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Created on Saturday, 10 August 2013 08:13

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• Fuel mileage was the theme through Rolex Series and Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series competition.

• Scott Mayer and Brendan Hartley win first career Rolex Series race with Starworks.

• Three classes pushed into victory lane after running out of fuel on the cool down lap.

Elkhart Lake, WI – August 10, 2013.  History was made at Road America when the GRAND-AM Series and the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) joined together for the first time to put on what is arguably, one of the biggest sports car racing weekend’s ever.  On a track that has weathered, cars across all classes, in both series, saw abnormal rear tire wear.  But the Continental tires proved consistent and provided close, door-to-door racing, once again.

Rolex Series Rookie Brendan Hartley and co-driver Scott Mayer were able to capitalize on veteran mistakes and mechanical failures in the Daytona Prototype (DP) class to drive the No. 8 Starworks  Motorsport BMW to victory.  Early on the team went out of pit sequence which placed them at the front of the field in the final half hour.  Hartley held onto the lead and was within one lap of running out of fuel when the checkered flag flew, giving the team their first win.  One thing that worked to their advantage, the performance of the Continental tires.

“I think that’s one of the reasons we were able to jump a few cars, because Starworks did a really good job of giving us a car that worked good with the tires,” said Hartley following the race.  “I don’t think we suffered as much with degredation as some of the other cars.  We saw the same situation at Indy so I think Starworks got on top of that and we knew that it was going to be a problem so we got ahead of it.  I didn’t have a problem all day so it was good.”

The Grand Touring (GT) race came down to a drag race in the closing laps.  Patrick Long led Bill Auberlen in the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche GT3 Cup but Auberlen stayed on Long’s bumper like a lion hunting prey.  With ounces of fuel left and minutes to spare, Auberlen passed Long for the lead and ultimately the win.  Going into turn five of the cool down lap, Auberlen ran out of fuel and had to be pushed to victory lane by teammate Maxime Martin in the No. 93 Turner Motorsport BMW.  In a post race press conference, Auberlen credited the performance of the Continental tires saying that once his tires “came in” he was able to pass Long and roll on to the win.  The win marked the third for Auberlen and Paul Dalla Lana in the No. 94 Turner Motorsport BMW M3.  

It was Joel Miller and Tristan Nunez combining for their third win of the 2013 season in the No. 00 Visit Florida Racing/SpeedSource Mazda 6 GX.  Again, winning the battle of the fuel mileage.  After a hard fought race, the No. 00 was pushed into victory lane with not a drop left in the tank.  Of note, the team went the duration of the race on the same right side Continental tires.  

Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series In Grand Sport (GS) competition Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi combined for their third win of the 2013 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series season.  Plumb was four seconds behind Spencer Pumpelly in the No. 38 BGB Motorsports Porsche Carrera but with one lap to go, Pumpelly darted down pit road for a splash and go allowing Plumb to put the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche 997 in the lead.  Pumpelly would settle for fourth while Plumb and Longhi did the hat dance in victory lane after running out of fuel on the cool down lap and being pushed to victory lane.

The Street Tuner (ST) class saw BMW pull out their brooms for a sweep of the podium.  Pole sitter Tyler Cooke, and co-driver Gregory Liefooghe, piloted the No. 81 BimmerWorld Racing BMW 328i to the win with the No. 56 RACE EPIC/Murillo Racing BMW and No. 80 BimmerWorld BMW coming in second and third respectively.

The GRAND-AM Series travels to Kansas Speedway next week for the first time.  Racing action happens on Saturday, August 17.  Fans can catch live coverage on SPEED and MRN.  Check local listings for times.

Go into the garage with us @continentaltire.

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