For Immediate Release - Jim Osborn Autosport Development
Cleveland Pre-Race Report
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: John Thawley
248.227.0110
johnt@c2group.com
Jim Osborn ready to “suit-up” for Cleveland Grand Prix
debuting the Autosport Development #7 SPEED World Challenge GTO
Detroit – June 20, 2005 Jim Osborn, driver of the #24 Chili Pepper
Racing BMW Touring Car, will jump into the GT class to debut the new
#7 GTO from Autosport Development. Osborn and teammate, Stu Hayner,
will participate in the SPEED World Challenge events at the Champ Car
Cleveland Grand Prix taking place at the Burke Lakefront Airport in
Cleveland, June 24 – 26. The race will air Sunday, June 26 on SPEED.
Osborn has been enjoying one of his best seasons in the Touring Car
division with a 9th place finish at St. Petersburg and a 12th place
finish last month at Mid-Ohio. Osborn ran as high as sixth mid-race.
Osborn’s #7 GTO will carry a similar livery to its sister car, the #5
GMAC/Trenton Forging GTO. The red trim will change to a candied
metallic red. The car will carry Chili Pepper Racing charities and
sponsor, Remote Area Medical, T.C. Thompson Children’s Hospital, and
Trenton Forging.
“I’m really looking forward to this,” commented Osborn. “The
Autosport Development guys have done a beautiful job on this car.
Their help and the integration with the Chili Pepper Racing team has
been great. I’m extremely confident in the car… it’s an incredible
piece of equipment.”
“It’s going to mean a lot having Stu (Hayner) to share ideas and
feedback with,” Osborn continued. “We speak the same language and
Stu’s a great teacher. I know we’ll be fast, but I want to take
advantage of Stu’s ability to take care of the car. With all the
power in these GT cars, it’s important to manage your equipment.”
Chris Trapp (car builder) shared Osborn’s excitement.
“We’re really looking forward to strapping Jim in the car,” said
Trapp. “As pleased as we are with the #5 car, we’ve really put some
nice features into the build of the #7. There has been a lot of focus
on ease of maintenance and simplifying our ability to work on the
car. I wouldn’t say this is a third generation Autosport GTO…. but
you could certainly say it’s generation 2.5!”
“Rob Wannamaker (team manager) really did a nice job engineering
these cars,” Trapp continued. “We’re expecting a good run out of the
#5 car in Cleveland and we’re extremely confident that the Chili
Pepper Racing guys will have the #7 car in the hunt too.”
The Cleveland Grand Prix schedule calls for the SPEED Touring Car
race to run on Saturday at 5:45pm and the GT race to run Sunday at
4pm. The Touring Car race will air Sunday at 4pm and the GT race will
run one-hour tape delayed at 5pm, on SPEED.
Autosport Development competes as part of the SPEED World Challenge
GT Series. All events are nationally televised on SPEED channel
(formerly Speedvision). In 2005 the SPEED World Challenge Series
schedule will include street races and temporary circuits in
Cleveland, Denver and St. Petersburg, and make the traditional stops
around the country at great tracks like Sebring, Road Atlanta, Lime
Rock Park, Infineon, Mosport, Portland, Mid-Ohio and Laguna Seca.
For more information about Autosport Development visit
www.GoAutosport.com
For more information about Chili Pepper Racing, visit
www.chilipepperracing.org
For more information about Trenton Forging, visit www.trentonforging.com
For more information about SCCA SPEED World Challenge, visit
www.world-challenge.com
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John Thawley ~ Creative Communications Group ~ 248.356.5699
