Chatter in the motorsports world picked up when Level 5 Motorsports owner-driver Scott Tucker announced he'd be changing not just one but both of the team's ALMS/ILMC prototypes out for new cars mid-season. The time it takes a team to adjust to a new car and the risk it involved with new car problems had people wondering why and how Level 5 would do it.
Last weekend at Petit Le Mans, the team answered the why: They'd do it to win. The entry driven by Tucker, Christophe Bouchut and Joao Barbosa took first place in the LMP2 class at Road Atlanta. But the "how" of the question was answered more quietly, behind the scenes by the Level 5 Motorsports team.
"All the guys have been working 14-hour days," said Technical Director Jean Marchioni. "The bulk of the work has already been done by the Level 5 guys, who have just done a tremendous job."
He said the prototypes were excellent right out of the box. "We did a lot of laps and a lot of setup changes," he said. "We got a really good baseline from HPD; it gave us a really good ground to work on. With some small adjustments, it made the car really quick."
Driver Joao Barbosa said Tuesday after practice that the team was feeling confident for the official track action, testing and qualifying that would kick off on Wednesday. "So far, it's going really good," Barbosa said. "The team has done an unbelievable job just to get two cars ready for Petit. We've been running for two days without any problems. We're still getting to know the cars, but so far so good; the cars are really quick."
The 14th annual Petit Le Mans was not the first for any of the Level 5 drivers, but it was an important race to end a very successful season.
"It's a great race, a great event to be a part of," Barbosa said. "We have to treat it as the team spirit, which is get up, finish the race, and win the race. We'll do our best. We came this year to win, and that's what we're going to do our best to do."
Last weekend at Petit Le Mans, the team answered the why: They'd do it to win. The entry driven by Tucker, Christophe Bouchut and Joao Barbosa took first place in the LMP2 class at Road Atlanta. But the "how" of the question was answered more quietly, behind the scenes by the Level 5 Motorsports team.
"All the guys have been working 14-hour days," said Technical Director Jean Marchioni. "The bulk of the work has already been done by the Level 5 guys, who have just done a tremendous job."
He said the prototypes were excellent right out of the box. "We did a lot of laps and a lot of setup changes," he said. "We got a really good baseline from HPD; it gave us a really good ground to work on. With some small adjustments, it made the car really quick."
Driver Joao Barbosa said Tuesday after practice that the team was feeling confident for the official track action, testing and qualifying that would kick off on Wednesday. "So far, it's going really good," Barbosa said. "The team has done an unbelievable job just to get two cars ready for Petit. We've been running for two days without any problems. We're still getting to know the cars, but so far so good; the cars are really quick."
The 14th annual Petit Le Mans was not the first for any of the Level 5 drivers, but it was an important race to end a very successful season.
"It's a great race, a great event to be a part of," Barbosa said. "We have to treat it as the team spirit, which is get up, finish the race, and win the race. We'll do our best. We came this year to win, and that's what we're going to do our best to do."
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