JaguarRSR Finishes Sixth in their Strongest Race Finish After Running in Second Position
LONG BEACH, California ‑ JaguarRSR and their two XKR GT
challengers took the green flag to kick off the second race of the
2011 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron season.
With both Cats on the prowl the race ended with Bruno Junqueira and
Cristiano Da Matta achieving a team best position of sixth in the
GT category.
After qualifying the #98 JaguarRSR XKR GT 11th on the GT grid,
Paul Gentilozzi took the green flag and quickly began to work his
way up through the field. He earned two spots running in ninth when
on Lap 3 his day came to an end after contact with the wall in Turn
8.
"I had done that corner the same way for hundreds of laps, you cut
the corner and go over the alligator strips ‑ the only thing that I
can estimate (because it happened so fast) was that I got the
inside wheel on the wrong side of the bump and it sucked me into
the wall," said Gentilozzi. "At that point, you are wide open
throttle, so I grazed the inside wall which shot me to the outside
and that was just a mistake on my part."
The team was undeterred knowing that they had two strong XKR's in
the field. Junqueira started the race after qualifying 10th on the
grid was working his way up the field. Using experienced race
strategy, the team was able to place the Brazilian second in the GT
class at the mid way point of the two hour timed event.
"It was a great run, we had a good race pace," commented Junqueira
after his run. "I was about a half second slower than the fastest
guy; I could see the lead pack in front of me my whole stint. The
#99 JaguarRSR XKR GT had good handling throughout and was reliable
throughout the whole weekend. I love Long Beach and it was so great
to come back here. We didn't get the win, but for me it feels like
a win."
Teammate da Matta climbed into the cockpit on lap 47 to take over
after the car took on a full fuel load and fresh Dunlop tires. The
Belo Horizonte, Brazil native had a solid drive to take the
checkered flag sixth overall in class, netting the team's best
series finish.
"It was a nice run," added da Matta on his stint. "I am really
happy for the Jaguar and the RSR team. The main point is that since
yesterday morning's first practice through today in the race, we
didn't have any issue and this weekend was just about developing
the #99 JaguarRSR XKR GT. It is nice to have this result from all
the hard work we have been doing since Sebring. For me, it was a
great time, I got time to just drive the car and get more mileage
under my belt."
Overall the #99 car finished 12th in a field of 31 cars this
weekend. The Brazilian duo earned individual, team and Jaguar's
first points of the season tallying up six markers.
Gentilozzi added, "We had great fuel mileage and engine
performance, the Jaguar direct‑injected engine with the help of
Motec controls showed us why the Jaguar is the leading production
car for power and economy The Dunlop tires are really helping us
get up to speed and things are coming together. We made a strategy
choice and that choice left us sixth, but we don't feel bad
splitting the BMW's and finishing ahead of the a couple of the
Ferraris. It was a good event for us, now we will have a couple of
months off in which we will be very busy developing and improving
for the busiest part of the season."
Next up is the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock
Park in Lakeville, Connecticut, July 9. And a reminder to tune into
ESPN2 tomorrow who will provide television coverage of today's race
from 5:00 to 7:00 pm ET.
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For more information, please go to:www.RSRJaguar.com;
www.americanlemans.com
Contact Heather Haupt:
(517) 927‑8472
heatherh@rsrjaguar.com