@roadamerica #DamienFaulkner #IMSA #Porsche
Leading international Porsche driver, Damien Faulkner is in fighting form ahead of this Sunday’s Road America/Continental Tire Road Race Showcase in Wisconsin. “As a team we are very much looking forward to Road America on Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Last time out at Indy, although the result didn’t show it, I think we made progress and hopefully we can transport that to this incredible circuit.”
Faulkner was referring to a challenging Indy race for team GB Autosport, where team mate Matt Bell spun and then got rammed by another car causing serious rear suspension damage. The team spent over half an hour in the pits to facilitate the lengthy repair. Faulkner says they did a brilliant job completing the repairs in time to finish the race and secure some championship points, but it was a disappointing result coming hot on the heels of their 4th place finish in Canada’s Mosport Grand Prix earlier last month.
Faulkner has been on the Road America podium before “and that’s there where our real objectives sit. Ben Barker will return as my team mate which is great news as he’s very familiar now with the team and its workings. Also, our team owner Michael is due to attend which is fantastic news for two reasons; he’s a great leader and motivator but crucially, it will keep my phone bills down!!”
Faulkner’s team, GB Autosport (Global Barista) was founded by owner Mike Avenatti last year and had their first outing in the opening race of the new Tudor USC championship at Daytona. One of the world’s finest Porsche drivers, Faulkner is a two-time Porsche Carrera GB Champion (2005-2006), two-time Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup Vice-Champion (2007-2008) and the winner of his first American Le Mans race at the 2011 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
Road America will be the 10th race of the inaugural season for North America’s new Tudor Championship series, which was formed from the merger of the American Le Mans series and the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Cars series. The event will showcase all four TUDOR Championship classes – Prototype (P), Prototype Challenge (PC), GT Le Mans (GTLM) and GT Daytona (GTD) – GB Autosport’s own class. Spot them in car No. 81, the Tully’s Coffee Porsche 911 GT America….
Qualification for Road America will be held over Friday 8th and Saturday 9th August and the flag is set to go green for the 165-minute at 10.30pm Irish time on Sunday 10th. Viewers at home can catch live coverage on Motors Sports TV UK (Sky 447) and the race will also be streamed live on imsa.com .