees Fahrenheit created a hot, slick race track that sent cars sliding in practice, qualifying and the race but the Continental ExtremeContact Race tires provided the grip the PC class needed throughout the weekend.  Friday’s PC qualifying session came down to the final seconds as Dane Cameron, in the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports Molecule ORECA FLM09, barely edged out Tom Kimber-Smith, in the No. 05 CORE autosport Composite Resources ORECA FLM09, for the pole with a fast lap time of 1:41.854 (115.577 mph).  A great start for the PR1 Motorsports team as they looked to secure the PC championship at VIR.

The green flag waved to begin Saturday’s 2.75-hour race and the PC class immediately clamored for position.  Cumming jumped into the early lead while the No. 52 had several problems early on.  Mike Guasch had debris come off the car then contact with the No. 18 Performance Tech Motorsports Komplete Meal/Dash Neighborhood Stores Phillipps 66 ORECA FLM09, forced the No. 52 down pit road for repairs essentially erasing the team’s chances of locking up an early championship.

Through several caution periods that included a small grass fire, the duo of Cumming and Marcelli paved the way for the PC class running some of their fastest laps during the latter part of the race.  Marcelli took the checkered flag by 11.59 seconds over second-place, Kimber-Smith and co-driver Jon Bennett in the No. 05.  The win marks BAR1’s second win of the season and it launched Cumming to within 11 points of Guasch for the PC driver championship.  Following the race, Marcelli talked about how challenging the track conditions were.

“It’s a narrow track and guys are always dropping wheels over the curbs and spitting a lot of dirt across the track so apexes become very slippery, not only the heat from the track, but the dirt coming across,” said Marcelli.  “So you have to be on your toes the whole time, you can’t ever be relaxed around here.  We had about a 14 second lead the last 45 minutes or an hour and I just had to hustle lap after lap.  Hats off to the guys for a great job today.”

The ALMS wraps up the 2013 in one week when the series visits Road Atlanta for the popular, Petit Le Mans race.  Go into the garage for updates and behind the scenes info @continentaltire.

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