Scott Tucker great Level 5 Motorsports teammates traded their racing jumpsuits for suit jackets and slacks for the American Le Mans Series season banquet a couple weeks ago. The banquet happened to honor various achievements all through the 2011 season by various members of each motorsports team in the league.
Tucker and co-driver Christophe Bouchut took the stage to accept their drivers' championships awards. The two clinched the awards when they won first place at Petit Le Mans, but they had been leading in points long before that race earlier this month. "We're the most proud of this award and our championship at Le Mans," Tucker said. That night, he raised a glamorous trophy above his head, but mostly this season, he's been spraying champagne. The 2011 season has been a whirlwind of success for Tucker and the entire team, with room still left to improve for the coming season and even for the coming race, the 6 Hours of Zhuhai in China, which will end the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup Series season.
Level 5 Motorsports has had the podium several times in the past year, starting in the beginning at the Roar Before the Daytona 24. They also delivered solid performances at the 12 Hours of Sebring, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and American Le Mans Series Monterey. Tucker also did podium time in the Sports Car Club of America series, nabbing an historical third consecutive national championship at the SCCA Runoffs, and he also continued his Ferrari career.
"Everybody's happy and looking forward to a well deserved break before we drop by China," said team manager David Stone. The team has barely had a chance to sleep in the past month or so, as they unveiled their two new Honda prototypes for Petit Le Mans. The cars had been in production still when Tucker announced the switch, and one of the cars was shipped to the Petit track at Road Atlanta with build work still to do. The entire team stayed up until 2 a.m. multiple times to finish the build on the car and make the appropriate adjustments.
"It's been a fantastic season with many ups and downs because of all the changes," said Luis Diaz, another Level 5 driver. Although Diaz, Bouchut and Tucker eventually drove the new HPD ARX-01g cars to victory at Petit Le Mans, the cars were a labor of the entire team. The engineers, mechanics and pit crews all had to sync with all the car just as much as the drivers did, in order to streamline pit stops, driver rotation, and any mechanical issues that might have come up.
"They have a mechanic of the year award," said Ken Swan, crew chief for Level 5. "But we have several mechanics of the year. Every individual guy did an outstanding job." The team built five cars in this single racing season-not an easy feat with a packed racing schedule. Making adjustments on the fly and accommodating new parts and problems with every car was just a day's work for the Level 5 mechanical team.
The team next heads to China for the Nov. 13 Six Hours of Zhuhai, where they'll attempt to claim a vice championship in the ILMC rankings.
Tucker and co-driver Christophe Bouchut took the stage to accept their drivers' championships awards. The two clinched the awards when they won first place at Petit Le Mans, but they had been leading in points long before that race earlier this month. "We're the most proud of this award and our championship at Le Mans," Tucker said. That night, he raised a glamorous trophy above his head, but mostly this season, he's been spraying champagne. The 2011 season has been a whirlwind of success for Tucker and the entire team, with room still left to improve for the coming season and even for the coming race, the 6 Hours of Zhuhai in China, which will end the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup Series season.
Level 5 Motorsports has had the podium several times in the past year, starting in the beginning at the Roar Before the Daytona 24. They also delivered solid performances at the 12 Hours of Sebring, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and American Le Mans Series Monterey. Tucker also did podium time in the Sports Car Club of America series, nabbing an historical third consecutive national championship at the SCCA Runoffs, and he also continued his Ferrari career.
"Everybody's happy and looking forward to a well deserved break before we drop by China," said team manager David Stone. The team has barely had a chance to sleep in the past month or so, as they unveiled their two new Honda prototypes for Petit Le Mans. The cars had been in production still when Tucker announced the switch, and one of the cars was shipped to the Petit track at Road Atlanta with build work still to do. The entire team stayed up until 2 a.m. multiple times to finish the build on the car and make the appropriate adjustments.
"It's been a fantastic season with many ups and downs because of all the changes," said Luis Diaz, another Level 5 driver. Although Diaz, Bouchut and Tucker eventually drove the new HPD ARX-01g cars to victory at Petit Le Mans, the cars were a labor of the entire team. The engineers, mechanics and pit crews all had to sync with all the car just as much as the drivers did, in order to streamline pit stops, driver rotation, and any mechanical issues that might have come up.
"They have a mechanic of the year award," said Ken Swan, crew chief for Level 5. "But we have several mechanics of the year. Every individual guy did an outstanding job." The team built five cars in this single racing season-not an easy feat with a packed racing schedule. Making adjustments on the fly and accommodating new parts and problems with every car was just a day's work for the Level 5 mechanical team.
The team next heads to China for the Nov. 13 Six Hours of Zhuhai, where they'll attempt to claim a vice championship in the ILMC rankings.
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