Document from Alex Job Racing
For Immediate Release Alex Job Racing 551 Southridge Industrial Drive Tavares, Florida 32778 Phone~ 352-343-3884 - Fax~ 352-343-3890 www.alexjobracing.com ALEX JOB RACING, McKENNA PORSCHE HAVE DISAPPOINTING DAY AT SEARS POINT INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY Sonoma, CA - July 22, 2001- In front of the beautiful backdrop off Sears Point International Raceway, the Alex Job Racing McKenna Porsches drove hard and avoided mistakes, but was only able to muster a fifth place and a "DNF" (did not finish) in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) GT class. The fifth place finish by the #23 Alex Job Racing, McKenna Porsche 911 GT3 RS co-driven by Lucas Luhr and Sascha Maassen was hard earned. The BMW M3 GTR V8's put on a very strong showing all weekend, averaging 2.5 seconds a lap faster than the Alex Job Racing McKenna Porsches throughout practice and qualifying. "Our cars were as good as they can be," said Luhr. "We have to push the BMW's hard and hope they make a mistake. Unfortunately, they didn't make any mistakes today." The #22 Alex Job Racing, McKenna Porsche 911 GT3 RS, co-driven by Randy Pobst and Christen Menzel, had to fight mechanical gremlins all day. Approximately 15 minutes into the race driver Randy Pobst reported feeling the engine loose power, and the car was brought in for the first of two unscheduled pit stops. The second was for new rear tires late in the race. With five minutes left of the 2 hour, 45 minute race, the right rear drive shaft broke, ending the day. "Today was really disappointing," said Pobst. "At the beginning I could keep the BMW's in sight, but then the engine went full rich. After the pit stop it was fine, though they didn't find anything amiss." According to-driver Christen Menzel, the car was running fine near the end of the race, "but I began to hear a knocking noise that kept getting louder." It turns out a slipping differential led to the demise of the drive shaft. Team Owner Alex Job added, "The new BMW's are far superior to us at the moment. We pushed our #23 Porsche as hard as we could, but it just wasn't enough. We didn't make any mistakes, but just came up short. We hope to be closer as we head into the Portland race and up to Canada and Mosport." The next ALMS race, the Grand Prix of Portland, will be in two weeks at Portland International Raceway. The August 5th race will be broadcast on Speedvision. Now in its 13th year of competition, Alex Job Racing (AJR) is one of the premier independent Porsche teams in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS). Based in a brand new 16,000 sq. ft. facility in Tavares, Florida, AJR entries have tallied three victories in the 12 Hours of Sebring, one win in the 24 Hours of Daytona, ten ALMS wins and captured the 1999 ALMS GT Driver and Manufacturer Championships. # # #