SpeedSource Looks to Turn Luck Around at Mid-Ohio

SpeedSource Looks to Turn Luck Around at Mid-Ohio

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (August 1, 2002) -- SpeedSource appeared to be unstoppable during the 2001 season. The South Florida-based team posted dominating performances in the Grand Sport II class en route to the team and driver championships, and also captured the overall victory at the final two races of the season with its Grand Sport I car. 

However, the 2002 season has not been as kind to the team that is fielding six Porsches in three of Grand-Am Cup's four classes. After capturing six class victories last season, including four overall wins, SpeedSource has yet to earn it's first win of the season. 

"(I would be frustrated) if I felt that the team wasn't doing the best that it could, but it's really been missed opportunities that have kept us from our first win," explains team owner and driver Sylvain Tremblay. "Bad yellow flags. Pitting too early. Pitting too late. Things like that have kept us from that first win. The performance of the team is on par with what the team did last year though."

SpeedSource started off the season with a third-place GS II podium finish in Daytona, and followed it up with second- and third-place overall finishes at California Speedway. But bad luck seemed to follow the team to the other races and resulted in two severely damaged Sport Touring I Porsche Boxsters that had to be rebuilt. 

"We felt that we could have been improving the ST I cars, but we have been busy rebuilding to just get them back to where they were before. It's hard to make them better when they are always in the body shop," remarked Tremblay. 

After a drought of wins and no podium finishes at the last three races, SpeedSource hopes to finally turn its luck around when it heads to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course next week to race in the 2.5-hour Grand-Am Cup race, part of the CART Grand Prix weekend. The team captured the GS II win at the track last season and is now looking to defend its title and return to the front of the field. 

"I think (Mid-Ohio) really suits our cars. It definitely suits our setups," said Tremblay, who helped pilot the winning GS II Porsche last season.  "We had such a tremendous year last year; it's hard to meet expectations. Last year was so special. If anything, it has made the team work harder to achieve the same results."

After a clean race at VIR that saw little to no damage to the SpeedSource field of Porsches, Tremblay and crew have been able to spend the break between races focused on improving the cars and are we hopes to step up their performance at Mid-Ohio. 

Tickets for the CART Grand Prix weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course are currently on sale and may be purchased by calling 800-MID-OHIO or visiting www.midohio.com. More information on Grand-Am Cup is available online at www.grandamcup.com.  

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EDITORS NOTE:
Additional information may be requested from Grand American Road Racing Association 
Christie Hyde (386) 681-4182; email: CHyde@grand-am.com