Monday, October 02, 2006

AJR Finishes Eight at Petit Le Mans; Katherine Legge Back In Champ Car

Robin Osborne

Bell Micro Racing hosted its eighth Relationship Sales Event this past weekend at the 10-hour Petit Le Mans at Road America in Braselton, Georgia. On hand for the event were 110 plus guests representing companies including AIS Computers, Atlantix, Blue Cube, Centerpoint Energy, Choicepoint, Colonial Pipeline, Data Scan Field Services, DTI, Ed Financial, FSG, GE Fanuc, Gulf States Paper Company, Layer 3 Communications, Key & Keys, Miltope, Pharmalink FHI, Net Friends Inc., Prosys Information Systems, Provar, Radiant, RARE, TSA and Supplier Partners, QLogic and Hirewise. Bell Micro racing fans had a terrific view from the hospitality suite overlooking the start finish line of the 2.54 mile, 12 turn road course. Brian Stover (Bell Micro Sales Manager) writes “We appreciate your time and effort for the race in Atlanta! Your hard work (Brenda Karstens, Dan Madish, D. True Madish) gained us a great time with our customers! Many Thanks!”

Petit Le Mans

Robin Liddell started the # 23 Bell Microproducts / Alex Job Racing / Porsche 911 RSR from tenth place on the GT2 grid. Liddell would have a stellar drive and would take the # 23 car to the front of the field before turning the car over to Marcel Tiemann. Tiemann was able to maintain the pace and increase the team’s lead before handing the car over to Dominik Farnbacher. Farnbacher also put in a strong performance and would keep the AJR 911 RSR in the lead under pressure from more experienced competitors. The team would enjoy a nice, secure lead for about an hour, as Tiemann was heading into the fast downhill turn #10 the right-front control arm would break sending him into the gravel. Tiemann was able to return the car to the pits for repair but the 30 minute stop put Dominik Farnbacher back on the track some 17 laps down. Commenting on the race, team owner Alex Job said, “Another tough race in the ALMS for our team. Robin did a great job to bounce back from our poor qualifying effort and put us in the lead in his first stint. Marcel and Dominik did the job to keep the car up at the front by running fast, clean laps. When you take several hits by prototypes throughout the day something is bound to break and that is what happened.”

Katherine Legge

Five days after walking away unscathed from a horrific crash at the Champ Car Grand Prix of Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, PKV Racing’s Katherine Legge would climb back into the back-up PKV Racing machine at a test session at Sebring International Raceway last Friday. On Sunday the 24th, Legge who was sporting a new pink paint scheme on the # 20 Bell Micro-PKV Racing Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone entry at Road America, was having an impressive race running in sixth place when the rear wing broke. The car launched into the retaining wall, up the catch fence in flames, and began cart-wheeling through the air coming to rest alongside the track. Despite massive damage to the car the talented 26 year-old rookie walked away from the crash with only bruises on her legs. Friday’s test marked the first time Legge has driven a Champ car since the incident. She ran 150 miles on the 1.66-mile Sebring “short course” with a very competitive time of 51.8 seconds. “It was good to get back in the PKV Racing car” said Legge. “There were some things the team wanted to test for Surfers Paradise and I had a test day available, so it seemed like the logical thing for me to get back in the car. We accomplished a lot and I feel good about the results.” Commenting on being back in a Champ Car for the first time Legge said, “As soon as I drove out of pit land for the first run, I felt like I always have. I had no issues getting back in the car… it actually felt good. The Bell Micro – PKV Racing crew did a great job and I am looking forward to racing at surfers Paradise in a couple of weeks.” The race will be televised tape delayed on Sunday, October 22 at 2 p.m. ET.

Bell Micro Racing will host its last Relationship Sales Event at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway on Saturday, October 21st.