ALMS: Lewis puts first race laps on Aspen Knolls' New Callaway
Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
FORT WORTH, Tex., - The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) debut
of the new Aspen Knolls/ MCR Racing Callaway C12-R here at Texas Motor
Speedway (TMS) ended sooner than Shane Lewis and the Aspen Knolls/ MCR team
had wished. Lewis, of Jupiter, Fla., pulled the #12 Aspen Knolls/ MCR C12-R
off course with a broken right-rear wheel hub on lap 14, 21 minutes into the
two hour and 45 minute Leather Center Grand Prix of Texas. Lewis would end
the day 11th in class, 22nd overall. Despite the frustration of the early
exit, the Bob Mazzuoccola-owned team has a sharpened sense of anticipation
for the upcoming ALMS season.
"It is unfortunate to be out of the race that early,” offered Lewis. “Fortunately, the wheel hub broke while under braking and in a straight line. If it had popped out on the banking or something it could have been a pretty major deal. It’ll be a big thrash between here and Sebring to get the car ready for the 12 Hours. The car is a Callaway so it will be good. We know that. We also know that we have to develop the car to get it there. I have tested a lot of cars out of the box and they have all taken time.”
The Grand Prix of Texas marked only the second time that Lewis had the Callaway C12-R on track. The car was built in Germany by both Aspen Knolls/ Michael Colucci Racing (MCR) and Callaway personnel and flown to MCR’s Florida shop less than two weeks before the green flag fell at TMS. The car underwent initial shakedown laps at Sebring International Raceway’s ‘short course’ and then was sent directly to TMS. When Lewis stepped into the #12 at the Dallas-Fort Worth area race complex, the car had only 10 laps of testing on it.
Due to the nature of the quick turn-around of the car, the ALMS season-opener was being viewed by Aspen Knolls as a fuel mileage and endurance test of the C12-R. However, the test was cut short leaving much work to be done on the freshman car going into the ALMS’ oldest and most prestigious event. Lewis, with co-driver Vic Rice of San Rafael, Calif., will return to competition at Sebring for the 49th Annual Superflo 12 Hours at Sebring presented by Dodge on the weekend of March 18th.
“Even though we were pretty much using it as a test session we were hoping to run the entire event,” said Lewis. “The car is in one piece but we have a lot of work to do before we get to Sebring. The Aspen Knolls crew will get it together and we'll have a good show at Sebring."
"We anticipated this being a learning experience and we did learn a lot,” reflected Mazzuoccola. “We thought it was time to close the tool box and go racing. We made a commitment to the series so, here we are at the beginning of the racing season. Hopefully, Sebring will be better for us."
Lewis has been a key element in a number of new car development efforts, including his direct competitors in the GT class. Reeves Callaway could not be happier with the driver selection to develop the Callaway C12-R as Lewis is considered by many as the ultimate sportscar development driver. Lewis has tested cars for Pilbeam Racing America, Riley & Scott Europe, Mosler Automotive, Saleen, BMW and Team Cascadia’s LMP Lola.
As the lead driver for Aspen Knolls, Lewis qualified the car in 19th position, tenth in class, with a time of 94.137 in Saturday’s qualifying on the 2.324-mile road course/oval.
Text Provided By Darkhorse Communications
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